The Insider Guide to Flourishing on YouTube, Games Included

The Guide to Starting a Successful YouTube Gaming Channel

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

Now is the best and easiest time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel. Yet a profitable channel? That’s another story. In this article, I am going to highlight the key elements you need to become the best YouTube gamer you can be.

Table of Content:

Have a Greater Purpose
Create an Identity
Type of Gaming Videos
Have a Budget
Optimization Matter
Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:

- Patience

- Consistency

- Creativity

If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.

The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor

Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
Built-in plentiful templates and effects
Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Secure Download

It’s the best time because you will have so many pioneers and successful creators to draw inspiration and knowledge from. You’ll be standing on the shoulders of giants like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and CinnamonToastKen.

The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.

1. Have a Greater Purpose

According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.

Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.

If you think you can make a few videos and start making money, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you. YouTube is fun and a wonderful way to increase the social aspect of gaming and enhance your enjoyment. Approach it the same way you’ve approached gaming all along, as a fun way to spend your time.

Enjoy the journey… and what a journey it can be. Do it for the love of playing games and making videos, and not about getting subscribers or views. If you don’t change your attitude, it’s a grueling climb if all you want is to reach the finish line (which is nowhere in sight).

Why am I telling you this? Well, if you don’t have a greater purpose than simply growing subscribers and making money off YouTube, then you are going to get discouraged and give up. It’s not a get-rich-fast plan.

Here is how you find your greater purpose:

1. Give Value

You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.

But… what makes good YouTube content?

Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:

Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.

Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.

Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.

This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?

2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual

YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.

At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.

But after the first month, that excitement will dampen. By the third month, it’ll become familiar. Here’s where you have to fight the urge to stop. This is where author, Seth Godin calls The Dip .

It’s now working. And like all work, you’ll have to schedule it into your daily life. You’ll have to prioritize YouTube above hanging out with friends, watching another movie, or playing video games without the strain of recording it and being entertaining/educating/inspiring.

However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.

Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.

3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step

There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.

If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.

In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .

You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.

You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.

Pro Tip:Focus on telling a great story . In every video, you should have an objective you want to accomplish. You want to beat a stage, you want to learn a new skill, etc. Once you nail that, all the other elements (screen recording, editing, and your commentary) will fall into place to guide your story from beginning to end.

2. Create an Identity

Your personality and your channel will need to go through a littlebranding exercise . You need to find what sets yourself apart from all the other gaming channels on the Internet. Ask yourself, and be honest with the answer: Why should anyone care about my channel?

1. Be Original

Take inspiration from other YouTubers and adjust it so that it’s unique. You cannot copy the ideas of popular YouTubers, because the public can see that. They can tell the difference between originality and imitation.

Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.

Take a look at Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, both are popular YouTubers recognized for their colorful hair, mass use of profanity, and their Let’s Play style of gaming videos. But if you watch their videos, you can see that they are not copying each other but rather adjusting what has proven to be effective to suit their personality.

If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?

2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game

Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.

Consider how your viewers will discover your videos. Are they going to find you through search? If so, what are they searching? There are many aspects to a video game: characters, glitches, stages, etc.

Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.

Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:

3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It

Every video you make should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if the storyline is the one in the video game or if it’s happening to you in real life. What matters is that you are aware of where the climax is.

The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.

This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.

To hook your audience right away, open with the most exciting part. The bit leading up to the climax. But don’t give away the ending. You want to hook them. Give a promise that this video is worth watching and that eventually, it will deliver.

Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.

This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.

Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.

3. Type of Gaming Videos

There are no rules to making gaming videos. As long as it’s worth watching and you aren’t stealing content, that is all that matters. Nevertheless, there are a few standard types of gaming videos that have been established over the years.

1. Let’s Plays

Turn the game on and start playing. Let’s Plays give you a lot of freedom to explore the game and let your personality show in the commentary. You don’t need to play with a strategy, but do have a particular goal in mind (Finishing a level, for example).

Let’s Plays are more about watching you experience the game. A demographic of people watching Let’s Plays are those that don’t have the game themselves, but still want to experience it. Let them live vicariously through you.

2. Reviews

When you’re deciding whether or not to buy a new product where do you go to research? Google and YouTube. If you have a lot of interesting insights after playing a game, making reviews videos might just be your calling. There are many games on the market, and for consumers, it can get overwhelming. Reviews help others decide whether they should invest their money and their time into that specific game or continue searching.

3. Walkthrough

Unlike Let’s Plays and reviews, walkthrough videos are mapped out and structured to help the viewers pass the game while experiencing events, side quests, and characters they would otherwise have missed.

4. Reactions

Misery or excitement, when you genuinely react to an event in a game, the audience gets to experience it along your side. Give the moment a bit of lead up, let people know what you are expecting, and then surprise yourself. Reaction videos are great because they are spontaneous and a wonderful form of presenting your personality.

5. Skills

Video games are hard to master. But if you think you are proficient in an aspect of the game, show off your moves. Is there a particular trick that you can do? Is there a stage you can beat quickly? Are you able to take down your enemy with ease? Prove it.

4. Have a Budget

When you begin your YouTube gaming journey, you are going to see a lot of established YouTubers showing off their gear. It’s easy to get carried away with equipment, but we recommend setting a budget and staying within it to start.

What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.

What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.

Are you starting with nothing? Or do you have some essentials? If you have a computer, which can play the game of your choice, you don’t need to spend $2000 on a new one. Look at what you currently have before buying new stuff.

