YouTube is all about video…whether it’s amateur or professional, tutorial or entertainment, spontaneous or scripted. What marks YouTube as a social platform is the ability to create branded channels for content, which registered YouTube users may choose to subscribe to for updates. Video uploads can also receive likes or dislikes via “thumbs-up” or “thumbs-down” icons as well as receive posted comments and shares (via link).

Top YouTube content creators include a variety of international influencers, media companies, and performers with music is still one of YouTube’s most popular categories. Other popular top content is kid-focused, from toy reviews to nursery rhyme singalongs to tutorials, with some channels aimed squarely at pre-schooled children. World Wrestling Federation (WWE), movie clips, comedy, and international entertainment (foreign game shows, music, etc.) are also consistently strong categories with YouTube audiences. 

The beauty of YouTube is that there is a niche market for nearly any kind of video content. Remember those 3 billion searches that occur on YouTube each month?! So, whether your business is about selling a product like a cutting edge Blendtec blender or providing a service like video tutorials on assessing plumbing problems…you can find an audience for it on YouTube. Video content can also be optimized to include categories, keywords, descriptions, and audio transcripts to make your content even more searchable and discoverable.

 Clearly, if videos are a part of your content marketing, you need to consider a presence on YouTube. Create a channel and start posting your videos (generally, shorter videos between 2-4 minutes tend to do better). In time you will gain subscribers who will promote your content through their social channels.  It isn’t really possible to post too much on YouTube; having a lot of videos up is not overwhelming for users, and it will help to build your profile on the world’s 2^nd largest search engine! 

YouTube Content Best Practices:

1. Only upload videos that you made or are explicitly authorized to use. Respect copyright.
2. Link your YouTube channel “About” tab to your official website or a social network page for increased search engine results.
3. Add tags and meta-descriptions to your video uploads to help index your content.