Why I’ve Split my YouTube Channel Into Three Different Channels
The logic behind such an unusual decision and my plan from now on
I’m excited to announce a new chapter on my YouTube journey!
That is splitting my two-year-old channel into three separate ones.
Yes, you’ve heard me right.
Three channels. Not two. Three.
I am creating two brand-new orphan channels for self-discovery and content creation and rebranding my current channel to focus solely on chess, one of my primary hobbies for years.
While splitting channels is a concrete technical action, it goes far beyond that. It involves rebranding, redesigning, and, more importantly, rethinking my value as a creator.
But wait a minute. You really said three channels? Are you crazy?
Well, maybe.
I mean, it looks like an irresponsible move, but the more I think about it, the more I realize I should have done that long ago. There is a solid logic to this odd action I’ve recently taken.
Bear with me, I explain.
While niching is beneficial everywhere, it’s a must on YouTube
Back then, I thought YouTube was like other social media platforms like Medium, where you must publish consistently in one niche, but it’s flexible. You can occasionally divert to cover unrelated content you are passionate about to keep your creation ambition running.
But it turned out that the game on YouTube is stricter and more bound regarding niching.
It seemed the opposite initially — “YouTube is where your personality speaks,” as many people like to say. Nonetheless, in practice, at least for unknown figures like the author of this article — niching is a must.
To convince the algorithm to spread your content to the masses, you have to focus on one specific niche and, if possible, preserve the same serving style.
On the contrary, I’ve shared a variety of topics on my main channel since I started. That is common among beginner creators who still acquire skills, befriend the camera, and try to find their unique voice.
In the early phase, it is understandable to throw spaghetti on the wall, share value in various interests, and learn valuable insights about yourself. Here, I explained in detail the logic behind pivoting my content within the same channel back in the day:
However, now I know you must limit that phase to several months, rebrand your channel, and remove videos confusing your audience and the algorithm.
While I always knew this principle from the back of my mind, understanding is different than actually applying it on my channel.
You know these things in life that you’ve heard about, but you are not fully aware they are critically relevant to your situation. Well, this YouTube story is an excellent example of that.
The trigger to finally do it was watching suggested videos of creators who split their channels. One I remember now is that of William Lee, who turned his 50k subs financial and entrepreneurship channel into two channels covering these topics separately.
His change and good reasons led me to split my channel. If he took the risk and did that for his large audience, I pondered, I can do it, too, with my 412 subscribers.
The YouTube algorithm will be less likely to spread video topics that your sample audience — your subscribers at the core — won’t be interested in.
Hence, it’s crucial to understand that some of your videos that perform poorly might not suck but instead not suit your core audience.
The solution for that is splitting your channel and reorganizing your video library to improve content dissemination.
Successful videos were hindering my channel’s growth
You read it right. You are not short-sighted, delusional, tired, or something like that.
Please reread the above subheading.
The subheading says that successful videos were holding me back from growing on YouTube — successful videos, not the flops (and, of course, I had them, too).
My top-performing videos were chess opening tutorials, driving me 10–20 thousand views (for a 400ish subs creator, it isn’t bad). Yet, these very videos make my new self-discovery videos stuck on 20–50 views max.
At first, I thought there were suck, and that still might be the case (we will soon find out). Yet, they were more likely irrelevant to my chess audience, which was most of my subs on the channel.
When publishing these self-discovery and growth hack videos, I told myself that everyone, including my chess fans, could be interested in such topics. So, why not mix them into the same channel and leverage the existing momentum?
Who has the energy to cultivate one more channel? I thought to myself.
But now I realize I was dead wrong and approached the YouTube game incorrectly.
It has recently occurred to me that I’m stuck with my self-discovery and improvement videos and need to change. The algorithm was confused about my mixed-content channel, and so was my audience.
I had one of the lowest subscriber rates, less than 1%, compared to my relatively decent viewership on the channel.
Again, I took things personally at first, telling myself that I do not have a personality like the big guys. Additionally, I still use my smartphone and webcam for my videos, so I considered that another valid reason for the low subscriber rates.
While these reasons might play a role (as they do for every beginner creator), I now realize that mixed content was the core issue.
The birth of three new channels
So, to better serve my audiences, I decided to split my interests into three dedicated channels:
1) The main channel has been rebranded to focus primarily on chess. It aims to help you elevate your chess with surprising opening tutorial videos and secret mindset hacks.
I deleted all my non-chess content and republished it on my brand-new channel only after deletion to avoid duplication.
I rebranded this channel and dedicated the new channels to my core interests as a late-bloomer content creator because my original channel had the best performance videos and a rich content history.
Nevertheless, I left my unboxing and reviewed videos of my setup that were not directly relevant. They serve the online chess gamer who needs a gaming keyboard, mouse, webcam, and microphone.
You can subscribe to my chess channel here.
2) For those of you here on Medium, I guess you weren’t following me for chess but for my self-discovery and side-hustling content. So, I’ve started a new channel covering finding your thing and earning from doing what you love.
Subscribe to my new primary channel here to get actionable insights and life lessons from my journey as a late-bloomer creator.
3) Finally, I also wanted to dedicate a creator hub for those interested in becoming creators but fear recording themselves on camera. There, I share tips, insights, and challenges I take on to improve my camera confidence. I also share my growth hacks to become more fluent in English and expand my vocabulary as a non-native speaker.
The thing about this channel is that I want to share my journey of facing the unique challenges of creating content in a second language. If that resonates with you, check my non-native video creation channel.
I’d appreciate subscribing to whatever channel you choose. I hope you and my audience can find more relevant content to improve their lives.
My plan going forward
The remaining burning question is how the heck one can handle video production for three channels, plus a blog and Medium, not to mention other social accounts.
Well, that is a valid concern.
That was one of the main reasons I decided to keep publishing on my stagnant channel and seeing all my new non-chess videos flop one after another.
I was afraid of managing two channels, not to mention three.
But then I realized it’s still better to have three dedicated and fully optimized channels per audience than one mixed channel.
In other words, I plan to first publish all my relevant removed videos from the chess channel and gradually create more content for each one whenever I get a mood for a specific topic.
I’ll keep my publishing schedule slow, as I don’t want to burn out myself. But at least I know that every video I publish deserves to reach its true potential, and if it’s a flop, so be it. I’ll keep improving my production skills and energy vibes anyways.
This way, I might not get momentum per low amount of content on each channel, but I will gain better chances for each of my videos to perform well across the board.
This approach is better for deep divers like me, who prefer going above and beyond on one project instead of spreading over multiple concurrently.
We have to settle on our decisions in life, and we can’t enjoy all the benefits. This was why I split my channel, whereas your case might differ and require a different pivot to your specific situation.
Yet, based on what I’ve learned from other successful YouTubers, niching down your content on YouTube from the start will significantly improve the chances of your videos taking off as long as they are relevant and high-quality.
Final Words
Keep your YouTube content pieces cohesive. They don’t need to repeat themselves but complement each other like puzzle pieces.
Don’t assemble pieces from different puzzles, though. Otherwise, as I did, you will need to split your channel further down the line.
Ultimately, YouTube, like Medium, or blogging on your site is a long game. Even if you publish consistently, niche your content correctly, and pivot on the fly, there will be ups and downs.
That said, monitor your analytics and frequently overview your top-performing content topics, subtopics, and serving styles. Learn from my mistakes and tailor your content according to these data points to save time and frustration and double your chances to succeed on YouTube faster.
I’ll keep you updated on how this new approach works for me. Follow me on Medium to stay tuned!
