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About YouTube

YouTube is the second largest search engine and the second most popular social media platform.

Organisations can use YouTube as a platform to release video content like announcements, information, Q&As and footage of activities, training, competitions and events.

YouTube functions

Duration of videos
YouTube content has historically been focussed on longer videos (on average 7-15 minutes) which enables organisations to post a wider range of content like game, match, meeting, race or event highlights, challenges, facility tours and personal stories.

The rising popularity of short videos (shorts) is changing users expectations so be sure to post a mixture of both.
Collaborations
Longer videos means that collaborations with other organisations can be showcased in more depth. This provides more opportunity to promote the work being done in these partnerships and community links. You can also subscribe to others pages to show your support.
Comment
YouTube offers account holders the option to let viewers like and comment on videos. As an organisation, this can be helpful to receive feedback but like other platforms, the risk of site misusers and offensive language, means that comments should be closely reviewed.
Subscribe
YouTube offers users the option of subscribing to your channel so they can stay up to date with new content more easily. 
Sharing
YouTube enables users to copy a video link and paste it onto their other social media accounts, group chats and websites. This can be a great way to increase the number of people who see your videos.
Personal and brand accounts
YouTube offers personal and brand accounts. Personal accounts are linked to an individual’s own google account whereas business accounts can be accessed and managed by multiple people with different logins and roles.

Get set up

  • Go to the YouTube website or download the YouTube app on your phone or device. 

  • Sign up using a Google account.

  • Once you have created and verified your account, go ahead and click the ‘+’ in the camera icon. From here you can upload or take a video, edit and post the content you want. 

  • To create a brand account, sign into YouTube, go to your channel list, click create a new channel, name and verify your account then click create.

  • To convert a personal account into a brand account, sign in, click on your profile image, select settings, select add or manage your channels, select the channel you want to change, select advanced settings, select move channel to a brand account, sign in and verify your account and confirm that you’d like to move channel.

Things to consider

  • As a free platform, YouTube uses adverts to generate income and you are unable to control these.

  • YouTube content is closely monitored but be cautious of inappropriate content or language in videos.

  • Decide if you want the people to be able to comment on your videos and change your settings accordingly.

You will need to look at the pros and cons of setting up a personal account compared to a brand account to see which works best for your organisation.

If you already have a personal account that you want to convert to a brand account, be aware of what this means for historic comments and messages.