15 Essentials to Creating a Trust-Boosting YouTube Profile Page

Did you know that more than 500 million hours of videos are watched on YouTube each day?

That’s mind-boggling!

But here’s what’s really crazy.

In 2017, “more video content is uploaded in 30 days than the major U.S. television networks have created in 30 years.”

These two stats demonstrate just how huge YouTube and video marketing in general have become.

And what I really love about video as compared to other mediums is the trust-building opportunity it presents.

Don’t get me wrong.

Traditional blogging, guest-posting and other text-based formats are great.

But they have inherent limitations when compared to video.

Someone can read one of my blog posts and get a feel for my personality, style, sense of humor and so on.

But watching even a brief video lets them see the whole package:

They can see me, hear my voice, read my body language and get a feel for what I’m really like as a person.

With trust being such an integral part of marketing, video is almost a necessity and should be a part of any well-rounded campaign.

This leads us to a very important question.

How do you create a trust-boosting YouTube profile page?

In this post, I’ll cover some essential elements your YouTube page should have as well as some practical tips for engaging your viewers.

1. Start with a customized banner

Here’s Gary Vaynerchuk’s YouTube page:

And here’s Pat Flynn’s:

Both have solid followings and are well trusted in their industries.

Once I land on their YouTube homepages, one of the first things my eyes are drawn to is their professional, fully customized banners.

They both pop from an aesthetic standpoint and lend an air of legitimacy to their channels.

I can’t stress enough how vital your banner is.

Not only does it need to look great, it needs to capture the essence of your brand.

That’s what I aimed for with my YouTube banner:

I suggest staying away from a generic banner and creating a customized image tailored to your brand.

Check out the YouTube Banner Maker from FotoJet for more on this.

2. Beef up your About section

Have you ever heard the term tabula rasa?

It’s Latin for blank slate.

And that’s how I like to think of first-time visitors to a YouTube channel.

They’ve probably never heard of you, have zero idea of what you’re about and have no clue what type of content you cover.

Your job is to quickly and succinctly tell them what your channel is about.

The description on your About page needs to be spot on.

Here’s a great example from Brian Dean’s YouTube page:

In just a few words, the opening line explains precisely what his channel is about.

From there, visitors can read on for more details.

But the first line immediately grabs the attention of most of his demographic.

Pat Flynn also does a great job of this:

Be sure you’re following this same formula with your About page.

3. Nail it with your “explainer” video

Whenever visitors first land on a YouTube homepage, they’re presented with an introduction, or “explainer” video.

This gives them a brief overview of the channel and informs them about the theme, subject matter, etc.

If you’re a big brand like TED Talks, you can slap up pretty much any video you want because you’re already established.

There’s already built-in trust.

But what if you’re a fledgling brand, trying to get your name out there?

You need to explain your mission and what you do.

This is how I approached my YouTube profile page:

Chris Ducker does something similar with his “YouTube Channel Intro:”

I recommend doing this with your homepage video because it will answer first-time viewers’ questions, spark interest and create some initial trust.

4. Record in HD

Presentation is everything.

The last thing you want is to create grainy, low-quality videos on your channel.

You need to record in HD.

In fact, a study analyzing 1.3 million YouTube videos found that “68.2% of all videos on YouTube’s first page are in HD.”

It’s a significant ranking factor.

These days, standard definition isn’t going to cut it.

If you expect people to take you seriously, you need your content to be in HD.

And if you need help making HD videos on YouTube, check out this video.

5. Record videos just under 15 minutes

One of the biggest questions new YouTubers have is about the length of their videos.

Some prefer quick snippets, while others opt for longer, more in-depth content.

According to research,

the average length of a video ranking on the first page of YouTube is 14 minutes, 50 seconds.

So just under 15 minutes.

YouTube even confirmed that video “watch time” is a definitive ranking signal:

This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right length for everyone.

In fact, most of my videos are considerably shorter.

But it’s a pretty good length to aim for, especially if you’re just starting out and looking to build trust with your audience.

Just under 15 minutes should allow you to explain a topic in-depth without overwhelming your viewers.

6. Upload at least one new video per week

The other main question is, “How frequently should I upload a new video?”

Most experts would agree it should be at least once a week.

That’s the frequency Marie Forleo sticks with.

However, two or three times should work as well.

Your goal is to build your subscriber base by supplying viewers with fresh content so that they don’t forget about you or lose interest.

But at the same time, you don’t want to overwhelm them by posting every day.

Creating one to three videos per week is a safe bet.

7. Encourage comments

Comments are one of the main forms of currency YouTube uses to decide where to rank videos.

