According to statistics in marketingmost YouTube videos do not attract views and sometimes remain completely invisible.
For example, a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center indicates that only 10% of the most popular videos on YouTube attract 79% of all views on the platform:
Source: Pew Research Center
This figure shows us that very few YouTube videos manage to get traction. The rest are in near invisibility.
If you are currently facing this problem or simply want to improve your performance, it is important to adopt good practices.
Here is an article in which you will find the top 20 tips to increase the visibility of your channel on YouTube, in order to increase the number of views of your videos.
Indeed, there are several tricks to follow to get a lot more views on YouTube. These tactics can be classified into three main categories namely
- Tips before editing,
- Tips when uploading the video,
- Tips for promoting your videos.
The best tips to adopt before editing your YouTube videos
1. Get users to touch or click on your video
Before you even think about making a video, it’s important to think about a specific topic and your SEO angle
When users search on YouTube or Google, they usually ask the search engine questions.
- “How do I become a web writer?”
- “How to start a business from scratch”
- “Which laptop should I buy?”
Your role, as a Youtuber is therefore to evaluate the most relevant and usual questions that people ask in the relevant field, in order to answer them in the best possible way
You can use tools such as Google Trends or keywordtool.io to find trending ideas or use YouTube’s idea autosuggestion.
Next, you’ll want to check out the results of previous queries related to your topic to determine if there are enough people interested in that type of content
You can enter “How to start a business from scratch”. Among the results displayed, there are several videos with thousands or even millions of views or more that answer exactly that question.
Well, this is an indicator that there is a good volume of searches on this topic. So, to make a video, you need to study the demands, the expectations of the internet users, so that the video will be seen even after months, and avoid focusing only on the instantaneous
2- Use YouTube cards to keep users on your channel.
When playing videos, you have the possibility to display several overlays also called youTube cards. They are usually links, a call-to-action button, a clickable image or a title.
Source: Liveenhanced
For example, when you publish videos, you have the ability to create a YouTube card displaying links that can help your audience go directly to the associated web page. The same goes for all the playlists associated with that video
Check out this guide from Google for more information on how to use cards.
3- Add value to your video content
In order to get a lot of views on YouTube, the content you offer must arouse curiosity, i.e. be interesting for the viewer. The added value takes more into account the quality of the content.
When you offer quality content on your channel, viewers will tend to know more about you and watch more of your videos because you will have caught their attention.
It should be educational, entertaining, interesting, meet the expectations of the viewers. You can also make viral videos that generate positive or negative emotions, make people smile, shock, create a debate, arouse curiosity, bounce off the news..
When the ideas developed in your video are unique, original, you attract more users to follow your channel. When you offer quality content on your channel, people will tend to want to know more about you and watch more of your videos, because you will have caught their attention.
4- Stay true to your commitments throughout your video
YouTube has the tools to measure the exact size and content of your video. It is therefore important to stay honest to your original ideology throughout the editing process to gain better visibility
In other words, only address specific ideas that relate to your title, and that also meet the expectations of the visitor.
Engagement also includes the amount of time a viewer spends watching your video
If most users spend the average amount of time on your video, YouTube will not hesitate to show you in the first results of its searches. This will give you an excellent engagement score
5- Get comments on your post
When viewers leave comments on your video, it makes YouTube more interested in it, see if it is relevant and accurate
It takes two things into account:
- The percentage of viewers who watch your video and leave a comment,
- The number and content of comments.
In your videos, it is therefore advantageous to invite and encourage users to place remarks, instructions, appreciations, in order to increase the visibility of your audience.
The best tips for uploading your YouTube videos
6- Create an attractive channel
Creating a channel on YouTube is very important when you plan to upload your videos. Having a channel allows you to have a public presence on YouTube
You can use a computer or the mobile site to create a YouTube channel. Also consider adding an icon to your channel.
How do I create a personal channel?
- First, you need to have a google account
- Sign in to YouTube from your computer or cell phone.
- Try to upload a video, if you don’t have a channel yet. You will be prompted to create one.
- Check your data used on your Google account (the name and photo used), then confirm the creation of your channel.
