Should I get a website?

Oliver Andersen

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Hi

I have been checking out other youtubers who are the biggest in the category I am in as well and saw that some of them has websites where they besides youtube integrate their videos on to get more visibility, along with a shop where they sell either though affiliate or they have their own cloth/t-shirt collection something like that.

But my point here is would it make any difference in terms of views and income if I established a website for my channel?

I mean you can integrate banner adds and pop-ups as well so you have a second income source but not sure how much you can earn from that alone on a website. The shop I idea is more a feature ideal when my channel gets bigger.
 

The NotARubicon!

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I do exactly that.. We post videos, sell shirts, and even sell customized videos.
A website is good to have as another way to let people find your videos - but you have to be able/willing to create content for the site, although I have been surprised how many people find me/my videos via the website, even though I dont have a lot of content along with it.
 

Oliver Andersen

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I do exactly that.. We post videos, sell shirts, and even sell customized videos.
A website is good to have as another way to let people find your videos - but you have to be able/willing to create content for the site, although I have been surprised how many people find me/my videos via the website, even though I dont have a lot of content along with it.
Can I ask of curiosity what many people is? :angelic2:
 

The NotARubicon!

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Oh, it's not a lot - probably less than 1%-2% of my total views, but considering that I dont really create any content for the site, even that small number was surprising to me. If i had the time to make a big, long blog post and embed the video along with it, it would probably be a lot more.
 
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Therealkojr

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Personally, i would not make a website to promote a youtube channel unless you already have a following. If you want to make one as like a blog type thing for the topic of your youtube channel that would probably work but if you are making one solely to promote your youtube channel i just do not think it would be worth it. I am very inexperienced though with that matter. You could always just give it a try
 
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A website could help with SEO... I have a personal website for my big boy job that puts me at the very top of Google searches when you search for me. As in, you put in my name and all of my work is the top 1-5 searches. So I've done SEO right here. But I have already a following before I set up my website. I'm sure this information transfers the same through YouTube. It'll generally just help get your name out there.
 

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would it make any difference in terms of views and income if I established a website for my channel?
This is going to be tl;dr for most people, but this response is specifically for Oliver... so dude, grab a coke before reading!

To answer your question...Yes... and no...

At this stage in your channel, if you're wanting to direct people FROM YouTube TO your site to make money, the answer is "No". Your channel is still so small (like mine at the moment) that there's no traffic to drive. Plus, if you have no product to sell or content to offer, there's little reason to have a site because you're trying to use it to create a revenue stream with nothing flowing in it. Later on though, as your channel grows, you can start hinting at offering products and such and if there's enough positive feedback, then would be the best time to start up a website like that.

If you're using it to direct people FROM your site TO your YouTube videos, then the answer is "Yes". From my personal experience this would be my advice:

1. Start your site. Look at sites like Car & Driver, MotorTrend and SpeedHunters then model your site design similar to theirs. It'll make visitors feel comfortable and the site intuitive to them. Use screen captures or still photos of the cars you've got on camera and start filling your site with written articles. Write like you were on staff reviewing cars at any of the above sites. Be professional, but be yourself, your style is what will differentiate you from everyone else. EMBED your YouTube videos at the top of each article instead of a main photo and offer a link to your channel at the end of each article. You have 60 videos, start with your oldest video first and progress forward from there. Make the photos you do post expandable and watermark the lower right corner with your sites name. Car guys love sharing photos, make it easy for them and you'll gain additional exposure when they do. The banners and such you talked about, add those to your site with a Google AdSense account. Integrate them into the site so they're unobtrusive but easy for visitors to see... and for the love of the car gods avoid pop-ups... no one likes or wants to see pop-ups.

2. Contact people. After you've uploaded about two dozen or so articles and have developed a system for the easiest way to update the site and add content, start emailing car club forums. Make a polite email stating who you are and that you've started a new site dedicated to exotic car reviews, a description of the site and a kind request they inform their members. This will go a LONG way to getting traffic to your site and YouTube channel. Don't just email clubs local to you, email exotic clubs, domestic clubs, clubs across the nation and clubs world wide. The further you reach the better. Some sites won't respond, that's ok. Many will. Keep a list of the sites you contact (so you don't contact them twice!) and so you can keep an eye on who posts your email. Make sure at this point you're able to upload articles to your site on a regular basis. At least once a week if not more.

3. Maintain expectations. Join the sites that were responsive to your email. Introduce yourself and your site personally. You're presence is to be one of the guys and should anyone have a question/comment/etc. you'd be happen to answer. Don't try and sell the site past that point. Post and chat like normal. Most forums offer a low priced vendors certification. One forum at a time, as you can afford, buy them. Then, start informing members when you post a new article. There's always going to be haters, but the majority of people, if they like your content, will look forward to when you get up to a car they personally like.

4. Add the swag. Once you're not overwhelmed by operating the site, your YouTube channel and filming new content, add a shopping cart with branded products. Keep it simple. T-shirts, hats, etc. There are sites and businesses online and local to you that can help you with this. Pick one that only charges you when a product is ordered and offers the best profit-to-service balance. Make sure your shopping cart is as easy for you to operate as it is your visitors.

5. Wait for it. The money isn't going to come in all at once. it's going to be a long slooooow process. To the point you'll be wondering if you made a mistake. Keep filming, keep writing, keep posting. Like "Field of Dreams"... If you build it, they will come. Your site and your YouTube channel will feed each other and grow over time to a greater degree than if you had just one and not the other.

6. Never stop improving. You'll get better in every way as time progresses, but always keep an eye out for new and inventive things you can add or do to stand out. Imagine what you think would be cool if a car site did or had, then do that! The more you like what you're doing the more you'll like doing it and that'll show up in your content, leading others to like it more as well.

