More than 1.5 billion users log in and watch videos on YouTube each month.

That'due south 1 important reason why crafting videos for your audience on YouTube tin can be a very rewarding experience for your small-scale business or nonprofit.

Another is that past sharing videos that inspire, educate, or entertain, you can build a community and get more than people talking about your business.

But earlier you tin start using YouTube to your advantage, y'all commencement need to acquire the basics.

In this post, nosotros'll walk you through the steps y'all demand to follow to upload a video to YouTube, and introduce you to some valuable features YouTube has to offer.

Learn more.

Take a look at the infographic below from our friends at Venngage Infographic Maker for a quick visual rundown!

Infographic: How to Upload a Video to YouTube from Start to Finish

Instructions for how to upload a video to youtube

Getting Started

The first thing you will want to do is to log in to YouTube. To do this, you'll need to set up a Google business relationship if you do not already take 1. Your Google business relationship can be used for YouTube, Google My Business organisation, Gmail, and any other YouTube platforms.

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Choosing a File

After logging in to YouTube, cull the upload arrow push button near the upper right manus corner of the page. From there you lot will be taken to the Upload page.

Privacy Settings

Unlike types of videos should accept different types of privacy on your YouTube channel.

It's important to set the privacy before uploading videos you lot practice not desire bachelor to the public or visible on your aqueduct.

Hither'due south a breakdown of what each privacy setting ways:

  • Public: Anyone tin can come across your video, it can appear as a suggested video, and will be listed in the Videos section on your channel. Videos that you lot are sharing to brainwash, create engagement on social media, promote your brand, or give your audition an within look at your business or community are all-time served by the Public setting.
  • Unlisted: This means that just people who take a link to the video can scout it. When someone clicks the video department of your YouTube aqueduct the video will not exist discoverable. Unlisted videos exercise not appear in YouTube suggested views or in YouTube search results. Utilizing the Unlisted privacy setting allows you to share certain videos just with the people who will find information technology relevant.
  • Private: Videos with the Private setting can only be seen by you and the users you lot choose to see the video. Private videos practice not appear on your channel and are undiscoverable from all users.
  • Scheduled: This privacy setting uploads the video to your channel but makes it so the video is not seen past the public until the date and time you cull during upload. This setting allows you to plan out a video campaign or series without having to upload each video individually.

Once you lot choose your privacy, click the large arrow push and select the video yous want to upload from your files, or simply drag and drib the file.

Tip: Hard disk videos are best for your aqueduct. You want to upload a video with dimensions that are either 1920×1080 or 1280×720. Having a crisp, articulate video gives people the impression that you lot are professional and that your content should be taken seriously.

Uploading

While the video uploads to your aqueduct, you tin see its progress on a status bar. Once uploaded, the video then has to process. You can see the progress for that in the status bar besides.

Title, Description, and Tags

Your championship is the most important piece of information you will provide about your video.

You want to make certain the title of your video is relevant and you should keep in mind what people might exist searching for. You don't want the title to exist vague or difficult for someone to figure out what your video is nearly.

The title is what Google values the nigh when ranking your video in the search results page.

It'south as well important to add descriptions and tags to your videos. You desire to include keywords in your clarification that will aid your video become ranked higher in search results. The more relevant information yous can provide to YouTube in your description the better they will be able to rank it.

Tip: While your video is uploading, if you have the privacy set to Public, yous tin cheque off the Facebook and Twitter buttons to automatically share your video on those networks when the upload is complete.

Thumbnails

YouTube generates three choices of thumbnail images for y'all. The thumbnail image volition be seen on your channel, playlists, suggested video previews, and also anywhere your video is embedded.

If you do not similar any of the YouTube generated choices, y'all tin create your own image to utilise. The recommended size for these images is 1280×720 pixels. Exist artistic with your thumbnail paradigm; information technology should convey what your video is about and look professional.

To upload a custom thumbnail click the "Custom thumbnail" button.

Your Video's Page on YouTube

Now that y'all take uploaded your video, you tin go to its dedicated YouTube page. Your video now has its own URL, where users can like, comment, and share your video.

From the video'southward page yous tin also access settings, enhancements, audio, annotations, and closed captions. You can also view the video analytics or go to your channel video manager from this page as well.

This folio also serves as a spring off for social sharing (across 13 platforms). Information technology provides the code to embed your video and an option to email the video to someone straight from the video's page.

Tip: Want to make your Youtube channel look professional? Update your Youtube channel banner using a Youtube banner maker.

You have successfully uploaded a video to YouTube! At present what?

There are a few things you can do to get the about out of your video, like adding annotations, encouraging users to subscribe to your aqueduct, linking your Google account to your YouTube channel, and more.

Y'all'll also want to dive into the analytics for each of your videos to notice out what type of content your audience is responding to the most. Yous can learn a lot virtually your audience from the numbers they generate on YouTube.

Remember, YouTube is a social aqueduct and your videos should reverberate that. Don't scare people away from your small business or nonprofit by just trying to sell to them on YouTube. Instead, provide them with engaging content that will make them want to come back for more!

Editor's Notation: This post has been updated for relevance and accurateness.