If you want to grow on YouTube, views should be your main focus.
Below, we’ll dive into how you can gain more views, with a few helpful tips to get you started.
Let’s jump right in!
Why Views Matter on YouTube
Like many other platforms, greater engagement leads to greater visibility.
The more views you get on YouTube, the wider your reach, allowing you to build your channel.
Every time a user clicks on a channel or video and watches for at least 30 seconds, it counts as a view.
Higher visibility and more views are key to generating revenue as a creator on YouTube.
The more views you have, the more attractive your channel becomes for advertisers.
Master the Visuals
YouTube is, and always will be, a visual platform. If you want more views, you need to visually indicate that your content is worth clicking on.
This means optimizing the visual elements that attract new viewers to your videos.
Creating engaging titles is important—but avoid clickbait.
Viewers are presented with countless videos daily, and often, the decision to click depends on both the title and the thumbnail (the still image representing your video in YouTube’s feed).
Your title should be intriguing, describe the purpose of the video, but not give away too much—you want viewers to click in to learn more.
The thumbnail should be just as compelling—use eye-catching visuals and clear elements that signal the video’s topic.
It’s also recommended to use a template for your thumbnails so that subscribers can quickly recognize your videos before even seeing your name—this could include consistent text, colors, and design elements.
Create Engagement
YouTube tracks how much engagement videos receive, and this plays a big role in the algorithm.
Likes, shares, and comments all signal to YouTube that your content is valuable and should be suggested to more viewers.
If you want your videos to get more views, increasing engagement is crucial.
Encourage viewers to comment or share your content in your videos, and be present in the comments yourself.
Live streaming is another way to generate real-time engagement.
While live streaming has been part of YouTube for a long time, platforms like Twitch have brought renewed attention to the format.
As a result, live streaming has become a preferred method for creators looking to deepen audience interaction through live conversations.
Interested in the live streaming format? Read more about Twitch here.
Consistency is Key
Viewers love consistency, and regularly uploading videos benefits you in the algorithm.
Beyond sticking to a consistent upload schedule, you can maintain continuity by creating mini-series.
If you have a set of videos that fit within the same theme, YouTube allows you to create playlists for them.
This way, viewers don’t have to manually search for the next episode but are automatically presented with the next video in the series.
Curious about content marketing? Learn more in my guide here.
Let Viewers Know New Content is Coming
You can’t expect all your subscribers to be waiting for your latest upload.
It’s a good idea to share your content on your social media platforms, such as Instagram or TikTok, where your audience may be more active.
Additionally, YouTube Shorts can help capture attention quickly by condensing your brand and content into short, engaging clips.
YouTube SEO
Beyond visuals and engagement, there are several SEO strategies that can help you gain more views on YouTube.
Make sure to include relevant keywords in your video titles, add tags in the description, and categorize your content.
This helps YouTube understand your content and recommend it to the right audience.
Pay attention to trending keywords in your niche and tailor your content accordingly, as long as it aligns with your channel’s core identity.
Maintaining a clear brand identity is important—your audience should recognize a consistent theme in your content.
If you have related videos, link them in your video descriptions or reference them in your content to encourage cross-viewing.
This works similarly to internal linking on websites, helping to drive traffic to your previous videos.
Get Technical
Since YouTube is part of Google, you can take advantage of Google’s powerful analytics tools.
YouTube Analytics is essential for creators looking to understand their audience and optimize their content.
This tool provides insights into demographics, viewing habits, engagement rates, subscriber growth, video retention, and much more.
Using YouTube Analytics effectively allows you to refine your strategy and gain more views.
Additionally, creators can run YouTube Ads on other videos to promote their content.
If you want to expand your reach, ads provide a paid opportunity accessible to all creators.
When creating ads, use clips from high-performing videos or content that best represents your brand to attract more views and subscribers.
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