Here is what you will need to get the best results:

- Microphone (Average cost: $100)

- Webcam (Average cost: $100)

- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)

- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)

If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.

Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.

I don’t recommend blowing your life savings on all the equipment you want. Don’t have a powerful computer? There are games such as Minecraft and Roblox that are less taxing to your computer, if you don’t have a powerful one.

There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.

You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.

1. Many Games Are Free

Here’s the great thing about starting as a video game YouTuber, you don’t need to pay for any games. I’m not only talking about the crappy Flash games on the Internet, but massively popular games such as Fortnite and DOTA are also free to start playing as well.

If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.

2. Some Software Are Free As Well

OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.

Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.

GIMP: Probably the closest free product to Photoshop you can find. GIMP will help you perform basic image manipulation. It’s not as user friendly as Photoshop, but you can learn the fundamentals here as you save up for the Creative Cloud subscription plan.

5. Optimization Matters

Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?

The answer: with a good optimization strategy.

1. Tags and Title

When conceptualizing your next video, consider what your viewers are going to search to find it. This will help you focus your gameplay to meet the demand of this untapped (or more specific) audience.

You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.

If you’re playing Fortnite, and your keyword is simply “Fortnite” you’re using a highly searched term, but the competition is very high as well. The odds of your ranking is incredibly tough as the overall keyword score is 61/100.

However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.

Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”

This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.

Few more tips to improving your titles include:

- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”

- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.

- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.

- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.

2. Create Awesome Thumbnails

It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.

What makes a good thumbnail image?

Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)

Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.

Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.

Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.

Use readable text or emojis

If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.

3. Engage with Other Gamers

Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.

It’s all about being a part of a YouTube community, and while you can’t interact with every creator on the platform, you can find those within your niche or specific game and chat with them. Leave a comment if you like their video or have constructive feedback.

Additionally, viewer engagements such as likes and comments have shown to have an indirect effect on your video ranking. That is why you should encourage your viewers to “smash” the like button or join in a conversation by asking them a question in your video.

6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

1. Cause for Demonetization

The YouTube monetization landscape has changed a lot for creators in the past few years. The guidelines are always being adjusted to serve both creators and advertisers. If you’re thinking of making money from YouTube ads, you have to be aware that there are types of content that turn advertisers off, and YouTube knows it. Here are some reasons that YouTube will choose to demonetize your videos:

- Excessive or gratuitous violence

- Hateful content: promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates and individual or group of people (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)

- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters

- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group

2. Avoiding Copyright Strike

Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.

However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.

If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.

Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:

- Is your content creative or educational?

- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?

- Is your video benefiting the original content?

I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.

Beyond all that, it’s about playing games, having a good time, and meeting awesome people like yourself. Enjoy the journey and take pleasure in every little achievement, be it in the game or on YouTube.

Key Takeaways

Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .

What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!

Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers

If you want to record the gameplay and edit it with some text and titles, or creative transitions and effects, I highly recommend you try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough with its editing tools and effects templates. Download the free trial version and get started now.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

Table of Content:

Have a Greater Purpose
Create an Identity
Type of Gaming Videos
Have a Budget
Optimization Matter
Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:

- Patience

- Consistency

- Creativity

If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.

The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor

Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
Built-in plentiful templates and effects
Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Secure Download

The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.

1. Have a Greater Purpose

According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.

Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.

Here is how you find your greater purpose:

1. Give Value

You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.

But… what makes good YouTube content?

Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:

Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.

Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.

Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.

This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?

2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual

YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.

At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.

However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.

Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.

3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step

There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.

If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.

In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .

You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.

You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.

2. Create an Identity

1. Be Original

Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.

If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?

2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game

Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.

Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.

Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:

3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It

The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.

This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.

Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.

This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.

Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.

3. Type of Gaming Videos

1. Let’s Plays

2. Reviews

3. Walkthrough

4. Reactions

5. Skills

4. Have a Budget

What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.

What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.

Here is what you will need to get the best results:

- Microphone (Average cost: $100)

- Webcam (Average cost: $100)

- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)

- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)

If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.

Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.

There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.

You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.

1. Many Games Are Free

If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.

2. Some Software Are Free As Well

OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.

Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.

5. Optimization Matters

Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?

The answer: with a good optimization strategy.

1. Tags and Title

You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.

However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.

Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”

This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.

Few more tips to improving your titles include:

- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”

- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.

- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.

- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.

2. Create Awesome Thumbnails

It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.

What makes a good thumbnail image?

Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)

Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.

Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.

Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.

Use readable text or emojis

If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.

3. Engage with Other Gamers

Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.

6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

1. Cause for Demonetization

- Excessive or gratuitous violence

- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters

- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group

2. Avoiding Copyright Strike

Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.

However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.

If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.

Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:

- Is your content creative or educational?

- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?

- Is your video benefiting the original content?

I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.

Key Takeaways

Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .

What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!

Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

Table of Content:

Have a Greater Purpose
Create an Identity
Type of Gaming Videos
Have a Budget
Optimization Matter
Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:

- Patience

- Consistency

- Creativity

If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.

The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor

Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
Built-in plentiful templates and effects
Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Secure Download

The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.

1. Have a Greater Purpose

According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.

Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.

Here is how you find your greater purpose:

1. Give Value

You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.

But… what makes good YouTube content?

Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:

Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.

Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.

Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.

This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?

2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual

YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.

At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.

However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.

Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.

3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step

There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.

If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.

In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .

You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.

You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.

2. Create an Identity

1. Be Original

Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.

If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?

2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game

Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.

Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.

Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:

3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It

The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.

This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.

Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.

This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.

Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.

