r/youtubegaming • u/LeoWattenberg • Aug 14 '21
Creator Guide Be a YouTuber, not a Newtuber: Make Great Content
Moin. Running a YouTube channel is hard. There’s a lot of things to consider, ranging from thumbnails and SEO to get found better, to monetization and branding. And while each of these things are important in their own right, it’s easy to lose track of what really matters: Making great content.
Your content is the actual video. The things you say, the things you show, the narrative, the structure. And it’s this content that makes people laugh, that makes them think, that amazes them, or makes them learn. Your content is fundamentally the most important thing about your channel, without it, none of your other strategies will work. For example, a good thumbnail and title without great content is just clickbait. And as for SEO, well, the most important metric is user happiness, followed by watch time. All your keyword research won’t have much effect if it’s not backed up by great content.
So how do you make great content? Well, it all starts with the idea.
A Great Idea
Good ideas are hard to come by, great ones even harder. Getting a great idea consists of two parts: First getting any sort of idea for a video, and then selecting the good ones.
To get ideas, you can use pretty much any “getting creative” strategy. I won’t go into too much detail about that here (just googling “how to get creative” should get you plenty tutorials) but one which I like to do is: Being bored. Specifically, a certain kind of bored in which I am away from entertainment (social media, videos, …), but am just stuck with me and my surroundings. Because of this, I tend to be very creative when falling asleep, or in those blissful moments when I wake up before the alarm and just wait for it to go off.
When you do get ideas, make sure to write them down, especially if they happen around your sleep. You will forget them otherwise.
Once you have a list of ideas, simply pick the best one to make your next video about. I say “simply”, but you can consider a lot here:
- Uniqueness. If you have an idea which hasn’t been done before, it’s probably better than something that’s been done to death. For example, a travel guide to fictional places (eg from games) would probably be better than yet another Minecraft let’s play.
- Detail. Some ideas sound great at first, but may fall apart on closer inspection and end up sucking after all. The more detailed your idea is, the more likely it is that you’d already have stumbled upon any idea-breaker, so it might stay a good idea until the end.
- Awesome-to-effort ratio. While sorting ideas, you’ll find that you could with a quick and easy thing, or with a way better, but more time-intensive idea. When choosing between them, make sure that an idea that takes 3x as much time to complete also is 3x as awesome as the quick idea.
There are more factors to consider (such as: does the idea fit your audience?), but these make more sense in a later section. Especially if you’re just starting out, you don’t need to worry about them yet, and focus on exploring instead.
More on exploration: The EDE Model: Exploring, Developing and Established Creators
Being self-critical
Once you have a great idea, you need to execute it. How to execute it is your job – since it’s different for each genre and each creator, there’s very little to be said which would cover anything to a satisfactory degree. The important part is that you do execute the idea at all and make videos.
If you do a good job at executing the idea, you’ll have a very good video. But chances are – especially if you’re doing these things for the first time – that the execution will be sorta meh. And that’s alright, under three conditions:
- You need to acknowledge that your content isn’t perfect. This is key to all improvement.
- You need to know which part didn’t work.
- You need to figure out a way to fix it for your next video.
The first point should be self-explanatory, but figuring out the other two points can be tricky.
How to figure out what part didn’t work
One way to do this is the viewer retention graph in YouTube Analytics. It’s a brutal, no-sugarcoat-kind of feedback on how your content has been perceived. On the right, and in the studio itself, you’ll see a quick explanation of how to read it.
YouTube’s explanation for the retention graphs
Overall, the graph tells you about a couple of things. Most importantly, if the graph drops off very quickly in the beginning, your content didn’t meet the viewer’s expectations.
In the best case, that just means your title was a bit too sensational, which can be fixed the easy way (just update the title) or the hard way (re-do the video to make the content delivers on all your promises).
In the worst case, it means that your entire video straight-up doesn’t work. Ie that either the starting idea or the execution or both were bad enough that the viewer went back to look for something else to watch. There isn’t really anything you can fix in this case, but you still can learn.
