Want more views on your YouTube videos? Here’s how:
So you’ve got your YouTube channel up and running and you are ready to start posting videos in your unique way, and become a viral star.
2 billion people watch videos on YouTube every month. So, a huge potential reach!
But how do you tap into that audience on such a competitive social media platform? Here are six pro tips:
Follow these six simple steps to get more eyes on your YouTube videos:
One. Establishing an audience and zeroing in on them:
Who is your audience? What do they like? Remember that nifty social media style guide you wrote a while ago? It’s a good time to revisit that. It’s also a good idea to have a plan with clear goals and a solid content strategy that will speak directly into the eyes and ears of your audience.
The content you create needs to be specifically targeted to what your audience loves to watch, so do your research to see what your fans are into, and what they don’t like.
A good example is this video by Jackie Alia, a famous YouTuber and makeup artist. Her video about how to tie and wear headwraps and turbans is talking specifically to hijab-wearing women and has zeroed in on a specific niche of women:
Be like Jackie Alia.
Two. Improve your videos’ YouTube SEO and get up in the search ranks
YouTube is a really great platform for posting and sharing videos, but it is also an optimized search engine that doesn’t look at the content of your video. Instead, it ranks your videos based on how you optimize the tags, category, description, and keywords for each video you post.
Researching and creating a list of your industry’s keywords or using Google Keyword Finder can be super helpful.
Compile a list of your nice’s most used keywords and insert those words in your metadata (video titles, description text, subtitles, tags).
Creating more content in line with those keywords is another sure way to release content that jives with your people!
Three. Be unique with your content
Although we are ALL inspired by someone or something, directly replicating your favourite YouTuber isn’t going to get you your own unique fanbase.
Did your favourite YouTuber make a video about how they clean their house? Then maybe your video is about how to clean your house with all-natural products, or how to buff the taps in your washrooms to get them extra shiny.
The content you are creating, although done before, should be specific and unique to you and your brand. Use your voice to create something different!
Four. Customize your thumbnails
We are visual creatures. Youtube video thumbnails are designed to make viewers stop and want to watch your vids. When users are scrolling through YouTube your thumbnail should be interesting and entice your viewers to click play!
Try using a clear and close up portrait of your face or adding text to your thumbnail, adding a filter to your videos to keep your look specific and on brand or making it uniquely visually appealing. Remember, you want to be the one who stands out in your niche!
Five. Keep your videos streaming by creating playlists
The goal here is to keep people watching your content. To keep people on your channel in YouTube, create a playlist of your videos that will continue to play after the last has ended and reduce the risk of them darting off to another page.
Six. Be social and build relationships!
Increase the likelihood of someone re-visiting your channel by engaging with your fans! Chances are you will begin building relationships with your fans, which will make them want to watch more videos overall. Build authentic, genuine and sustainable relations with viewers by:
- replying to comments
- including other people’s content in your videos
- running contests
- making reaction videos to comments or other videos
Building your following takes time but getting started is always the first step to a more successful, more watched, and more liked YouTube channel.
