How To Set Your Real Name (Google Plus ID ) As Your YouTube Channel

Link Your Youtube Account To Your Google+ Profile

The ability to convert your YouTube channel name to your “real name” (your Google+ Profile name) has been rolling out more completely now, so I wanted to take you on a brief walk through…

… as well as offer a couple of words of caution!

Officially Connect Your Real Name To Your YouTube Channel

In a move to deepen their understanding of authorship across their platforms… and just as likely to clean up the cesspool of spam that is YouTube comments… Google has begun offering users to link their YouTube account to their Google Plus Profile.

While not all members yet have this feature, it provides users with the ability to be the “same person” on both Google-owned sites.

Once it is available to you, YouTube will offer you a pop-up that looks like this…

Click next to approve how you will appear after you set your real name as your YouTube channel name.

Now click “update my name” in the pop-up.

You’re getting close to done, once again click “update my name” on the “confirm and update” portion to the YouTube pop-up.

And that’s it… with just a few simple clicks you’re formerly named CatVideos0231 Channel now proudly displays your name!

Some Points To Keep In Mind When Setting Up Your Real Name On YouTube

Linking the Channel name to the Profile Name does not change the channel’s URL. This can cause some branding confusion if your url is youtube.com/monkeybuttluver and suddenly the Channel name is a businessman named Paul… see the problem?

If you are self branded, this is a logical connect… however, if you are more-accurately doing business as a brand name, then you really need to wait for the ability to link a channel to a Google+ PAGE rather than a profile.

A blog, project or site that has it’s own standalone brand name would see that name lost in this process because it would be replaced with the actual name of the channel owner.

Fortunately, it’s relatively simple to unlink your Google Plus Profile ID from your YouTube Channel name… but it’s probably smartest to figure this out before you need to do so!

The benefit of connecting your profile to your channel is ensuring that the authorship of the channel is correct and that the influence rank your profile carries reflects all of the content you have created.

Have you linked your Google+ Profile to your Youtube Channel name yet? Why or Why Not?

Read more:

• How To Unlink Your YouTube Channel Name From Your Google Plus Profile
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