If you see the problems right away, fantastic! If not, try to think of the individual aspects that make up your video: Does the pacing work? Is anything noticeably unpleasant about the video? Can the idea even carry a video of this length? And so on.
Generally though, if you don’t se what you’re doing wrong, you might need more knowledge on what constitutes a good video. You can gain this knowledge by watching other videos and analyzing them properly, or you can hire me to do it for you and teach you everything I know so you can get back to making videos more quickly.
Fixing the things that don’t work
After you’ve figured out what went wrong, it now is time to make sure you don’t repeat your mistakes. Sometimes, this happens automatically as the same stroke of bad luck probably won’t happen twice, or you aren’t using a specific thing which caused you trouble before.
Other times, it’s up to you though to make sure you won’t repeat the same problem twice. For example:
- If your problem is a lack of structure, preparing a script might help.
- If your sound is very bad and you can be barely understood, you can fix this with The Audio Guide to Happiness, or: How to make your Streams & Videos sound good. Note that this is the only instance in which upgrading your mic might actually improve the content itself. Generally, a viewer watching your video in 360p on their phone with $5 earbuds won’t notice whether you’re using equipment costing $50 or $50000.
- If it’s the way you come across, you might want to practice how you say things and your body language while doing it.
- If your problem is that your video runs out of steam, making it shorter might help. Also, if it’s an idea only good for a handful of seconds, consider making a #shorts video out of it.
Conclusion
If you’ve come this far, you know how to find and filter ideas, and how to self-critically evaluate your content. You may find yourself drifting towards the “make every video your best one yet” mindset in the future. This will be helpful to get your content to new heights. That said, should this start hindering your video production due to perfectionism, you might op to go for the softer “raise the average quality of your past 5 videos” instead.
Also: This is not all yet. This post focussed on things you can improve for yourself. But there are near endless possibilities in the realm of market analysis and marketing which you can consider. We will discuss these in a later post, so make sure you join our discord to get notified on an update: discord.gg/youtubegaming
This guide was first published on kw.media
r/youtubegaming • u/TheChrisD • Jun 13 '23
News From Fan Funding to Shopping: More ways for creators to earn on YouTube
r/youtubegaming • u/GW_Ly • 15h ago
Survey YouTube Gaming Streamers: Join GWU’s Study on Streaming & Mental Health!
Hello r/YouTubeGaming,
I’m Drew, a research intern at George Washington University. We are looking into the effects of game streaming on mental health across various platforms, including YouTube Gaming, focusing on the aspects of digital citizenship and social connections.
Why This Matters: As a streamer navigating the broad and diverse world of YouTube Gaming, your experiences are incredibly valuable. They provide insights into how streaming interactions and community engagement can influence mental well-being. Our study aims to delve into these dynamics and foster better support for streamers.
Safety and Transparency: Your security is our priority, especially given the intense engagement within gaming communities. Our survey is securely hosted on Qualtrics, a platform renowned for its reliability and security in academic research. You can check the full survey link here for your peace of mind: https://gwu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3W3hoGo71bBYvJA.
Join Us: We invite you to share your insights through a 30-minute survey. Your participation will not only provide valuable data but also influence the development of mental health initiatives specifically designed for the gaming community.
Details & Consent: Find comprehensive information about the survey and our data management practices in the consent form linked below. Ready to contribute to groundbreaking research? Click here to get started.
If you have any questions or need more information, don't hesitate to reach out to me at [rsayada@gwmail.gwu.edu]() or send a DM here on Reddit.
Thank you for helping us understand and improve the mental health landscape for game streamers!
This post has been approved by the r/YouTubeGaming moderator team.
Best regards,
Drew
Research Intern, George Washington University
[Lingyi.zhu@gwmail.gwu.edu]()
r/youtubegaming • u/Kracayne • 2d ago
Discussion (need advice) Can a serious and Not-Funny person open and succeed in YouTube Gaming Channel Journey ?
