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Unlocking 6 Hidden Sources for Custom YouTube Symbols
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Unlocking 6 Hidden Sources for Custom YouTube Symbols
6 Completely Different Places to Get Icons and Logos for YouTube Videos
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Whether you need YouTube icons and logos to use as pop-up graphics in your videos, to serve as your channel icon, to use as watermarks, or to liven up your channel art or video thumbnails – don’t worry. There are lots of places to get them.
We’ve made a list of 6 sites where you can download icons and logos for free for YouTub videos, and explained how they work.
You might also want to check out these YouTube channels offering free profile picture templates .
1. Flaticon.com
Key Points:
- Great selection of icons/logos
- It’s easy to change the colors before you download
I’m putting Flaticon.com right at the top of this list because it has something that really sets it apart from the other sites on this list – it lets you edit pre-made icons before you download them.
You start out on Flaticon by searching for a theme like beauty, gaming, flowers, or emojis. I searched for ‘birds’ and found these cuties.
These aren’t all the birds on Flaticon, just a few. They had a huge selection in all the different searches I tried.
I clicked on the brown bird to open up the download screen, and then clicked into ‘Edit icon’. There may be a pop up that tells you editing tools are only available to registered users, but it’s wrong. Just close it and keep going, unless you want to register.
You can edit the colors in your icon just by clicking on the color you want to replace, and then clicking on the color in the color selector you want to replace it with. I made my birdie FLY.
I never apologize for puns.
Once you like the look of your icon, just click Download. You will be prompted to choose a format. PNG is the most popular because it is supported the most places (including on YouTube), and because it allows for a transparent background.
After clicking on a format you will also be prompted to choose a size for your image. It’s always best to go with the largest image you can – its way easier to shrink things and keep them looking good than it is to have to enlarge them.
Flaticon has a great selection, it’s free, and they make it really easy to edit your creations. I would strongly recommend this site to anyone in the market for an icon or logo.
Flaticon asks that you include an “Icon made by [author link] from <www.flaticon.com> ” somewhere (i.e. video description, channel ‘about’ section) when you use their icons for free.
2. Freepik.com
Key Points:
- Good selection of icons.
- No way to customise them on the site.
- Attribution requried.
On freepik, you start off by searching for a theme (like the genre of your YouTube title or the topic of a video, i.e. ‘makeup’ or ‘music’). I searched for ‘cat’.
A few of the sets available on freepik. The crown icon means you need to be a paying Premium member, but most things are free.
You can’t edit on freepik, and in order to download for free you need to include an attribution/credit to freepik where you use the images.
You do not choose what format to download your images in on freepik. When you hit ‘Free Download’ it will automatically download a zip file which will contain both a .jpg and a .eps. The EPS is editable in any ‘vector graphics editor’, like Adobe Illustrator, and YouTube supports .jpg files.
3. Seeklogo.net
Key Points:
- Logos from major brands
- Great for channels that do product reviews
Seeklogo.net has a slightly more corporate slant than some of the other sites on this list. It has logos for a lot of major companies and brands available for download.
In the ‘search’ on Seeklogo.net, you can type in the name of a brand or industry and see if the well-known logo you’re looking for is available. This may be especially useful for people with sports related channels since they have a lot of logos for major teams.
I searched for YouTube – you never know when you might need the YouTube logo.
Although the site does not advertise PNG in the list of formats on their front page, downloads do include PNG versions (which is useful if you need transparency and don’t have a program which can edit vector files, like .eps).
4. IconArchive.com
Key Points:
- Site has an office/business slant.
- Detailed search tool lets you sort by color, theme, etc.
IconArchive has a huge selection of icons with somewhat of an office/business slant. I searched for ‘flower’ and half the results were of file-folders with flowers on them.
Could be cool for a lifestyle video about school or work?
My favorite thing about IconArchive is its search features. It allows you to filter results by color, size (down to the specific resolution), category, background color, style, and a lot more.
Color is under ‘Display’, meaning that it won’t filter out results that have different colors it’ll just list the color you select first.
The ‘Category’ filter is useful because there are some genres you probably recognize there, like ‘Lifestyle’. However, you should be careful not to over-filter. This site is pretty literal in how it categorizes. For example – there are no ‘flower’ images under ‘Lifestyle’.
Downloads are available in different sizes and formats including PNG. PNG is always a good option because it is supported by YouTube and includes transparent backgrounds.
Note that all of your different download buttons will be located underneath your image. They favor those ads that look like ‘download’ or ‘start now’ buttons, and the ads sit right next to the images on the right, so it’s easy to get confused and click on the ad.
5. Logaster.com
Key Points:
- You’ll have to pay for larger images.
- Focused more on businesses.
- Incorporates your channel name.
Logaster is really a service for businesses – they make and sell business cards, letterheads, and other office-y things like that. However, they are still a good choice for YouTubers because they have a free logo creator. Sort of.
You actually have to pay $9.99 to get larger images and remove the watermark, but the process is free.
When you arrive on Logaster there’s a button right on their home page that says ‘Create a logo for free’. Click on it.
In Step 1 it’ll ask for your company name and an activity type. You just need to put in your channel name and choose something from the activity drop down that you focus on in your videos.
My heart burns with the secret desire to be YouTube’s Neil Degrasse Tyson (it doesn’t really, but he is super cool) so I tried ‘Katie Does Science’ and ‘Science, Studies, Education’. Here’s what it came up with:
There are 10 pages of suggestions!
You can see how, unless you have a short channel name, you’re probably not going to be able to use any of these as an icon, but a lot of them would look cool on a banner. There’s an ‘Edit Logo Concept’ button which allows you to make changes to the layout, but you can still only choose from preset layouts. For example, some logo concepts allow you to choose whether the icon is above your text or next to it.
After you click ‘save’ in the last step you’ll be prompted to provide an email address and password. Once you sign in, you’ll be able to download a small logo for free, or purchase the higher resolution image.
I personally wouldn’t recommend buying an image from here unless your channel is for your small business and you need things like branded business cards and letterhead. This site might be better for gathering inspiration than actually downloading a logo from.
6. Icons8.com
Key Points:
- You need to link back to them to use their icons.
- You can edit the colors on the site and even add details.
- There’s a size limit on the free service (100x100px)
At Icons8 they have free and paid services. If you download an icon for free it will be a PNG file (which should be fine, YouTube supports PNG and it’s good for transparency) that is no larger than 100x100px. This is not ideal since YouTube recommends 800x800px for profile pictures, but it’s not necessarily a deal breaker either. Profile pictures render down to much smaller than that.
You will also need to link to Icons8 if you use their icons for free (i.e. in the ‘about’ section of your channel page).
To get started on Icons8, type something into the search bar on the home page that you think might work as an icon or as part of whatever graphics you have planned. I typed in ‘game’ for this one, since gaming is the biggest genre on YouTube. Here are a few of the results that came up:
Lower down in the results there were different kinds of sports balls, hand-held gaming systems, playing cards, joy sticks, baseball caps and more.
After you find an icon you like, click on it and it will appear on the right side of your screen where you’ll be able to make a few changes (an editing screen will pop up once you start clicking on things). You can edit your colors, overlay small decals, add text, and add a border, change your background and adjust your size. Here’s the editing screen:
You can give your icon a pretty different look from its default. Check this out:
You cannot download your icon from the editing screen. You need to click Save, and then download it from the main display screen here:
You can change the size with that drop down menu, but you’ll be limited in your options if you don’t want to pay.
I downloaded my image and tried to see how it would look as an icon/profile picture. As you can see, it was pretty blurry in the preview:
However, the preview is larger than the actual profile picture. Once I set it, it looked alright.
Looking for somewhere you can build your own icon/logo from scratch? Check out this list of logo makers .
After downloading the icons or logos, it is time to add them to your YouTube video. Here I recommend our Wondershare Filmora video editor . Below is a video tutorial about how to add a logo to video in Filmora . Remember to download the free trial version to test.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Whether you need YouTube icons and logos to use as pop-up graphics in your videos, to serve as your channel icon, to use as watermarks, or to liven up your channel art or video thumbnails – don’t worry. There are lots of places to get them.