3. Type of Gaming Videos

1. Let’s Plays

2. Reviews

3. Walkthrough

4. Reactions

5. Skills

4. Have a Budget

What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.

What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.

Here is what you will need to get the best results:

- Microphone (Average cost: $100)

- Webcam (Average cost: $100)

- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)

- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)

If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.

Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.

There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.

You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.

1. Many Games Are Free

If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.

2. Some Software Are Free As Well

OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.

Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.

5. Optimization Matters

Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?

The answer: with a good optimization strategy.

1. Tags and Title

You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.

However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.

Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”

This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.

Few more tips to improving your titles include:

- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”

- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.

- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.

- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.

2. Create Awesome Thumbnails

It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.

What makes a good thumbnail image?

Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)

Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.

Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.

Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.

Use readable text or emojis

If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.

3. Engage with Other Gamers

Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.

6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

1. Cause for Demonetization

- Excessive or gratuitous violence

- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters

- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group

2. Avoiding Copyright Strike

Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.

However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.

If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.

Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:

- Is your content creative or educational?

- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?

- Is your video benefiting the original content?

I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.

Key Takeaways

Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .

What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!

Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

Table of Content:

Have a Greater Purpose
Create an Identity
Type of Gaming Videos
Have a Budget
Optimization Matter
Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:

- Patience

- Consistency

- Creativity

If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.

The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor

Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
Built-in plentiful templates and effects
Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Secure Download

The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.

1. Have a Greater Purpose

According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.

Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.

Here is how you find your greater purpose:

1. Give Value

You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.

But… what makes good YouTube content?

Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:

Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.

Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.

Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.

This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?

2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual

YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.

At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.

However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.

Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.

3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step

There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.

If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.

In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .

You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.

You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.

2. Create an Identity

1. Be Original

Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.

If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?

2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game

Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.

Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.

Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:

3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It

The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.

This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.

Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.

This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.

Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.

3. Type of Gaming Videos

1. Let’s Plays

2. Reviews

3. Walkthrough

4. Reactions

5. Skills

4. Have a Budget

What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.

What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.

Here is what you will need to get the best results:

- Microphone (Average cost: $100)

- Webcam (Average cost: $100)

- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)

- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)

If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.

Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.

There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.

You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.

1. Many Games Are Free

If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.

2. Some Software Are Free As Well

OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.

Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.

5. Optimization Matters

Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?

The answer: with a good optimization strategy.

1. Tags and Title

You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.

However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.

Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”

This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.

Few more tips to improving your titles include:

- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”

- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.

- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.

- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.

2. Create Awesome Thumbnails

It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.

What makes a good thumbnail image?

Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)

Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.

Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.

Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.

Use readable text or emojis

If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.

3. Engage with Other Gamers

Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.

6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

1. Cause for Demonetization

- Excessive or gratuitous violence

- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters

- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group

2. Avoiding Copyright Strike

Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.

However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.

If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.

Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:

- Is your content creative or educational?

- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?

- Is your video benefiting the original content?

I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.

Key Takeaways

Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .

What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!

Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Free Online Offer: Enjoy a Gallery of 50 YouTube Banners Now

50 FREE YouTube Banners - Come See Them All

Liza Brown

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

Having an attractive banner for your YouTube channel is important if you want to show the world you’re a serious creator. At filmora.io we want to help with every step of your YouTube journey, so we created 50 YouTube channel art templates which you can download for free here.

Click here to download 50 free YouTube banners, or keep reading to see them all!

Here’s what you’ll be getting:

YouTube Banners for Beauty Channels
Bright YouTube Banners
YouTube Banners for Comedy Channels
Comic Inspired YouTube Banners
YouTube Banners for Education Channels
Funky YouTube Banners
Galaxy YouTube Banners Featuring Outer Space
YouTube Banners for Gaming Channels
Minimalist YouTube Banners
YouTube Banners for Travel Channels

1. YouTube Banners for Beauty Channels

Beauty, makeup, fashion, and lifestyle YouTubers are always there with advice and tutorials, helping the world look and feel better with every video. These channel art templates reflect the different tones and messages found in the complex genre of beauty.

This clean-cut, pristine, marble patterned banner is perfect for the sophisticated beauty, lifestyle, or fashion YouTuber.

You’ve got a big personality, and this channel art will help it shine through! Perfect for bold, sassy, beautiful YouTubers.

This banner is simple, fun, and ideal for channels that have a positive message. It’s upbeat, but it’s not in your face.

Bright, upbeat, and sunshiney! This cheerful banner background feels young and fresh.

Makeup is about creativity, and beauty can be about wellness. This restful, artistic, banner can communicate either of those messages clearly.

2. Bright YouTube Banners

These banners have pizazz! They aren’t designed for specific genres, but anyone who takes a positive, exciting, approach to their videos will probably find something to love in this section.

Hot pink and warm tangerine dusted with soft clouds. Whether you think it looks more like a sunset or a fruit smoothie, this banner is great for any channel with an upbeat message.

This magical banner will let the world know there’s something special about your channel. Perfect for just about any type of channel!

This banner might be a donut, a cake with pink icing, or a yellow cliff at the edge of a field of sugar. Whatever it is, it’s quirky – just like you!

Denim and funky doodles are the perfect combinations for showing off your fun, creative, personality. This channel art is ideal for lifestyle and vlogging channels.

Creative, colorful, splatters might be the best way to let your viewers know they can expect fantastical things from you. This one’s great for any type of channel, but especially great for crafts and lifestyle.