7- Name your file correctly
The name of the file allows YouTube algorithms to quickly find you when a user launches his request, it represents the subject addressed, the objectives to be achieved in the video. It is therefore essential to check if you have changed the name of your video before putting it online and to make sure that it includes keywords used in those of your competitors.
If your file is edited as “mov_003_2020.mp4”, you are missing a great opportunity to tell YouTube what your production is about. Your file name should accurately describe the query you are targeting on YouTube. For example, the video in this article can be titled “how to get more views on YouTube.mp4”.
8- Ask for feedbacks (like / dislike) to the users
Finally, we have the famous little Tumb up and Tumb down or like button on YouTube, to indicate that you like, or dislike a video
When editing your video, you can ask people to click on the little blue thumb at the bottom of the video, to give you a mention, like
Source : PNGKIT
You can do this by asking directly, or through the annotations, as with the comments. It is very important to integrate this technique when making your videos.
9- Be found by YouTube
One of the best ways to get views on YouTube is to make sure you are findable by users and by YouTube. Users will only click on a video that appears in their search results
If you want users to have the ability to target you, to see your posts, your productions, you need to customize the titles, the descriptions, so that they appear in searches.
Source: Business2community
To facilitate the visibility of your video, you should do a research on the subject you have addressed, and check how the most popular videos of your query appear, in order to integrate some of their keywords in the title of your production. Also take a cue from their description file. This method allows Google to have an idea about your video.
You should also choose an icon that represents your channel, and that can attract the attention of users, because it improves your image on YouTube
10- Make playlists of your videos
Playlists consist in gathering a list of videos dealing with the same ideas and playing them in continuity, i.e. one after the other. The particularity here is that the playback of the videos is automatic. Once the current video is finished, the user does not need to click on the next one.
Creating a playlist allows you to get or increase the number of views for each video without the visitor having to leave the player. If the user doesn’t like the content they are watching, they can change that video to yours perhaps, because it is in that playlist
How to add your video to a playlist?
- Go to the start menu and select the “feed”;
- Then click on the YouTube stream tab;
- Click on “add to playlist” ;
- Select a playlist from the list that appears.
11- Add end screens to your videos
End screens are like announcements proposed by YouTube, which appear between the last 20 and 5 seconds of your video, to suggest users to watch another video similar to the one they just saw.
How do I add an end screen?
- Go to YouTube Studio, go to the “Video” page and select the video you want to add the end screen to;
- In the menu on the left, select “Editing Application” ;
- Click on “Add End Screen”.
However, you can add and customize the end screens as you wish while your video is uploaded
Customizing an end screen means making your video attractive, adding content, elements, applying templates, shapes, or modifying them, also changing the time they are displayed, and choosing its location in the video.
12- Optimize the thumbnails to attract the audience
The thumbnail is a kind of profile picture of a video. A bit like the cover photo on Facebook. It also has a considerable impact on the referencing of a video
It is an image related to the title and description of your video.
The fonts must be visible, clear. You can create your own thumbnails on software and insert them in your video
The more attractive your thumbnail is, the more the viewer will click and spend time on your movie. And this will increase the number of views and publicity. It is in fact the showcase of your production.
A good video thumbnail helps you stand out in the suggested video section or list.
To have good thumbnails, you must:
- Have a resolution of 1280 x 720 (with a minimum width of 640 pixels) ;
- Upload your video in .JPG, .GIF, .BMP or .PNG format;
- Remember to use the most used format, popular in YouTube players and previews.
13- Choose the most attractive title for your video
Just like Google, YouTube sorts out the videos that meet the user’s expectations. The title of your video is very important
It is therefore essential to have an excellent title that strongly encourages people to click on it in order to be more visible and referenced by YouTube. It describes in a way the ideas developed in the production and allows you to be referenced
At this level, you should look for the words most used in the users’ request, related to the subject of your video. Use these words to formulate your title.
There are several tricks to find the keywords that are more used than others of these words. You can use tools such as
To make your title more attractive, you can use tricks like :
- Numbers,
- Adjectives,
- Brackets,
- Symbols,
- Capital letters or
- Brackets.