We’ve made a list of 6 sites where you can download icons and logos for free for YouTub videos, and explained how they work.
You might also want to check out these YouTube channels offering free profile picture templates .
1. Flaticon.com
Key Points:
- Great selection of icons/logos
- It’s easy to change the colors before you download
I’m putting Flaticon.com right at the top of this list because it has something that really sets it apart from the other sites on this list – it lets you edit pre-made icons before you download them.
You start out on Flaticon by searching for a theme like beauty, gaming, flowers, or emojis. I searched for ‘birds’ and found these cuties.
These aren’t all the birds on Flaticon, just a few. They had a huge selection in all the different searches I tried.
I clicked on the brown bird to open up the download screen, and then clicked into ‘Edit icon’. There may be a pop up that tells you editing tools are only available to registered users, but it’s wrong. Just close it and keep going, unless you want to register.
You can edit the colors in your icon just by clicking on the color you want to replace, and then clicking on the color in the color selector you want to replace it with. I made my birdie FLY.
I never apologize for puns.
Once you like the look of your icon, just click Download. You will be prompted to choose a format. PNG is the most popular because it is supported the most places (including on YouTube), and because it allows for a transparent background.
After clicking on a format you will also be prompted to choose a size for your image. It’s always best to go with the largest image you can – its way easier to shrink things and keep them looking good than it is to have to enlarge them.
Flaticon has a great selection, it’s free, and they make it really easy to edit your creations. I would strongly recommend this site to anyone in the market for an icon or logo.
Flaticon asks that you include an “Icon made by [author link] from <www.flaticon.com> ” somewhere (i.e. video description, channel ‘about’ section) when you use their icons for free.
2. Freepik.com
Key Points:
- Good selection of icons.
- No way to customise them on the site.
- Attribution requried.
On freepik, you start off by searching for a theme (like the genre of your YouTube title or the topic of a video, i.e. ‘makeup’ or ‘music’). I searched for ‘cat’.
A few of the sets available on freepik. The crown icon means you need to be a paying Premium member, but most things are free.
You can’t edit on freepik, and in order to download for free you need to include an attribution/credit to freepik where you use the images.
You do not choose what format to download your images in on freepik. When you hit ‘Free Download’ it will automatically download a zip file which will contain both a .jpg and a .eps. The EPS is editable in any ‘vector graphics editor’, like Adobe Illustrator, and YouTube supports .jpg files.
3. Seeklogo.net
Key Points:
- Logos from major brands
- Great for channels that do product reviews
Seeklogo.net has a slightly more corporate slant than some of the other sites on this list. It has logos for a lot of major companies and brands available for download.
In the ‘search’ on Seeklogo.net, you can type in the name of a brand or industry and see if the well-known logo you’re looking for is available. This may be especially useful for people with sports related channels since they have a lot of logos for major teams.
I searched for YouTube – you never know when you might need the YouTube logo.
Although the site does not advertise PNG in the list of formats on their front page, downloads do include PNG versions (which is useful if you need transparency and don’t have a program which can edit vector files, like .eps).
4. IconArchive.com
Key Points:
- Site has an office/business slant.
- Detailed search tool lets you sort by color, theme, etc.
IconArchive has a huge selection of icons with somewhat of an office/business slant. I searched for ‘flower’ and half the results were of file-folders with flowers on them.
Could be cool for a lifestyle video about school or work?
My favorite thing about IconArchive is its search features. It allows you to filter results by color, size (down to the specific resolution), category, background color, style, and a lot more.
Color is under ‘Display’, meaning that it won’t filter out results that have different colors it’ll just list the color you select first.
The ‘Category’ filter is useful because there are some genres you probably recognize there, like ‘Lifestyle’. However, you should be careful not to over-filter. This site is pretty literal in how it categorizes. For example – there are no ‘flower’ images under ‘Lifestyle’.
Downloads are available in different sizes and formats including PNG. PNG is always a good option because it is supported by YouTube and includes transparent backgrounds.
Note that all of your different download buttons will be located underneath your image. They favor those ads that look like ‘download’ or ‘start now’ buttons, and the ads sit right next to the images on the right, so it’s easy to get confused and click on the ad.
5. Logaster.com
Key Points:
- You’ll have to pay for larger images.
- Focused more on businesses.
- Incorporates your channel name.
Logaster is really a service for businesses – they make and sell business cards, letterheads, and other office-y things like that. However, they are still a good choice for YouTubers because they have a free logo creator. Sort of.
You actually have to pay $9.99 to get larger images and remove the watermark, but the process is free.
When you arrive on Logaster there’s a button right on their home page that says ‘Create a logo for free’. Click on it.
In Step 1 it’ll ask for your company name and an activity type. You just need to put in your channel name and choose something from the activity drop down that you focus on in your videos.
My heart burns with the secret desire to be YouTube’s Neil Degrasse Tyson (it doesn’t really, but he is super cool) so I tried ‘Katie Does Science’ and ‘Science, Studies, Education’. Here’s what it came up with:
There are 10 pages of suggestions!
You can see how, unless you have a short channel name, you’re probably not going to be able to use any of these as an icon, but a lot of them would look cool on a banner. There’s an ‘Edit Logo Concept’ button which allows you to make changes to the layout, but you can still only choose from preset layouts. For example, some logo concepts allow you to choose whether the icon is above your text or next to it.
After you click ‘save’ in the last step you’ll be prompted to provide an email address and password. Once you sign in, you’ll be able to download a small logo for free, or purchase the higher resolution image.
I personally wouldn’t recommend buying an image from here unless your channel is for your small business and you need things like branded business cards and letterhead. This site might be better for gathering inspiration than actually downloading a logo from.
6. Icons8.com
Key Points:
- You need to link back to them to use their icons.
- You can edit the colors on the site and even add details.
- There’s a size limit on the free service (100x100px)
At Icons8 they have free and paid services. If you download an icon for free it will be a PNG file (which should be fine, YouTube supports PNG and it’s good for transparency) that is no larger than 100x100px. This is not ideal since YouTube recommends 800x800px for profile pictures, but it’s not necessarily a deal breaker either. Profile pictures render down to much smaller than that.
You will also need to link to Icons8 if you use their icons for free (i.e. in the ‘about’ section of your channel page).
To get started on Icons8, type something into the search bar on the home page that you think might work as an icon or as part of whatever graphics you have planned. I typed in ‘game’ for this one, since gaming is the biggest genre on YouTube. Here are a few of the results that came up:
Lower down in the results there were different kinds of sports balls, hand-held gaming systems, playing cards, joy sticks, baseball caps and more.
After you find an icon you like, click on it and it will appear on the right side of your screen where you’ll be able to make a few changes (an editing screen will pop up once you start clicking on things). You can edit your colors, overlay small decals, add text, and add a border, change your background and adjust your size. Here’s the editing screen:
You can give your icon a pretty different look from its default. Check this out:
You cannot download your icon from the editing screen. You need to click Save, and then download it from the main display screen here:
You can change the size with that drop down menu, but you’ll be limited in your options if you don’t want to pay.
I downloaded my image and tried to see how it would look as an icon/profile picture. As you can see, it was pretty blurry in the preview:
However, the preview is larger than the actual profile picture. Once I set it, it looked alright.
Looking for somewhere you can build your own icon/logo from scratch? Check out this list of logo makers .
After downloading the icons or logos, it is time to add them to your YouTube video. Here I recommend our Wondershare Filmora video editor . Below is a video tutorial about how to add a logo to video in Filmora . Remember to download the free trial version to test.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Whether you need YouTube icons and logos to use as pop-up graphics in your videos, to serve as your channel icon, to use as watermarks, or to liven up your channel art or video thumbnails – don’t worry. There are lots of places to get them.
We’ve made a list of 6 sites where you can download icons and logos for free for YouTub videos, and explained how they work.
You might also want to check out these YouTube channels offering free profile picture templates .
1. Flaticon.com
Key Points:
- Great selection of icons/logos
- It’s easy to change the colors before you download
I’m putting Flaticon.com right at the top of this list because it has something that really sets it apart from the other sites on this list – it lets you edit pre-made icons before you download them.
