With YouTube video marketing becoming a very important part of any companies marketing plan, not branding your business YouTube channel would be a mistake. Let’s find out what you can do to brand your YouTube channel. If you haven’t done much with your YouTube channel yet, you probably aren’t aware of some of the changes you can make to the default layout.

Two of the biggest aspects of YouTube branding are the Channel Art header image and the Unsubscribed/Subscribed trailers. The Channel Art header is visible at the top of the page by default but you need to make a few changes to your Channel settings to display the Channel Trailer area. Let’s assume the you have just set up your YouTube channel and we are starting with a blank slate, except for your Google+ avatar.

1. Log in to your YouTube^TM account.
   
   
2. At the upper right corner, click the arrow next to your YouTube/Google+ icon (avatar) to open the menu. Select My Channel from the menu. This will take you to your Channel page which will be blank expect again for the avatar, which is called the YouTube Channel Icon.
   
   First, let’s add the Channel Art header image. As stated in a previous tutorial, this image should be 2560 x 1440 pixels with the most visible area being 1546 x 423 pixels. For help with creating your Channel Art, see my tutorial.
   
   
3. Place your mouse cursor over the Channel Art area until you see a small Edit icon in the upper right corner of the header area. Click the icon and choose Edit Channel Art from the menu.
   
   
4. You will see a message saying that the recommended channel art size is 2560 x 1440 pixels with a maximum size of 2 MB. You have the option to use a photo already in your gallery by clicking Your Photos or a photo from the YouTube Gallery. But let’s upload our photo by clicking the Upload Photos link.
   
   
5. You should be taken back to the front page of your YouTube Channel. Let’s add the Channel Links now by clicking the Edit icon again and choosing Edit Links. These links will be displayed at the bottom right corner of your Channel Art. You have the option to create custom links that will display the name of the link i.e. dCipollo Designs or add social links, in which case YouTube will automatically add the familiar social icons for Google+, Facebook and etc.
   
   
6. Add the links you desire but remember that they will overlay the Channel Art along the bottom. So you don't want to add too many.
   
   
7. Click Done to save your links.
   
   Before we leave this form, let’s add the Channel Description. You should see a blank area above the Links input area. Place your cursor over that small area to see the Edit icon. Click the icon to open the Channel Description input box.
   
   
8. Add your description and click Done.
   
   

That’s the basics of branding your YouTube channel. But there is more. You can also add two Channel Trailers. One trailer will auto play when someone not subscribed to your channel visits your page and the other will play for subscribers. We will do that next.