16 Ways to Get More Views and Subscribers on YouTube

YouTube is the second biggest search engine in the world and it would be a shame not to take advantage of it.

Even you are just a blogger, starting a small YouTube channel can help you to drive more traffic to your blog.

There is a lot of competition on YouTube and if you want to get more views, subscribers, and traffic to your blog you need to have a strategy.

With a proper plan, you can increase your revenue from the YouTube channel even if you don’t have a lot of followers.

Let’s take a quick look at some mistakes to avoid when starting to grow your YouTube channel.

What NOT to Do on YouTube if You Want to Grow Your Channel?

Some YouTubers take shortcuts and try to game the YouTube algorithm to grow their channels.

The cheats to get more views on YouTube like buying subscribers or using bots are short-term solutions and will not make your channel successful in the long term.

YouTube has pretty advanced algorithms that can detect when someone tries to cheat the system.

This might result in a lower ranking for your videos or even full ban so it is better to think long-term and play safe.

Okay now, let’s look at what works when it comes to getting more views and subscribers on YouTube.

How to Get More Views and Subscribers on YouTube the Right Way?

1. Post high-quality content

The quality and entertainment value of your videos are the major deciding factors when it comes to getting more views, shares, and subscribers.

Even if you implement all the other techniques to optimize your videos but your videos are boring or don’t provide any value, it will be an uphill battle to be successful.

2. Write keyword-rich actionable titles

Titles of your videos play a huge role in the number of views that your videos will receive.

First of all, people browsing YouTube will be making a decision on whether to watch your videos or not based on your titled.

Secondly, the YouTube algorithm is using your title to rank your videos.

Try to be descriptive in your titles to give visitors a better idea about the content of your videos and also include keywords that you want to rank for.

3. Create custom thumbnails

Thumbnails play a huge role when it comes to your click-through ratio (CTR).

To spend less time on creating custom thumbnails you can either create a template in Photoshop that you can use for all of your videos or use Canva where you can create awesome looking thumbnails for free.

Some YouTubers take it a little too far by creating clickbaits.

The clickbait will get you more views but it will also give you more dislikes and will likely decrease the retention time on your videos.

If your content is not related to the thumbnail, your viewers will close your video right away and this will tell YouTube that your video is not relevant and its ranking will decrease.

4. Write great video descriptions

Not only descriptions help your viewers to get more information about your videos but YouTube’s algorithm is using them to figure out what your videos are about.

It doesn’t have to be long and 100-200 hundred words with your main keywords will help your videos to rank higher on YouTube.

Your descriptions will also show up in YouTube search results and can help you to get higher CTR.

5. Increase engagement on your videos

YouTube uses signals such as a number of likes and comments to rank your videos.

Encouraging your viewers to leave likes, subscribe and comment can help your videos to rank higher in search results and get more views.

6. Create and show off your YouTube subscribe link

The easiest way to convert your viewers into subscribers is to use the subscribe link in your descriptions.

You can also show this link on your blog and your social media.

Every time someone clicks on it, they will be asked if they want to subscribe to your channel.

Here is how to make subscriber link for your YouTube Channel

Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/YOURCHANNEl?sub_confirmation=1

Just insert the name of your channel into the link above and you will be all set.

7. Add watermark to get more subscribers

Use Watermark Feature on YouTube under Branding to add the subscribe button to your videos.

The watermark will show up on the right bottom corner of your videos.

8. Create playlists

You want your visitors to watch as many of your YouTube videos as possible.

Creating playlists is one way of keeping your visitors longer on your channel.

The longer your visitors spend watching your content the higher is the retention time.

YouTube uses retention time to rank your videos.

If your viewers are spending a long time watching your videos, it means that they find it valuable and YouTube will rank it higher so that other people can watch it as well.

9. Customize your channel

Don’t leave your channel blank.

It is important to fill it up with the info that will help your viewers to get a better sense of what your channel is all about.

Add your brand logo, banner image, links to your other social media platforms, and a description of who you are and what you do.

10. Add tags to your videos

YouTube uses tags to get more info about the topic of your video and to determine where to show it in search results.

Tags can also help you to show up more often in the suggested videos.

Use your main keywords as your tags.

5-10 tags are usually more than enough.

11. Share your YouTube videos on social media

To get more traffic to your YouTube videos you can share it on your social media, your blog, Pinterest, and Quora.

12. Use Cards and End Screens

You can take advantage of both cards and end screens to keep your viewers longer on your channel.

Use them to showcase your less popular videos and playlists.

If you are a blogger, you can also use cards and end screens to drive traffic to your blog.

13. Comment and interact with other YouTubers

By commenting on videos posted by other YouTubers you can bring more traffic to your channel and build relationships with other video creators in your niche.

14. Post your videos on other platforms

YouTube is the biggest video site in the world, but it is not the only one.

There are many other smaller video platforms similar to YouTube that you can use to show off your content.

Some examples of the video platforms to look into are Vimeo, Dailymotion, Metacafe, IGTV, and even TikTok.

Use these video platforms to post some of your videos and then link back to your YouTube channel.

This way you will be able to increase awareness about your videos and at the same time build your personal brand.

15. Post longer videos

Longer videos usually rank higher on YouTube.

You can also make more money with longer videos because you can insert more than one ad.

Creating long in-depth videos can be one of the ways to differentiate your content from the rest.

16. Avoid adult or not family-friendly content

It is not a secret that YouTube is becoming very proactive when it comes to demonetizing any content that remotely looks above PG-13.

It also seems that YouTube is ranking those non family-friendly videos lower.

If possible stay away from overly provocative content and keep swearing to the minimum.

Conclusion

Some people get lucky and their channel goes viral and they become “overnight” YouTube success.

However, for the majority of YouTubers, it takes time to gain a large following and start seeing millions of views.

If you are ready to put in some consistent work and use techniques that we covered in this post, you will start seeing more views and subscribers as your channel starts to grow.

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