You start out on Flaticon by searching for a theme like beauty, gaming, flowers, or emojis. I searched for ‘birds’ and found these cuties.
These aren’t all the birds on Flaticon, just a few. They had a huge selection in all the different searches I tried.
I clicked on the brown bird to open up the download screen, and then clicked into ‘Edit icon’. There may be a pop up that tells you editing tools are only available to registered users, but it’s wrong. Just close it and keep going, unless you want to register.
You can edit the colors in your icon just by clicking on the color you want to replace, and then clicking on the color in the color selector you want to replace it with. I made my birdie FLY.
I never apologize for puns.
Once you like the look of your icon, just click Download. You will be prompted to choose a format. PNG is the most popular because it is supported the most places (including on YouTube), and because it allows for a transparent background.
After clicking on a format you will also be prompted to choose a size for your image. It’s always best to go with the largest image you can – its way easier to shrink things and keep them looking good than it is to have to enlarge them.
Flaticon has a great selection, it’s free, and they make it really easy to edit your creations. I would strongly recommend this site to anyone in the market for an icon or logo.
Flaticon asks that you include an “Icon made by [author link] from <www.flaticon.com> ” somewhere (i.e. video description, channel ‘about’ section) when you use their icons for free.
2. Freepik.com
Key Points:
- Good selection of icons.
- No way to customise them on the site.
- Attribution requried.
On freepik, you start off by searching for a theme (like the genre of your YouTube title or the topic of a video, i.e. ‘makeup’ or ‘music’). I searched for ‘cat’.
A few of the sets available on freepik. The crown icon means you need to be a paying Premium member, but most things are free.
You can’t edit on freepik, and in order to download for free you need to include an attribution/credit to freepik where you use the images.
You do not choose what format to download your images in on freepik. When you hit ‘Free Download’ it will automatically download a zip file which will contain both a .jpg and a .eps. The EPS is editable in any ‘vector graphics editor’, like Adobe Illustrator, and YouTube supports .jpg files.
3. Seeklogo.net
Key Points:
- Logos from major brands
- Great for channels that do product reviews
Seeklogo.net has a slightly more corporate slant than some of the other sites on this list. It has logos for a lot of major companies and brands available for download.
In the ‘search’ on Seeklogo.net, you can type in the name of a brand or industry and see if the well-known logo you’re looking for is available. This may be especially useful for people with sports related channels since they have a lot of logos for major teams.
I searched for YouTube – you never know when you might need the YouTube logo.
Although the site does not advertise PNG in the list of formats on their front page, downloads do include PNG versions (which is useful if you need transparency and don’t have a program which can edit vector files, like .eps).
4. IconArchive.com
Key Points:
- Site has an office/business slant.
- Detailed search tool lets you sort by color, theme, etc.
IconArchive has a huge selection of icons with somewhat of an office/business slant. I searched for ‘flower’ and half the results were of file-folders with flowers on them.
Could be cool for a lifestyle video about school or work?
My favorite thing about IconArchive is its search features. It allows you to filter results by color, size (down to the specific resolution), category, background color, style, and a lot more.
Color is under ‘Display’, meaning that it won’t filter out results that have different colors it’ll just list the color you select first.
The ‘Category’ filter is useful because there are some genres you probably recognize there, like ‘Lifestyle’. However, you should be careful not to over-filter. This site is pretty literal in how it categorizes. For example – there are no ‘flower’ images under ‘Lifestyle’.
Downloads are available in different sizes and formats including PNG. PNG is always a good option because it is supported by YouTube and includes transparent backgrounds.
Note that all of your different download buttons will be located underneath your image. They favor those ads that look like ‘download’ or ‘start now’ buttons, and the ads sit right next to the images on the right, so it’s easy to get confused and click on the ad.
5. Logaster.com
Key Points:
- You’ll have to pay for larger images.
- Focused more on businesses.
- Incorporates your channel name.
Logaster is really a service for businesses – they make and sell business cards, letterheads, and other office-y things like that. However, they are still a good choice for YouTubers because they have a free logo creator. Sort of.
You actually have to pay $9.99 to get larger images and remove the watermark, but the process is free.
When you arrive on Logaster there’s a button right on their home page that says ‘Create a logo for free’. Click on it.
In Step 1 it’ll ask for your company name and an activity type. You just need to put in your channel name and choose something from the activity drop down that you focus on in your videos.
My heart burns with the secret desire to be YouTube’s Neil Degrasse Tyson (it doesn’t really, but he is super cool) so I tried ‘Katie Does Science’ and ‘Science, Studies, Education’. Here’s what it came up with:
There are 10 pages of suggestions!
You can see how, unless you have a short channel name, you’re probably not going to be able to use any of these as an icon, but a lot of them would look cool on a banner. There’s an ‘Edit Logo Concept’ button which allows you to make changes to the layout, but you can still only choose from preset layouts. For example, some logo concepts allow you to choose whether the icon is above your text or next to it.
After you click ‘save’ in the last step you’ll be prompted to provide an email address and password. Once you sign in, you’ll be able to download a small logo for free, or purchase the higher resolution image.
I personally wouldn’t recommend buying an image from here unless your channel is for your small business and you need things like branded business cards and letterhead. This site might be better for gathering inspiration than actually downloading a logo from.
6. Icons8.com
Key Points:
- You need to link back to them to use their icons.
- You can edit the colors on the site and even add details.
- There’s a size limit on the free service (100x100px)
At Icons8 they have free and paid services. If you download an icon for free it will be a PNG file (which should be fine, YouTube supports PNG and it’s good for transparency) that is no larger than 100x100px. This is not ideal since YouTube recommends 800x800px for profile pictures, but it’s not necessarily a deal breaker either. Profile pictures render down to much smaller than that.
You will also need to link to Icons8 if you use their icons for free (i.e. in the ‘about’ section of your channel page).
To get started on Icons8, type something into the search bar on the home page that you think might work as an icon or as part of whatever graphics you have planned. I typed in ‘game’ for this one, since gaming is the biggest genre on YouTube. Here are a few of the results that came up:
Lower down in the results there were different kinds of sports balls, hand-held gaming systems, playing cards, joy sticks, baseball caps and more.
After you find an icon you like, click on it and it will appear on the right side of your screen where you’ll be able to make a few changes (an editing screen will pop up once you start clicking on things). You can edit your colors, overlay small decals, add text, and add a border, change your background and adjust your size. Here’s the editing screen:
You can give your icon a pretty different look from its default. Check this out:
You cannot download your icon from the editing screen. You need to click Save, and then download it from the main display screen here:
You can change the size with that drop down menu, but you’ll be limited in your options if you don’t want to pay.
I downloaded my image and tried to see how it would look as an icon/profile picture. As you can see, it was pretty blurry in the preview:
However, the preview is larger than the actual profile picture. Once I set it, it looked alright.
Looking for somewhere you can build your own icon/logo from scratch? Check out this list of logo makers .
After downloading the icons or logos, it is time to add them to your YouTube video. Here I recommend our Wondershare Filmora video editor . Below is a video tutorial about how to add a logo to video in Filmora . Remember to download the free trial version to test.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Whether you need YouTube icons and logos to use as pop-up graphics in your videos, to serve as your channel icon, to use as watermarks, or to liven up your channel art or video thumbnails – don’t worry. There are lots of places to get them.
We’ve made a list of 6 sites where you can download icons and logos for free for YouTub videos, and explained how they work.
You might also want to check out these YouTube channels offering free profile picture templates .
1. Flaticon.com
Key Points:
- Great selection of icons/logos
- It’s easy to change the colors before you download
I’m putting Flaticon.com right at the top of this list because it has something that really sets it apart from the other sites on this list – it lets you edit pre-made icons before you download them.
You start out on Flaticon by searching for a theme like beauty, gaming, flowers, or emojis. I searched for ‘birds’ and found these cuties.
These aren’t all the birds on Flaticon, just a few. They had a huge selection in all the different searches I tried.
I clicked on the brown bird to open up the download screen, and then clicked into ‘Edit icon’. There may be a pop up that tells you editing tools are only available to registered users, but it’s wrong. Just close it and keep going, unless you want to register.
