YouTube has been around a lot longer than Google+, and it’s common knowledge that it can be used as a very effective business and marketing tool. When combined with the social networking features of Google+, the result is a powerful method for both hosting and disseminating your media. Google has recently taken steps to more closely integrate their video and social networking platforms. If you have an existing YouTube account, you may have noticed prompts to link your account with a Google+ profile. However, what you may not realize is that when you create a new Google+ Page, as described in last week’s post, you also automatically create a corresponding YouTube Channel (and vice versa). The Channel will inherit the name of your Google+ Page, and you can start using it immediately by way of a number of clever integration points.
OK, so now that you know you have a YouTube Channel, let’s assume you want to start uploading some content. We’ll start by demonstrating how to display your YouTube Channel uploads on your Google+ Page. First, you must ensure that the YouTube tab on your Google+ Page is visible to visitors. You can do so by clicking on your username in the top, right-hand corner of your browser and navigating to Page settings.
Next, scroll down until you see the options shown below. Check the box next to YouTube/Videos.
Now, open YouTube and access your new Channel. Since you probably already have a YouTube Channel for your personal Google+ profile (as opposed to your new Page), switch Channels by clicking on your username, selecting Switch account, and choosing the appropriate Channel from the list.
Click the Upload button (located near the search bar) to add a new video. In order for the video to be publicly visible in the YouTube tab on your Google+ Page, you must choose Public as the privacy setting. You can also choose to share the video with your Google+ followers by checking the box next to the Google+ icon (creates a post).
Your video will now be listed on both your YouTube Channel, and the YouTube tab on your Google+ Page.
Obviously, sharing uploads via Google+ will drive traffic to your video much more effectively than simply posting the video to your YouTube Channel. Additionally, if the video topic pertains only to a certain subset of your followers, you can use to the Circles feature of Google+ to share the video more selectively. When posting on your Google+ Page, choose the Video option to select videos from your YouTube Channel, then select the desired Circles from the To: drop-down menu.
You can also share the video directly from your YouTube account, without opening Google+. To do so, navigate to your Channel’s Video Manager page. Click on the Share tab (you’ll see this right beneath the video itself), then click on the Google+ icon. From a pop-up window, you will be able to add comments and choose Circles in a similar manner to posting on Google+.
The fact that Google+ Pages and YouTube channels are created in tandem is highly advantageous when it comes to promoting your content. The previous multi-step process of creating and linking separate accounts in YouTube and Google+ has been eliminated, which saves you time up front, and during the sharing process. It also makes possible the saving of Google+ Hangouts on Air recordings to your corresponding YouTube Channel (if you’d like to know more about Hangouts on Air, you can check out our previous post on the subject). Good luck with your YouTube Channel, and remember to check back for related posts covering the delegated management and local business features of Google+ Pages.
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