How To Create A Blog For Your YouTube Channel 2024

Many YouTubers think of YouTube as their home on the web.

Since this is where you’re going to publish your content, share it with your subscribers, and interact with the community, this makes perfect sense.

But relying too heavily on YouTube to help you build your business is simply unwise.

Isn’t it time you created your own blog, another channel you can use to promote your video content? Read on.

How To Make A Website For YouTube Content Creators

You’ve probably heard a lot about different website builders. Wix tends to be a popular one, and you may have even seen various popular YouTube content creators promoting it.

Wix is a fantastic website building tool but doesn’t offer the same level of flexibility or control over your website that WordPress does. If you’re serious about your business, WordPress should be your first choice.

People tend to think installing WordPress is complicated, but these days it can usually be done in one click.

But before we go there, first you need to get a domain name and hosting plan. Typically, you can purchase both through the same provider, and I recommend signing up with Just Host to take care of your domain and hosting needs.

Your domain name should be something along the lines of www.yourname.com, or if you have an alias or show name, you may want to replace “yourname” with the appropriate text.

Once your domain and hosting are set up, you’re ready to get WordPress installed. Again, this process should prove relatively uncomplicated (it should only take one click to get started).

With WordPress installed, you have the skeleton framework in place. There are some additional steps you’ll need to take to customize your website, such as installing themes and plugins, but you’re essentially good to start posting and tweaking the content on your site as soon as WordPress in installed.

But I’m sure there’s one question on your mind that needs answering before you get lost in the details of web development. How do I put my YouTube videos on my website? Keep reading, because in the next section I share exactly how to do this.

How To Put Your YouTube Videos On Your Website

Putting your YouTube videos on your website is a relatively simple process.

The most straightforward way is to go to the URL of the YouTube video you want to post on your website, click “Share” (next to the “like” and “dislike” buttons), click on “Embed”, and then copy and paste the code YouTube provides you with into your website. In WordPress, you need to ensure the post editor is in “Text” mode as opposed to “Visual” mode, because this type of code can only be read by WordPress in Text mode.

But you may be looking for more flexibility beyond just putting your videos in individual blog posts. You might be looking to display your videos in specific ways. Maybe you’d like to encourage your website visitors to subscribe to your YouTube channel too.

This is where plugins come in.

There are various YouTube plugins available, depending on what you’re trying to achieve.

Here are a few you should check out for yourself:

• YouTube Embed: This plugin makes it easy for you to embed your videos into your website (it will add a YouTube embed icon in the post editor). But it does so much more than that. Using this plugin, you won’t need to copy and paste the embed code from the YouTube website. You will only require the video URL. It’s also SEO friendly and responsive.
• YouTube Showcase – Video Gallery Free WordPress Plugin: Whether you’re looking to display your videos in a gallery or grid on your website, this is the plugin you need to show off your content in an attractive manner.

3 Important Pages Each YouTube Website Should Have

The exact specifics of the pages to build out depend entirely on what your goals are.

But here are a few recommendations to get you started:

• A landing page. Use this landing page to capture your YouTube subscribers and viewers as email subscribers. That way, you’ll be able to contact them directly every time you have a new video, increase views, and direct them to any product or service offers you’re selling.
• Best of… page. Use this page to highlight your most popular videos. If a lot of people already liked them, then there’s a good chance many more will like them too. Think of your “best of…” page as your portfolio. The goal here is to show off your best work.
• A store page. You’re working hard to get people to view your videos and come to your website. If you have something to sell, you should promote it and show it off. Use your store page to highlight your merchandise and whatever else you may have to sell.

An about page is typically a good thing to have in case people coming to your website want to learn more about you and what you do. It’s usually best to highlight the benefits the viewer gets for following you instead of talking endlessly about yourself.

Finally, if you’re thinking about building your community on a broader scale, you might consider adding a forum to your website where discussions can take place on an ongoing basis. Forums plugins – such as bbPress or BuddyPress – usually cost a bit of money, but are worth it if you’re thinking about developing a long-term relationship with your fans.

Important Question: Do You Need A Website And A YouTube Channel?

You may have come to this point in the guide wondering whether it’s even practical or beneficial to maintain both a YouTube channel and a website. Do you even need a website?

Making videos can be hard work, and even if you’re only publishing on a weekly basis, keeping pace with your own deadlines can be stressful. Adding a website on top of that might seem like busywork.

There are essentially four reasons to build a website as a YouTuber.

First, it gives you a place to capture leads. On YouTube, you can turn viewers into subscribers. Unfortunately, this data is not yours to keep. If YouTube shuts down your channel, you don’t get to hold onto your subscriber list, and will be left without a way to contact them. Meanwhile, if you can direct people to your website, you can capture your viewers as email subscribers, and you get to keep your email list too.

Second, having a website makes it easy for you to sell your own products, whether it’s eBooks, courses, books, or any other offers you may have.

Third, you can use your blog to keep your fans updated on the progress of your videos. You can make announcements, hold contests, and keep your followers engaged while they’re waiting for new content from you.

Fourth, you can mitigate risk by hosting content on your blog. If YouTube changes their terms, suspends your channel, or even shuts it down, your fans will still have a place to go to interact with you.

Step By Step To Building A Website For Your YouTube Channel Conclusion

YouTube is a great place to build a following, but because it’s not your website, you’re limited in what you can do with it.

Your website is your website, leaving you with a near infinite number of possibilities in terms of how you want to set it up, how you want it to look, and what you prioritize.

If you’re serious about your video content, setting up a WordPress site should be a part of your plan. Just don’t forget to market it.