When you first set up your YouTube channel, its web address won’t be a snazzy URL of your choosing. The default address will actually include your channel ID - a 24-character “name tag” that helps certain apps identify your channel.

In 2021, a 24-character URL is way too long. Fortunately, YouTube lets creators choose a custom address for their channel. It comes in handy nowadays, especially if you want to build a recognizable brand on the platform.

Creating a custom URL is quick and easy. But before we show you how, you should know whether you meet the requirements to do so. If you’ve completed these three steps, you should have no problem setting up a custom YouTube URL:

Have a channel that’s at least 30 days old.

If you’ve already done these things, congratulations! You’re ready to brand your YouTube channel with a custom URL that’s catchy easy to read.

First, find YouTube’s customization page in the YouTube Studio. This is where you’ll be able to adjust the layout, basic info, and branding on your channel.

Follow these steps to reach the selection page:

On your channel’s homepage, click your profile icon and select 

 tab. Scroll down until you see the Channel URL header.

Need a visual tutorial? Watch our video below for more guidance:

At this point, you’ll see two custom URL options. The first will be a default URL that closely matches your channel name. Of course, it's not always possible to claim this URL. Your channel name may be the same as someone else, which means they've already claimed the URL you want.

If that’s the case, use the second URL option. This will let you type in a custom URL that best represents your channel, as shown below:

 to save your changes and confirm ownership of the URL.

If you make a mistake when choosing your custom URL, don’t worry. You can always remove it in four easy steps:

Return to YouTube’s customization page and make sure the 

Scroll down until you see the Custom URL header. Click 

 right below the text box showing your current URL.

The next thing you’ll see is the About Me page on your Google account. In the about section, click the icon beside your current URL.

 and follow the steps in the previous section to create a new URL.

To clarify, creating or removing a custom URL doesn’t replace the random URL you’ve always had. This collection of characters is your channel ID, and it will always be attached to your account. Setting up a custom URL just keeps it from appearing in your channel’s web address.

Also, you may see /c/ in your URL from time to time, but don’t worry about it. You don’t need to include it in your address when sharing it online. Simply typing YouTube.com/yourchannel works just fine!

In 2021, a custom YouTube URL can set you apart from the competition. Other creators may choose to keep their alphanumeric address, but they won’t have the advantage of full branding. After all, no viewer wants to hear, “Subscribe to my YouTube channel at YouTube.com/xTCyaRn56LrjSsY12145TyBq.”

Are you ready to give your YouTube channel a custom URL? Here are the requirements to do so, plus a quick tutorial to help you get it done.

How To Get a Custom URL For Your YouTube Channel [2021 Update]

So far, there are two undeniable truths about making a YouTube Short. For YouTube to recognize a video as such, it needs to be less than 60 seconds long and in a vertical format.

However, YouTube hasn’t shared much information about the specifics of tall video content. This technical restriction is relatively new, so creators may be curious about the best aspect ratio for making YouTube Shorts.

As YouTube educators, we need that information too. It'll help us answer specific questions, such as, “

 Are we talking about an aspect ratio of 9:16 or a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels?

To find the answer, we did a test using the 

 channel. For more details about how we did that, plus a curious look at what may be the skinniest video ever, press play below:

By testing the bounds of vertical content, we discovered which videos YouTube considers to be Shorts, and thus, which videos make it to the 

. This featured section gets millions of views, so every creator should learn the technical requirements to appear there.

Do This One Thing To Get More Views With YouTube Shorts

Before we dive into our YouTube Shorts test, consider creating a featured section for the Shorts on your own channel. This creates a controlled environment of content where you can easily see all your Shorts. It’s almost impossible to know when a Short will be featured on the discovery shelf, so this is a crucial step in ‘tracking’ your progress.

To quickly create a Shorts featured section, read our guide, “

How to Get More Views with YouTube Shorts.

Once you've added this feature, you’ll see a section that automatically shows all of the YouTube Shorts on your channel. Or more importantly for this experiment, the videos YouTube 

But remember, enabling this section doesn't mean your video will appear on YouTube’s prized discovery shelf. It still has millions of other short videos to compete with. The only thing you’ll know for sure is which videos meet the requirements to be considered a YouTube Short.

Most creators understand the concept of making a video that's less than 60 seconds, but what does vertical format actually mean? We’ve seen several examples of square videos appearing as YouTube Shorts, so we decided to test the bounds of vertical content.