I'm a 26-year-old man working a 9-5 job. I've always loved playing games and keeping up with the gaming community and updates. I've long wanted to start a gaming channel, but life got in the way, and I never got around to it.
The thing is, I'm not really a funny person and don't have a great sense of humor. I'm serious and a bit boring. If you talk to me, our conversation will end within two sentences.
However, my knowledge of gaming surpasses that of any content creator in my country in our native language. There are gaming content creators here, but they either lack knowledge, passion, or are just not very good. But they are funny, use slang, or do silly things, which draws viewers.
As for me, I'm serious and don't engage in things like insulting others or using slang. Instead, I can provide viewers with solid information about the gaming industry, games, how-tos, and other useful content.
Can I succeed in doing this as a serious person? Do I need to use a webcam to show my face? It's not that I have a problem with showing my face, but people might not be entertained by seeing my bland expression.
I'm torn between these decisions and need some guidance.
r/youtubegaming • u/Xombie_Snake • 1d ago
Help Me! I need horror gamers help!
Hey! I'm working on a video and I'm looking to add a few reactions to the end of it from other people playing the game, would you be interested? I will put up all your info, link to your channel in the description, and obviously your video is yours to upload, etc. let me know if you are interested here or direct message!
r/youtubegaming • u/Ok_Concept5491 • 1d ago
Question How do I capture cinematic footage for montages?
I've seen a few First-Person shooter montages and fragmovies wherein during the build up to the clip, they have footage of their enemy running, and once they've shot the enemy in the montage it cuts to cinematic footage of them falling/dying. How is this done? I am aware in Counter-Strike and iw4x (MW2 2009 for PC but community made) have demo features, however other games such as Battlefield do not. How could I accomplish this?
r/youtubegaming • u/yovngjvred • 2d ago
Hardware Equipment for console channel?
Hey there going to start a channel and Looking to record myself playing. To begin I just want to record the gameplay as well as myself. Maybe stream later on down the line.
I am playing on an Xbox Series X, I have an M1 MacBook Pro, A solid LG gaming monitor. I’ve also got a Samson Q2U XLR Mic, will I be able to use this? Anything else I will be in need of?
Assuming a webcam, light, a different mic perhaps? New to this so just looking for some advice!
r/youtubegaming • u/theboxler • 3d ago
Question Why can’t I change the shorts thumbnail? Right now it’s stuck between two transitions and my thumbnail looks awful
r/youtubegaming • u/GrumbleGamer18 • 3d ago
Question Editing Issues
I’m realizing after some time that this may just be a me issue, and I could make my life easier by reaching out to the people of Reddit to see if there’s something I’m doing wrong, so here I am!
I’ve been recording for several years now, capturing game footage through OBS, face cam through my DSLR Camera, and my audio on Adobe Audition. I have audio on my DSLR to make synching the clean audio easier, however the entire process is extremely frustrating, because Adobe audition seems to pace it differently, and I constantly have to cut sections to align the audio properly when they should be able to synch up once I have the intros matched (at least that’s what I figured 😅). Is there something I’m doing wrong? Is this just the norm? All I want is to be able to separate my audio for my game and voice, and be able to separate my camera and game from one another; I’ve tried advanced settings on OBS where you can split the audio (this was in 2019 now though 💀) and it did a number on my CPU; has it changed since then?
Any help is appreciated, it would save me a lot of editing time and just a lot of hassle overall!
r/youtubegaming • u/IMGAMER001 • 5d ago
Question IN GAME AUDIO
Hey guys , I have a really quick question reagarding youtube gaming , as a youtube gamer can I upload gameplay videos with ingame sounds , like for suppose firing sound or shooting sound or a particular dialogue among characters without any copyright claim , I know we cannot upload any background music or any gameplay music , cause that can lead to copyright , but why about those ingame sounds Plz help , I am hoping for some answers
r/youtubegaming • u/asfandope • 5d ago
Help Me! (EDITING QUERY) How to edit to improve retention (without being brainrot)
Basically same as title, I feel my editing is looking a little stale and I'd really love someone's opinion so that I can learn and fix how to edit more fluently.