Just look at how the higher number of comments correlates with higher rankings:

Comments can also boost your trustworthiness, especially when they’re positive.

Just think about it.

Which would you take more seriously?

A video with five comments or 5,000?

I know I’m a little skeptical when the comment section of a YouTube video is a ghost town.

If no one else cares, why should I?

My point here is you should get in the habit of encouraging your viewers to leave their comments and weigh in with their opinions.

Better yet, ask a question at the end of each video to spark a discussion.

8. Encourage likes and shares

Likes and shares are other key forms of YouTube currency.

Not only does this type of engagement correlate with higher rankings, it can crank up the level of trust the viewers feel toward you as well.

Of course, getting a high number of likes and shares is easier said than done.

But asking viewers to engage by using a CTA at the end of a video will help.

Here’s a really simple script you can use:

Thanks for watching this video. Be sure to leave your comments and like or share if you found this content helpful.

9. Bring in influencers

What if your brand equity is only so-so?

One of the quickest ways to elevate it is to feature a well-known influencer on your channel.

That’s what Pat Flynn did a few years ago:

This particular video was posted on Halloween 2014, back when Pat could still be considered an up-and-comer.

It obviously paid off and helped him elevate his brand and gain more recognition.

This isn’t to say that you need to feature someone of a Gary Vee status to make an impact.

Just try to find someone with a big enough following to make a splash.

Getting in touch with someone via YouTube is easy.

Just click on the “Send message” box on the About page:

10. Be helpful without ulterior motives

Content marketing differs from most conventional outbound techniques in that it provides value without asking for anything in return.

It’s more about helping the consumer than shamelessly promoting your product.

And this is why content marketing is so effective.

Most people are sick and tired of being barraged by ads.

Just look at the growth of ad blocking software over the past several years:

Adblock Plus, the world’s most popular ad blocking extension, has been downloaded over 500 million times!

The moment you blatantly try to push your product on YouTube viewers is the moment you lose their trust.

Instead, place your focus on helping and informing your viewers without having any ulterior motives:

Obviously, you’re looking to promote your brand, but taking this approach will boost your trustworthiness and ultimately lead to sales.

11. Redirect viewers to helpful resources

You can cover a lot in your videos, and your knowledge goes a long way.

But you’ll never have all the answers.

Often, it makes more sense to send your viewers to external resources, where they can learn more about the topic.

This is just another way to prove you’re genuinely invested in helping, which is huge for boosting trust.

12. Create an intimate feel

What I love about YouTube is that it allows me to connect with my audience in a way that isn’t possible with most other mediums.

When creating your videos, it’s super important that you achieve an intimate feel and come across as personable and approachable.

HubSpot pulls this off well.

Even though they’re a fairly big company, most of their videos are delivered in a direct, one-on-one manner.

13. Stick to your niche

I didn’t get to where I am today by trying to wear a bunch of hats.

My focus has primarily been on business and digital marketing, and I haven’t strayed from it.

Just look at the topics of my YouTube videos:

They all fall under that umbrella.

I’m not saying you should pigeonhole yourself into a single micro-niche, but you need to stay focused on your area of expertise.

This will enable you to be recognized as an authority and help you build trust.

Otherwise, being seen as a generalist can hurt your credibility.

14. Promptly respond to comments

A survey from Altitude found that

84% of consumers expect companies to respond within 24 hours after posting on social media.

But in reality, most people expect it even quicker than that.

I’ve heard that some people even expect a response within 30 minutes!

The bottom line is when someone takes the time to leave a comment, they want to know you’re seeing it and they want to be acknowledged quickly.

I realize it’s not feasible to respond to every single comment within minutes. That would require you to live on YouTube.

But you should try to respond within 24 hours.

It’s going to help you from a trust standpoint and can lead to some extremely loyal subscribers.

15. Live-stream a portion of your content

The concept of live video is fairly new.

But it’s blowing up like crazy, and YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and others all have their own versions of live streaming.

Not only can viewers watch you in real time, they can send in their comments and questions live.

For YouTube, you need to have at least 1,000 subscribers, so it’s not viable for tiny channels.

But if you have 1,000+ subscribers, I highly suggest doing live streaming for at least some of your content.

Just check out this guide from YouTube to learn more about live streaming.

Conclusion

The amount of trust you’re able to build with your audience directly impacts their receptiveness to your brand and their likelihood of buying.

That’s why trust building should be at the forefront of your mission.

Fortunately, YouTube is the perfect resource for building trust that can spill over to your broader marketing campaign.

It’s just a matter of zooming in on the right areas and following the essentials.

