A Top YouTube Channel Trailer Tip: Use Shortened URLs

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One of my most popular video tutorials is about how to make a great YouTube ​channel trailer. A point I neglected to make in it, though, is how you can use shortened links to make the channel trailer video's description as enticing and clickable as possible. 

The old description (and three reasons why I didn't like it)​

​This is how my YouTube channel trailer and its description looked before. If you take a close look, you'll see that several of the links to my social media profiles - which I obviously want users to click on - are not visible in their entirety. This small detail bothered me for three reasons: 

1. It just looks a little messy.​
2. The links cannot be glanced at and memorised, even if they aren't clicked on immediately.
3. Any clicks on these links - visible front and centre on my YouTube profile - cannot be tracked easily, and I cannot measure their effectiveness over time.

The new description (and why I like it much better)​

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I my updated YouTube channel trailer description recently, and there are a couple of main differences:​

1. The links are all shortened, look much neater, and are visible in their entirety.​
2. Several of the shortened links are customised with my own branding to make them much more memorable.
3.  All of the shortened links can be tracked via the sites on which they were created.

The URL Shorteners I used

I used several different URL shortening sites in my description, including:

bit.ly: My preferred choice, which adds the shortened Amazon ("amzn") text to products on the site, and allows link tracking - sign up required for URL customisation.

pin.st: Mirrors Pinterest site name and allows tracking - sign up required for URLcustomisation.  

goo.gl: Google's own URL shortener, includes publicly visible tracking but no customisation option at present.

Conclusion

Neatening up your YouTube channel trailer description and links is only a small detail, but I guess these little things are the elements that add up to make the big impacts :) ​

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, available for Kindle and in paperback.

Buy 500 Social Media Marketing Tips
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007L50HE6
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007L50HE6

Follow Me:
http://www.facebook.com/500socialmediatips/
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http://www.youtube.com/500socialmediatips

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Facebook Cover and Profile Photo Template for Desktop AND Mobile App

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Not so long ago, I published a blog post containing a free template to help you design a really great-looking profile and cover photo for your desktop-viewed Facebook Page. The thing is, the way your Page design displays on desktops is not the same as on mobiles...

And as the latest figures show that of the 1.11 billion monthly active Facebook users, 751 million of them access the site via their mobile devices, that's a huge and ever-increasing group of people you should take into consideration. The key, then, is to optimise your cover photo design for viewing on desktop and mobile devices.

A Comparison of Facebook desktop and mobile cover photos

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As you can see in the image above, there is a distinct difference between the desktop and mobile (iPhone app) view of the profile and cover photos of a Facebook Page. On the mobile app:

  • The profile photo takes centre stage, relegating the cover to the background
  • The profile photo spans almost the whole height of the cover photo, and over a quarter of its width from the left-hand edge. 
  • The cover photo is obscured by the Page name and category, as well as a dark gradient overlay that begins from the left-hand edge. 
  • To see the cover photo in full and read its description, a mobile viewer must tap on it. 

How to optimise your Facebook profile and cover photos for desktop and mobile

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With so many people accessing Facebook Pages on mobile, it is more important than ever to cater to their needs and encourage them to engage with your content - and an optimised cover and profile photo can go a long way to make that happen. 

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And now you know how the mobile view affects the appearance of the profile and cover photo, you can work within these parameters. In the example above, Panera Bread has not taken mobile users into account, so their "For a short time, it's strawberry time" slogan is lost on what is probably hundreds of thousands of customers.

My Facebook cover and profile photo template for desktop and mobile users

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Here it is, my template to help you create a Facebook profile and cover photo that is optimised for both desktop and mobile views:

  • The orange box represents the space covered by the desktop profile photo.
  • The blue box represents the space covered b the mobile profile photo.
  • The dark green box represents the general area covered by your Page's name and category on the mobile view.
  • The gradient emerging from the left represents the same gradient seen on mobile devices
  • The light green area represents the space where your design will be unobstructed

Examples of Facebook profile and cover photos optimised for desktop and mobile

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Taking both desktop and mobile views into consideration means that quite a lot of the cover photo's space is obstructed, but that does not mean you can't still have a great design, as long as you are creative. In the above example, Bed Bath & Beyond's cover and profile photo looks great on mobile, and its "Let's do brunch" slogan is unobstructed by any of the elements on the page.

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And here's my new cover and profile photo for mobile viewers. Using the template, I have made sure that my free ebook call to action is visible, and that nothing crucially important is behind where the huge square profile photo sits.

I think one of the most important points to make is that even though much of your cover photo is covered up - fully or partially - that doesn't mean that it still can't be visually appealing.

Download the template

 

This Facebook cover photo template (and several others for all the biggest social networks - expertly measured, simple to use, and up-to-date) is available instantly as a downloadable zip file via the purchase link above. For more information on all my social media templates, click here.

Note: Payment is fast and secure via PayPal, but you do not need a PayPal account to buy and download. 

Simply work around the template layers to add your design, save it as a .png file and upload it via the desktop Facebook site. Check how it looks on mobile, then tweak and re-upload if necessary. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, available for Kindle and in paperback.

