Setting up Your Youtube Channel For Success: 4 Often Overlooked Default Settings

There are a few Youtube settings I almost always recommend to brands and marketers that are just getting started on Youtube. Much has been written on the cosmetic side of channel settings but let’s take a look under the hood and change some of the default channel settings to boost usability and maximize organic views.

1. Overview: Unless you intend to monetize your channel you can easily turn off advertisements from the overview screen by changing the default by checking Do not allow advertisements to be displayed alongside my videos.

Most marketers don’t want advertising alongside their videos.

2. Sharing: Leaving all the sharing boxes checked gives you more chances to get in front of your Subscribers and Contacts by giving additional opportunities from your activity on their homepage or email alerts. Usually I’ll uncheck the automatic sharing on connected accounts boxes and share new videos on social networks manually to allow more flexibility in messaging and according to our publishing schedule.

Youtube Sharing Settings

3. Upload Defaults: Since you’ll be sharing your new uploads automatically with your subscribers on Youtube it’s important that you only share them when you’re ready. Changing your upload default to Private allows you to ensure you have the proper metadata in place before you make the video public for the rest of the world to see. There’s nothing worse than seeing a Youtube video with a default camera setting title.

Youtube Upload Default Settings

4. Privacy: Ever wonder where that viral video got all those views from? Simply click the Show Video Statistics button on the bottom right of any Youtube video. If you don’t uncheck the Make statistics and data for my videos publicly visible by default box this data will be available to anybody. I don’t like to give hints to other advertisers as to how we’re promoting our videos. Many marketers don’t think to uncheck this box and unknowingly reveal their secret sauce. There’s nothing wrong with seeding a video but when 90% of your views are from foreign countries or from shady marketing companies it can be a red flag.

Youtube Public Statistics

Different Youtube channels have different audiences and different goals but taking the time to think through the default settings only takes a second and can ensure you are deploying your videos wisely. What settings do you find yourself consistently using in your content marketing efforts?

Read more: The Problem with Numbers (and How You Can Be a Part of My Videos!)