What makes you trust a brand on YouTube?

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What I Learned from Checking BuzzSumo Every Day for a Month

I use a lot of different tools and various software for marketing.

But one of my absolute favorites is BuzzSumo.

I love it!

At this point, I consider it a linchpin useful for several different aspects of marketing.

And apparently I’m not alone.

Big name brands, such as TechRadar, TechTarget and even Rolling Stone magazine, use BuzzSumo to optimize their campaigns.

And because I tend to be compulsive about certain things, I’ve gotten into the habit of checking BuzzSumo every single day.

As you might imagine, I’ve come up with some pretty interesting insights along the way.

In this post, I’ll share with you what I learned from checking BuzzSumo every day for a month.

It’ll tell you, without a doubt, which influencers to target

One of the major selling points of BuzzSumo is it allows me to perform streamlined influencer research.

If you’re wondering whom to target for a guest post, brand endorsement, etc., BuzzSumo will let you know.

Here’s an example of how to use it.

From the dashboard, enter the topic or keyword you’re interested in.

In my case, it’s “digital marketing”:

Click “Search”:

This will show you which content has received the most shares.

But I want to take it one step further, so I’m going to click on “Content Analysis” at the top:

Scroll down a bit, and you’ll see a section called “Most Shared Domains by Network”:

This lets me know which publications, websites and blogs are getting the most shares, telling me how influential they are.

I also like the pie chart, quickly showing me how things stack up.

If I wanted to pitch a few brands with a guest-posting idea, I would want to aim for some of the top brands on the list, like Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, Social Media Today and so on.

But wait, there’s more.

Go back to the top, and click on “Influencers.”

Here’s what I get:

It’s a massive list of influencers along with accompanying key metrics such as their page authority, domain authority, follower count, etc.

I can literally find thousands of influencers in the digital marketing niche.

I can then reach out to any of them by visiting their website or contacting them on Twitter (BuzzSumo provides links to both).

I honestly can’t think of a more streamlined and efficient way to find the top influencers.

If influencer marketing is your bread and butter, BuzzSumo is a godsend.

You can see where competitors are getting their links from

Backlinks are everything.

It’s a toss up as to which is more important: content or links.

But I think we can all agree that the quality and relevancy of the sites linking to you impact your search rankings heavily.

One of my favorite features on BuzzSumo is “Backlinks.”

With a simple search, you can find out who’s linking to your competitors and which specific pieces of content those links are coming from.

Here’s how you do it.

First, click on “Backlinks” from your dashboard:

Now, enter the URL of the competitor you want to check out.

I’ll use Kissmetrics as an example:

Click on “Search.”

Voila! Just like that, I can see where their backlinks are coming from.

Here are just a few:

And I can take it one step further by checking the rest of the backlinks coming from a particular website.

Just look at “View [X] More Links”:

If you see that a particular site is linking to your competitor like crazy, this is a good indicator they may be willing to link to you as well.

This is helpful because it gives me plenty of ideas for backlink opportunities.

By knowing who’s most likely to link to content in my industry, I know to whom I should reach out and who’s most worth my time.

You can tell which topics are trending in your industry

Evergreen content is definitely important and serves its purpose.

In particular, I’m a fan of long-form evergreen pieces.

But as good as evergreen content is, it’s also important to cover the hot topics trending right now.

This is especially true for fast-moving niches like news and politics.

Striking while the iron is hot is a surefire way to bring attention to your brand and grow your audience.

And it just so happens that BuzzSumo is perfect for determining which topics are trending in your industry.

All it takes is a quick search.

You first want to go to your dashboard and filter by a recent date.

I usually look at content from the previous week, but a month or even 24 hours can work as well, depending on your industry.

Click on the filter you want to use:

Type in your keyword:

Now click “Search.”

Within seconds, I can see which topics are trending and the number of shares each piece of content has received:

The more engagement content receives, the more interested I am in it because people are obviously responding to it favorably.

I know for a fact this content is resonating with my audience at this particular moment.

If I create a similar post or skyscraper it, I’ve got a good chance of getting positive results.

And believe me, this beats the heck out of manually scouring the Internet, trying to figure out what’s working.

Going that route is incredibly arduous and labor intensive.

It also involves too much guesswork for my taste.

By using BuzzSumo, I know for sure what’s trending and have access to several helpful metrics, which means I’m basing my findings on concrete data—not just a hunch.

You can determine which content formats to use

This one’s a biggie.

Which content formats should you use to reach your audience most effectively?

You could always experiment and base your content strategy on speculation.

Or you could use data to guide your strategy.

