How to be a gaming youtuber

Before We Start: You may be asking yourself, "Why am I taking advice from a channel who only have 70 subs?" and I don't blame you for that. However, my channel and this channel has went through many reincarnations and we are hoping it sticks this time. I have been a Youtuber since 2012 that's 5 whole years and have always been striving for improvement. 

Now, here is my personal list of things you need as a gaming channel.

1. Equipment
2. Sound + Commentary
3. Editing
4. Thumbnails
5. Engaging Titles
6. SEO
7. Promotion

1. EquipmentThe MOST important thing in a successful gaming channel is the equipment. If you would think about it this way, would you rather watch The Avengers on a 1990's phone or on quality camera equipment(kind of irrelevant, but I am currently watching this movie lol). Just like The Avengers needs quality cameras, you need a quality microphone. The microphone market can be quite confusing since there are so many and so many have different features, however most of these Microphones have video reviews on Amazon and Youtube you can decide what kind of mic that you like the most. If you are starting out I'd personally recommend the Blue Snowball. It may not be super cheap for $50 dollars, but for the quality that you get out of it, it is truly worth it. 

So you have the audio down, Now what? Well you also need to make sure your video quality is good. This means gameplays not recorded off of your phone and instead recorded straight off of your computer. There are many different softwares that you can use to record. I personally recommend Fraps just because of the ease of use, but there are many more such as Bandicam and Dxtory. There are many "informational" videos on Youtube that could possibly lower the cost of these softwares. Before you use any of these look up tutorials on Youtube for different quality settings. 

2.Sound + Commentary
Here you are all set to record, but before you start make sure your game sound is set to low enough where you can hear your voice, but still can hear the in game sound. Another software to make your sound really good is Audacity. Unlike many of the softwares I have covered so far, this one is actually found for free. You can use this software for noise cancellation as well as many other things(If interested there are also many different tutorials you can find on Youtube). 

Commentary is another very important aspect of being a gaming channel. You may have heard this in a lot of different aspects in life and always rolled your eyes but it's true. Be Yourself. Don't try to be someone your not because most of the time the people who watch your videos can tell. The only thing you should ever consider doing is speaking with some enthusiasm so people can be as interested as you. Make the jokes you think are funny, do the stuff you want to do it is your channel nobody else's.

3. Editing
Editing used to not be as important as it seems today, you used to just be able to take out some small moments here in there, but that's not really the case now a days. You have to actually put in some work if you want your videos to get some views. However, if you love let's plays and you enjoy them go ahead and do that. You may not get many views, but it's what you enjoy. If you do want to have your videos well editing, you will need some software. As stated in equipment, there are ways you can get software for cheaper by looking at Youtube tutorials. You could use Windows Movie Maker, but the amount of stuff you can do in that is very limited. The two big guns here are Sony Vegas Pro and Adobe Premiere. These are 2 great programs that you can learn and add a lot to your videos. They both have their ups and downs(Our group uses Adobe Premiere) but they are a lot better than movie maker. When it comes to editing, I think it's important to say what I said about commentary which is be yourself. You need to edit in a style you like and put in things that you find funny. Another thing that is sometimes decent to add is text in funny moments. Once again you don't have to do this but some people do like it.

4. Thumbnails
For thumbnails, you want to have something that can catch a viewers eye, but without being clickbaity. You need to have something that connects to your video in some way and pops compared to everyone else's thumbnail. For making thumbnails, I recommend Adobe Photoshop. There is so much you can do in this software to make these thumbnails pop. Once again, there are a ton of different tutorials on Youtube to help guide you with your journey.

5. Engaging Titles
This segment is fairly short, much like your thumbnails you want a title that can catch a viewer's eye without being clickbaity. You need to make it relevant to your video, but at the same time being interesting. For example if you posted the 5th funny moments gta video in your series, don't call it "gta v funny moments #5". You need something like "GTA V Funny Moments: TERRIBLE TREVOR". Now it is your opinion on the all caps but I think it captures the viewers eye without being obnoxious. Just make sure that the title is relevant to your video.

6. SEO
You may be wondering to yourself, "What does SEO mean?". SEO is Search Engine Optimization which is the ability to have something searched and appear at the top of the list. There are many different ways to get higher on the list. This includes a great description for your video(I'd also recommend putting some links in your description to the game, your social medias, and any guests if they are any). The biggest however is Tags. When it comes to your tags you want to have a nice balance of short ones and fairly descriptive ones, just make sure they all relate to your video. If you are doing a Resident Evil 7 Funny Moments video you need to include tags like "Resident Evil", "Resident Evil 7". "Resident Evil 7 Biohazard" . "Resident Evil 7 Funny Moments" and etc. You should also include a few broader ones like "Video Games" and "PC Games". If you have the right amount people will follow you, but don't be discouraged if it doesn't happen right away.

7. Promotion
Another great way to get people to watch your videos is promotion. You can do this by setting up several different social medias like Facebook, Reddit and Twitter. Twitter has been extremely helpful for us in the starting stages. Other places that are extremely helpful are Youtube communities, and well if you are reading this on Yttalk, you have already found one! There are many other ones out there that are helpful, but this one is one of the bests. When you post in fourms like this, just don't post your videos, make new friends with the same interests as you. You can find many gaming channels here so talk to some people and get to know them. 

This leads into my next point, COLLAB. When it comes to collaboration, you and the person you are making the video with are basically exchanging subs. Something important to note is find someone you think you would have fun with and who has as good as quality as you do. Also if you are a small channel, you probably won't get to collab with Pewdiepie just yet. You need to find some people that are in the same range as you

All In All, I hope you guys have enjoyed this guide and you can get use out of it. We all like to make videos and I know a lot of us want to make the best content we can. If you see anything not on this list you think, I should add please let me know!

P.S If you see any typos also let me know.