3. YouTube Banners for Comedy Channels

A lot of viewers go to YouTube to laugh, and the banner for a comedy channel is all about letting someone who found one of your videos funny know there’s more like it on the way. There are banners here for different styles of comedy, so you can choose the one that fits your brand of funny.

This funny-faced cat knows what you did, and he does not approve. This banner is a great way to show viewers you don’t take things too seriously.

All of the pizza, all of the time. This banner might be good for a cooking channel, but it’s great for comedy YouTubers who like pizza.

These bold dabs of color will work well with bold styles of comedy. This banner could also be great for edgier lifestyle channels.

In an endless sea of identical rubber duckies, you’re that wonderful bird that stands out! That’s what this banner means.

This is a serious business comedy banner. It’s such serious business that it might actually be good for a short film channel.

4. Comic-Inspired YouTube Banners

These channel art templates were inspired by comic book artwork. They’ll be great for channels that talk about comics or comic book movies, but there’s also some great stuff here for comedy or gaming channels.

Thought bubbles, speech bubbles, and punch doodles abound! Whether you’re interested in comedy or media, this bold and bright banner certainly makes a statement.

This bright, exciting, banner is inspired by comic book panels. Whether you review all of the superhero movies, create your own epic comedy sketches, or have a particularly heroic life you like to vlog about – this channel art is for you.

Are you a hero in your own mind? This banner could be perfect for any type of channel, so long as the person running it has a larger-than-life personality.

This skyline drawn in a comic-book style would be perfect for any channel that focuses on life in a city, but it’s also great for comedy or media (tv, comics, gaming) focused channels.

There’s not much explaining to do here. Either you look at this unicorn, filling the sky with rainbow farts and loving it, and think ‘yes, that’s me or you don’t.

5. YouTube Banners for Education Channels

Whether you’re a teacher with a class you want to make videos for, or just someone with a lot of knowledge you want to share, you’ll find something in this section that’ll be perfect for your channel.

Whatever kind of knowledge you’re serving up, this banner shows that you want to get the gears in your viewers’ brains going.

Having a science channel means teaching viewers on the internet, whether they’re kids or adults, about the world and how it works. This banner will let viewers know to trust you for anything to do with science.

This banner says that you think learning should be fun! This is a better choice for a channel targeted toward kids or young people than the previous 2, but it’ll still work for something targeted at grownups.

This banner was designed with teachers in mind, but it’s a good choice for anyone who wants to educate kids.

Another great choice for teachers, this banner suggests you might be teaching subjects like art or music in addition to math and science.

6. Funky YouTube Banners

You’ll find a little bit of everything in this category. These banners weren’t designed for different types of YouTube channels; they were designed for different types of personalities. If you’re looking for something that communicates who you are loud and clear, you might find it in this section.

If this slightly punky banner matches your slightly edgy self then it could be perfect for vlogging, lifestyle, or even comedy.

This cool, crisp, channel art template is great for lifestyle or vlogging channels that are just a bit outside the norm.

The perfect banner if you want to hypnotize people into subscribing to you. It’s also a great way to show that you’re different. Or that you’re some kind of clown. Is clowning a genre on YouTube? If it is: here’s your banner!

A bright, modern, banner for bright, modern, YouTubers. It’s fun, but it’s smart. It’s quirky, but you should still take it seriously. If the tone of your channel is more complex than ‘upbeat’ or ‘serious’ then this could be your channel art.

This summer-inspired banner is both very on-trend, and a great seasonal choice for any lifestyle, beauty, or vlog channel.

7. Galaxy YouTube Banners Featuring Outer Space

Space-themed banners have become popular with a lot of different types of channels, from gaming to vlogging to comedy. We’ve put together some awesome space scenes for you to choose from.

Space can be beautiful and colorful, and it certainly is in this banner. You don’t have to be into science or sci-fi for this to be the perfect choice for you.

Whether you’re a gamer, sci-fi enthusiast, or just someone whose content is out of this world, writing your channel name on the surface of that moon will let everyone here on earth know you mean business.

Do you ever look up at the stars and just think about how tiny we are? This banner could work for almost any type of channel (besides makeup or fashion).

This banner would be great for an educational space or science channel. It could be fun for comedy too.

An epic, gorgeous, space scene that is both cool and inspiring. Are you cool or inspiring? Consider using this in your channel art.

8. YouTube Banners for Gaming Channels

Gaming is a huge category on YouTube! We’ve put together a selection of channel art templates for different kinds of games and gamers.

Inspired by the creative, blocky, game that’s taken the internet by storm! This is a channel art template for gamers whose channels focus on Minecraft.

It’s kill or be killed out there, but your mission is important and you’re going to see it through. Choose the channel art template that shows you’re serious about your work.

Mount the perfect tactical strike against YouTube viewers’ eyeballs with this gaming-themed channel art template.

Choose a banner that says you’ve got real skills to show off. This channel art template is inspired by shooters and tactical games.

This victorious blue banner will serve as a bright, confident, welcome to your channel.

9. Minimalist YouTube Banners

Sometimes the best way to express yourself doesn’t involve lots of images or crazy patterns. Sometimes, the best way to let your personality shine through is to get rid of all those distractions. These modern, minimalist, channel art templates were designed for YouTubers who like to keep things simple.

This tidy white and baby blue banner will be great for anybody who stresses balance and simplicity on their channels. It’s great for beauty, vlogging, lifestyle, and more.

Darker colors can make viewers think about power, efficiency, and sleekness. This is a great banner for a creator who wants to be taken seriously.