I really liked your channel and what you're doing... keep it up!
 
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MrWhiskers

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I personally, have my own website alongside my YouTube channel it's run as a blog with other links on there such as my YouTube, Twitter, etc. It isn't going to hurt you having a website, but for being a new YouTuber doesn't expect a whole lot of it it right away it takes work and you have to build it up and work on the SEO.
 

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I think this fits better with the branding discussion forum, so I've moved this to the branding forum. ^_^
 

Oliver Andersen

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This is going to be tl;dr for most people, but this response is specifically for Oliver... so dude, grab a coke before reading!

To answer your question...Yes... and no...

At this stage in your channel, if you're wanting to direct people FROM YouTube TO your site to make money, the answer is "No". Your channel is still so small (like mine at the moment) that there's no traffic to drive. Plus, if you have no product to sell or content to offer, there's little reason to have a site because you're trying to use it to create a revenue stream with nothing flowing in it. Later on though, as your channel grows, you can start hinting at offering products and such and if there's enough positive feedback, then would be the best time to start up a website like that.

If you're using it to direct people FROM your site TO your YouTube videos, then the answer is "Yes". From my personal experience this would be my advice:

1. Start your site. Look at sites like Car & Driver, MotorTrend and SpeedHunters then model your site design similar to theirs. It'll make visitors feel comfortable and the site intuitive to them. Use screen captures or still photos of the cars you've got on camera and start filling your site with written articles. Write like you were on staff reviewing cars at any of the above sites. Be professional, but be yourself, your style is what will differentiate you from everyone else. EMBED your YouTube videos at the top of each article instead of a main photo and offer a link to your channel at the end of each article. You have 60 videos, start with your oldest video first and progress forward from there. Make the photos you do post expandable and watermark the lower right corner with your sites name. Car guys love sharing photos, make it easy for them and you'll gain additional exposure when they do. The banners and such you talked about, add those to your site with a Google AdSense account. Integrate them into the site so they're unobtrusive but easy for visitors to see... and for the love of the car gods avoid pop-ups... no one likes or wants to see pop-ups.

2. Contact people. After you've uploaded about two dozen or so articles and have developed a system for the easiest way to update the site and add content, start emailing car club forums. Make a polite email stating who you are and that you've started a new site dedicated to exotic car reviews, a description of the site and a kind request they inform their members. This will go a LONG way to getting traffic to your site and YouTube channel. Don't just email clubs local to you, email exotic clubs, domestic clubs, clubs across the nation and clubs world wide. The further you reach the better. Some sites won't respond, that's ok. Many will. Keep a list of the sites you contact (so you don't contact them twice!) and so you can keep an eye on who posts your email. Make sure at this point you're able to upload articles to your site on a regular basis. At least once a week if not more.

3. Maintain expectations. Join the sites that were responsive to your email. Introduce yourself and your site personally. You're presence is to be one of the guys and should anyone have a question/comment/etc. you'd be happen to answer. Don't try and sell the site past that point. Post and chat like normal. Most forums offer a low priced vendors certification. One forum at a time, as you can afford, buy them. Then, start informing members when you post a new article. There's always going to be haters, but the majority of people, if they like your content, will look forward to when you get up to a car they personally like.

4. Add the swag. Once you're not overwhelmed by operating the site, your YouTube channel and filming new content, add a shopping cart with branded products. Keep it simple. T-shirts, hats, etc. There are sites and businesses online and local to you that can help you with this. Pick one that only charges you when a product is ordered and offers the best profit-to-service balance. Make sure your shopping cart is as easy for you to operate as it is your visitors.

5. Wait for it. The money isn't going to come in all at once. it's going to be a long slooooow process. To the point you'll be wondering if you made a mistake. Keep filming, keep writing, keep posting. Like "Field of Dreams"... If you build it, they will come. Your site and your YouTube channel will feed each other and grow over time to a greater degree than if you had just one and not the other.

6. Never stop improving. You'll get better in every way as time progresses, but always keep an eye out for new and inventive things you can add or do to stand out. Imagine what you think would be cool if a car site did or had, then do that! The more you like what you're doing the more you'll like doing it and that'll show up in your content, leading others to like it more as well.

I really liked your channel and what you're doing... keep it up!
Thanks for the very long but also detailed awesome advice my idea is I think to make both where I have a front page which I use to show off my videos I can perhaps make a top 10 as well over the most popular videos on my channel for example. But I would like to sell a few accessories in order to get a bigger income I get 70 to 100 views per day with over 3k page views every week so I think I have a pretty good flow despite how small my channel is.

The website would function as both a webshop and a site to make my videos more visible and drive more views and subscribers,
I have increased my monthly views from 990 to 1.600 views with in a month and I think I can have it over 2k before next month.
The accessories I plan to sell with be shirts, hoodies maybe someone in leather with my logo either on the bag or the front which would help a lot getting the message of my channel out if we lets say they perhaps wear them for car shows or in front of other potential subscribers in my target area.

Its a pretty good strategy not only to promote my self but also to earn something on each subscriber, in my opinion though :)[DOUBLEPOST=1490385866,1490385643][/DOUBLEPOST]
Oh, it's not a lot - probably less than 1%-2% of my total views, but considering that I dont really create any content for the site, even that small number was surprising to me. If i had the time to make a big, long blog post and embed the video along with it, it would probably be a lot more.
Okay but what about the clothe you sell is it easy to find a supplier and can they custom make them in the quality I wish?
Or do you make them yourself and do you even get a income from them or is the custom videos the best sellers? :)