Whether I’m working with my 1:1 clients or students inside of my video accelerator program, I see a few common mistakes when I review a Youtube channel. Today I want to share the 5 common Youtube channel mistakes so you can easily avoid them. 

Rather watch that read? Head on over to my Youtube channel, where I break them down and give you the skinny on each of these five non-no’s.

Common Mistake #1: No channel banner

The first mistake I see on Youtube channels is when someone doesn’t have a channel banner.

What’s that, you ask? 

A channel banner is simply just a visual element that adds a level of completion to your channel. Your channel banner should always either have your face or your logo on it. Alternatively, it can also be just something about you and your business. But the gist is to have your channel with a “complete look.” 

Think of your Youtube channel like a storefront – all of those display details are important to the visual appeal of your brand, letting people know that this is your “home” – the name of your business and who the person behind the channel is. And, you can easily add these elements to a channel banner in Canva. 

Common Mistake #2: No website links in the about section

Your About section is where someone might go to learn more about you, and it’s ssuuuupppeer important to link any and all evergreen links in that section. If you skip this step and don’t have any links directing people to your website, social media profiles, or your freebie opt-ins (or really anything else that is important to you), then your viewer won’t know where to go – and if they don’t know where to go, they won’t have a chance to learn more about you and your awesome business! 

…which means, they won’t have a chance to potentially work with you. Did I mention it’s really, really crucial to put some links in your About section? 😉

Common Mistake #3: Channel keywords are missing (on your overall Youtube channel)

This is the place where you can add keywords to tell Youtube and Google who you are, what your name is, and what your channel is about. All of these details are necessary to help Google understand what you do as a channel on Youtube. Adding keywords to the overall Youtube channel often gets overlooked because everyone is focused on the individual Youtube videos. 

So remember: it’s just as important to go into your settings and add keywords to your overall main channel.

Common Mistake #4: Empty description box defaults

Now, this isn’t necessarily a mistake per se, but it does keep you from fully taking advantage of Youtube – and making your life easier! Why? Because in the description box default, you can once again link to those evergreen links (your website, social media, email opt-ins, and any other details about you, such as your bio, who you are, and what you do on this channel).

This is again located in the channel settings. Once you add all of these things into your default section, anytime you upload a new video to Youtube, it will auto-populate all of that information so you won’t have to type it in… Every. Single. Time.

Common Mistake #5: Using similar video titles

And finally…drum roll 🥁…the last most common mistake I see is people using similar titles for several of their Youtube videos. The reason why this is a mistake is that not only is it confusing, but you’re also basically telling your viewers that you have several videos that have similar types of content – meaning, why should they click into another video if they’ve already watched something with nearly the exact same title? I know what you’re thinking – 🤯, amiright? 

This is why you want to make sure that you have titles that uniquely explain what each individual video is about. 

From a search engine optimization standpoint, you also want to title your videos in a way that describes what your videos are about. Using your titles, you can really highlight the difference between the videos so that people know exactly what they’re getting when they click into your videos.

And that’s a wrap on common Youtube channel mistakes! Did one of them stand out to you? Be sure to leave a comment below with any questions👇🏼. 

PS: Want me to review your Youtube channel? Grab your audit right here.