You can edit the colors in your icon just by clicking on the color you want to replace, and then clicking on the color in the color selector you want to replace it with. I made my birdie FLY.
I never apologize for puns.
Once you like the look of your icon, just click Download. You will be prompted to choose a format. PNG is the most popular because it is supported the most places (including on YouTube), and because it allows for a transparent background.
After clicking on a format you will also be prompted to choose a size for your image. It’s always best to go with the largest image you can – its way easier to shrink things and keep them looking good than it is to have to enlarge them.
Flaticon has a great selection, it’s free, and they make it really easy to edit your creations. I would strongly recommend this site to anyone in the market for an icon or logo.
Flaticon asks that you include an “Icon made by [author link] from <www.flaticon.com> ” somewhere (i.e. video description, channel ‘about’ section) when you use their icons for free.
2. Freepik.com
Key Points:
- Good selection of icons.
- No way to customise them on the site.
- Attribution requried.
On freepik, you start off by searching for a theme (like the genre of your YouTube title or the topic of a video, i.e. ‘makeup’ or ‘music’). I searched for ‘cat’.
A few of the sets available on freepik. The crown icon means you need to be a paying Premium member, but most things are free.
You can’t edit on freepik, and in order to download for free you need to include an attribution/credit to freepik where you use the images.
You do not choose what format to download your images in on freepik. When you hit ‘Free Download’ it will automatically download a zip file which will contain both a .jpg and a .eps. The EPS is editable in any ‘vector graphics editor’, like Adobe Illustrator, and YouTube supports .jpg files.
3. Seeklogo.net
Key Points:
- Logos from major brands
- Great for channels that do product reviews
Seeklogo.net has a slightly more corporate slant than some of the other sites on this list. It has logos for a lot of major companies and brands available for download.
In the ‘search’ on Seeklogo.net, you can type in the name of a brand or industry and see if the well-known logo you’re looking for is available. This may be especially useful for people with sports related channels since they have a lot of logos for major teams.
I searched for YouTube – you never know when you might need the YouTube logo.
Although the site does not advertise PNG in the list of formats on their front page, downloads do include PNG versions (which is useful if you need transparency and don’t have a program which can edit vector files, like .eps).
4. IconArchive.com
Key Points:
- Site has an office/business slant.
- Detailed search tool lets you sort by color, theme, etc.
IconArchive has a huge selection of icons with somewhat of an office/business slant. I searched for ‘flower’ and half the results were of file-folders with flowers on them.
Could be cool for a lifestyle video about school or work?
My favorite thing about IconArchive is its search features. It allows you to filter results by color, size (down to the specific resolution), category, background color, style, and a lot more.
Color is under ‘Display’, meaning that it won’t filter out results that have different colors it’ll just list the color you select first.
The ‘Category’ filter is useful because there are some genres you probably recognize there, like ‘Lifestyle’. However, you should be careful not to over-filter. This site is pretty literal in how it categorizes. For example – there are no ‘flower’ images under ‘Lifestyle’.
Downloads are available in different sizes and formats including PNG. PNG is always a good option because it is supported by YouTube and includes transparent backgrounds.
Note that all of your different download buttons will be located underneath your image. They favor those ads that look like ‘download’ or ‘start now’ buttons, and the ads sit right next to the images on the right, so it’s easy to get confused and click on the ad.
5. Logaster.com
Key Points:
- You’ll have to pay for larger images.
- Focused more on businesses.
- Incorporates your channel name.
Logaster is really a service for businesses – they make and sell business cards, letterheads, and other office-y things like that. However, they are still a good choice for YouTubers because they have a free logo creator. Sort of.
You actually have to pay $9.99 to get larger images and remove the watermark, but the process is free.
When you arrive on Logaster there’s a button right on their home page that says ‘Create a logo for free’. Click on it.
In Step 1 it’ll ask for your company name and an activity type. You just need to put in your channel name and choose something from the activity drop down that you focus on in your videos.
My heart burns with the secret desire to be YouTube’s Neil Degrasse Tyson (it doesn’t really, but he is super cool) so I tried ‘Katie Does Science’ and ‘Science, Studies, Education’. Here’s what it came up with:
There are 10 pages of suggestions!
You can see how, unless you have a short channel name, you’re probably not going to be able to use any of these as an icon, but a lot of them would look cool on a banner. There’s an ‘Edit Logo Concept’ button which allows you to make changes to the layout, but you can still only choose from preset layouts. For example, some logo concepts allow you to choose whether the icon is above your text or next to it.
After you click ‘save’ in the last step you’ll be prompted to provide an email address and password. Once you sign in, you’ll be able to download a small logo for free, or purchase the higher resolution image.
I personally wouldn’t recommend buying an image from here unless your channel is for your small business and you need things like branded business cards and letterhead. This site might be better for gathering inspiration than actually downloading a logo from.
6. Icons8.com
Key Points:
- You need to link back to them to use their icons.
- You can edit the colors on the site and even add details.
- There’s a size limit on the free service (100x100px)
At Icons8 they have free and paid services. If you download an icon for free it will be a PNG file (which should be fine, YouTube supports PNG and it’s good for transparency) that is no larger than 100x100px. This is not ideal since YouTube recommends 800x800px for profile pictures, but it’s not necessarily a deal breaker either. Profile pictures render down to much smaller than that.
You will also need to link to Icons8 if you use their icons for free (i.e. in the ‘about’ section of your channel page).
To get started on Icons8, type something into the search bar on the home page that you think might work as an icon or as part of whatever graphics you have planned. I typed in ‘game’ for this one, since gaming is the biggest genre on YouTube. Here are a few of the results that came up:
Lower down in the results there were different kinds of sports balls, hand-held gaming systems, playing cards, joy sticks, baseball caps and more.
After you find an icon you like, click on it and it will appear on the right side of your screen where you’ll be able to make a few changes (an editing screen will pop up once you start clicking on things). You can edit your colors, overlay small decals, add text, and add a border, change your background and adjust your size. Here’s the editing screen:
You can give your icon a pretty different look from its default. Check this out:
You cannot download your icon from the editing screen. You need to click Save, and then download it from the main display screen here:
You can change the size with that drop down menu, but you’ll be limited in your options if you don’t want to pay.
I downloaded my image and tried to see how it would look as an icon/profile picture. As you can see, it was pretty blurry in the preview:
However, the preview is larger than the actual profile picture. Once I set it, it looked alright.
Looking for somewhere you can build your own icon/logo from scratch? Check out this list of logo makers .
After downloading the icons or logos, it is time to add them to your YouTube video. Here I recommend our Wondershare Filmora video editor . Below is a video tutorial about how to add a logo to video in Filmora . Remember to download the free trial version to test.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Game On: Steps for Crafting an Influential Online Gamers’ Channel
The Guide to Starting a Successful YouTube Gaming Channel
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Now is the best and easiest time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel. Yet a profitable channel? That’s another story. In this article, I am going to highlight the key elements you need to become the best YouTube gamer you can be.
Table of Content:
- Have a Greater Purpose
- Create an Identity
- Type of Gaming Videos
- Have a Budget
- Optimization Matter
- Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:
- Patience
- Consistency
- Creativity
If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.
The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor
- Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
- Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
- Built-in plentiful templates and effects
- Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats
For Win 7 or later (64-bit)
For macOS 10.12 or later
Secure Download
It’s the best time because you will have so many pioneers and successful creators to draw inspiration and knowledge from. You’ll be standing on the shoulders of giants like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and CinnamonToastKen.
The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.
1. Have a Greater Purpose
According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.
Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.
If you think you can make a few videos and start making money, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you. YouTube is fun and a wonderful way to increase the social aspect of gaming and enhance your enjoyment. Approach it the same way you’ve approached gaming all along, as a fun way to spend your time.
Enjoy the journey… and what a journey it can be. Do it for the love of playing games and making videos, and not about getting subscribers or views. If you don’t change your attitude, it’s a grueling climb if all you want is to reach the finish line (which is nowhere in sight).
Why am I telling you this? Well, if you don’t have a greater purpose than simply growing subscribers and making money off YouTube, then you are going to get discouraged and give up. It’s not a get-rich-fast plan.
