Honest opinion needed...

[Yusef472]

Hey!
In August 2015 I decided to take my passion for science to the next level by creating an educational science channel. Between now and then I have only posted two videos so I know I should be uploading more often but apart from that I'm struggling to see what else needs to improve. When I say that I'm not saying that I see my channel as anywhere near close to perfect but rather that it would be great to hear someone else's opinions. Any advice/tips from some of you more successful YouTubers would be awesome and much appreciated.

My channel can be found here: www.youtube.com/channel/UCOC-iwG4mvwAmISkYd4xnng

Thanks in advance!
-Yusef

 

[Le Fancy Narwhal]

Your channel is certainly much more appealing than some other first timers I've seen! I really like what you're going for. I'll start with the branding of the channel. I'm digging the banner and user profile, but it seems a bit basic and doesn't unify the channel. Your banner is the first impression and should give a clear idea of what your channel is all about. If you take a look at my channel you will see my channel is very blue and inviting. People love cute pictures of narwhals! I also recommend putting your name on your banner prominently, rather than keeping it small and somewhat hard to find on your profile pic, but I DO love that it is made to look like an element. I recommend that you spend some yttalk cash on a banner that is made by someone who has experience with photoshop here on the forums. I would ask for them to incorporate the Dc periodic table element/isotope notation or what have you into the banner, so it is more prominent. Perhaps also incorporate what kinds of videos you make. If you make a list, or somehow indicate in the banner to the viewer what kinds of videos you make than they will feel more motivated to watch your content because they'll know what to expect. As far as thumbnails, I'd recommend making them, but at this point the present thumbnails seem to work okay. You should verify your youtube account so that you can make custom thumbnails. A really great free application for making thumbnails is paint.NET. It's much more versatile and has more capability than paint, but is still really intuitive and easy to use. I, with NO photoshop experience, have used that program for easy thumbnails and outro sequences/slides on my gaming channel (You can search for how to verify your youtube account and find solutions relatively easily). As far as actual content goes, your most recent video seems to be a great starting point! I like what you're doing, but you should explain exactly WHAT you're doing before you start. I know you said that you you are synthesizing hydrogen using hydrochloric acid and whatnot but for more simpleminded people, that won't make any sense. Put it in terms that they can understand, because otherwise you're pretty much just boiling water. I'd also recommend trying more unconventional experiments. Do things that are out of the box and that will catch people's attention. If you play with fire, then get an awesome screenshot of some gnarly flames and make it a thumbnail with some big flashy text that is appealing. I like your narration, and your mic quality seems to be good enough for what you're doing. Also, if you haven't already, create social media profiles for your channel, or at least one. I recommend looking at some of the SEO optimization guides we have on the forums. If you can raise your channel and video rankings than I'm positive you'll do great, because your channel content will improve as you go along. Hope this helped! Lemme know if you have any other questions! (Also sorry if this is really rambly, I just saw your post and started typing away)

 

[Freshly Finished]

Hey!
In August 2015 I decided to take my passion for science to the next level by creating an educational science channel. Between now and then I have only posted two videos so I know I should be uploading more often but apart from that I'm struggling to see what else needs to improve. When I say that I'm not saying that I see my channel as anywhere near close to perfect but rather that it would be great to hear someone else's opinions. Any advice/tips from some of you more successful YouTubers would be awesome and much appreciated.

My channel can be found here: www.youtube.com/channel/UCOC-iwG4mvwAmISkYd4xnng

Thanks in advance!
-Yusef

honestly, your channel is quite appealing, after watching that title video i subscribed. it may just be because i have a weak spot for science, or i loved your milky way banner, the only thing i would say is that if you want to grow, you NEED to regularly upload content to keep people interested. and with your channel i think keeping ppl interested is going to be very easy for you

 

[Yusef472]