Although I think most successful marketing campaigns do require a certain amount of experimentation, I’m a fan of using data whenever it’s available.

And in this case, BuzzSumo makes it readily available.

This information is also available in the “Content Analysis” section.

Just look for “Average Shares By Content Type.”

For digital marketing, a list format is your best bet:

For “IoT” (the Internet of Things), it’s video:

Just plug your industry/niche into the search box, and you can instantly tell which type of format is resonating the most with your audience.

You can use it to find the sweet spot for content length

I’ve written quite a bit on choosing the right length for your content.

I even published an article that specifically points out what the ideal word count is according to your industry.

And quite frankly, word count is one of the most widely discussed topics in the content marketing world.

If you’re not quite sure how long your posts should be, BuzzSumo can definitely point you in the right direction.

Again, you’ll want to go to “Content Analysis.”

Then scroll down until you reach the section called “Average Shares By Content Length.”

Here’s what pops up for digital marketing:

I can see that aiming for over 3,000 words is my best bet for maximizing shares.

But this isn’t the case for all industries.

Here are the results I got when searching for IoT:

In this case, I’m better off aiming for 2,000-3,000 words.

And here’s one more random example—marathon running:

In this niche, 1,000-2,000 words would be best.

This shows you how this feature can work for almost any industry.

It lets you know which social networks produce the most shares

Another question many marketers have is which social networks they should focus on.

Should you stick with the biggest user base and put the bulk of your attention on Facebook?

Or are you better off opting for another network?

BuzzSumo will let you know for sure which platforms are best for your industry.

Just look for “Average Shares By Network” on the “Content Analysis” page.

Here’s what I got for IoT:

It’s clear that Facebook is bringing in the most shares, followed by LinkedIn and Twitter.

I would probably want to focus on those networks in that order.

Here’s what I got for digital marketing:

For this industry, Twitter is actually bringing in the most shares, followed by Facebook and LinkedIn.

You get the idea.

The only catch is you’re limited to these five platforms because BuzzSumo doesn’t currently feature Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, etc.

But it’s still a good way to gauge which major networks are most worth your time.

Conclusion

BuzzSumo is a gold mine for marketers!

Whether you want to know which influencers to target, where your competitors are getting their backlinks from or which content formats to use, BuzzSumo will provide all the details.

It’ll give you in-depth insights on how to best approach your marketing campaign, and it’s super easy to use.

Most people can figure out the basics in minutes. It’s very intuitive.

I use it to guide multiple areas of my marketing and highly recommend you try it as well.

What’s your take on BuzzSumo? Do you use any similar tools?

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How to Create a Link-Building Strategy from Scratch

Google examines roughly 200 different factors to determine page rank.

That’s a lot!

But what’s arguably the most important is backlinks.

Here’s a chart from Moz that shows how important links are:

Backlinks have been, and continue to remain, one of the top ranking factors, making them Google’s primary form of “currency.”

In March 2016, Google Search Quality Senior Strategist, Andrey Lipattsev went on record describing the two most important ranking factors.

According to Lipattsev,

it is content. And it’s links pointing to your site.

He didn’t specify which was more important, content or links.

But you can bet they’re both incredibly important!

It’s fair to say if you ever expect to make any real headway with SEO, you need a link-building strategy.

The question is, how do you create one?

There are a lot of ways to go about it, and everyone has their opinion on which aspects you should focus.

In this post, I’m offering my advice on how to create a link-building strategy from scratch.

I’m going to highlight the most vital elements necessary for an SEO surge.

This by no means covers all the aspects of link building but will serve as a good starting point that should help you bring in valuable links from a variety of reputable sites.

Compile a list of sites

Your first order of business is to come up with a list of sites you want links from.

This is somewhat of a science because sites vary greatly.

For instance, a link from one site can be a godsend and have an incredibly high link value.

But a link from another site can carry virtually no weight and even result in a penalty.

Where do you start and what criteria do you use?

You’re probably already aware of at least a handful of blogs, publications and other digital resources relevant to your industry.

This is a good starting point.

If you know for a fact they’re popular and get a lot of love from Google, you’ll want them to link to you.

Besides that, here are a few other things you can do.

Analyze competitors

You can learn a lot by investigating your main competitors and finding out where they’re getting their backlinks from.

SEMrush is one of my favorite tools because you can unearth a ton of information within seconds.

Even the basic, free version can supply you with plenty of helpful data.

Here’s what you do.

Type in the URL of one of your main competitors.

I’ll just use Moz as an example:

You’ll then see something like this:

Scroll down a bit until you see the “Backlinks” section.

