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Before posting your first video content, you might want to set up your channel fundamentals. In this article, I will cover a wide range of topics surrounding your YouTube dashboard settings tricks and tips. 1) How to Log-In to YouTube The first step, type youtube.com in your browser address bar and press "enter"Click “Sign in” at the upper right cornerInput your Google email address and passwordClick “Sign in” and you are in! 2) What is YouTube Studio? This free app was designed to give Creators the much-needed flexibility so that they can begin filming, sharing, as well as finding their fandoms depending on the way they like to create. In YouTube Studio, you can easily manage your presence, grow your channel, make money, and interact with your YouTube subscribers and viewers all in one place. 3) How to Get to YouTube Studio You must sign up in order to join YouTube Creators. Follow the link YouTube Studio directly or follow these simple steps to arrive at YouTube Studio: Sign into YouTube StudioClick on your profile picture in the top right cornerChoose YouTube Studio The site might ask you to re-authenticate when signing in. 4) How Do I Get to My YouTube Dashboard Settings Your YouTube dashboard will provide you with an overview of recent activity on your YouTube channel as well as learn what is new and useful on YouTube. To access your YouTube dashboard, either go directly to your YouTube Studio or from your channel click your profile picture and then YouTube Studio. Once you are on the YouTube dashboard, you can see a number of cards such as Channel violations, Latest video content performance, Latest posts, Latest comments, News, What’s new, and Creator insider among others. It is within your YouTube account that you will find important notifications in the Important notification card, including Copyright and Monetization notifications. 5) What are the Best Settings for My YouTube Dashboard? Review General Settings If you click on your profile picture on the top right corner of your YouTube dashboard page, you will find Settings. Here you will get the YouTube account settings page, where you can change general settings such as email preferences and passwords. You can also update currency in General Settings. To do this, follow the steps below: Go directly to YouTube Studio if you are logged out, and then sign in.Locate “Settings” at the lower leftClick to open a windowFrom the window, select General and then click the USD option box (it depends on the previous currency you used).Convert to the currency of your choice Changing your YouTube currency means you will be able to measure your income in other currencies if you like, rather than installing a Currency Converter app or converting the currency on the web. When starting a new YouTube channel you are limited to 15 minutes for the average length of your videos. You can update this setting to be able to do longer videos. Log into your YouTube accountIn your YouTube dashboard go to YouTube studioThen you want to click on the settings on your YouTube dashboardNext, you will click channelThen you will click Feature eligibilityGo to 2. Intermediate features and verify phone number to increase video length Review Channel Settings You can also review your channel dashboard settings in YouTube Studio and change anything you want, from your channel visibility to country or region. To do this, select “Channel” in “Settings” and make the changes you wish to make and then select “Save”. Under Channel Settings you can access the following: Basic Info Country of residence: Choose the country or region for your YouTube channel via the “Down” arrow. Note that eligibility for the YouTube Partner Program depends on the country or region setting you select.Keywords: Add keywords relevant to your channel using “Keywords” settings Advanced settings Set your channel’s audience with this setting. If you skip it, you will be asked to identify the video content on your channel that is aimed at a younger audience.Google Ads account linking” Link your channel to Google Ads account to run ads based on interactions with your channel.Automatic captions: Select to replace possible inappropriate words with an open bracket, two underscores, and a closed bracket like this “[__]”Subscriber count: Showcase the total number of current and new subscribers your channel hasChannel redirect: Use a shortened version of your channel’s custom URL to redirect your viewers to another channel. Feature eligibility tab You can enable YouTube channel features by following the following steps: Select the logged-in icon and click "Creator Studio" from the drop-down menuClick on the “Channel” section of your Creator Studio menuFrom there, click “Status and Features to show your account status on the right. Just below your account status, you will find YouTube featuresClick to enable features you want to add to your channel Upload defaults Upload defaults are settings that