With everything going on in the social media and SEO world, it's easy to miss things along the way. For me, that was the YouTube Creator Playbook. With YouTube being the country's second largest search engine, small business owners have surely done a little bit of research regarding how to get involved. Most advice says to create a YouTube channel and post "how to" videos or informational videos about your industry. Any video on your website should do well on your YouTube channel. Then of course come the many articles about YouTube optimization.
Somehow, the YouTube Creator Playbook slipped past me. It turns out that this cool, interactive reference page is the perfect way to learn everything you need to know about YouTube coming right from the source. It even lays out all of the most recent YouTube changes, so it's a must-use for any marketer looking to get more involved with YouTube.
How the YouTube Creator Playbook Works
The YouTube Creator Playbook is essentially a YouTube initiative that helps give small businesses a place to learn about different strategies and features that can help you "take your channel to the next level." YouTube is primarily a place for individuals looking to post home videos or entertaining videos, so small business advice was never overly available. The Playbook helps to fill this void. Below is a screenshot of the Playbook homepage:
As you can see from the screenshot above, you have links that will walk you through how to get started, programming, optimization, community, and other resources if you're a small business looking to get involved with YouTube. There are also breadcrumbs at the top of the page that make it easy for you to jump back and forth.
When you click each link, you will be taken to a page that has lots of other links. Consider the screenshot below of the "programming" page:
There are other links on the left hand side of the page that will take you through the steps, in order, but make it easy to jump back if necessary. Each of these categories (shown next to a blue icon in the first screenshot) is considered different playbooks.
The New Playbook Guides YouTube Offers in 2013
The Playbook will always list their latest updates on the right hand side of the homepage (again shown in the first screenshot), so you can always remain in the loop. A few of the most notable updates of 2013 can be found under the "resources" tab under "playbook guides:"
- Media Companies. This is a great guide explaining how media companies can determine if they should have multiple YouTube channels and how to determine what information should be included in each channel. It helps explain how you can leverage different channels to engage best with your audience.
- Nonprofits. The nonprofit playbook lists successful nonprofit channels and then explains how you can build awareness for your cause and find volunteers looking to help. The information is specific to nonprofits, so it's a great resource if this is your passion.
- Education. YouTube wants students to be able to learn from YouTube videos (and small businesses surely do as well), so this section explains how to make that happen. It also gets into how to get around schools that block YouTube.
This might be old news to a lot of people, but in case you're just getting started with YouTube, it's important not to miss this great resource. Are you familiar with the YouTube Playbook? What has been your experience? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Photo Credit: how-i-met-your-mother.wikia.com
<a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/113948183183915741351/posts?rel=author">Amanda DiSilvestro</a> gives small business and entrepreneurs SEO advice ranging from keyword density to recovering from Panda and Penguin updates. She writes for HigherVisibility.com, one of the leading SEO firms in the United States.