To do that, we created a video with an aspect ratio of 1:1 and 1080x1080 resolution - in other words, a perfect square. When we checked the video’s analytics, 12.6% of views came from the YouTube Shorts traffic source, as shown below:

This confirms what we already knew, especially after seeing the evidence on other YouTube Shorts. You can, in fact, make square videos classified as YouTube Shorts.

Ironically though, there’s both an advantage and disadvantage of doing that:

 YouTube Shorts weren’t designed with square videos in mind. That means the video will have an unsightly black bar at the top and bottom of the frame.

 On the flip side, square videos leave the bottom of the screen empty, and viewers can easily see your channel name, video title, and subscribe button.

YouTube Shorts: Can They Be ‘Wider’ Than Perfect Squares?

For our next YouTube Shorts test, we wanted to see if we could make one wider than a square. So we uploaded a video that was just 10 pixels wider than it was tall, and as we expected, the video didn't appear in our featured Shorts section. So by YouTube’s standard, that video was not considered a Short.

This test confirms a very important benchmark. 

Now we know the widest YouTube Short you can make is a square video. If the video is wider than it is tall, it won't be considered a YouTube Short.

Here’s another rule to follow: Don’t make a video skinnier than what you’d shoot on a smartphone. We created a video with a resolution of 360x1920 pixels, and while it can be viewed on YouTube, it didn’t appear on the Shorts shelf.

There’s no reason to upload a video thinner than what a smartphone produces, but hey - we just wanted to have a little fun. 

Ideally, vertical video is shot on a smartphone, and that's your safe zone. If you go any thinner than that, your video may not be considered a YouTube Short.

Can you make square videos and still get featured on YouTube's highly-viewed Shorts shelf? Let's find out.

YouTube Shorts: What Is a 'Vertical' Video?

To say 2020 has been weird is an understatement! So as we round off the year and head into the final quarter of 2020, what should we focus on as YouTube creators?

While it's easy to be despondent, you can easily double-down on the skills you have and still finish this year on a high note! In this episode of TubeTalk, we're joined by YouTube mastermind Benji Travis. As one of the guys behind the influential 

, he knows a thing or two about YouTube success! In this episode you will learn:

Important lessons for creators from the 2008 recession

That you have skills that businesses need

Want to Know the Five Big Mistakes YouTubers Make?

Benji has joined us before on TubeTalk to talk about the top five mistakes YouTube creators often make. These mistakes can often block their path to success. 

TubeTalk has been the #1 podcast for video creators and marketers since 2014. It's one of the most respected and listened to podcasts in the online video industry, so don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to TubeTalk on your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode!

You can also find the complete list of all the 

2020 has been a very challenging year, but YouTube creators can still end the year on a successful note. Find out how in this episode of TubeTalk.

What YouTube Creators Need to Focus on for the Rest of 2020

Have you ever filmed a promo encouraging viewers to subscribe to your YouTube channel? Without setting a custom URL for your page, the web address probably looked like this: 

So let’s put an end to long, alpha-numeric addresses. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to set a custom URL for your YouTube channel.

How to See If You’re Eligible For a Custom YouTube URL

Before we dive into the tutorial, let’s check your eligibility for custom URLs. Here’s how you do that:

Go to the YouTube Studio. You can reach it by clicking your channel’s profile image on a desktop screen.

Click ‘Settings’ in the left navigation bar.

Once the settings pop-up appears, click ‘Channel’ in the left navigation bar.

In the uppermost menu, click ‘Feature Eligibility’.

At the bottom of the screen, click ‘Status and Features’.

Next, you’ll see an older-looking YouTube page. If YouTube hasn’t updated it before you read this, you should be able to scroll down and see if you’re eligible for a custom URL, as shown below:

Need a visual breakdown of these steps? Watch our video tutorial to make sure you’re doing everything correctly:

Who’s Eligible For a Custom YouTube URL?

If you’re eligible to set a custom URL, congrats! You can enable this feature in the same ‘Status and Features’ page you’re currently in.

However, if you’re unable to set a custom URL, don’t worry. That just means you have some requirements to meet before turning on the feature, which includes:

Growing your YouTube channel to at least 

Reaching the 30-day milestone for having a channel.

If you haven’t satisfied the last two requirements, you can upload these items to your channel by moving your mouse over the channel icon or channel banner. When the camera button appears, click it to upload your banner/icon art.

Finding the Custom URL Screen In YouTube Studio

Now, if the ‘Status and Features’ page no longer exists, there’s another way to reach the custom URL feature. Simply do this instead:

In the channel section of the settings page, click ‘Advanced Settings’.

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘Manage Your YouTube Account’.