apply to all your web uploads based on your choices. Choose defaults for your videos category, privacy setting, tags, title, language, and comments among others. With that in mind, you want to add a title and description to help your overall channel performance by helping your videos to rank higher in the search results. For the last 4 settings, Permission, Community, Creator Demographics, and Agreement, just leave as is. YouTube Analytics Section The YouTube analytics section on your YouTube dashboard is the place you want to go to see how your YouTube channel is doing. Here you can find a ton of information about your YouTube channel. At the top of the YouTube analytics page on your YouTube dashboard you will see: Overview: Shows your engagement metrics such as YouTube views, watch time (hours), and subscribersReach: Here you will find key metrics and performance data such as Impressions, Impressions click-through rate, views, and unique viewsEngagement: This section will have watch time (hours) and average view durationAudience: Will show returning viewers, unique viewers, and YouTube subscribers Channel Customization: Channel Layout, Branding, and Basic Info Channel layout On your YouTube dashboard you will see Channel customization on the left side, go to Channel Layout to customize the layout of your YouTube channel to allow viewers to see your channel trailer, featured videos as well as featured sections whenever they get to the homepage of your channel. The Channel trailer is a short preview of your channel so that viewers can have a recap of what your YouTube video content is about and subscribe. Ads will not show on the channel trailer unless the video comprises third-party claimed content. Note that the featured video is only visible to the subscribed channel. Channel branding Under this setting, you can brand your channel identity by updating and customizing your profile picture, video watermark, and a channel banner. Your profile picture is the image that is displayed to viewers on your YouTube channel. Keep in mind that your profile picture must observe YouTube’s Community Guidelines, which include: No animated GIFsGIF, JPG, PNG, or BMPRound or square image at 98 by 98 px Your banner image is displayed in the background of your YouTube page. Just like your profile image, the banner image must also comply with YouTube guidelines: Minimum dimension of 2048 by 1152 px with an aspect ratio of 16:9Should have a safe area for text and logos at 1235 by 338 px. Note that larger images might get cropped on certain screens or views.The file size should be a maximum of 6 MB. Thankfully, you can resize your image before uploading it to your channel. Simply use your PC’s image editor or any online platform. Channel Basic Info Here you can manage basic information about your channel, including name, description, links, and translations. Note that changing your channel name does not change the name of your Google account; however, it helps your channel reach a global audience. Still, under Basic Info, you can access your channel URL – the standard URL that channels use. Each channel however has its own unique ID comprising letters and numbers suffixing the URL. You can set up a custom URL that is easy to remember and you can share with your viewers. Additionally, you can add links to your banner image. By default, your banner image has a link to your Google page, but you can always add more links to your social media pages or website to direct traffic and increase likes. You also have YouTube analytics and YouTube metrics on your YouTube dashboard. Most owners use this YouTube data to track how many YouTube subscribers they get, video performance, average view duration, what are the top videos, watch time, and engagement metrics. Monetization link Once again go to your YouTube dashboard and you will see the YouTube monetization link on the left sidebar. If you sign up and get accepted to YouTube Partner Program, you can monetize your YouTube videos through: YouTube Premium: You get a portion of the subscription for premium subscribersMerch Shelf: Your users can buy branded merchandiseChannel Memberships: You offer special perks and members pay a monthly subscriptionAd Revenue: Make money on your channel by fulfilling 1,000 new subscribers and 4,000 watch hours for your channelSuper Chat & Super Stickers: When you have live chat streams users pay to have their messages highlighted Your videos have to meet YouTube advertiser-friendly content guidelines if you want to monetize them through ads. Super Chat & Super Stickers are designed to enable you to connect with your fans during live chat. Super Chats help highlight your key message within live chat while Super Stickers let you see an animated or digital image that pops up in the live chat feed. Last but not least, you can switch on YouTube Premium revenue so that when a subscribed viewer who is on YouTube Premium views your videos, you get a cut of the fee they pay for YouTube Premium.