Here is how you find your greater purpose:
1. Give Value
You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.
But… what makes good YouTube content?
Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:
Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.
Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.
Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.
This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?
2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual
YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.
At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.
But after the first month, that excitement will dampen. By the third month, it’ll become familiar. Here’s where you have to fight the urge to stop. This is where author, Seth Godin calls The Dip .
It’s now working. And like all work, you’ll have to schedule it into your daily life. You’ll have to prioritize YouTube above hanging out with friends, watching another movie, or playing video games without the strain of recording it and being entertaining/educating/inspiring.
However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.
Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.
3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step
There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.
If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.
In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .
You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.
You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.
Pro Tip:Focus on telling a great story . In every video, you should have an objective you want to accomplish. You want to beat a stage, you want to learn a new skill, etc. Once you nail that, all the other elements (screen recording, editing, and your commentary) will fall into place to guide your story from beginning to end.
2. Create an Identity
Your personality and your channel will need to go through a littlebranding exercise . You need to find what sets yourself apart from all the other gaming channels on the Internet. Ask yourself, and be honest with the answer: Why should anyone care about my channel?
1. Be Original
Take inspiration from other YouTubers and adjust it so that it’s unique. You cannot copy the ideas of popular YouTubers, because the public can see that. They can tell the difference between originality and imitation.
Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.
Take a look at Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, both are popular YouTubers recognized for their colorful hair, mass use of profanity, and their Let’s Play style of gaming videos. But if you watch their videos, you can see that they are not copying each other but rather adjusting what has proven to be effective to suit their personality.
If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?
2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game
Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.
Consider how your viewers will discover your videos. Are they going to find you through search? If so, what are they searching? There are many aspects to a video game: characters, glitches, stages, etc.
Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.
Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:
3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It
Every video you make should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if the storyline is the one in the video game or if it’s happening to you in real life. What matters is that you are aware of where the climax is.
The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.
This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.
To hook your audience right away, open with the most exciting part. The bit leading up to the climax. But don’t give away the ending. You want to hook them. Give a promise that this video is worth watching and that eventually, it will deliver.
Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.
This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.
Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.
3. Type of Gaming Videos
There are no rules to making gaming videos. As long as it’s worth watching and you aren’t stealing content, that is all that matters. Nevertheless, there are a few standard types of gaming videos that have been established over the years.
1. Let’s Plays
Turn the game on and start playing. Let’s Plays give you a lot of freedom to explore the game and let your personality show in the commentary. You don’t need to play with a strategy, but do have a particular goal in mind (Finishing a level, for example).
Let’s Plays are more about watching you experience the game. A demographic of people watching Let’s Plays are those that don’t have the game themselves, but still want to experience it. Let them live vicariously through you.
2. Reviews
When you’re deciding whether or not to buy a new product where do you go to research? Google and YouTube. If you have a lot of interesting insights after playing a game, making reviews videos might just be your calling. There are many games on the market, and for consumers, it can get overwhelming. Reviews help others decide whether they should invest their money and their time into that specific game or continue searching.
3. Walkthrough
Unlike Let’s Plays and reviews, walkthrough videos are mapped out and structured to help the viewers pass the game while experiencing events, side quests, and characters they would otherwise have missed.
4. Reactions
Misery or excitement, when you genuinely react to an event in a game, the audience gets to experience it along your side. Give the moment a bit of lead up, let people know what you are expecting, and then surprise yourself. Reaction videos are great because they are spontaneous and a wonderful form of presenting your personality.
5. Skills
Video games are hard to master. But if you think you are proficient in an aspect of the game, show off your moves. Is there a particular trick that you can do? Is there a stage you can beat quickly? Are you able to take down your enemy with ease? Prove it.
4. Have a Budget
When you begin your YouTube gaming journey, you are going to see a lot of established YouTubers showing off their gear. It’s easy to get carried away with equipment, but we recommend setting a budget and staying within it to start.
What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.
What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.
Are you starting with nothing? Or do you have some essentials? If you have a computer, which can play the game of your choice, you don’t need to spend $2000 on a new one. Look at what you currently have before buying new stuff.
Here is what you will need to get the best results:
- Microphone (Average cost: $100)
- Webcam (Average cost: $100)
- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)
- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)
If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.
Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.
I don’t recommend blowing your life savings on all the equipment you want. Don’t have a powerful computer? There are games such as Minecraft and Roblox that are less taxing to your computer, if you don’t have a powerful one.
There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.
You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.
1. Many Games Are Free
Here’s the great thing about starting as a video game YouTuber, you don’t need to pay for any games. I’m not only talking about the crappy Flash games on the Internet, but massively popular games such as Fortnite and DOTA are also free to start playing as well.
If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.
2. Some Software Are Free As Well
OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.
Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.
GIMP: Probably the closest free product to Photoshop you can find. GIMP will help you perform basic image manipulation. It’s not as user friendly as Photoshop, but you can learn the fundamentals here as you save up for the Creative Cloud subscription plan.
5. Optimization Matters
Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?
The answer: with a good optimization strategy.
1. Tags and Title
When conceptualizing your next video, consider what your viewers are going to search to find it. This will help you focus your gameplay to meet the demand of this untapped (or more specific) audience.
You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.
If you’re playing Fortnite, and your keyword is simply “Fortnite” you’re using a highly searched term, but the competition is very high as well. The odds of your ranking is incredibly tough as the overall keyword score is 61/100.
However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.
Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”
This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.
Few more tips to improving your titles include:
- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”
- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.
- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.
- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.
2. Create Awesome Thumbnails
It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.
What makes a good thumbnail image?
- Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
- Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)
Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.
- Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.
Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.
- Use readable text or emojis
If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.
3. Engage with Other Gamers
Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.
It’s all about being a part of a YouTube community, and while you can’t interact with every creator on the platform, you can find those within your niche or specific game and chat with them. Leave a comment if you like their video or have constructive feedback.
Additionally, viewer engagements such as likes and comments have shown to have an indirect effect on your video ranking. That is why you should encourage your viewers to “smash” the like button or join in a conversation by asking them a question in your video.
6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
1. Cause for Demonetization
The YouTube monetization landscape has changed a lot for creators in the past few years. The guidelines are always being adjusted to serve both creators and advertisers. If you’re thinking of making money from YouTube ads, you have to be aware that there are types of content that turn advertisers off, and YouTube knows it. Here are some reasons that YouTube will choose to demonetize your videos:
- Excessive or gratuitous violence
- Hateful content: promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates and individual or group of people (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)
- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters
- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group
2. Avoiding Copyright Strike
Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.
However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.
If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.
Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:
- Is your content creative or educational?
- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?
- Is your video benefiting the original content?
I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.
Beyond all that, it’s about playing games, having a good time, and meeting awesome people like yourself. Enjoy the journey and take pleasure in every little achievement, be it in the game or on YouTube.
Key Takeaways
- Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
- Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
- YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
- Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
- Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
- Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .
What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!
Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers
If you want to record the gameplay and edit it with some text and titles, or creative transitions and effects, I highly recommend you try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough with its editing tools and effects templates. Download the free trial version and get started now.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Now is the best and easiest time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel. Yet a profitable channel? That’s another story. In this article, I am going to highlight the key elements you need to become the best YouTube gamer you can be.
Table of Content:
- Have a Greater Purpose
- Create an Identity
- Type of Gaming Videos
- Have a Budget
- Optimization Matter
- Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:
- Patience
- Consistency
- Creativity
If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.
The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor
- Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
- Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
- Built-in plentiful templates and effects
- Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats
For Win 7 or later (64-bit)
For macOS 10.12 or later
Secure Download
It’s the best time because you will have so many pioneers and successful creators to draw inspiration and knowledge from. You’ll be standing on the shoulders of giants like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and CinnamonToastKen.
The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.
1. Have a Greater Purpose
According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.
Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.
If you think you can make a few videos and start making money, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you. YouTube is fun and a wonderful way to increase the social aspect of gaming and enhance your enjoyment. Approach it the same way you’ve approached gaming all along, as a fun way to spend your time.
Enjoy the journey… and what a journey it can be. Do it for the love of playing games and making videos, and not about getting subscribers or views. If you don’t change your attitude, it’s a grueling climb if all you want is to reach the finish line (which is nowhere in sight).