This clean, white-painted wood, background perfectly captures the minimalist aesthetic that has become so popular in design.

This serene channel art template will be ideal for anyone who champions wellness and good living on their channel.

Minimalism doesn’t have to be soft. This bold, simple, red banner is for YouTubers who want to be a bit louder.

10. YouTube Banners for Travel Channels

These channel art templates were made for every type of travel channel, from sunny vacations to outdoor adventures to trips around the world.

This channel art template is for creators who are also adventurers. Do you love going out into the big wild world and climbing mountains, hiking through forests, and riding rapids? This banner is for you.

This postcard-themed banner is for the globetrotting travel vlogger. Backpackers, and anyone else determined to see the world and make videos about it, might want to consider this channel art.

If your ideal getaway involves beaches, sunshine, and fruity drinks with umbrellas in them – and that’s reflected in your videos – then it’ll be hard for you to find a more perfect banner.

You are a trailblazer. Literally. You probably consider ‘ruggedness’ an important factor when picking out camera gear, because anything that travels with you is going to see its fair share of wear and tear.

This channel art template is for YouTubers who want to go everywhere and see everything. No viewer who clicks on your channel and sees this banner could mistake you for anything but a travel vlogger.

Which of these YouTube banners is your favorite? And which video editing software will you use to create YouTube videos? Here, I recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora video editor.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

Click here to download 50 free YouTube banners, or keep reading to see them all!

Here’s what you’ll be getting:

YouTube Banners for Beauty Channels
Bright YouTube Banners
YouTube Banners for Comedy Channels
Comic Inspired YouTube Banners
YouTube Banners for Education Channels
Funky YouTube Banners
Galaxy YouTube Banners Featuring Outer Space
YouTube Banners for Gaming Channels
Minimalist YouTube Banners
YouTube Banners for Travel Channels

1. YouTube Banners for Beauty Channels

This clean-cut, pristine, marble patterned banner is perfect for the sophisticated beauty, lifestyle, or fashion YouTuber.

You’ve got a big personality, and this channel art will help it shine through! Perfect for bold, sassy, beautiful YouTubers.

This banner is simple, fun, and ideal for channels that have a positive message. It’s upbeat, but it’s not in your face.

Bright, upbeat, and sunshiney! This cheerful banner background feels young and fresh.

Makeup is about creativity, and beauty can be about wellness. This restful, artistic, banner can communicate either of those messages clearly.

2. Bright YouTube Banners

These banners have pizazz! They aren’t designed for specific genres, but anyone who takes a positive, exciting, approach to their videos will probably find something to love in this section.

Hot pink and warm tangerine dusted with soft clouds. Whether you think it looks more like a sunset or a fruit smoothie, this banner is great for any channel with an upbeat message.

This magical banner will let the world know there’s something special about your channel. Perfect for just about any type of channel!

This banner might be a donut, a cake with pink icing, or a yellow cliff at the edge of a field of sugar. Whatever it is, it’s quirky – just like you!

Denim and funky doodles are the perfect combinations for showing off your fun, creative, personality. This channel art is ideal for lifestyle and vlogging channels.

3. YouTube Banners for Comedy Channels

This funny-faced cat knows what you did, and he does not approve. This banner is a great way to show viewers you don’t take things too seriously.

All of the pizza, all of the time. This banner might be good for a cooking channel, but it’s great for comedy YouTubers who like pizza.

These bold dabs of color will work well with bold styles of comedy. This banner could also be great for edgier lifestyle channels.

In an endless sea of identical rubber duckies, you’re that wonderful bird that stands out! That’s what this banner means.

This is a serious business comedy banner. It’s such serious business that it might actually be good for a short film channel.

4. Comic-Inspired YouTube Banners

Thought bubbles, speech bubbles, and punch doodles abound! Whether you’re interested in comedy or media, this bold and bright banner certainly makes a statement.

Are you a hero in your own mind? This banner could be perfect for any type of channel, so long as the person running it has a larger-than-life personality.

This skyline drawn in a comic-book style would be perfect for any channel that focuses on life in a city, but it’s also great for comedy or media (tv, comics, gaming) focused channels.

There’s not much explaining to do here. Either you look at this unicorn, filling the sky with rainbow farts and loving it, and think ‘yes, that’s me or you don’t.

5. YouTube Banners for Education Channels

Whatever kind of knowledge you’re serving up, this banner shows that you want to get the gears in your viewers’ brains going.

This banner was designed with teachers in mind, but it’s a good choice for anyone who wants to educate kids.

Another great choice for teachers, this banner suggests you might be teaching subjects like art or music in addition to math and science.

6. Funky YouTube Banners

If this slightly punky banner matches your slightly edgy self then it could be perfect for vlogging, lifestyle, or even comedy.

This cool, crisp, channel art template is great for lifestyle or vlogging channels that are just a bit outside the norm.

This summer-inspired banner is both very on-trend, and a great seasonal choice for any lifestyle, beauty, or vlog channel.

7. Galaxy YouTube Banners Featuring Outer Space

Space-themed banners have become popular with a lot of different types of channels, from gaming to vlogging to comedy. We’ve put together some awesome space scenes for you to choose from.

Space can be beautiful and colorful, and it certainly is in this banner. You don’t have to be into science or sci-fi for this to be the perfect choice for you.

Do you ever look up at the stars and just think about how tiny we are? This banner could work for almost any type of channel (besides makeup or fashion).

This banner would be great for an educational space or science channel. It could be fun for comedy too.

