YouTube is one of the most powerful channels in existence. It gains millions of views every day. And yet many marketers are overlooking its marketing potential. In fact, only 9% of small businesses use it.

Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that many marketers and businesses are a little intimidated on how to get views on YouTube. For them, they think that you need to put a lot of work and effort to get the attention and engagement that you want.

In reality, YouTube is easy to use. You can get a thousand views on your video even though your channel is not that popular as other brands. You don’t necessarily need to have a million subscribers to get millions of views. But getting a million views is not enough. You should also know how to turn those million views into website visits.

This process, in turn, opens an opportunity into your sales funnel of converting website visits into leads and customers.  So how do you do that?

The first thing to do is…

How to get more views

Before getting into the main topic, it is important to first understand some basic concepts. If you want to drive traffic, you must GET that traffic.

Create an awesome and engaging content, optimize it for easy search, and keep on sharing your content.

Creating engaging content is the most important part of the process. You should know your target audience – what they like and what they would like to see. Then create that content.

Second is to optimize that content. You need to make your videos easy to find. If you know how SEO works, it will be easy for you to optimize your content. You need to focus on the video title, description, and most importantly your video thumbnail.

Your title should be able to answer the questions of your target audience. Also, in using tags, the key numbers are 10 to 12 tags. You should also use keywords that are related to your video.

When it comes to description, there is no real formula for that. But you should not stuff it with a bunch of keywords. And making your description long is the key.

Then lastly, make your video thumbnail very attractive.

When it comes to your thumbnails, don’t hesitate to experiment with images, colors and text overlays. Most people, decide to watch based on the thumbnail alone. So take time to make the best thumbnail for your video that viewers will click.

How to convert views into website traffic

One way to do this is to get referrals.

According to the study by Bain & Company, 87% of customers will give referrals if you will ask them. Surprisingly, only 7% of sales people are asking for referrals. Imagine the many chances that they could have created a new customer.

This concept is not just applicable in the sales industry. It also applies to YouTube. If you ask your viewers to visit your site, then there is a higher percentage that they will do that.

A formula you can use in creating your video and at the same time attracting visitors on your site is this: Introduce your name and your website at the beginning of your video. Then, give everything that your viewers would want to see on your video. Give them something of value. Then at the end, advise them to check out your website.

Since they got something from your video, they have the tendency to repay you by visiting your site. So don’t forget to mention your website at the start of the video and mention it again at the end. It will also help if you type your website at the end of the video.

If you are into extra engagement, try putting an annotation at the end of your video. With this annotation, they can just click it and they will be on your website in an instant.

But before adding an annotation to your video, it is important to verify first your account. It is just easy. You go to Creator Studio, then Channel, then Advanced.

Under there, you will see a section called “Associated website.” Enter your website URL here and then click Add.

You will be redirected to Google Search Console. This will end the process.

Once Google has verified your website, go to Creator Studio again and then Video Manager. Find the video you would like to add an annotation, click the Edit button, and select Cards.

Click the Add card and then insert your website URL.

You can also include a text or an image on the card. This is highly recommended to increase the visibility of your website.

After doing this process, it should look like this.

Don’t overlook this tactic, and you will be surprised by the result.

How to create a description

As we have mentioned, description is an important tool to increase the visibility and views of your video. But how do you create an effective description?

Since YouTube is cutting the content on description box and putting “Show more” at the end of your first sentence, it is important to cut your description into bits and pieces where your audience can easily read the most important element of your video description.

Don’t just write. The first couple of lines should say something valuable about the video that can grab the audience’s interests.

Try to experiment also by including URLs on the first couple of sentences.

Set a UTM parameter on your link so you can track how your viewers are dealing with your description.

But if you already have a link on your annotation, you can skip putting it in the description box.

If you decide to include a link on your description box, make sure to start with http:// or https://. This is for your viewers to easily click the link.

After creating a compelling and interesting intro to your description, continue writing your description. This time, include keywords to optimize it. Remember that it is not good to bombard your description with lots of keywords. Use one or two as long as it will sound okay and natural.

You can try using latent semantic indexing (LSI) keywords. They are very close to your focus keywords. Put your keywords at the start of your description. Use also focus keywords, as recommended by YouTube. Be thoughtful in creating your description. It can result in good referral traffic.

How to encourage viewers to subscribe

It is a long strategy, but very effective. Unlike the direct method of sending clients to your website, this one is different. Subscribing to your channel is very easy to do. Just hit the red subscribe button near your YouTube avatar.

Hooking your viewers to your content is the key for your viewers to subscribe to your channel. Subscribing to your channel will give you more views and repeat views. Views can turn into fans, and those fans are bound to check your website and possibly turn into customers.

The secret here is to produce valuable content that your viewers will be hooked to watch every single time.

How to optimize your channel’s about page

Optimizing your video is not the only thing you need to do. If you want to increase your views and attract subscribers, you should know how to optimize your channel’s about page.

If people are interested with what you are producing, they are bound to check your about page.

The thing is, you need to keep your about page interesting and up to date. Put relevant information about your business. Your ‘about page’ is bound to create more traffic to your website. So tell the readers what they would like to know about your company and how it will be beneficial to them.

At the end of your About page, make sure to include your website link and social profiles. So people can easily check it out.

The importance of interaction

Getting comments on your videos is a good sign. Good or bad, it means that people are interested and taking the time to give their two cents about your video. But you can’t just ignore these comments, especially if you are getting positive comments or questions.

You need to answer and interact with these comments and their users.

Interacting with them on the comment section shows that your viewers are dealing with real human and not just some kind of bot. It also shows that you are listening and engaging with them. It projects an image that your brand is easy to reach out.

Don’t also ignore questions. They are better than positive comments. Answer questions and some of your viewers who read comment section will get an idea of the problems and solution you are providing.

This means that you are generous in giving valuable information, not just on your video but also on the people who are asking you.

In the comment section, also include links that are valuable to them. Just make sure to provide links that really help answer their question.

Reach out to other YouTuber

There are other YouTuber on your niche. So make sure to maximize this opportunity by partnering with them. By partnering with them, you can share audiences and you both get new and more traffic.

Do a YouTube search and look for YouTuber that you can partner with.

Make sure that these channels have more subscribers than you do.

Don’t neglect the power of YouTube. Yes, it is not easy to create content and it is a bit intimidating to compete with billions of users in the channel.

But it is completely free to use and you can possibly tap your customers within those billions of users. So give it a try and use the above tips to increase your views and subscribers.