Why am I telling you this? Well, if you don’t have a greater purpose than simply growing subscribers and making money off YouTube, then you are going to get discouraged and give up. It’s not a get-rich-fast plan.
Here is how you find your greater purpose:
1. Give Value
You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.
But… what makes good YouTube content?
Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:
Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.
Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.
Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.
This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?
2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual
YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.
At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.
But after the first month, that excitement will dampen. By the third month, it’ll become familiar. Here’s where you have to fight the urge to stop. This is where author, Seth Godin calls The Dip .
It’s now working. And like all work, you’ll have to schedule it into your daily life. You’ll have to prioritize YouTube above hanging out with friends, watching another movie, or playing video games without the strain of recording it and being entertaining/educating/inspiring.
However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.
Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.
3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step
There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.
If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.
In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .
You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.
You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.
Pro Tip:Focus on telling a great story . In every video, you should have an objective you want to accomplish. You want to beat a stage, you want to learn a new skill, etc. Once you nail that, all the other elements (screen recording, editing, and your commentary) will fall into place to guide your story from beginning to end.
2. Create an Identity
Your personality and your channel will need to go through a littlebranding exercise . You need to find what sets yourself apart from all the other gaming channels on the Internet. Ask yourself, and be honest with the answer: Why should anyone care about my channel?
1. Be Original
Take inspiration from other YouTubers and adjust it so that it’s unique. You cannot copy the ideas of popular YouTubers, because the public can see that. They can tell the difference between originality and imitation.
Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.
Take a look at Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, both are popular YouTubers recognized for their colorful hair, mass use of profanity, and their Let’s Play style of gaming videos. But if you watch their videos, you can see that they are not copying each other but rather adjusting what has proven to be effective to suit their personality.
If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?
2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game
Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.
Consider how your viewers will discover your videos. Are they going to find you through search? If so, what are they searching? There are many aspects to a video game: characters, glitches, stages, etc.
Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.
Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:
3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It
Every video you make should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if the storyline is the one in the video game or if it’s happening to you in real life. What matters is that you are aware of where the climax is.
The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.
This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.
To hook your audience right away, open with the most exciting part. The bit leading up to the climax. But don’t give away the ending. You want to hook them. Give a promise that this video is worth watching and that eventually, it will deliver.
Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.
This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.
Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.
3. Type of Gaming Videos
There are no rules to making gaming videos. As long as it’s worth watching and you aren’t stealing content, that is all that matters. Nevertheless, there are a few standard types of gaming videos that have been established over the years.
1. Let’s Plays
Turn the game on and start playing. Let’s Plays give you a lot of freedom to explore the game and let your personality show in the commentary. You don’t need to play with a strategy, but do have a particular goal in mind (Finishing a level, for example).
Let’s Plays are more about watching you experience the game. A demographic of people watching Let’s Plays are those that don’t have the game themselves, but still want to experience it. Let them live vicariously through you.
2. Reviews
When you’re deciding whether or not to buy a new product where do you go to research? Google and YouTube. If you have a lot of interesting insights after playing a game, making reviews videos might just be your calling. There are many games on the market, and for consumers, it can get overwhelming. Reviews help others decide whether they should invest their money and their time into that specific game or continue searching.
3. Walkthrough
Unlike Let’s Plays and reviews, walkthrough videos are mapped out and structured to help the viewers pass the game while experiencing events, side quests, and characters they would otherwise have missed.
4. Reactions
Misery or excitement, when you genuinely react to an event in a game, the audience gets to experience it along your side. Give the moment a bit of lead up, let people know what you are expecting, and then surprise yourself. Reaction videos are great because they are spontaneous and a wonderful form of presenting your personality.
5. Skills
Video games are hard to master. But if you think you are proficient in an aspect of the game, show off your moves. Is there a particular trick that you can do? Is there a stage you can beat quickly? Are you able to take down your enemy with ease? Prove it.
4. Have a Budget
When you begin your YouTube gaming journey, you are going to see a lot of established YouTubers showing off their gear. It’s easy to get carried away with equipment, but we recommend setting a budget and staying within it to start.
What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.
What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.
Are you starting with nothing? Or do you have some essentials? If you have a computer, which can play the game of your choice, you don’t need to spend $2000 on a new one. Look at what you currently have before buying new stuff.
Here is what you will need to get the best results:
- Microphone (Average cost: $100)
- Webcam (Average cost: $100)
- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)
- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)
If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.
Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.
I don’t recommend blowing your life savings on all the equipment you want. Don’t have a powerful computer? There are games such as Minecraft and Roblox that are less taxing to your computer, if you don’t have a powerful one.
There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.
You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.
1. Many Games Are Free
Here’s the great thing about starting as a video game YouTuber, you don’t need to pay for any games. I’m not only talking about the crappy Flash games on the Internet, but massively popular games such as Fortnite and DOTA are also free to start playing as well.
If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.
2. Some Software Are Free As Well
OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.
Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.
GIMP: Probably the closest free product to Photoshop you can find. GIMP will help you perform basic image manipulation. It’s not as user friendly as Photoshop, but you can learn the fundamentals here as you save up for the Creative Cloud subscription plan.
5. Optimization Matters
Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?
The answer: with a good optimization strategy.
1. Tags and Title
When conceptualizing your next video, consider what your viewers are going to search to find it. This will help you focus your gameplay to meet the demand of this untapped (or more specific) audience.
You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.
If you’re playing Fortnite, and your keyword is simply “Fortnite” you’re using a highly searched term, but the competition is very high as well. The odds of your ranking is incredibly tough as the overall keyword score is 61/100.
However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.
Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”
This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.
Few more tips to improving your titles include:
- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”
- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.
- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.
- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.
2. Create Awesome Thumbnails
It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.
What makes a good thumbnail image?
- Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
- Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)
Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.
- Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.
Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.
- Use readable text or emojis
If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.
3. Engage with Other Gamers
Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.
It’s all about being a part of a YouTube community, and while you can’t interact with every creator on the platform, you can find those within your niche or specific game and chat with them. Leave a comment if you like their video or have constructive feedback.
Additionally, viewer engagements such as likes and comments have shown to have an indirect effect on your video ranking. That is why you should encourage your viewers to “smash” the like button or join in a conversation by asking them a question in your video.
6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
1. Cause for Demonetization
The YouTube monetization landscape has changed a lot for creators in the past few years. The guidelines are always being adjusted to serve both creators and advertisers. If you’re thinking of making money from YouTube ads, you have to be aware that there are types of content that turn advertisers off, and YouTube knows it. Here are some reasons that YouTube will choose to demonetize your videos:
- Excessive or gratuitous violence
- Hateful content: promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates and individual or group of people (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)
- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters
- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group
2. Avoiding Copyright Strike
Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.
However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.
If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.
Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:
- Is your content creative or educational?
- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?
- Is your video benefiting the original content?
I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.
Beyond all that, it’s about playing games, having a good time, and meeting awesome people like yourself. Enjoy the journey and take pleasure in every little achievement, be it in the game or on YouTube.
Key Takeaways
- Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
- Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
- YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
- Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
- Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
- Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .
What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!
Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers
If you want to record the gameplay and edit it with some text and titles, or creative transitions and effects, I highly recommend you try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough with its editing tools and effects templates. Download the free trial version and get started now.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Now is the best and easiest time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel. Yet a profitable channel? That’s another story. In this article, I am going to highlight the key elements you need to become the best YouTube gamer you can be.
Table of Content:
- Have a Greater Purpose
- Create an Identity
- Type of Gaming Videos
- Have a Budget
- Optimization Matter
- Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:
- Patience
- Consistency
- Creativity
If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.
The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor
- Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
- Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
- Built-in plentiful templates and effects
- Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats
For Win 7 or later (64-bit)
For macOS 10.12 or later
Secure Download
It’s the best time because you will have so many pioneers and successful creators to draw inspiration and knowledge from. You’ll be standing on the shoulders of giants like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and CinnamonToastKen.
The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.
1. Have a Greater Purpose
According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.
Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.