An epic, gorgeous, space scene that is both cool and inspiring. Are you cool or inspiring? Consider using this in your channel art.

8. YouTube Banners for Gaming Channels

Gaming is a huge category on YouTube! We’ve put together a selection of channel art templates for different kinds of games and gamers.

Inspired by the creative, blocky, game that’s taken the internet by storm! This is a channel art template for gamers whose channels focus on Minecraft.

It’s kill or be killed out there, but your mission is important and you’re going to see it through. Choose the channel art template that shows you’re serious about your work.

Mount the perfect tactical strike against YouTube viewers’ eyeballs with this gaming-themed channel art template.

Choose a banner that says you’ve got real skills to show off. This channel art template is inspired by shooters and tactical games.

This victorious blue banner will serve as a bright, confident, welcome to your channel.

9. Minimalist YouTube Banners

This tidy white and baby blue banner will be great for anybody who stresses balance and simplicity on their channels. It’s great for beauty, vlogging, lifestyle, and more.

Darker colors can make viewers think about power, efficiency, and sleekness. This is a great banner for a creator who wants to be taken seriously.

This clean, white-painted wood, background perfectly captures the minimalist aesthetic that has become so popular in design.

This serene channel art template will be ideal for anyone who champions wellness and good living on their channel.

Minimalism doesn’t have to be soft. This bold, simple, red banner is for YouTubers who want to be a bit louder.

10. YouTube Banners for Travel Channels

These channel art templates were made for every type of travel channel, from sunny vacations to outdoor adventures to trips around the world.

This postcard-themed banner is for the globetrotting travel vlogger. Backpackers, and anyone else determined to see the world and make videos about it, might want to consider this channel art.

If your ideal getaway involves beaches, sunshine, and fruity drinks with umbrellas in them – and that’s reflected in your videos – then it’ll be hard for you to find a more perfect banner.

This channel art template is for YouTubers who want to go everywhere and see everything. No viewer who clicks on your channel and sees this banner could mistake you for anything but a travel vlogger.

Which of these YouTube banners is your favorite? And which video editing software will you use to create YouTube videos? Here, I recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora video editor.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

Click here to download 50 free YouTube banners, or keep reading to see them all!

Here’s what you’ll be getting:

YouTube Banners for Beauty Channels
Bright YouTube Banners
YouTube Banners for Comedy Channels
Comic Inspired YouTube Banners
YouTube Banners for Education Channels
Funky YouTube Banners
Galaxy YouTube Banners Featuring Outer Space
YouTube Banners for Gaming Channels
Minimalist YouTube Banners
YouTube Banners for Travel Channels

1. YouTube Banners for Beauty Channels

This clean-cut, pristine, marble patterned banner is perfect for the sophisticated beauty, lifestyle, or fashion YouTuber.

You’ve got a big personality, and this channel art will help it shine through! Perfect for bold, sassy, beautiful YouTubers.

This banner is simple, fun, and ideal for channels that have a positive message. It’s upbeat, but it’s not in your face.

Bright, upbeat, and sunshiney! This cheerful banner background feels young and fresh.

Makeup is about creativity, and beauty can be about wellness. This restful, artistic, banner can communicate either of those messages clearly.

2. Bright YouTube Banners

These banners have pizazz! They aren’t designed for specific genres, but anyone who takes a positive, exciting, approach to their videos will probably find something to love in this section.

Hot pink and warm tangerine dusted with soft clouds. Whether you think it looks more like a sunset or a fruit smoothie, this banner is great for any channel with an upbeat message.

This magical banner will let the world know there’s something special about your channel. Perfect for just about any type of channel!

This banner might be a donut, a cake with pink icing, or a yellow cliff at the edge of a field of sugar. Whatever it is, it’s quirky – just like you!

Denim and funky doodles are the perfect combinations for showing off your fun, creative, personality. This channel art is ideal for lifestyle and vlogging channels.

3. YouTube Banners for Comedy Channels

This funny-faced cat knows what you did, and he does not approve. This banner is a great way to show viewers you don’t take things too seriously.

All of the pizza, all of the time. This banner might be good for a cooking channel, but it’s great for comedy YouTubers who like pizza.

These bold dabs of color will work well with bold styles of comedy. This banner could also be great for edgier lifestyle channels.

In an endless sea of identical rubber duckies, you’re that wonderful bird that stands out! That’s what this banner means.

This is a serious business comedy banner. It’s such serious business that it might actually be good for a short film channel.

4. Comic-Inspired YouTube Banners

Thought bubbles, speech bubbles, and punch doodles abound! Whether you’re interested in comedy or media, this bold and bright banner certainly makes a statement.

Are you a hero in your own mind? This banner could be perfect for any type of channel, so long as the person running it has a larger-than-life personality.

This skyline drawn in a comic-book style would be perfect for any channel that focuses on life in a city, but it’s also great for comedy or media (tv, comics, gaming) focused channels.

There’s not much explaining to do here. Either you look at this unicorn, filling the sky with rainbow farts and loving it, and think ‘yes, that’s me or you don’t.

5. YouTube Banners for Education Channels

Whatever kind of knowledge you’re serving up, this banner shows that you want to get the gears in your viewers’ brains going.

This banner was designed with teachers in mind, but it’s a good choice for anyone who wants to educate kids.

Another great choice for teachers, this banner suggests you might be teaching subjects like art or music in addition to math and science.

6. Funky YouTube Banners

If this slightly punky banner matches your slightly edgy self then it could be perfect for vlogging, lifestyle, or even comedy.

