- Changing your YouTube channel name,
it couldn't be more awkward and difficult to find?
- vidIQ. - vidIQ.
- [Announcer] vidIQ.com.
(upbeat music)
- We will start with the simplest way to change
your YouTube channel name, but not the most ideal way.
On YouTube, click on your profile picture
in the top right hand corner of the screen
and select Settings.
On this screen, you will see your YouTube channel
with your profile picture and name.
Click Edit on Google and you should see this pop-up.
Now, as strange as this may sound,
your YouTube channel name
consists of your first and last names,
so if you want to change it you can do so here.
Your nickname does not represent your YouTube channel name.
Once you've saved the changes, that should update
your YouTube channel name.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop the video right there.
You're trying to tell me that I have to change
my name on Google to change my YouTube channel name?
Eh?
Yeah, haven't really got a good answer for you
at this point other than to say YouTube?
However, if you are serious about YouTube,
now might be the time to create a brand account.
I'll explain what that it later, but to do it you
need to go back to the same settings screen as before,
only this time click on
See all my channels or create a new channel.
Now on this screen, something new
and wonderful is going to happen if you click on
Create new channel, you'll be taken to this screen.
Here is where you can create a brand account
which will use the name of the account as your channel name
rather than the first and last name of your Google account
But that may not solve your problem because now
you have two channels, your personal YouTube channel
and this brand account channel.
The idea is that you merge the two together.
To do this, go back to the Account Settings page
and this time click on Advanced Settings.
Make sure you are signed in to the account with
your current channel and you should see this option
to move that channel to your brand account.
When you click on that, you'll be asked
to reconfirm your password.
In this example, we are moving an existing
YouTube channel on a personal Google account
into a branded account.
In the act of creating a brand account,
you may have also created a YouTube channel
in that brand account.
So when you click on the brand account box,
a warning may appear to tell you that the YouTube channel
currently in the brand account will be deleted
You should be able to confirm this
as it will have zero subscribers and zero videos.
Once you click delete, the next screen will
confirm again that you are moving
your personal YouTube channel account
to the brand account, click Move Channel
in the bottom right hand corner.
Now, to be clear, this does have some channel implications.
Not all of your data can be carried across.
While you will still have the same videos, views,
subscribers and channel URL,
comments will not be carried over, the verification badge
on your channel, community filter settings,
or your custom URL if you have one.
So yes, if you've already built up your channel
this could be a big decision you have to make.
And I agree with exactly what you're thinking,
why have YouTube done it this way?
I think the answer might be linked back to
how Google+ used to be integrated into YouTube.
As long as you've read everything and understand 100%
what you're about to do
and of course you do so at your own risk,
click the final Move Channel button
and that will move your personal YouTube channel
to your brand account.
And now what you should be able to do is go to Settings
from your YouTube profile picture
as you did before, click the Edit on Google link,
and now you can change just the name of your channel,
your brand account, not the first and last name
of your personal Google account.
Phew, all of that just to change your YouTube channel name.
And you may be thinking is it really worth
going through all of this potential heartache?
But there are other benefits to having a brand account
as your YouTube channel.
As well as being able to change your channel name
and not your personal name on Google, having a brand account
allows you to add other people
to your YouTube channel, such as community managers,
people who upload videos on your behalf,
basically if you're a part of a company or a larger channel,
then you're gonna need other people
to help you along the way.
So if you are serious about YouTube,
then you probably do need a brand account.
And of course if you're serious about YouTube
then you're serious about growing your channel
and in order to do that, you need as much help
as possible and that's where vidIQ comes in.
We are a software tool that will allow you
to research YouTube, analyze any video on YouTube,
audit your own channel and take actual steps.
There is a link in the video description
and it is free to download.
To see more of what we have to offer here at vidIQ,
we've got a tutorial down there.
For more YouTube beginners guides just like this,
we've got a playlist over there.
enjoy the rest of your video making day, bye for now.