If you think you can make a few videos and start making money, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you. YouTube is fun and a wonderful way to increase the social aspect of gaming and enhance your enjoyment. Approach it the same way you’ve approached gaming all along, as a fun way to spend your time.
Enjoy the journey… and what a journey it can be. Do it for the love of playing games and making videos, and not about getting subscribers or views. If you don’t change your attitude, it’s a grueling climb if all you want is to reach the finish line (which is nowhere in sight).
Why am I telling you this? Well, if you don’t have a greater purpose than simply growing subscribers and making money off YouTube, then you are going to get discouraged and give up. It’s not a get-rich-fast plan.
Here is how you find your greater purpose:
1. Give Value
You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.
But… what makes good YouTube content?
Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:
Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.
Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.
Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.
This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?
2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual
YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.
At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.
But after the first month, that excitement will dampen. By the third month, it’ll become familiar. Here’s where you have to fight the urge to stop. This is where author, Seth Godin calls The Dip .
It’s now working. And like all work, you’ll have to schedule it into your daily life. You’ll have to prioritize YouTube above hanging out with friends, watching another movie, or playing video games without the strain of recording it and being entertaining/educating/inspiring.
However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.
Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.
3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step
There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.
If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.
In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .
You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.
You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.
Pro Tip:Focus on telling a great story . In every video, you should have an objective you want to accomplish. You want to beat a stage, you want to learn a new skill, etc. Once you nail that, all the other elements (screen recording, editing, and your commentary) will fall into place to guide your story from beginning to end.
2. Create an Identity
Your personality and your channel will need to go through a littlebranding exercise . You need to find what sets yourself apart from all the other gaming channels on the Internet. Ask yourself, and be honest with the answer: Why should anyone care about my channel?
1. Be Original
Take inspiration from other YouTubers and adjust it so that it’s unique. You cannot copy the ideas of popular YouTubers, because the public can see that. They can tell the difference between originality and imitation.
Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.
Take a look at Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, both are popular YouTubers recognized for their colorful hair, mass use of profanity, and their Let’s Play style of gaming videos. But if you watch their videos, you can see that they are not copying each other but rather adjusting what has proven to be effective to suit their personality.
If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?
2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game
Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.
Consider how your viewers will discover your videos. Are they going to find you through search? If so, what are they searching? There are many aspects to a video game: characters, glitches, stages, etc.
Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.
Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:
3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It
Every video you make should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if the storyline is the one in the video game or if it’s happening to you in real life. What matters is that you are aware of where the climax is.
The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.
This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.
To hook your audience right away, open with the most exciting part. The bit leading up to the climax. But don’t give away the ending. You want to hook them. Give a promise that this video is worth watching and that eventually, it will deliver.
Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.
This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.
Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.
3. Type of Gaming Videos
There are no rules to making gaming videos. As long as it’s worth watching and you aren’t stealing content, that is all that matters. Nevertheless, there are a few standard types of gaming videos that have been established over the years.
1. Let’s Plays
Turn the game on and start playing. Let’s Plays give you a lot of freedom to explore the game and let your personality show in the commentary. You don’t need to play with a strategy, but do have a particular goal in mind (Finishing a level, for example).
Let’s Plays are more about watching you experience the game. A demographic of people watching Let’s Plays are those that don’t have the game themselves, but still want to experience it. Let them live vicariously through you.
2. Reviews
When you’re deciding whether or not to buy a new product where do you go to research? Google and YouTube. If you have a lot of interesting insights after playing a game, making reviews videos might just be your calling. There are many games on the market, and for consumers, it can get overwhelming. Reviews help others decide whether they should invest their money and their time into that specific game or continue searching.
3. Walkthrough
Unlike Let’s Plays and reviews, walkthrough videos are mapped out and structured to help the viewers pass the game while experiencing events, side quests, and characters they would otherwise have missed.
4. Reactions
Misery or excitement, when you genuinely react to an event in a game, the audience gets to experience it along your side. Give the moment a bit of lead up, let people know what you are expecting, and then surprise yourself. Reaction videos are great because they are spontaneous and a wonderful form of presenting your personality.
5. Skills
Video games are hard to master. But if you think you are proficient in an aspect of the game, show off your moves. Is there a particular trick that you can do? Is there a stage you can beat quickly? Are you able to take down your enemy with ease? Prove it.
4. Have a Budget
When you begin your YouTube gaming journey, you are going to see a lot of established YouTubers showing off their gear. It’s easy to get carried away with equipment, but we recommend setting a budget and staying within it to start.
What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.
What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.
Are you starting with nothing? Or do you have some essentials? If you have a computer, which can play the game of your choice, you don’t need to spend $2000 on a new one. Look at what you currently have before buying new stuff.
Here is what you will need to get the best results:
- Microphone (Average cost: $100)
- Webcam (Average cost: $100)
- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)
- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)
If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.
Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.
I don’t recommend blowing your life savings on all the equipment you want. Don’t have a powerful computer? There are games such as Minecraft and Roblox that are less taxing to your computer, if you don’t have a powerful one.
There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.
You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.
1. Many Games Are Free
Here’s the great thing about starting as a video game YouTuber, you don’t need to pay for any games. I’m not only talking about the crappy Flash games on the Internet, but massively popular games such as Fortnite and DOTA are also free to start playing as well.
If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.
2. Some Software Are Free As Well
OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.
Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.
GIMP: Probably the closest free product to Photoshop you can find. GIMP will help you perform basic image manipulation. It’s not as user friendly as Photoshop, but you can learn the fundamentals here as you save up for the Creative Cloud subscription plan.
5. Optimization Matters
Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?
The answer: with a good optimization strategy.
1. Tags and Title
When conceptualizing your next video, consider what your viewers are going to search to find it. This will help you focus your gameplay to meet the demand of this untapped (or more specific) audience.
You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.
If you’re playing Fortnite, and your keyword is simply “Fortnite” you’re using a highly searched term, but the competition is very high as well. The odds of your ranking is incredibly tough as the overall keyword score is 61/100.
However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.
Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”
This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.
Few more tips to improving your titles include:
- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”
- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.
- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.
- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.
2. Create Awesome Thumbnails
It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.
What makes a good thumbnail image?
- Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
- Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)
Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.
- Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.
Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.
- Use readable text or emojis
If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.
3. Engage with Other Gamers
Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.
It’s all about being a part of a YouTube community, and while you can’t interact with every creator on the platform, you can find those within your niche or specific game and chat with them. Leave a comment if you like their video or have constructive feedback.
Additionally, viewer engagements such as likes and comments have shown to have an indirect effect on your video ranking. That is why you should encourage your viewers to “smash” the like button or join in a conversation by asking them a question in your video.
6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
1. Cause for Demonetization
The YouTube monetization landscape has changed a lot for creators in the past few years. The guidelines are always being adjusted to serve both creators and advertisers. If you’re thinking of making money from YouTube ads, you have to be aware that there are types of content that turn advertisers off, and YouTube knows it. Here are some reasons that YouTube will choose to demonetize your videos:
- Excessive or gratuitous violence
- Hateful content: promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates and individual or group of people (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)
- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters
- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group
2. Avoiding Copyright Strike
Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.
However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.
If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.
Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:
- Is your content creative or educational?
- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?
- Is your video benefiting the original content?
I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.
Beyond all that, it’s about playing games, having a good time, and meeting awesome people like yourself. Enjoy the journey and take pleasure in every little achievement, be it in the game or on YouTube.
Key Takeaways
- Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
- Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
- YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
- Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
- Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
- Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .
What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!
Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers
If you want to record the gameplay and edit it with some text and titles, or creative transitions and effects, I highly recommend you try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough with its editing tools and effects templates. Download the free trial version and get started now.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Now is the best and easiest time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel. Yet a profitable channel? That’s another story. In this article, I am going to highlight the key elements you need to become the best YouTube gamer you can be.
Table of Content:
- Have a Greater Purpose
- Create an Identity
- Type of Gaming Videos
- Have a Budget
- Optimization Matter
- Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:
- Patience
- Consistency
- Creativity
If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.
The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor
- Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
- Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
- Built-in plentiful templates and effects
- Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats
For Win 7 or later (64-bit)
For macOS 10.12 or later
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It’s the best time because you will have so many pioneers and successful creators to draw inspiration and knowledge from. You’ll be standing on the shoulders of giants like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and CinnamonToastKen.
