YouTube Cover Art Template PSD | 2560 x 1440 Photoshop, GIMP

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There was something bothering me about my last YouTube One Channel cover art template - not just the fact that, since it was made, YouTube has significantly upped its recommended dimage size without warning!  While it aids well in creating an image that will scale well for any resolution or device, it does not take into account the position of the channel icon, which overlays the image from the top left-hand corner. This new template is the new, bigger size, and optimised to take into account channel icons.

A quick recap on how YouTube channel art works: The YouTube One Channel artwork is massive (2560 x 1440 pixels), and designed to present consistent branding on whichever device it is viewed on, from a HD television down to a mobile device. What proportion of the image a person sees depends on the device they are using. On HD televisions and mobile devices, the channel icon does not even appear, but this template is designed to provide an optimised design for any device: television, desktop, tablet, or mobile. 

Example of Non-Optimised Channel Art

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As you can see in the above example from the EpicMealTime channel, the channel art looks great at higher resolutions on desktops, but at 1024 x 768 pixels, the channel icon infringes on their cover art branding. My new template will help you avoid encountering any problems like this.

An Explanation on the Template

When you open up the .psd template in Photoshop or GIMP, it'll look like this (click for an enlarged view). It might look complex, but it's pretty simple, really. Here's how the different sections break down:

  • Lime green background: portion of art seen on HD televisions
  • Orange rectangle (full width): maximum portion of art seen on desktops.
  • Purple rectangle: Maximum portion of art seen on tablets. 
  • Brown rectangle: Logo safe area - this portion of the art will be visible on all devices. 
  • Multicoloured squares: Representation of the positions and size of channel icons at different resolutions - it does not appear on mobile devices.

How to Use the Template

              Here are a few quick steps to use my YouTube One Channel template: 

              1. Hide or delete the instructional text layers. 

              2. Design your channel art over the coloured rectangles, covering the whole space as you like. However, make sure to add the most important elements in the LOGO SAFE AREA, so that whichever device someone views your channel on, they can see it.

              Avoid placing important elements of your design behind the multicoloured squares that represent the position of channel icons at different resolutions on varying devices, otherwise they will be hidden and obscured.

              3. Once your design is complete, hide the remaining template layers - the coloured rectangles and squares - and save your image as a .png or .jpeg. 

              5. Upload your channel art to YouTube. Do not  adjust the crop.

              6. Click Select and admire the finished work!

              Download the Template

              Download the template

              This YouTube 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!

              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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              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)​

              ​

              youtube-trailer-about-section-after.PNG

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

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              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

              youtube-subscription-box-subscribe-widget-how-to.PNG

              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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              5 Things You Must Do to Prepare For the New YouTube One Channel Layout 2013

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              The new YouTube One Channel layout has been available for a month or two now, but only on an opt in basis. Over 100 million users have already made the switch, but from June 5th, all channels will be automatically and permanently moved to the new design, whether they're ready for it or not! The last thing you want is for your channel and its branding to look out of sorts when the switch happens, so here are 5 Things You Must Do to Prepare For the YouTube One Channel Layout. These simple steps to get yourself ready ahead of time and take advantage of the benefits of the new layout as soon as possible.

              1. Opt In Now

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              To be ready before the automatic switchover (and make use of the next four pointers), opt in to the YouTube One Channel layout now by visiting http://www.youtube.com/onechannel. Have a read through the overview provided if you wish, bid farewell to your old channel layout one last time, then hit the button at the bottom of the page to upgrade.

              2. Upload A Channel Icon

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              Once you're upgraded, upload a square, high-resolution (800px x 800px) image for your channel icon; a pic that is also recognisable at smaller resolutions. This image will be your channel’s icon all over YouTube - in search results, comments, and on your Channel Art (explained next).

              3. Upload Channel Art

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              The One Channel design ditches the background branding of old and opts instead for a simple cover image known as your Channel Art. Your YouTube channel's icon sits on top of it, and you can also add clickable icons to your website and social media profiles. To get started, hover over your channel art place holder and click the pencil icon that appears in the top-right corner. In the drop-down menu, click "Edit Channel Art" and "Edit Links" respectively.

              The most effective YouTube Channel Art is an image that is optimised to display well on whichever resolution it is being viewed. To ensure yours looks great on screens from mobiles to HD televisions, use the guidelines in my template, which you can download here: Social Media Templates Page. 

              4. Create A Channel Trailer

               

              The new YouTube channel pages have two primary ways of displaying video content in the Home tab: through the Browse view or through the Activity Feed. The Activity Feed broadcasts your activity on YouTube to your subscribers, while the Browse view two different "sub-views": a view for subscribers, and a view for viewers who have not yet subscribed to your channel. For this reason, the Browse view is my preferred default, but it needs to be enabled first. Here's how:

              1. Hover your cursor over the menu bar that contains the 'Video', 'About', and 'Discussion' tabs on your Channel Page.

              2. Click on the pencil icon that appears to open the Channel Navigation menu.

              3. From here, click the button to enable the Browse feed, and then click Save. Go back to your Channel page and you'll be able to add a trailer over a place holder.

              For instructions about how to create a great channel trailer to entice in new subscribers, watch my tutorial video above. 

              5. Add Sections

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              Sections are a way for you to organise your videos into groups on your channel page, and they can either be built manually or created dynamically from video tags, likes, etc. Use sections to highlight your best content, both to subscribed and non-subscribed viewers. To begin, scroll to the bottom of your channel page and click the "Add a section" button.

              Conclusion

              So there you have it, a handful of simple and effective ways you can help make your brand's transition to the YouTube One Channel layout as painless as possible, and hopefully increase your audience at the same time. What are your thoughts on the new YouTube layout? Let me know in the comments below!

               

              FREE YouTube Subscribe Button PSD 2013 - Large Size Download

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              For some time now, YouTube has been sporting a new "Subscribe"  button on the site. Gone is the bright yellow, and in is a more stylish grey and red design that more closely matches the site's design.

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              A lot of people (including myself) place a Subscribe button at the end screen of their videos, and overlay it with a spotlight annotation to encourage viewers to subscribe to their channel. Only problem is, there didn't seem to be a nice, big version of the new Subscribe button design around to use. So with the tiny "Subscribe" button from a YouTube video page and a little Photoshop magic, I designed one myself - a large YouTube Subscribe button for 2013. 

              Here's the original (120 x 26 pixels):  

               

              youtube-subscribe-button-original.png

              And here's my copycat attempt (2496 x 530 pixels): 

              I'll be the first to admit that the image isn't an exact  copy... unfortunately my Photoshop skills don't extend that far at present, but it's pretty similar, and certainly better than the big ol' yellow monstrosity I'm using at the moment! Feel free to right-click and Save this image for use in your own YouTube videos or download the transparent PSD file from the following link:

              http://min.us/lbcP6SNiSAQeNW  - hover your mouse over the image and click the 'Download' icon.  Link down? Tweet me @500socialmedia and I'll upload a new one!

              If you know someone else who might benefit from this button, please share it with them. 

              Example

               

              Here's how the Subscribe button looks on my current YouTube end-screen. I hope you'll use it on yours too! 

               

              ABOUT THE AUTHOR

              Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips.

              Buy 500 Social Media Marketing Tips (Kindle or Paperback)
              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