Once the account page appears, click ‘Advanced Settings’ in the left navigation menu. At last, a new page will appear with the option to set a custom URL for your channel.

How to Set a Custom URL for Your YouTube Channel

If you watched the tutorial video above, you may have noticed a bit of Russian text - that's because we have a 

, but today, let’s claim a URL for our Russian channel to show the process.

Back on the advanced settings page, all you have to do is click on the ‘You’re eligible for a custom URL, claim it here’ link to get started, which you can see in the previous screenshot.

As you can see in our case, YouTube has already turned our channel name into the custom URL. So, all we need to do now is agree to the terms of service, and double confirm that this is the URL we want for our YouTube channel.

Back on that Status and Feature screen, it now confirms that we’ve claimed our new URL. If we click on the link, it sends us back to our channel homepage without a hitch. Success!

Don't worry if you see the words channel, user, or simply the letter C within your URL. From now on, you can direct people to YouTube.com/yourchannel.

, you can remove your current custom URL and claim a new one up to three times each year. However, we say this with hesitation. YouTube’s tutorial to change/remove a custom URL didn’t match the platform features, so it may be in the middle of updating this feature.

Setting a custom URL turns a jumbled mess of characters (your current channel ID) into something simple, memorable, and readable. Most people use their channel name to personalize a custom URL, but you can set it to anything you want, within reason!

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level and 

 then make sure to download vidIQ for more subscriber insights. Join over 1 million other users and use vidIQ to help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps. 

And if you’re really serious about growing your YouTube views and subscribers, sign up for exclusive access to the 

 and learn how to launch a successful YouTube Channel in just 30 days.

If your YouTube channel’s URL contains random characters, it’s time to update that web address. Here’s how!

How To Get a Custom URL For Your YouTube Channel

When viewers come to your YouTube channel, they need a quick summary of who you are and what they can learn from you. The faster they discover those things, the more likely they'll be to watch your content, engage with it, and subscribe to your channel.

The best way to make sure that happens is by customizing your YouTube channel homepage. There are many features to experiment with, and depending on how you organize them, you can take your channel from novice to pro YouTuber - at least visually. A YouTube channel with these five assets is in a better position to get more views and subscribers:

A profile icon that looks good in a small, circular format

A featured playlist(s) section to showcase your topics/niche

A channel trailer that explains your content

Visually, those are the things you need to set yourself apart from the competition.

If you want to know how to set up these features, keep reading. We’ll walk you through the various steps of customizing your YouTube channel homepage - something every creator should learn how to do.

How to Find The YouTube Channel Customization Screen

Let’s start by customizing the layout of your YouTube channel homepage. You can make these changes and more in the YouTube Studio via the customization screen. Before you start tinkering with the settings, keep in mind that all changes affect your channel’s layout on both desktop and mobile.

Follow these steps to reach the customization screen:

From most YouTube desktop screens, click on your profile image in the top right corner and go to the YouTube Studio.

Go to the left menu panel and click ‘Customization’. Next, you should see a page that allows you to add a channel trailer, featured sections, featured channels, profile icon, channel banner, video watermark, an about section, channel links, and more.

Need a quick visual walkthrough? Watch our video tutorial about how to customize your YouTube channel:

The customization screen - and all the features mentioned above - is divided into three tabs. The layout tab helps you build the visual foundation of your channel. The branding tab is for adding specific styles, colors, and creating an overall design. And lastly, the basic info tab lets you add text and clickable links to your channel.

Be sure to hit ‘Publish’ in the top right corner of the screen when you’re finished editing. Otherwise, the changes won’t appear on your YouTube channel!

Adding a Trailer to Your YouTube Channel Homepage

Now that you’ve reached the customization screen, let’s take a look at the video spotlight feature. You can find it under the layout section, here:

This screen lets you add a trailer to your channel, which is a video that introduces you and your content. It automatically plays when a viewer arrives on your channel, so it’s a good thing to have on your homepage.

If you want to show different trailers to specific viewers, YouTube has some convenient options. For example, you can show one trailer to non-subscribers and a different trailer to people who’ve already subscribed.

To change either of these settings, mouse over the appropriate box below ‘Video spotlight’ and click the three dots to either remove or change the trailer, like this:

In the pop-up screen that appears, search your channel for the video you want to feature, select it, then publish the changes.

At this point, you may not have a suitable video for your channel trailer, and that’s OK. As soon as you’re ready, use these tips to create the best introductory video:

Keep it brief. Aim to make your video no longer than 45 seconds.

