This document provides step-by-step instructions for setting up a YouTube channel in under 40 steps. It first explains how to create a Google/Gmail account, which is required for YouTube. It then guides the user through setting up their YouTube channel, including choosing a username, filling out profiles, customizing settings and themes, adding modules and videos. The document pays close attention to optimizing the channel for better searchability.

1. How to Set Up a YouTube Channel
When setting up a YouTube channel, the first place you have to start with is Google.
Google owns YouTube so you need a Google account in order to set up your YouTube
account. The best way to begin is to get a Gmail account.
Setting Up a Gmail Account
1. Go to www.google.ca to get to Google’s homepage.
2. Search for “gmail” and click on the first result to get to Gmail’s homepage.
3. Click on the “Create an Account” button in the bottom right. This service is
completely free and it is very quick and easy to set up an account.
4. Fill out the information that they ask for.
5. Once your Gmail account is set up and you have your username and password,
you can go to YouTube and set up your YouTube account.
Setting Up a YouTube Account
6. Go to YouTube’s homepage by entering “www.youtube.com” into the address bar
or by searching for “youtube” using Google’s search engine and clicking on the
appropriate search result.
7. Once you are at Youtube’s homepage, click on “Create Account” that is found at
the top right.
8. First, choose your username. It is important to choose a good username because it
will become your channel’s name. It is recommended to use your full name
(capitalized) and add “TV” at the end (e.g. JohnSmithTV).
Note: It is important to understand how you are going to use your channel. If you are
targeting a very specific audience you might want to consider choosing a username
that speaks to that audience (e.g. DowntownCondosTV, TorontoCondosTV).
9. Choose your username, enter it, and check its availability.
10. Enter in the rest of the information. For your birthday, you can choose any
birthday that makes you older than 18. You must be older than 18 to use YouTube
and you can make your birthday invisible on your channel.
11. Make sure you enable the option that allows others to search for your channel (it
will be the first box under your gender). Leave the other box that asks if you want
to receive products unchecked.
12. Next, you must scroll through the Terms of Service section in order to continue.
Use your mouse and scroll down until you get to the bottom.
13. Click “I accept” at the bottom.

2. 14. Now it will ask you for your Gmail account. This step is easier since we have
already created our Gmail account and so we can use the left hand side of the
screen instead of the more time consuming right hand side.
15. Enter your Gmail username and password on the left hand side and click “Sign
In.”
16. The basic channel has been set up. Now you will be able to customize the
information that is in the channel. This is where you can fill in your Profile
information.
17. Under the “Start Using YouTube” heading, click on “Customize your channel
page.”
18. It will take you to a screen where you can go through and update the information
so that it portrays the type of brand position that you want.
Profile Section
19. Scroll down until you see a box on the left labelled “Profile.”
20. In this profile section, click on “edit” in the upper right.
21. This is where you can update your profile information and decide what you would
like to be visible and invisible on your channel by selecting or deselecting the
boxes to the left. The sections that are recommended to be visible on your profile
are your username, total upload views, subscribers, website, channel description,
about me, hometown, occupation, and company.
22. Take some time to fill this out the “Channel Description” section so that people
know what your channel is about. Think back to your elevator pitch and write
something that is concise and lets people know what they can expect to get out of
the channel.
23. In the About Me section, write a little bit about yourself as an individual, not
about your channel. You can talk about how long you’ve been in the business,
your specialities, etc.
24. Definitely put Toronto as your hometown so that your channels and videos have a
higher chance of being seen when people search for them using geographic
searches.
25. For occupation you can put Real Estate.
26. Click “Save” when you are done.
Settings
27. Now scroll up until you see a row of different tabs near the top of the page and
click on the “Settings” tab.
28. Make sure the URL is titled the way you want it to be, and enter in a title for your
channel in the space provided (e.g. JohnSmithTV – Toronto Real Estate). It is
important for your title to get across the topic of your channel. This will give your
channel a greater chance of being seen when people search for the same topic.

3. 29. For “Channel Type”, choose “YouTuber”. If you are going to be talking about
and positioning yourself as a subject matter expert then you can choose “Guru”
instead.
30. Make sure you have “Yes” checked off for the “Make Channel Visible” option.
31. The “Channel Tags” section helps tell YouTube what your channel and videos are
all about. Fill out and include a bunch of tags related to Toronto Real Estate and
the different topics that you will be talking about in your videos. Remember to be
as neighbourhood specific as possible.
32. When you are done, click “Save Changes.”
Themes and Colours
33. If you want to customize the look and feel of your page you can do that in the
Themes and Colours tab.
34. You can even include your own background if you want to hire a graphic artist to
create one for you.
Modules
35. This is referencing the different information that you make available on your
YouTube channel. Select all the different options except for “Other Channels.”
Videos and Playlists
36. Select what content you would like to have displayed on your channel in the
“What content would you like to display” section. Definitely select your uploaded
videos. You can go either way with the other two options.
Note: The good thing with the “My Favorites” section is that you can find other
content that you think your viewers would find interesting and put them in your “My
Favorites” sections. If you are going to search for items to add to this section then
select it, if not then deselect it.
37. Leave the default settings for “Featured Layout” and “Featured Content Set.”
38. Leave the “Autoplay” option unselected.
39. Click “Save Changes.”
Your Account
40. Now scroll up to the very top of the screen and rest your mouse over the name of
your channel (beside the “sign out” hyperlink). Select “Account” from the drop
down menu that appears.

4. 41. Here you can fill out as much information as you want. However, it is sufficient
to only fill out the “Overview” and “Profile Setup” sections that are found on the
left hand menu.
42. In the “Overview” section, change your picture by clicking on “change” under the
current photo. This will allow you to find the file of your picture on your desktop.
This picture can be a headshot of yourself or your logo. Click on the “browse”
button, find the appropriate file, upload the file and click on “Save Changes.”
43. In the “Profile Setup” section you can fill out your profile details. Some of the
information is redundant so you can copy and paste it from before.
44. After you have finished filling everything out, click “Save Changes.”