14- The complete description of the content of your video
The description consists of making a short text of about 300 words, briefly describing the content of your video while inserting several keywords, links pointing to your sources
It is one of the elements that participate in the good referencing, the visibility of your video by search engines.
The description is often neglected by many Youtubers when uploading videos. So its use can turn to your advantage and also improve your profile on YouTube
It can be written as a blog post. You should also not confuse the visitors. The description and content of your video should be on the same wavelength.
It answers questions like:
- What kind of business are you in?
- What kind of content will your subscribers see on your channel?
15- Put attractive images in front of your video
To get your video online, it’s not enough to make and share it. You have to make sure that your images are of good quality and in good format. Internet users are only interested in attractive videos
Our eyes are much more attracted to beautiful things. You can customize your images yourself by adding unusual texts that are out of the ordinary, arrows to arouse the curiosity of users.
The number of clicks on your video in search results has a very important impact on the overall performance and usefulness of your production.
When a user launches a search, several results are presented to him, among them, we can see images, titles, description, date of publication of the video, number of views… The challenge is to make your video stand out from the crowd.
16- Use the best tags
Tags are tags added to your videos and always related to the ideas treated in the editing.
When a user launches a query in the search bar, all the videos with this word for tag appear. This makes it easier for YouTube to see your videos
17- Make a good transcription of your video
YouTube is constantly evolving. It has several analysis tools in order to more or less meet the requirements of its users and interpret each of their actions
For example, the platform has voice recognition tools, which automatically transcribe or translate the words of the video into words
If you are used to using YouTube, you will notice that the transcription is usually not correct. It is full of mistakes that are very easy to spot
From a usability point of view, the experience is not optimal when the subtitles contain mistakes. Especially since not all viewers are going to follow your video in quiet, noiseless places.
Also, one of the most important rules in YouTube SEO is to always have correct subtitles.
Therefore, it is important to proofread your transcripts to provide an optimal user experience and boost your videos’ SEO
The best tips for the good promotion of your YouTube videos.
18- Direct users to your videos
When a user watches your post and enjoys its content, he will probably want to view other similar content. It is therefore recommended to always include at the end of your videos one or more links to one of your current videos or to your playlist
If a user watches your video until the end, there is a good chance that he will click on your link
You can also use, as said before, YouTube cards or simply annotations redirected to your other videos
Just be careful not to include more than three lines, lest the lazy viewers ignore it.
19- Use the YouTube analytics tool to track your video statistics
Video analytics allows you to track your videos in real time and correct inconsistencies. It evaluates the performance of all your online videos. With video analytics, you’ll know where your videos were viewed, how many people watched your post, and how they reacted.
It allows you to answer questions like:
- Who watched my video?
- In which country was my video viewed?
- What is the total viewing time in hours per video, each time a user clicks on the play button?
20- Promote your videos to make yourself known
You can interact with your audience by responding to them when they ask questions or voice their concerns. If a user has taken the time to click, watch and share their opinion or ask you questions about your video, it’s important not to leave them without a response
This tip can help you increase your popularity rating.
To address their concern, however, you can host a Q&A video or make a call to action on social media by inviting other members of your audience to share their concerns and opinions
By sharing your videos on your other social media accounts while addressing each of your visitors’ concerns, you’re expanding your community.
Also consider advertising your videos and channel on websites, forums and other social platforms
Promoting your channel starts with the design of your videos. So it’s important to look for the types of videos that have potential in terms of views on YouTube.
Here are some social channels where you can share, talk about your videos, or link back to your YouTube channel:
- Your page facebook page ;
- WhatsApp forum;
- Profile twitter ;
- Profile instagram ;
- Profile pinterest
- Etc…
In summary
There are a thousand and one ways to increase the performance of a YouTube channel, and each person does it in his own way
In this article, you have had the opportunity to discover the best tricks used by several Internet users to improve their performance in order to get more views on YouTube
These tips will not only help you get views. You will get more traffic to your channel and more subscribers. That’s why implementing these tips is a real asset for your YouTube channel, as they will help you boost your brand awareness
If any of these tactics help you increase your number of views, don’t hesitate to share your experience with us.
See you soon!
