Online video creators won’t have to worry about their mis-matched brand identity and YouTube URL anymore. The Google-owned video platform now allows creators with 500 subscribers or more to create custom URLs.
Previously, YouTube automatically created a URL for creators based on their usernames. YouTube’s creator blog gives the example of youtube.com/GlamLifeGuru, also known to her fans as Tati. In this case, Tati’s perceived brand name by her fans doesn’t match her YouTube URL.
“To make sure creators like Tati and all of you have a consistent place for new and existing fans to find you, we’re introducing an easier way to pick custom URLs that match your channel names and branding,” writes Laura Rapin, Product Specialist at YouTube, on the site’s blog.
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In addition to having 500 subscribers, a YouTube user must also have a channel over 30 days old, and have both channel art and a channel photo/icon. When a creator meets these requirements, YouTube will start sending out emails and other notifications with suggested channel titles. These titles will be generated from the creator’s YouTube channel description, Google identity, and all associated links (like the creator’s official website).
For example, CurlybyNature21 (who just signed with StyleHaul as one of its newest creators) could now change her YouTube channel URL to her more commonly-known brand name Alyssa Forever.
In the past, YouTube used to allow all its users to set custom URLs. In a Google product forums from July 2014, a Google user was told to visit www.youtube.com/account_username to set up his custom URL. I used this URL earlier this year to create my custom URL, before YouTube changed its requirements:
Now, landing on the “account username” page shows nothing but an error message:
Keeping custom URLs for creators with 500 subscribers isn’t a bad idea, however. It ensures usernames aren’t taken by video creators who will only abandon their channels a few months or years down the road. If you’re at the 500 subscribers mark and would like a different channel address, you can read these instructions on how to pick out your custom URL and get it set up via the Creator Studio.