Include some B-roll of your best content as you introduce yourself.

Tell viewers who your content is for and why they should watch.

Inject as much personality into the video as you can.

How to Add, Edit, or Remove Featured Sections on YouTube

Below the video spotlight section is an area for featured content. When you want to quickly communicate your niche to viewers, you can add topic-based playlists or video collections to this section.

To start tinkering with this feature, return to the layout tab in the customization screen, then scroll down to ‘Feature sections’.

This will show you all the sections you’re currently displaying on your YouTube channel homepage. To reorder these, simply click and drag the three-lined icon next to any section up or down. To display a new section, go to the top right corner of the screen and click ‘Add Section’. A drop-down menu will appear with several featured content options, including recent uploads, popular uploads, live streams, and more.

For each section, you can click the three dots on the right to edit the content there. In some cases, it will allow you to change a playlist. But no matter what, you’ll always have the option to view or delete one, as shown below:

Want to create a featured section that encourages people to watch and subscribe? If so, keep these four important things in mind:

You can add a maximum of 10 sections to your YouTube channel homepage. Create as many as possible to summarize your channel for new viewers.

Create a playlist that shows viewers what type of content you make. On the vidIQ channel, our introductory playlist includes videos about how to get 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of Watch Time on YouTube. That’s our niche!

Create a recent uploads playlist. It’ll help new visitors understand that they’ve landed on an active, consistent channel.

Write descriptions for your featured playlists. The text shows up in the featured section and adds more context to your video collections.

How to Customize YouTube’s Featured Channels Section [2021 Update]

Right now, the featured channels section appears on the right side of your YouTube channel homepage. It’s been there for years, but apparently, that’s going to change in 2021. Here’s the notification from YouTube explaining exactly what’s happening:

As you can see, YouTube is letting creators display featured channels in the same area as playlists and video collections. You can make the switch today if you want, so here’s how to make it happen:

Click ‘Add Section Now”, as shown in the screenshot above.

Next, a pop-up screen will appear. In the top right corner, type some brief, explanatory text that will become the title of your section.

Navigate to the search bar and type the name of any YouTube channel. Select the one you want to make it appear in your featured channels section.

Once you have a few channels in this section, you can click + drag each one to reorder the list. You can also remove channels from this section.

When you’re done, here’s what the new section will look like:

How to Add a YouTube Profile Picture and Channel Banner

Next, let’s explore YouTube channel branding. To see all your options, click the branding tab on YouTube’s customization screen. You should see a variety of settings for adding logos to different parts of your channel, which helps you build a reputation on YouTube.

We’ll start with the first item on the list, the YouTube channel profile picture. Adding one is simple - all you need to do is click the ‘Change’ or ‘Remove’ buttons on the customization screen to add a new image. This is the same process for adding a channel banner, which we’ll explain very soon.

Beyond that, there are a few things to keep in mind about YouTube profile pictures. Although you’re uploading a square image, it will be displayed on YouTube as a circular image. That means you’ll have to crop your profile picture using YouTube’s uploader, so don’t put important information in the corner of the image.

There are even more things to consider with your channel banner. First, it needs to fit the dimensions of three media types: TV, desktop, and mobile. When you upload a banner image, YouTube will show you how it looks on different devices. If you need to, you can click and drag the corners of the image to resize it.

Another thing to consider is how visually complex the image is. It’s best to keep it simple and communicate what your channel is about with minimal text, plus some breathing room in your design. 

As a side note, you can change both images - the profile picture and channel banner - by going to your homepage, mousing over either one, and clicking the camera icon.

 This will redirect you back to the customization page in the YouTube Studio.

How to Add Watermarks to Your YouTube Videos

The next branding feature is video watermarks. Enable this setting on your channel, and a small square image will be added to the bottom-right corner of your videos. It’s great for displaying your logo or serving as a call-to-action, encouraging viewers to mouse over the image, and subscribe to your channel.

That's why we recommend adding a subscription-style image rather than a logo. As an added bonus, 

 to download an image that works perfectly as a ‘subscribe now’ button. Use it as you please:

Adding a watermark to your videos is the same process as adding a profile picture or channel banner. While on the YouTube customization screen, click the branding tab, scroll to the watermark section, and click ‘Change’ or ‘Remove’.

Once you have your button, you can decide when (and how long) the watermark appears in your videos. We recommend having it visible the entire time, as that gives your viewers more opportunities to subscribe.

The basic information tab is our last stop when it comes to YouTube channel customization. For this section, we’ll start with something close to many creators' hearts: the name of your YouTube channel.