This cool, crisp, channel art template is great for lifestyle or vlogging channels that are just a bit outside the norm.

This summer-inspired banner is both very on-trend, and a great seasonal choice for any lifestyle, beauty, or vlog channel.

7. Galaxy YouTube Banners Featuring Outer Space

Space-themed banners have become popular with a lot of different types of channels, from gaming to vlogging to comedy. We’ve put together some awesome space scenes for you to choose from.

Space can be beautiful and colorful, and it certainly is in this banner. You don’t have to be into science or sci-fi for this to be the perfect choice for you.

Do you ever look up at the stars and just think about how tiny we are? This banner could work for almost any type of channel (besides makeup or fashion).

This banner would be great for an educational space or science channel. It could be fun for comedy too.

An epic, gorgeous, space scene that is both cool and inspiring. Are you cool or inspiring? Consider using this in your channel art.

8. YouTube Banners for Gaming Channels

Gaming is a huge category on YouTube! We’ve put together a selection of channel art templates for different kinds of games and gamers.

Inspired by the creative, blocky, game that’s taken the internet by storm! This is a channel art template for gamers whose channels focus on Minecraft.

It’s kill or be killed out there, but your mission is important and you’re going to see it through. Choose the channel art template that shows you’re serious about your work.

Mount the perfect tactical strike against YouTube viewers’ eyeballs with this gaming-themed channel art template.

Choose a banner that says you’ve got real skills to show off. This channel art template is inspired by shooters and tactical games.

This victorious blue banner will serve as a bright, confident, welcome to your channel.

9. Minimalist YouTube Banners

This tidy white and baby blue banner will be great for anybody who stresses balance and simplicity on their channels. It’s great for beauty, vlogging, lifestyle, and more.

Darker colors can make viewers think about power, efficiency, and sleekness. This is a great banner for a creator who wants to be taken seriously.

This clean, white-painted wood, background perfectly captures the minimalist aesthetic that has become so popular in design.

This serene channel art template will be ideal for anyone who champions wellness and good living on their channel.

Minimalism doesn’t have to be soft. This bold, simple, red banner is for YouTubers who want to be a bit louder.

10. YouTube Banners for Travel Channels

These channel art templates were made for every type of travel channel, from sunny vacations to outdoor adventures to trips around the world.

This postcard-themed banner is for the globetrotting travel vlogger. Backpackers, and anyone else determined to see the world and make videos about it, might want to consider this channel art.

If your ideal getaway involves beaches, sunshine, and fruity drinks with umbrellas in them – and that’s reflected in your videos – then it’ll be hard for you to find a more perfect banner.

This channel art template is for YouTubers who want to go everywhere and see everything. No viewer who clicks on your channel and sees this banner could mistake you for anything but a travel vlogger.

Which of these YouTube banners is your favorite? And which video editing software will you use to create YouTube videos? Here, I recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora video editor.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

Click here to download 50 free YouTube banners, or keep reading to see them all!

Here’s what you’ll be getting:

YouTube Banners for Beauty Channels
Bright YouTube Banners
YouTube Banners for Comedy Channels
Comic Inspired YouTube Banners
YouTube Banners for Education Channels
Funky YouTube Banners
Galaxy YouTube Banners Featuring Outer Space
YouTube Banners for Gaming Channels
Minimalist YouTube Banners
YouTube Banners for Travel Channels

1. YouTube Banners for Beauty Channels

This clean-cut, pristine, marble patterned banner is perfect for the sophisticated beauty, lifestyle, or fashion YouTuber.

You’ve got a big personality, and this channel art will help it shine through! Perfect for bold, sassy, beautiful YouTubers.

This banner is simple, fun, and ideal for channels that have a positive message. It’s upbeat, but it’s not in your face.

Bright, upbeat, and sunshiney! This cheerful banner background feels young and fresh.

Makeup is about creativity, and beauty can be about wellness. This restful, artistic, banner can communicate either of those messages clearly.

2. Bright YouTube Banners

These banners have pizazz! They aren’t designed for specific genres, but anyone who takes a positive, exciting, approach to their videos will probably find something to love in this section.

Hot pink and warm tangerine dusted with soft clouds. Whether you think it looks more like a sunset or a fruit smoothie, this banner is great for any channel with an upbeat message.

This magical banner will let the world know there’s something special about your channel. Perfect for just about any type of channel!

This banner might be a donut, a cake with pink icing, or a yellow cliff at the edge of a field of sugar. Whatever it is, it’s quirky – just like you!

Denim and funky doodles are the perfect combinations for showing off your fun, creative, personality. This channel art is ideal for lifestyle and vlogging channels.

3. YouTube Banners for Comedy Channels

This funny-faced cat knows what you did, and he does not approve. This banner is a great way to show viewers you don’t take things too seriously.

All of the pizza, all of the time. This banner might be good for a cooking channel, but it’s great for comedy YouTubers who like pizza.

These bold dabs of color will work well with bold styles of comedy. This banner could also be great for edgier lifestyle channels.

In an endless sea of identical rubber duckies, you’re that wonderful bird that stands out! That’s what this banner means.

This is a serious business comedy banner. It’s such serious business that it might actually be good for a short film channel.

4. Comic-Inspired YouTube Banners

Thought bubbles, speech bubbles, and punch doodles abound! Whether you’re interested in comedy or media, this bold and bright banner certainly makes a statement.

Are you a hero in your own mind? This banner could be perfect for any type of channel, so long as the person running it has a larger-than-life personality.

