How to Name Your YouTube Channel (3 Tips & 3 BIG Naming Mistakes)

1. Using Your Own Name
2. Naming Your Channel After Your Business Name
3. Naming Your YouTube Channel After Its Category
4. Avoiding Naming Mistakes
5. FAQ

Using Your Own Name

Now, this one is literally as easy as it sounds and it's really just using your first name and your last name. So myself, for example, using Adam Earhart and Tony Robbins and Brendon Burchard and Evan Carmichael and Brian Tracy. You get the picture. Now going with your name, your own personal name is absolutely fantastic for personal brands, and in fact, if you have a personal brand or your business is built around your own personality and essentially around you, this is pretty much the only option. That said, we will cover some mistakes you want to avoid later on so make sure to stick around. But if you're a coach or a consultant or an expert or an author or a speaker or a trainer or anybody who really builds their business around their own personality, well naming your YouTube channel around your own personal brand is going to be the best choice for you. After all, having a YouTube channel is one of the best brand building assets you could possibly hope to have. Especially in the realm of personal branding because nowhere else do you have the opportunity to connect with someone and really get to see their face and hear their voice and again, next to being in person, it really is the most effective form of communication available to you. Plus, investing in your personal brand and essentially setting yourself up for success by naming your YouTube channel accordingly, well this is going to serve you for a long time whether you choose to start a new project or start a new venture or even if someday you want to get a job or run a joint venture or partner somebody, you're still going to have this amazing asset that's been working for you for days, weeks, months, hopefully even years.

Naming Your Channel After Your Business Name

Alright, so the next option is naming your channel after your business name and again, this one is pretty much just as obvious as naming it after your personal name. But there's a few nuances here for when you want to choose your business name opposed to your personal name. So let's dive into that now. First of all, as a business, if you don't necessarily have one person that you want to put front and center for your brand and really build a personal brand around that person, well then a business name is going to be fantastic. This is also really valuable if you've got multiple people on your team that you're planning on putting in front of the camera or creating content. Because obviously this would be incredibly weird to have it as your personal name and then show all sorts of random people on your channel. It's going to be confusing, people aren't really going to know who is who. Another reason you'd want to choose your business name over your personal name is really depending on if you ever want to really grow the business or essentially build it up to the point that you could sell it or partner with someone else. A personal brand is next to impossible to sell but a business name is really easy to transfer over. So with that considered, why might you still want to choose a personal brand? Well really when it comes to marketing and when it comes to building that know like and trust factor, it's important to remember that people like doing business with people, not necessarily businesses. So by humanizing your brand by making it more about a person or really just using your name, it's going to make it easier to build that connection, to build that know like and trust factor and to sort of build up an audience a lot quicker than you would if you're kind of a faceless nameless corporation.

Naming Your YouTube Channel After Its Category

Alright, so moving right along to our third option and third category, which is to name your YouTube channel after the category that it's in. For example: Binging with Babish is all about cooking and therefore, is included binging right into the name there. Triathlon Taren is all about triathlon and again, just like Binging with Babish what we've done here is we've gone a bit of a hybrid where we're using both the category and the name of the person in the videos. Global Mountain Bike Network is a bit of a mouthful, but it's very obvious and what it's about. It's about mountain biking. The beauty here and the simplicity of going with a category naming convention is it really makes crystal clear your value proposition or at the very least the category that your business is in, allowing people to decide really quickly if this is for them or if it's not. For example, let's say you're in the guitar niche, well if you included Guitar in your YouTube channel you're going to very clearly dictate and say that this is for guitar people. Same thing if you're in the cooking nation, you include Cooking in the title. Or if you're in the triathlon nation you include Triathlon in the title. Or the camera and videography niche and you include Film making or Video, you get the picture. Now this third category is one that I actually don't mind too much. My preference obviously being that personal name because again, people like people rather than businesses. It's just that much easier to build a connection and it really humanizes your brand. But naming your YouTube channel after the category or a hybrid there uh still effective, as long as you avoid the following mistakes that were about to cover now.

Avoiding Naming Mistakes

Alright, so the first mistake that I see when I'm doing a channel audit or when I'm walking a client through a new YouTube strategy or telling my students about what to name their channels, essentially it's being a little too clever. Essentially trying to be cute and creative over clear. You always want to prioritize clarity over creativity in pretty much all of your marketing and this is especially true when it comes to naming a YouTube channel or something that you're really going to hang your sign on and really announce to the world what it is that you're about, what kind of content you're creating. You see, there's a great thing that I absolutely love which is that: Clarity = Customers or in this case viewers or subscribers. If you're not clear though and if you're just confusing about your title name or the value proposition of your channel, well you're not going to attract people because they're not really going to know what to expect and therefore they're probably just going to go find someone else. Now does this mean that you have to suck all the fun out of your name completely and have the most boring bland dry name ever, of course not, right. But you need to make sure that if you're going to be creative that it is an alignment and that it's also clear about what it's about. For example, if you're in a niche that has some insider jargon or tech speak or lingo or terms that people outside of the industry may not know, well that's okay to use because again, be focused on who it is that you're trying to serve and if they'll understand what you're talking about, now that's good enough for me. On the other hand, if nobody knows what you're talking about you're going to need a new channel name.

FAQ

Q: Should I use my own name for my YouTube channel?

A: Using your own name is a great option for personal brands, especially if your business revolves around your own personality. It can help in building a strong personal connection with your audience.
Q: Is naming my YouTube channel after my business name a good idea?

A: Naming your channel after your business name can be a good option if you have multiple people in your team representing the brand or if you plan to grow the business beyond yourself. It can also make sense if you want to keep the option open for selling or partnering the business in the future.
Q: Should I name my YouTube channel based on its category?

A: Naming your channel based on its category can help in clearly communicating your value proposition or niche to the audience. It can make it easier for viewers to understand what your channel is about. However, it is important to avoid certain naming mistakes to ensure clarity and effectiveness.
Q: What are some common naming mistakes to avoid for a YouTube channel?

A: One common mistake to avoid is being too clever with your channel name, prioritizing clarity over creativity is crucial. It's important to ensure that your channel name clearly communicates the content or value proposition to attract and retain viewers. Avoid using insider jargon or terms that may confuse your target audience.