If your channel name is already the most epic thing ever, you might not need this section today. But if you ever want to change it in the future, the process is simple. While on the customization screen, click the branding tab then look below the ‘Channel name and description’ header. You should see your current channel name, as well as a pencil icon right beside it. Click that icon to type a new name, as shown below:

It’s easy to change your channel name, but you do have to bear in mind the impact it has on your Google accounts. If you have a personal YouTube account and you change your YouTube channel name, that can actually change your Google account name. However, if you have a brand YouTube account, changing the name of your channel doesn't impact your Google account.

We know that sounds really confusing. The topic requires more explaining than we can do here, so watch this video to get all the information you need:

How to Customize Your YouTube Channel’s ‘About’ Section

About a minute ago, while you were reading about YouTube channel names, you may have seen a screenshot showing vidIQ’s channel description. On the front end of YouTube, this is called the ‘About’ section. When viewers want more information about you and your content, they’ll head to this section to find the answers.

That’s why it’s important to speak directly to your target audience when writing your short bio. At the very least, you should:

Explain the value people gain from watching your content.

Include keywords related to your content.

When you’re finished writing your channel bio, go to the basic info tab and paste it in the text box below ‘Channel name and description’.

How to Add Links to Your YouTube Channel Banner

Did you know you can add a maximum of five links to your channel banner? You can use them to promote your website, social media profiles, online store, or other landing pages your audience might find useful.

No matter which links you decide to add, always remember that the first is super important. That’s because on desktop, only the first link includes text. Take a look at our channel banner links and how we draw attention to the most important one:

Underneath the basic info tab on the YouTube customization screen, you’ll see a header that reads ‘Links’. In this section, you can add, remove, and reorder the links in your channel banner as needed. These only appear on desktop; on mobile, links are buried deep in the about section.

How to Add a Contact Email to Your YouTube Channel

Want to collaborate with other creators? Collect inquiries from viewers? First, you’ll need to create and share an email address where people can reach you.

Don't use your YouTube account email as your channel’s contact email. 

This might present a backdoor entrance for hackers. Instead, create a separate email for YouTube inquiries.

When you’re ready to add an email address to your channel, head to the basic info tab. Scroll down to the ‘Contact info’ header and paste your email into the text box.

We hope you find this guide useful! At vidIQ, it’s our mission to educate you on your YouTube journey as you pursue a successful video-making career. If you want more content like this, be sure to subscribe to the 

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level and get more views on YouTube then make sure to 

. Join over 1 million other users and use vidIQ to help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps to succeed.  ​ ​ ​

 and learn how to launch a successful YouTube Channel.

Your YouTube channel will either entice viewers or make them hit the back button on their browser. To get as many views and subscribers as possible, read these channel customization tips! 

How to Customize Your YouTube Channel

It couldn’t be easier to delete a video from your mobile device, you just need to make sure you have the YouTube app installed and you are signed in to your account.

From the main screen tap your profile image in the top right-hand corner and go to ‘Your Channel’

Click on ‘Videos’ in the top hand navigation bar to bring up a list of your content

Tap the three dots to the right of the thumbnail and title to see the ‘Delete’ option.

You can also delete videos via the official 

Tap the ‘Option’ button in the top left and go to ‘Videos’

Find the video you want to delete and then tap on it

This will take you to the videos edit page - there is a pencil icon at the top, tap on that

Then swipe to the advanced tab and then scroll all the way to the bottom of this screen and you should find the ‘Delete’ option.

Do You Really Need to Delete That YouTube Video?

YouTube clearly states that there is no way to undo this permanent action. So think very carefully about deleting any video as not only will you lose all of the comments and engagement from that video, but you will also lose all of the views and Watch Time too.

 because you want to monetize your content, really think about what effect deleting a video might have if it has contributed in any way towards that goal.

Also, if you’re thinking of deleting a video just because it has a copyright or community strike against it, know that it won't get rid of that strike. If you have a 

, you're much better off using one of YouTube's official tools. There's a full tutorial on how to use it here (only via desktop though):

And finally, if you are embarrassed by your older videos, then watch the videos we first published on the 

. They're not fantastic, but we're proud of them because they're all part of our YouTube journey to where we are now.

Now, if you're much more interested in creating new content and growing your channel, then make sure to grab vidIQ for either your iPhone or Android device. It is free so just search for “vidIQ” on the Apple app and Google Play store.

Have you ever wanted to delete a YouTube video quickly but only have access to a mobile device? If the answer is yes, we show you how!

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