This skyline drawn in a comic-book style would be perfect for any channel that focuses on life in a city, but it’s also great for comedy or media (tv, comics, gaming) focused channels.

There’s not much explaining to do here. Either you look at this unicorn, filling the sky with rainbow farts and loving it, and think ‘yes, that’s me or you don’t.

5. YouTube Banners for Education Channels

Whatever kind of knowledge you’re serving up, this banner shows that you want to get the gears in your viewers’ brains going.

This banner was designed with teachers in mind, but it’s a good choice for anyone who wants to educate kids.

Another great choice for teachers, this banner suggests you might be teaching subjects like art or music in addition to math and science.

6. Funky YouTube Banners

If this slightly punky banner matches your slightly edgy self then it could be perfect for vlogging, lifestyle, or even comedy.

This cool, crisp, channel art template is great for lifestyle or vlogging channels that are just a bit outside the norm.

This summer-inspired banner is both very on-trend, and a great seasonal choice for any lifestyle, beauty, or vlog channel.

7. Galaxy YouTube Banners Featuring Outer Space

Space-themed banners have become popular with a lot of different types of channels, from gaming to vlogging to comedy. We’ve put together some awesome space scenes for you to choose from.

Space can be beautiful and colorful, and it certainly is in this banner. You don’t have to be into science or sci-fi for this to be the perfect choice for you.

Do you ever look up at the stars and just think about how tiny we are? This banner could work for almost any type of channel (besides makeup or fashion).

This banner would be great for an educational space or science channel. It could be fun for comedy too.

An epic, gorgeous, space scene that is both cool and inspiring. Are you cool or inspiring? Consider using this in your channel art.

8. YouTube Banners for Gaming Channels

Gaming is a huge category on YouTube! We’ve put together a selection of channel art templates for different kinds of games and gamers.

Inspired by the creative, blocky, game that’s taken the internet by storm! This is a channel art template for gamers whose channels focus on Minecraft.

It’s kill or be killed out there, but your mission is important and you’re going to see it through. Choose the channel art template that shows you’re serious about your work.

Mount the perfect tactical strike against YouTube viewers’ eyeballs with this gaming-themed channel art template.

Choose a banner that says you’ve got real skills to show off. This channel art template is inspired by shooters and tactical games.

This victorious blue banner will serve as a bright, confident, welcome to your channel.

9. Minimalist YouTube Banners

This tidy white and baby blue banner will be great for anybody who stresses balance and simplicity on their channels. It’s great for beauty, vlogging, lifestyle, and more.

Darker colors can make viewers think about power, efficiency, and sleekness. This is a great banner for a creator who wants to be taken seriously.

This clean, white-painted wood, background perfectly captures the minimalist aesthetic that has become so popular in design.

This serene channel art template will be ideal for anyone who champions wellness and good living on their channel.

Minimalism doesn’t have to be soft. This bold, simple, red banner is for YouTubers who want to be a bit louder.

10. YouTube Banners for Travel Channels

These channel art templates were made for every type of travel channel, from sunny vacations to outdoor adventures to trips around the world.

This postcard-themed banner is for the globetrotting travel vlogger. Backpackers, and anyone else determined to see the world and make videos about it, might want to consider this channel art.

If your ideal getaway involves beaches, sunshine, and fruity drinks with umbrellas in them – and that’s reflected in your videos – then it’ll be hard for you to find a more perfect banner.

This channel art template is for YouTubers who want to go everywhere and see everything. No viewer who clicks on your channel and sees this banner could mistake you for anything but a travel vlogger.

Which of these YouTube banners is your favorite? And which video editing software will you use to create YouTube videos? Here, I recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora video editor.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Youtube Stream

In 2024, The Insider Guide to Flourishing on YouTube, Games Included

The Insider Guide to Flourishing on YouTube, Games Included

The Guide to Starting a Successful YouTube Gaming Channel

Richard Bennett

The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor

1. Have a Greater Purpose

1. Give Value

2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual

3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step

2. Create an Identity

1. Be Original

2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game

3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It

3. Type of Gaming Videos

1. Let’s Plays

2. Reviews

3. Walkthrough

4. Reactions

5. Skills

4. Have a Budget

1. Many Games Are Free

2. Some Software Are Free As Well

5. Optimization Matters

1. Tags and Title

2. Create Awesome Thumbnails

3. Engage with Other Gamers

6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

1. Cause for Demonetization

2. Avoiding Copyright Strike

Key Takeaways

Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers

Richard Bennett

The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor

1. Have a Greater Purpose

1. Give Value

2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual

3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step

2. Create an Identity

1. Be Original

2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game

3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It

3. Type of Gaming Videos

1. Let’s Plays

2. Reviews

3. Walkthrough

4. Reactions

5. Skills

4. Have a Budget

1. Many Games Are Free

2. Some Software Are Free As Well

5. Optimization Matters

1. Tags and Title

2. Create Awesome Thumbnails

3. Engage with Other Gamers

6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

1. Cause for Demonetization

2. Avoiding Copyright Strike

Key Takeaways

Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers

Richard Bennett

The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor

1. Have a Greater Purpose

1. Give Value

2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual

3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step

2. Create an Identity

1. Be Original

2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game

3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It

3. Type of Gaming Videos

1. Let’s Plays

2. Reviews

3. Walkthrough

4. Reactions

5. Skills

4. Have a Budget

1. Many Games Are Free

2. Some Software Are Free As Well

5. Optimization Matters