In this guide, we’re writing to let you know that over the coming weeks, YouTube Handles will be introduced to make it easier for members of the community to find and connect with each other. Your handle will be unique to your channel and will be how people mention you in comments, community posts, and more. But, there’s much more to expect in the coming days.
YouTube is gradually rolling out the ability to choose a handle for all channels over the coming weeks. Whereby, if you are a YouTube, besides the introductory email that you received, you’ll definitely receive yet another email and a notification inside your YouTube Studio when you’re able to choose yours. In most cases, if you already have a personalized URL too.
A custom YouTube URL for your channel, something which YouTube reserved for you as your unique handle. Fortunately, if you’ll want a different YouTube channel handle from the one they’ve reserved, you can always change it. Not to mention, if you don’t already have a personalized URL today, you’ll also be able to choose a handle for your YouTube channel as well.
So, starting on November 14, 2022, if you haven’t yet selected a handle for your channel, YouTube will automatically assign you a handle, which you can change in YouTube Studio if you’d like. In the meantime, it’s good that you learn more about these handles and all the things you’ll be able to do with them. So that you can stay in the loop before things get started.
Understanding Your Custom YouTube Channel URL
Your channel can have more than one URL that directs your audience to your channel homepage. These URLs can look different from one another, but each URL can point your audience to the same place – your channel. Handle URLs, custom URLs, and legacy username URLs are all forms of personalized URLs. You can view all URLs associated with your channel.
YouTube Channel URL (ID-based): A good example of a standard URL that YouTube channels use is as follows: youtube.com/channel/UCEgyVMoW4MIFacsES-2SfIQ for the new YouTube creators. Bear in mind, that it uses your unique channel ID, which is the numbers and letters at the end of the URL. And, all this is found under the channel customization tab.
To locate your YouTube channel URL:
- First of all, you’ll need to sign in to YouTube Studio to get started.
- Secondly, from the left Menu, select Customization and then the Basic info.
- And then, thereafter, under the Channel URL section, you can view and copy your Channel URL.
Custom YouTube URL: A good example YouTube Custom URL is as follows: youtube.com/c/WebTechExperts for new YouTubers. By definition, a custom URL is a shorter, easy-to-remember URL that you can share with your audience. These custom URLs can be based on your current display name or your legacy username or your linked and verified web domain.
Unfortunately, new custom URLs can no longer be set up or changed. However, any other custom YouTube URLs you may already have will still continue to work properly. There’s also what we call a Legacy YouTube Username URL that will be showcased as follows: youtube.com/user/YouTube for those new to YouTube video content creation as well.
Depending on when your channel was created, it may have a username. However, usernames are no longer required for channels today, but you can still use this URL to direct viewers to your channel. This also includes if your channel name has changed since you chose your username — existing usernames can’t be changed. That aside, what are YouTube Handles?
What YouTube Handles Rollout Is All About
In simple terms, YouTube Handles are a new way for the YouTube community people to easily and quickly find you and connect with you. Unlike channel names, these handles are all unique to each YouTube content creator channel. Whilst, making it easier for you to establish a distinct presence on the YouTube platform. Ride with us if you want to learn more!
To enumerate, according to droidlife, you can think of a YouTube handle like you would an Instagram or Twitter handle. Specifically, a YouTube handle uses the “@” symbol and then the channel name to let you easily recognize a channel and also mention it in comments, posts, descriptions, etc. As an example, we could have “@webtechexperts” as our handle.
In particular, we are assuming that YouTube will let us have it when these handles open up for reservation. Clearly, YouTube says that every channel will have a unique handle and that, unlike a channel name, these are “truly unique” to a channel. So, there shouldn’t be any confusion when your handle shows up somewhere, that it is indeed you.
Below Is A Video Outlook About How YouTube Handles Will Work
Forthwith, just like we aforementioned, within the next coming months, YouTube will notify all creators when they can choose a handle for their channel. For many, that will mean a matching handle to whatever the customized or personalized URL of their channel is. With that in mind, there are myriad things that you can do with these new YouTube handles afterward.
Consider some of these benefits:
- Let others find you on YouTube
- Identify yourself in a unique way
- Get noticed in YouTube Shorts quickly
- A great way for subscribers to tag you in videos
- Connect with others in the YouTube community
If you are wondering when you might get to choose yours, well, you better be ready. Google says that: The timing of when a creator will get access to the handles selection process depends on a number of factors. Including overall YouTube presence, subscriber count, and whether the channel is active or inactive.” Bigger channels may get to choose their handle first.
Be that as it may, YouTube is still in the process of fully rolling out its YouTube Handles segment to benefit all content creators equally. Gradually, this will definitely reach out to all channels over the next few weeks. Once YouTube handles algorithm has been rolled out to all users, your handle will begin appearing in various identifiable places across YouTube.
Including the following:
- The YouTube Shorts tab
- YouTube search results panel
- Your comments and mentions section, etc.
In some places, they will start showing your handle alongside your channel name, such as your channel page. By the same token, in the future, you may see your handle shown in even more places across YouTube. So, in nutshell, once they are fully in place, you’ll be able to access any YouTube Channel using its unique handle like youtube.com/@handle to be precise.
It’s also, important to realize, that a YouTube Handle may not be available for several reasons. In most cases, it’s either because another channel already selected that handle, or it did not meet the basic YouTube handle selection guidelines. You can select one of the automatically generated handles provided by YouTube or just choose another available handle.
Takeaway Thoughts:
As you can see, in order for your YouTube Handle to work as efficiently as intended, your new handle will become a part of your channel URL. In most cases, your personalized URL will become your handle. You can use your handle to direct people to your channel when they’re not on YouTube. For example, let’s say that your handle is @user123, you may customize it.
Whereby, your new channel URL will be as follows: https://youtube.com/@user123 — your existing channel URL(s) will still continue to work just like before. That said, you can go ahead to learn more about handles in detail. But, if you’ll need more help, you can always Get In Touch with us in order to let our Web Tech Experts Taskforce know how they can sort you out.
For sure, it’s quite interesting that most social media networking sites and even job sites already allow this feature to their users all for free… On that note, we are yet to unveil the much anticipated unique features as well as the ultimate value addition that these YouTube Handles will bring forth. Make sure that you subscribe below to stay put with future updates.
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