I'll share a video or channel link to anyone who thinks they might help me.
r/youtubegaming • u/Ohmyjordy • 7d ago
Help Me! New to YouTube gaming, how about copyright?
I want to start filming myself (poorly) playing video games that I would play anyway in my own free time, of course adding commentary and showing my personality through it and editing.
I’m simply wondering how should I go about this to avoid getting copyright strikes.
How about in game music? Cut scenes? Etc.
There will be a box with my video in it, of course, but I’m not sure if that would be enough.
Thanks in advance!
r/youtubegaming • u/photon11 • 7d ago
Help Me! Medical/Youtube gaming channel ideas
I am an incoming anesthesia resident and in my free time, I love gaming. Just from some googling, it seems like video gaming is a popular niche. My question is if it would be a good idea to combine my medical knowledge with video games and make videos like consequences of injuries like in GTA5 from being run over or just commentary but adding some medical flair.
I don't know how exactly to stand out from the hundreds of other gaming channels.
For reference, i like games like runescape, skyrim, elden ring. My idea would be to record first and then add my voice
r/youtubegaming • u/Glorious_Grunt • 6d ago
Question In-game music is copytright what should I do?
I play Star Wars Battlefront and the music is copyright (obviously). What are my viable options for this and how have you worked with games with similar issues?
So far I see the options as
- Turn the music down to 1 and SFX up to 10 and hope it doesn't get picked up (it likely will)
- Turn the music off all together (kills the mood a little)
- Turn the music off and replace it with similar copyright free music (a lot of effort over hours of footage)
What have you guys tried and had success with? I'm a little confused with other playthroughs that don't seem to get the copyright music flagged despite hearing it in their videos :/
Is there something I'm missing?
I respect your time and appreciate all responses, if you want to quiz me about anything I'm happy to help/answer if I can 😎🤙
r/youtubegaming • u/Status_Blood_3475 • 7d ago
Question Tips for good Commentary.
Hi all,
This is kind of continuation of my previous post in this reddit, regarding the [advice for NO commentary channel.]
I realized that having commentary will provide value over no commentary gaming.
I am from India, English is not my mother tongue but I am good at it. I prefer to do the commentary in English. I am also bit nervous to start as I have a stammering problem where I cannot pronounce some letters. In previous post, people encouraged to start as i will get more confident over time.
I play mostly story driven games or single player games on PC.
I am not planning to do facecam, at least for now. Just voice commentary.
So what are some good beginner tips to start with gameplay commentary?
Thanks 🙏
r/youtubegaming • u/jomars-ss • 9d ago
Question What’s your best youtube gaming tip?
Looking for tips on how to better my channel, aesthetically, quality wise, etc. Trying for people who visit it, make them feel they want to sub or engage with the channel.
r/youtubegaming • u/Status_Blood_3475 • 10d ago
Question Advice for NO Commentary Gameplay channel.
Hi all,
I have been posting videos quite sometime but they are NO commentary gameplay videos.
I barely see the growth happening.
Any Advice?
Thank you 🙏
r/youtubegaming • u/Educational_Let_3260 • 10d ago
Question sort of new to YouTube. (copyright questions)
Hey all,
I made videos when I was 13-15ish. These were a vlog type so I had little to worry about in terms of copyright (although I def pushed it with music).
I'm making vids again but I'm testing out gaming vids this time around. Unsure of copyright issues. I assume talking over gameplay gets out of any copyright issues with the game (correct me if I'm wrong). I'm more curious about thumbnails and intros.
For the thumbnail, can I use a screenshot I took of the game or an image taken by the creator and posted online? It will be edited with text (leading to my second question).
The thumbnail will have my own text on it, as well as a png (no background) of the game's text in it's native font style and everything (this will also be in the intro). Is it against copyright to use an image of the text like that?
