How to Grow a YouTube Channel
You have many ideas and great content but are having a hard time reaching your audience. Driving views to Youtube with over a billion videos and millions of channels is frustrating when your view counts are low. This article presents you with simple ways to make your videos have a bigger presence and how to get more views on Youtube.
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Ask for Subscribers
People who have already watched your videos and continue to do so are great potential for getting your view count up. You can generate an email list by asking them to subscribe when they visit your channel. Then, whenever your upload something new, these viewers will get a notification with a link where they can watch your new video with just one click.
The way to get subscribers is by being straightforward- ask them to subscribe. Do this by stating at the end of your video “Subscribe to my channel to receive notifications and keep up with new content.” Also, add a link to the description of your video leading them to the subscribe form page.
Include your Audience in your Videos
Your viewers have visited your videos for a reason. You have great content and you answer their questions and seduce their curiosity. An easy way to create new content is by taking suggestions. What do your viewers want to see next? What do they want to see more of?
The great thing about Youtube is that your viewers are literally seeing you on their screen, as if you are talking directly to them. Take advantage of this- ask them what they want from you and your channel. Giving the audience what they specifically are looking for will make them want to keep coming back and be loyal to your channel. Ask them what they are looking for by encouraging comments on your videos. This is a great way to learn about your audience and what drew them to your video in the first place.
Create Playlists
Playlists keep viewers watching. Viewers don’t have to click all around your channel to find your videos while on a playlist- your videos auto-play. There is no constantly backing in and out of videos and windows in order to move to the next video. In fact, when was the last time you did this yourself? If a viewer is not made to stop, they most likely will just keep watching your videos one after another. If you create your own playlists, this will keep your videos playing rather than all videos related to yours. Weirdly enough, it is harder for a viewer to click “play” in order to see the next video than it is for them to click “stop” in order to move onto something else. If you have great content, they will keep watching.
Keep focus on your original idea
A way to confuse your viewers is by talking about many different things at once. If a viewer came to your channel and saw a video with a specific idea and you changed your topic in later videos, they may try to find content elsewhere that matched your original post. Make sure you stick with your niche when you’re trying to sustain viewers. Of course, many different ideas about the same topic make for great content, just don’t stray too far away from your big picture. It’s more beneficial to keep your viewers coming back than it is to get one new view for new posts. These loyal viewers may turn into customers, while the one-hit-wonders probably won’t.
Titles, Descriptions, and Thumbnails
When learning how to get more views on Youtube, you can’t get very far without SEO optimization. This includes using keywords and phrases in your video descriptions and titles that rank highly in search engines.
You may have content that users are looking for, but you need to make sure viewers can find it. The keywords you already think are relevant can be easily determined by typing them into the search bar and seeing what comes up. Then, research other words that are being used in similar videos to yours, and use them in your title and descriptions accordingly. There are also websites that help you rank your keywords and find new ones. You can use up to 15 hashtags in your descriptions and 60 characters in your title to ensure they are seen by potential viewers.
Don’t forget your titles and descriptions also need to be engaging so your viewer will want to click on it. It is easy to get caught up in the technical stuff to make sure your video makes itself to the first page of the search results, but your title and description still need to be enticing enough to turn searchers into viewers. Write in order to tell your story and give people a reason to watch your videos, and hopefully become long-term subscribers.
Along with compelling words and phrases, eye-catching thumbnails are important to making sure your video gets clicked on. Thumbnails are a way of branding your videos and you can upload your own photos rather than using the auto-generated thumbnails. It’s a good idea to already have these photos in mind while shooting your videos in order to make sure your topics align accordingly. Your thumbnail should be 1280 x 720 pixels and less than 2 MB in size, in JPG, .GIF, .BMP, or .PNG format to ensure it has a clear quality.
Socialize
Youtube works like all social media websites do. Subscribing to other channels and commenting on other channels’ videos shows that you have a presence, making another route for viewers to find you. Find channels that correlate with your ideas and comment what you think. If you find videos where viewers are asking questions in the comments, definitely respond back. This will get viewers wanting to know more about you and the content you provide. If your presence on Youtube is genuine and authentic, then you have a good chance of becoming a part of the Youtube community that is likeminded to you. Or, you have the chance of creating this community yourself while adding more views to your channel.
You should also optimize your channel through all social media platforms. If you have Facebook or Twitter, simply add your link in your bio and share to your timeline when you post a new video. Talk about yourself and your ideas on these platforms as a way of making a brand of yourself to your ideal viewers. The more places your videos can be found the better.
Make yourself reachable by adding your contact credentials to all of your platforms. This helps viewers find out more about your brand and how to follow your ideas around the internet. Adding a watermark to your videos, channel cards and end screens are also ways of promoting your brand on your Youtube channel.
Content
Creating new content on a consistent basis will help you get more views on Youtube and keep your viewers coming back. Invite guest content creators into your videos and add all of the required links to align their viewers with yours as a way to create variety on your channel.
Keep up to date with what is relevant to your niche and promote your own ideas on the topic. Maintaining an understanding with current events that are relative to you and your viewers will make your channel become a resource for those who are wanting to learn more. Having strong knowledge in your industry and sharing these comments as quickly as possible makes you a more relevant source of information and will help you get more views. Remember, you are competing with others that have channels following the same ideas, so make sure you are up to date with the topics floating around the internet so you can get your share of views.