Your channel is certainly much more appealing than some other first timers I've seen! I really like what you're going for. I'll start with the branding of the channel. I'm digging the banner and user profile, but it seems a bit basic and doesn't unify the channel. Your banner is the first impression and should give a clear idea of what your channel is all about. If you take a look at my channel you will see my channel is very blue and inviting. People love cute pictures of narwhals! I also recommend putting your name on your banner prominently, rather than keeping it small and somewhat hard to find on your profile pic, but I DO love that it is made to look like an element. I recommend that you spend some yttalk cash on a banner that is made by someone who has experience with photoshop here on the forums. I would ask for them to incorporate the Dc periodic table element/isotope notation or what have you into the banner, so it is more prominent. Perhaps also incorporate what kinds of videos you make. If you make a list, or somehow indicate in the banner to the viewer what kinds of videos you make than they will feel more motivated to watch your content because they'll know what to expect. As far as thumbnails, I'd recommend making them, but at this point the present thumbnails seem to work okay. You should verify your youtube account so that you can make custom thumbnails. A really great free application for making thumbnails is paint.NET. It's much more versatile and has more capability than paint, but is still really intuitive and easy to use. I, with NO photoshop experience, have used that program for easy thumbnails and outro sequences/slides on my gaming channel (You can search for how to verify your youtube account and find solutions relatively easily). As far as actual content goes, your most recent video seems to be a great starting point! I like what you're doing, but you should explain exactly WHAT you're doing before you start. I know you said that you you are synthesizing hydrogen using hydrochloric acid and whatnot but for more simpleminded people, that won't make any sense. Put it in terms that they can understand, because otherwise you're pretty much just boiling water. I'd also recommend trying more unconventional experiments. Do things that are out of the box and that will catch people's attention. If you play with fire, then get an awesome screenshot of some gnarly flames and make it a thumbnail with some big flashy text that is appealing. I like your narration, and your mic quality seems to be good enough for what you're doing. Also, if you haven't already, create social media profiles for your channel, or at least one. I recommend looking at some of the SEO optimization guides we have on the forums. If you can raise your channel and video rankings than I'm positive you'll do great, because your channel content will improve as you go along. Hope this helped! Lemme know if you have any other questions! (Also sorry if this is really rambly, I just saw your post and started typing away)

Wow! Thanks for putting so much time into this!

-I checked out paint.NET and I can guarantee you my next video will have a thumbnail.
-I am currently working on getting a banner and a new profile picture done. Like you said I will try to make it one theme, like how your channel has a blue theme.
-I have taken your advice on doing something more gnarly to catch people's attention and if all works out hopefully I can do a video on aluminium and iron oxide (THERMITE!!).
-In the future I will start going into a bit more of an explanation. After watching my newer video I did realize that I jumped over a few points I should have broken it down a bit further.
-At the moment I do have a Facebook page but I think I should use it a bit more.

Your advice has been amazing and to see that you typed so much really blew me away. I genuinely appreciate the feedback.

-Yusef

 

[Yusef472]

honestly, your channel is quite appealing, after watching that title video i subscribed. it may just be because i have a weak spot for science, or i loved your milky way banner, the only thing i would say is that if you want to grow, you NEED to regularly upload content to keep people interested. and with your channel i think keeping ppl interested is going to be very easy for you

Thanks!! It has been a bit of a struggle but I have more time on my hands now so I will try my best.
And woah woah, holdup. You subscribed!? I am eternally grateful.

-Yusef

 

[Freshly Finished]

haha, yah! i Most certainly did! Now, like i said, get some new content out there so you can.....dare i say....create chemistry with your subscribers! ohhhhhhh how I love a pun

 

[Le Fancy Narwhal]

Wow! Thanks for putting so much time into this!

-I checked out paint.NET and I can guarantee you my next video will have a thumbnail.
-I am currently working on getting a banner and a new profile picture done. Like you said I will try to make it one theme, like how your channel has a blue theme.
-I have taken your advice on doing something more gnarly to catch people's attention and if all works out hopefully I can do a video on aluminium and iron oxide (THERMITE!!).
-In the future I will start going into a bit more of an explanation. After watching my newer video I did realize that I jumped over a few points I should have broken it down a bit further.
-At the moment I do have a Facebook page but I think I should use it a bit more.

Your advice has been amazing and to see that you typed so much really blew me away. I genuinely appreciate the feedback.

-Yusef

Thanks, glad I could help!

Also, as far as Facebook, you can link it to your channel so it shows on the banner at the bottom right. And to elaborate on sound quality, if you want to ever upgrade sometime, almost everyone in the youtube community will recommend to you the Blue Yeti (which is a little over 100 american dollars when I got it, although it was discounted, so I think it may be 150 full price), or the cheaper 50 dollar Blue Snowball. Good luck with your channel!