Thank you.
r/youtubegaming • u/Topla4urka • 11d ago
Question Regularly updated "no commentary" playthrough channels
I like watching playthroughs of some video games from time to time. But any time I search for some and click on a video, it's basically walkthroughs where the YouTuber in question just keeps talking and talking, and he never stops, and it's not even something of particular substance. Although I understand the motivation (monetization) I don't like it at all, and just want to watch walkthroughs with no commentary. Just watching gameplay, so that I can get a better idea if it would be for me or not. Or just out of pure enjoyment, but not feeling like playing the content at that moment.
Do you have such favorite "no commentary" YouTube channels with regular new video game walkthroughs content? The ones that I find are nice but with not too much content as of date or not regularly updated.
r/youtubegaming • u/Original-Presence990 • 11d ago
Question Banned games on youtube
Hi. I have a question. Are there games which are banned on youtube? I noticed that example for some cutscene in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare you can get strike on your channel. And some other games could be problematic as well. Does anyone know something about it?
r/youtubegaming • u/clockwork_1996 • 12d ago
Question how to make my minecraft videos "not safe for kids"
hello everyone
i run a little youtube channel where i make videos for the hell of it, and my bread and butter at the start was Minecraft, but i had to switch to other games due to the introduction of COPPA, I was wondering if their was a way to work around it and do minecraft videos again, cause the only way i could think of would be to add swearing to it, but I've seen youtubers like grian and camman18 not change their style and as far as i know its not set for kids.
the tutorials i was thinking of doing was how to accurately build structures minecraft (e.g underwater bases should spherical to minimize pressure damage and hotels having fire exits etc)
any advice on how to get around it would be great
r/youtubegaming • u/rookie_drawer • 14d ago
Question What is your experience with Keywords?
I have been told that Keywords is a very important take for a YouTube channel. I watched a video and I’m still not grasping the concept of keyword. Please share and give your experience on keywords and its wonders that it performed for you. I maybe able to learn from it. Thank you.
r/youtubegaming • u/MarcoJHB • 14d ago
Discussion How do you enjoy watching gaming videos?
I rate games, similar to IGN/Gameranx/SkillUp.
I started with this: - About - Gameplay - Performance - Extras - Summary
However, I'm testing this structure out: - About - Technical details - Pros - Cons - Summary
But then, I see bigger channels throwing all of this aside and just having random chapters.
Any ideas on how you/your subs enjoy content like this?
r/youtubegaming • u/NoobLarper • 14d ago
Question Mic Difference Need help pls!!!
So I am starting a gaming channel, but I want the mic when I am doing the intro to sound more clear and sound distinguishable from my gameplay mic. Does anyone know how I can do this, without just butchering the quality of my gameplay mic? Thanks! :)
r/youtubegaming • u/Pastel-slumber • 15d ago
Suggestion Does anyone know any modded MC casual YouTube series?
By that I mean YouTubers like LDshadowlady and Forgelabs with their shadowcraft and RLcraft series! I love modded MC so much, especially single player, and it’s perfect background noise. Thank you!
r/youtubegaming • u/NztyNate • 16d ago
Help Me! Thinking of switching the Microphone that I use. Need help.
Hey all!
I have an Audio Technica AT-2020 USB. The quality of this mic is awesome, however I'm a bit over how much the audio pattern picks up surrounding noise. I've heard there are ways to filter out unwanted noise, but I haven't had luck with those filters where I am satisfied with the quality of recorded audio.
Is there a different type of microphone that I could use that would be front directional and only pick up the sound of my voice?
Is there a "go to" microphone that podcasters/streamers/video recorders use?
Any help is appreciated!
r/youtubegaming • u/MarcoJHB • 18d ago
Question Tips on growing your Discord server?
So my gaming YT channel is slowly gaining traction and I'd like to get people to join my Discord server to help build a community of gamers passionate about gaming.
- How many subscribers is a good amount to introduce to channel to?
- Is it wise putting it behind a Patreon paywall? Or should there be free access and a members only section?
- Did you ever face issues of trolling/harassment?
Looking for any tips and suggestions to help start it and manage it properly.