There is not really a better time when it comes to promoting your YouTube channel. If you want to maximize your video views, then now is the time for you to figure out how you can promote it.
To begin with, YouTube has already stolen Facebook’s throne as the second most visited website on the internet. In an era where people are spending up to six hours a day watching videos, you need to appeal to the binge-watching tendencies of your target audience.
And since video content is increasing in popularity, a lot of brands are trying to become professionals in YouTube channel marketing. Many even experiment with buying real YouTube views online.
If you are one of those who want to stand out on YouTube, then you are in the right place. Below is a step by step guide in promoting your YouTube channel in order to get more views:
Step #1: Write Engaging and Attention-grabbing Titles
YouTube marketing is literally all about presentation. When it comes to the performance of your videos, your titles can make or break it. For this reason, you should ask yourself, “are my titles getting the attention of the audience that I want to attract?” If your answer is no, then you must level your game up.
The key to creating great video titles is getting the attention of your audience without presenting them with clickbait headlines. People are constantly craving entertaining content. In addition to that, they want to know what your video is all about.
You can take the YouTube giants WhatCulture and BuzzFeed as some examples. These channels often have videos with titles that rely on listicles, hyperbole (titles with words like “insane” or “…of all time”), and question-based. For instance, some of these channels’ video titles are “12 Insane Movie Details that You Definitely Missed” and “What is the Worst Film Ending of All Time?”
Moreover, Athlean X’s fitness videos are also a good example. The channel’s video titles managed to sneak in relevant keywords while still being conversational and attention-grabbing.
Lastly, “Best of” lists and “how-to” titles also work in getting the audiences’ attention. In fact, buying your videos lots of YouTube views is a common approach to build social validation.
Whatever title format you want to use, it is important that you spend a good amount of time thinking of engaging titles instead of using the first idea that comes to your mind.
Furthermore, Tubular Insights said that YouTube video titles should have between 41 to 70 characters.
Step #2: Step Up Your Game With YouTube SEO
One excellent thing about YouTube is that videos uploaded on the platform appear in 70 percent of the top 100 Google search results. See it for yourself and try searching for any how-to query on Google. You will see that the results will always show up something from YouTube. In fact, there are times when a YouTube result will show up even before websites or traditional blog posts.
In addition, YouTube is the second largest search engine next to Google. A lot of people are searching for products and solutions to problems on YouTube just like they do on Google. For this reason, you need to think of your videos on YouTube as a piece of content that needs optimization in terms of tags, keywords, and other factors.
Here are some best practices for YouTube SEO:
- Titles and description
Make sure to add target keywords in both your titles and video descriptions. There are plenty of tools online that can help you find the right keywords that you should use.
- Mention keywords in your video content
Brian Dean of Backlinko noted that saying your target keywords in your video can help YouTube’s algorithm to better understand what your video is all about.
- Engagement
YouTube uses engagements, such as likes, comments, and views in order to help in determining where videos rank in search results.
- Categories
Using categories will help YouTube’s algorithm find out to who it will show your videos.
- Tags
Aside from categories, you can also include tags to your videos. This will give YouTube more context about your video content.
Step #3: Find Out What Your Audience Wants
Regardless of the type of content that you produce, it is important for you to make sure that you are giving your audience what they want. For this reason, it is important that you first get to know your target audience and the type of content that they are expecting to see from you.
If you have just started your channel, the best thing to do is to look at your competitors’ channels. Take time in checking which of their videos got the most views and engagement. Doing this will help you get an idea about the topics that your audience wants to see.
Alternatively, you can use YouTube Analytics if your channel already has video content. This will provide you with detailed information about your audience location, demographics, engagement, and other helpful statistics.
Step #4: Engage With the Community On YouTube
YouTube is not a social media platform per se. However, it still has a thriving community where users are actively engaging, via, content, profiles, likes, and comments.
Any interaction with your audience is seen by YouTube as a positive signal. So, it is important that you engage with your subscribers if you want to build a strong connection with your audience.
Step #5: Customize Your Video Thumbnails
One of the simplest and most effective ways to promote your YouTube channel is making custom thumbnails. Think of your title and thumbnail as a combination that grabs the attention of the audience you want to reach.
Moreover, YouTube takes a screenshot of a video and uses it as its thumbnail by default. However, there are instances when the image it shots is blurry. This is the reason why you need to create custom thumbnails.
Through custom thumbnails, your videos will look more appealing to your audiences. Apart from that, it is a sign that you have a particular sense of professionalism.
Creating thumbnails do not have to be rocket science. Just make sure that you will be able to present what your video is all about in the thumbnail that you will create.