any video creator wanting to build a serious presence on YouTube knows that acquiring a custom URL is a powerful way to brand up a channel. YouTube used to insist that a channel had a minimum of 500 subscribers before a creator could get access to this feature, but it has now dropped that number to just 100 subscribers and 10000 views, which is great news for anyone who wants to take advantage of it.
How to Set Up a YouTube Custom URL in 5 Steps
When you create a YouTube channel, the default URL looks a little like this – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiZSAU-1BU5Hh5k02ll1Ehh. But that’s hard to remember, and also looks pretty unprofessional. You are going to want to change that as soon as you can so it becomes easy to type, share, and promote.
There are two ways of securing a custom URL. If you have a website, you can claim your unique URL by linking and then verifying your official site with either your YouTube channel, or with its associated Google+ page. Alternatively, you can claim your URL from within your YouTube account, in just 5 easy steps:
- Navigate to your YouTube home page. In the top right hand corner (this is YouTube, so the layout is obviously subject to change at any time) you’ll find a box named ‘Channel Tips’. Click on the ‘Get a New Custom URL‘ link and then ‘Get it Now’.
- A new window will open and give you 2 different options for your custom URL. You can either pick the first option, which should match the name you gave your channel upon set up, or you have the chance to pick something a little more custom by adding more keywords after the channel name. (If you want to choose a different name altogether, stop everything and follow these steps to change your YouTube channel display name before committing to a custom URL).
- If you are happy with your choice, agree to YouTube’s TOS and click on the ‘Change URL’ button.
- You’ll be asked to confirm your custom URL one more time – once the new URL has been claimed it can’t be changed again, or transferred to another channel.
- Click ‘Confirm Choice’. The new URL doesn’t immediately update (it didn’t for me anyway) but you should see it once YouTube has caught up with the changes.
If you don’t find the notification in ‘Channel Tips’, go to your channel’s ‘advanced account’ page and check there. Your YouTube account will need to be in good standing, have been active for 30 days, have 100+ subscribers, and have channel art to qualify.
If you haven’t claimed your custom URL then do it today – either by linking your website or from within YouTube. It looks so much more professional and will provide consistency for your branding or channel message.
glad that can help you.