Click on it:

You’ll then see a list of sites linking to that competitor:

This includes other helpful info such as the specific target URL, page score, anchor text and so on.

Browse through this list, and look for potential sites you would be interested in getting backlinks from.

Keep in mind if they’re already linking to a competitor in your same industry/niche, there’s a good chance they would link to you as well.

By looking at Moz’s backlinks, I might include the following sites:

Search by keyword

Here’s another simple technique for coming up with link-worthy sites.

Search by keyword on SEMrush.

Just enter a fitting keyword applicable to your demographic.

I’ll use “content marketing” as an example:

Click on “Search,” and SEMrush will supply you with a nice list of resources.

Scroll down to “Organic Search Results.”

That should give you some good ideas.

But you can take it one step further by clicking on individual sites.

Let’s check out Copyblogger:

Follow the same steps I mentioned earlier to see who’s linking to those sites for even more ideas.

Now add those to your list:

The importance of domain diversity

When it comes to backlinks, diversity is a good thing.

Recent research from Backlinko found,

the number of referring domains has a very strong influence on rankings. In other words, it’s better to get 10 links from 10 different sites than 10 links from the same domain.

The logic here is that getting links from a wide array of sites, rather than just a few, gives you more endorsements in Google’s eyes.

In turn, this should have a positive impact on your SEO.

Cast a wide net and strive to get backlinks from as many relevant, trustworthy sites as possible.

Be sure you’re not limiting yourself to only a handful of sites.

While links from a few sites is better than nothing, you want to strive for a diverse link profile.

“Skyscraper it”

Here’s a question.

Why would anyone want to link to your site in the first place?

What would their motivation be?

It’s simple.

You’ve got killer content.

That content is enriching their audience’s knowledge of a topic they are interested in.

This means one thing.

You need A+, top-tier content that surpasses that of your competitors.

To be completely honest, it’s not always feasible to be 100% unique, especially if you’re in a really saturated industry.

But what is always possible is creating better content.

I won’t go into the nitty-gritty of creating content that outranks your competitors’, but I’ll mention the skyscraper technique because it’s a proven strategy for outperforming the rest of the pack.

This should make your content link-worthy and your link-building efforts much easier.

You’ll need to create content like a pro, and one of the best ways to go about it is to use the skyscraper technique.

Ideally, you’ll have a sizable list of articles on your site covering multiple aspects of your industry.

I also recommend thinking outside the box and creating content others have ignored.

Zigging when everyone else is zagging can unlock some big opportunities and make your brand stand out.

It also makes your content more appealing to link to.

For example, you might want to experiment with infographics, videos, slideshows, etc.

This will also be important for inevitably gaining links from a variety of different domains.

Match content with relevant sites

At this point, you should have a list of credible, relevant sites you’re interested in getting backlinks from.

You should also have a nice little archive of content on your site.

Now, you need to match your content with suitable sites.

Here’s an example.

I’ve written an article called How to Become a World-Class Copywriter in One Month or Less.

This is in line with subjects covered on Copyblogger, so that would be a good match.

I’d place that beside Copyblogger.com on my list:

Rinse and repeat this process for the rest of sites on your list.

Contact site owners

The last step is the outreach process.

Reach out to those website owners to see if you can get them to link to you.

Writing individual emails for each and every single website isn’t usually feasible, so I suggest sticking with a script you can easily personalize.

Utilize a template but personalize a few small details to fit the site you’re contacting (and so it doesn’t come across as insincere or robotic).

Backlinko offers a great script:

It covers all the essentials but is quick and to the point.

As long as your content hits its mark, this should help you bring in the backlinks you’re looking for.

This guide from Art of Emails offers some additional scripts for acquiring backlinks.

Conclusion

The concept of link building is a wide umbrella.

This post covers only a few of all the link-building techniques out there.

Check out this resource from Point Blank SEO for a massive list of link-building tactics.

But following this formula should help you gain some initial momentum.

It will also put you on the radar of other sites and publications within your industry, which can lead to even more links in the future.

Now, allow me to recap.

• Use research to compile a list of the “likely-linker” sites (pay close attention to their authority and relevance to your industry)
• Analyze competitors and keywords to assist you in this process
• Create a large, diverse list because Google looks closely at domain diversity
• Create great, link-worthy content
• Get in touch with site owners to see if they’d link to you

Of course, not everyone will oblige you and instantly link to your site.

But if you go about it the right way and have killer content, a reasonable portion of them will.

And that can make all the difference and be the catalyst for a beefy, robust link profile.

How big of a role do you think backlinks will have five years from now?

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