Buy 500 Social Media Marketing Tips
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007L50HE6
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007L50HE6

Follow Me:
http://www.facebook.com/500socialmediatips/
https://pinterest.com/500socialmedia/
http://www.twitter.com/500socialmedia
http://www.youtube.com/500socialmediatips

 

How to Get A Verified Facebook Page or Profile

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What are Facebook Verified Pages and Profiles? 

In a roll out that will make it easier for people to find the authentic presence of a personal profile or Facebook Page and help to create a better user experience and increased authentic engagement with high profile people like celebrities, journalists, and popular brands, verified Pages were introduced at the end of May 2013. 

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How do people know my Page or Profile is Facebook Verified? 

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Once a Page is verified, it will be adorned with a "verification badge" - a check mark in a blue circle, as in the example of Facebook's official page above. To make it as easy as possible to identify which Pages are authentic, verification badges will appear in a number of other places:

  • Next to the name of the Page
  • When hovering over the name of a Page
  • In Graph Search queries
  • In stories about people liking a Page
  • In News Feed ads for your Page

How do I get a Verified Page or Profile on Facebook? 

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      At the moment, the short answer to this question is you don't have to do anything. Facebook will automatically be adding verification badges to the Pages and personal profiles that are at greatest risk of duplication, and it won't, at present, accept requests for verification from other Pages. 

      What do I do if someone is pretending to be me or my company? 

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      If you want to report an account that is fake or a duplication of your Page or personal profile, click the cog icon on its timeline, select Report/Block and follow the on-screen instructions to file a report.

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR
      Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, available for Kindle and in paperback.

      Buy 500 Social Media Marketing Tips
      Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007L50HE6
      Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007L50HE6

      Follow Me:
      http://www.facebook.com/500socialmediatips/
      https://pinterest.com/500socialmedia/
      http://www.twitter.com/500socialmedia
      http://www.youtube.com/500socialmediatips

      How to Add a YouTube Subscribe Widget Box to Your Website or Blog | YouTube Widget Embed Code

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      If you regularly blog and create video content for YouTube, one of the simplest ways to permanently promote your YouTube presence on it and to encourage new subscribers is with a YouTube widget. box, which you can embed in your site's side bar or somewhere else similarly prominent

      The Anatomy of the YouTube Widget

      Above is an example of a working YouTube widget - in this case, it's mine, but yours will be customised to reflect your account details. It features several elements, all of which, in their own small way, should help to attract people to click and/or subscribe to your channel:

      • Username (which is a clickable link to your channel)
      • Total number of video uploads (proof of your activity on the site) 
      • Current subscriber count (proof of your popularity on the site)
      • YouTube channel icon (also a clickable link to my channel)
      • The all-important "Subscribe Button."

      How to Install and Customise Your YouTube Widget

      Here's how to install and customise your own YouTube widget,:

      1. Copy the code in the text box above and paste it into the section of your site where you want your widget to appear. 

      2. Replace the youryoutubeusername text to your own YouTube username - do not delete the single speech mark that follows it. 

      3. Change the "height" and "width" numbers to increase or decrease the size of your widget in pixels as required. 

      4. Save, refresh your web page, and voila! 

      The Finished Result

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      Here's how your YouTube widget will look. In my example above, you'll notice I have embedded a playlist of my most recent uploads on top. While the widget might work okay by itself, by adding a playable video for people to click on as a sample of your content, you're increasing your chances of snagging another new subscriber.  You can embed any individual video here, but in a future blog post, I'll show you how to embed a playlist too. 

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR
      Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, available for Kindle and in paperback.

      Buy 500 Social Media Marketing Tips
      Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007L50HE6
      Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007L50HE6

      Follow Me:
      http://www.facebook.com/500socialmediatips/
      https://pinterest.com/500socialmedia/
      http://www.twitter.com/500socialmedia
      http://www.youtube.com/500socialmediatips

       

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      How to Pin Images to Pinterest on iPhone App | How to Use Pinterest on iPhone

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      Pinning images to Pinterest from the iPhone was something of a faff before an update to the official Pinterest app in the spring of 2013. Now, it's much easier. Here's how: 

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      1. Make sure you've got an up-to-date version of the Pinterest app, and when you load it up, you'll see a "plus" icon in the middle of the home screen. Click that to begin the pinning process.

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      2. You'll be given three options at this stage - Website (search for a website or enter a a website address where there is an image you want to pin), Camera (take a photo to pin), or Clipboard (paste in a website address that you have copied whilst browsing the web in Safari, Chrome, etc.)

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      3. Once you're on the page that contains the image you want to pin, tap the "Pin it" button. 

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      4. The Pinterest app will scan the page for pinnable images . Just tap the one that you want to pin. 

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      5. With your image chosen, pick the board that you want to add it to (or create a new one by tapping the "plus" symbol), and that's it! You'll get a message to let you know that the image has been pinned successfully.

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR
      Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, available for Kindle and in paperback.

      Buy 500 Social Media Marketing Tips
      Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007L50HE6
      Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007L50HE6

      Follow Me:
      http://www.facebook.com/500socialmediatips/
      https://pinterest.com/500socialmedia/
      http://www.twitter.com/500socialmedia
      http://www.youtube.com/500socialmediatips