The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.
1. Have a Greater Purpose
According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.
Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.
If you think you can make a few videos and start making money, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you. YouTube is fun and a wonderful way to increase the social aspect of gaming and enhance your enjoyment. Approach it the same way you’ve approached gaming all along, as a fun way to spend your time.
Enjoy the journey… and what a journey it can be. Do it for the love of playing games and making videos, and not about getting subscribers or views. If you don’t change your attitude, it’s a grueling climb if all you want is to reach the finish line (which is nowhere in sight).
Why am I telling you this? Well, if you don’t have a greater purpose than simply growing subscribers and making money off YouTube, then you are going to get discouraged and give up. It’s not a get-rich-fast plan.
Here is how you find your greater purpose:
1. Give Value
You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.
But… what makes good YouTube content?
Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:
Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.
Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.
Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.
This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?
2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual
YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.
At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.
But after the first month, that excitement will dampen. By the third month, it’ll become familiar. Here’s where you have to fight the urge to stop. This is where author, Seth Godin calls The Dip .
It’s now working. And like all work, you’ll have to schedule it into your daily life. You’ll have to prioritize YouTube above hanging out with friends, watching another movie, or playing video games without the strain of recording it and being entertaining/educating/inspiring.
However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.
Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.
3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step
There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.
If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.
In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .
You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.
You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.
Pro Tip:Focus on telling a great story . In every video, you should have an objective you want to accomplish. You want to beat a stage, you want to learn a new skill, etc. Once you nail that, all the other elements (screen recording, editing, and your commentary) will fall into place to guide your story from beginning to end.
2. Create an Identity
Your personality and your channel will need to go through a littlebranding exercise . You need to find what sets yourself apart from all the other gaming channels on the Internet. Ask yourself, and be honest with the answer: Why should anyone care about my channel?
1. Be Original
Take inspiration from other YouTubers and adjust it so that it’s unique. You cannot copy the ideas of popular YouTubers, because the public can see that. They can tell the difference between originality and imitation.
Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.
Take a look at Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, both are popular YouTubers recognized for their colorful hair, mass use of profanity, and their Let’s Play style of gaming videos. But if you watch their videos, you can see that they are not copying each other but rather adjusting what has proven to be effective to suit their personality.
If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?
2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game
Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.
Consider how your viewers will discover your videos. Are they going to find you through search? If so, what are they searching? There are many aspects to a video game: characters, glitches, stages, etc.
Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.
Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:
3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It
Every video you make should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if the storyline is the one in the video game or if it’s happening to you in real life. What matters is that you are aware of where the climax is.
The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.
This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.
To hook your audience right away, open with the most exciting part. The bit leading up to the climax. But don’t give away the ending. You want to hook them. Give a promise that this video is worth watching and that eventually, it will deliver.
Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.
This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.
Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.
3. Type of Gaming Videos
There are no rules to making gaming videos. As long as it’s worth watching and you aren’t stealing content, that is all that matters. Nevertheless, there are a few standard types of gaming videos that have been established over the years.
1. Let’s Plays
Turn the game on and start playing. Let’s Plays give you a lot of freedom to explore the game and let your personality show in the commentary. You don’t need to play with a strategy, but do have a particular goal in mind (Finishing a level, for example).
Let’s Plays are more about watching you experience the game. A demographic of people watching Let’s Plays are those that don’t have the game themselves, but still want to experience it. Let them live vicariously through you.
2. Reviews
When you’re deciding whether or not to buy a new product where do you go to research? Google and YouTube. If you have a lot of interesting insights after playing a game, making reviews videos might just be your calling. There are many games on the market, and for consumers, it can get overwhelming. Reviews help others decide whether they should invest their money and their time into that specific game or continue searching.
3. Walkthrough
Unlike Let’s Plays and reviews, walkthrough videos are mapped out and structured to help the viewers pass the game while experiencing events, side quests, and characters they would otherwise have missed.
4. Reactions
Misery or excitement, when you genuinely react to an event in a game, the audience gets to experience it along your side. Give the moment a bit of lead up, let people know what you are expecting, and then surprise yourself. Reaction videos are great because they are spontaneous and a wonderful form of presenting your personality.
5. Skills
Video games are hard to master. But if you think you are proficient in an aspect of the game, show off your moves. Is there a particular trick that you can do? Is there a stage you can beat quickly? Are you able to take down your enemy with ease? Prove it.
4. Have a Budget
When you begin your YouTube gaming journey, you are going to see a lot of established YouTubers showing off their gear. It’s easy to get carried away with equipment, but we recommend setting a budget and staying within it to start.
What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.
What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.
Are you starting with nothing? Or do you have some essentials? If you have a computer, which can play the game of your choice, you don’t need to spend $2000 on a new one. Look at what you currently have before buying new stuff.
Here is what you will need to get the best results:
- Microphone (Average cost: $100)
- Webcam (Average cost: $100)
- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)
- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)
If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.
Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.
I don’t recommend blowing your life savings on all the equipment you want. Don’t have a powerful computer? There are games such as Minecraft and Roblox that are less taxing to your computer, if you don’t have a powerful one.
There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.
You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.
1. Many Games Are Free
Here’s the great thing about starting as a video game YouTuber, you don’t need to pay for any games. I’m not only talking about the crappy Flash games on the Internet, but massively popular games such as Fortnite and DOTA are also free to start playing as well.
If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.
2. Some Software Are Free As Well
OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.
Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.
GIMP: Probably the closest free product to Photoshop you can find. GIMP will help you perform basic image manipulation. It’s not as user friendly as Photoshop, but you can learn the fundamentals here as you save up for the Creative Cloud subscription plan.
5. Optimization Matters
Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?
The answer: with a good optimization strategy.
1. Tags and Title
When conceptualizing your next video, consider what your viewers are going to search to find it. This will help you focus your gameplay to meet the demand of this untapped (or more specific) audience.
You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.
If you’re playing Fortnite, and your keyword is simply “Fortnite” you’re using a highly searched term, but the competition is very high as well. The odds of your ranking is incredibly tough as the overall keyword score is 61/100.
However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.
Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”
This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.
Few more tips to improving your titles include:
- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”
- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.
- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.
- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.
2. Create Awesome Thumbnails
It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.
What makes a good thumbnail image?
- Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
- Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)
Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.
- Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.
Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.
- Use readable text or emojis
If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.
3. Engage with Other Gamers
Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.
It’s all about being a part of a YouTube community, and while you can’t interact with every creator on the platform, you can find those within your niche or specific game and chat with them. Leave a comment if you like their video or have constructive feedback.
Additionally, viewer engagements such as likes and comments have shown to have an indirect effect on your video ranking. That is why you should encourage your viewers to “smash” the like button or join in a conversation by asking them a question in your video.
6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
1. Cause for Demonetization
The YouTube monetization landscape has changed a lot for creators in the past few years. The guidelines are always being adjusted to serve both creators and advertisers. If you’re thinking of making money from YouTube ads, you have to be aware that there are types of content that turn advertisers off, and YouTube knows it. Here are some reasons that YouTube will choose to demonetize your videos:
- Excessive or gratuitous violence
- Hateful content: promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates and individual or group of people (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)
- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters
- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group
2. Avoiding Copyright Strike
Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.
However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.
If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.
Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:
- Is your content creative or educational?
- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?
- Is your video benefiting the original content?
I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.
Beyond all that, it’s about playing games, having a good time, and meeting awesome people like yourself. Enjoy the journey and take pleasure in every little achievement, be it in the game or on YouTube.
Key Takeaways
- Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
- Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
- YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
- Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
- Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
- Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .
What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!
Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers
If you want to record the gameplay and edit it with some text and titles, or creative transitions and effects, I highly recommend you try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough with its editing tools and effects templates. Download the free trial version and get started now.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
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- Title: Unlocking 6 Hidden Sources for Custom YouTube Symbols
- Author: Brian
- Created at : 2024-05-25 13:05:24
- Updated at : 2024-05-26 13:05:24
- Link: https://youtube-video-recordings.techidaily.com/unlocking-6-hidden-sources-for-custom-youtube-symbols/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.