According to a survey carried out by the Pew Research Center, only 10% of videos attract 79% of all views on YouTube:
This statistic is proof that most YouTube users struggle to attract visitors to their video.
If you are currently facing this problem or simply want to improve your performance,
It is necessary that you put in place the right strategies to increase your views.
- What is a view?
- How are views counted on Youtube?
- What are the best tips for getting more YouTube views?
These are all questions to which you will find answers in this guide
Chapter 1: What is a Youtube view and how is it counted on the platform?
In this chapter, I explain to you what a YouTube view is and its importance.
You will also find :
- The criteria according to which they are counted;
- The way they are accounted for;
- The reasons which may prevent them from being counted.
- And how they can be verified.
1.1. What is a YouTube view and why is it important to you?
On Youtube, a view can be defined as the viewing time of a video.
In concrete terms, this is the time an Internet user spends on a video when he chooses, clicks and starts playing it regardless of his location in the world.
Views play an important role in the display of your video since it is a ranking factor used by algorithms to position your video on the home page or in the top search results.
Views are an important factor since they provide you with several pieces of information and allow you to:
- Analyze the performance and popularity of your video;
- Get more interactions for your videos;
- And earn more money.
1.2. What are the criteria by which YouTube video views are counted?
The main criteria used by Youtube to count your views are:
1.2.1. The weather
For a view to be counted, the user must watch the video for at least 30 seconds.
It can jump in video length, but the viewing time must reach 30 seconds before the view is taken into account.
1.2.2. IP address and cookies
The IP address allows you to uniquely identify a device or computer in a network and to know the class of the network. Cookies make it possible to trace activities carried out on a website.
Cookies and IP addresses allow the video to be counted only once per user, in order to avoid artificial growth of the counter.
1.3. How does Youtube count views for your videos?
Once a video is uploaded, YouTube uses itsalgorithms to scan and check for viruses or malware.
When nothing is detected, the Youtube counter is started. Views are then counted based on the number of people who watch your video for at least 30 seconds, regardless of whether they are in France or elsewhere in the world.
When you reach a total of 300 views, Youtube stops counting and deploys new algorithms that check if:
- Your way of acquiring views is legitimate or not;
- Your videos meet the platform’s requirements.
As soon as this verification takes place and the deployed algorithms do not detect any problem, the view counter is released.
When the algorithms check your videos, you may find that you have the same view for hours.
It is only after their passage that they decrease or increase.
In the event that the number of views increases, this is explained by the fact that during the blocking Internet users still continue to watch the video.
Otherwise, no one may be interested in your post or the algorithm will detect that the views obtained are not legitimate or when you may be buying Youtube views.
Indeed, buying YouTube views is an illegal practice for the platform. So the fact that these illegal views are removed is the price you pay for your purchase of views.
In any case, note that this check will occur most often and will last depending on the evolution of your number of views.
For example, the time it will take the algorithms to separate real views from false ones for a video with more than 356,408 views will not be the same for one with 500 views.
If you follow live videos on the Youtube platform, they are counted in the same way as pre-recorded videos.
However, the count is determined and adjusted within 24 hours when Youtube notes that:
- Internet users use the same IP address on several devices at the same time;
- The user opens several different windows and watches the same video there;
- The viewer refreshes the page after watching 30 seconds or less.
1.4. Under what conditions are your views not counted?
Repeated playing of the same video also counts for a given number of views and this for a certain number of times defined by YouTube.
When this threshold is exceeded, your view will no longer be considered. There is therefore no point in watching the same video over and over again if the objective is to increase the number of views.
In addition, YouTube does not take your view into account when you move from one video to another randomly (Even if you take care to watch each video for a duration of 30 seconds).
Indeed, for such an action, the algorithms estimate that the spectator is a robot.
Furthermore, your eyesight is not taken into account when:
- You leave spam comments on videos;
- Videos are embedded on a page and started automatically when someone lands on that page.
Indeed, YouTube’s algorithms stop counting lives for your video when they notice that users are trying to fraudulently falsify/increase the number of views.
1.5. How to find view numbers on Youtube?
To find statistics relating to your Youtube views, simply:
- Log in to your YouTube account and click on the profile icon at the top right, then on Youtube studio;
This will take you to the youtube dashboard. You should see basic analytics in the middle of your screen (watch time, views, subscribers and estimated revenue, etc.).
To the left of this panel, you will see a menu. Click Analytics to access the main YouTube Analytics dashboard.
Now that you know what a view is and how they are taken into account by Youtube, I invite you to discover the best practices to find out more.
Chapter 2: The best tips to get more views on Youtube
Indeed, there are several tips to follow to get many more views on YouTube. These tactics can be classified into three main categories, namely:
- Tips before assembly,
- Tips when uploading the video,
- Tips for successfully promoting your videos.
2.1. Tips to adopt before editing your YouTube videos
Before editing your YouTube videos:
2.1.1. Encourage users to tap or click on your video
Before even thinking about making a video, it is essential to think about a specific subject and your SEO angle.
When Internet users launch queries on search engines like YouTube or Google, most of the time they ask questions like:
- “How to become a web editor? »
- “How to start a business from scratch”
- “How to open a delivery agency? »
- “Which laptop should I buy?” »
It is then up to the creators to evaluate and identify the most relevant, most usual or frequent questions that users often ask in each area in order to answer them in the best possible way in their videos.
As a creator, you will be able to use tools such asGoogle Trends orkeywordtool.io to find trending ideas or use YouTube’s auto-suggestion of ideas.
Next, you need to look at the results of previous queries related to your topic to determine if there are enough people who are interested in this type of content.
You can enter in the Youtube search bar “How to start a business from scratch?” », Among the results displayed there are several, thousands, even millions of videos which all answer this question.
Well, this is an indicator that there are a good number of Internet users who are interested in this subject. To make a video, creators must therefore study the requests and expectations of Internet users so that the video is visible even after months and avoid focusing only on immediacy.
2.1.2. Use YouTube Cards to keep users on your channel.
When playing videos, you can display several overlays, also called YouTube cards. They are generally links, a call button, a clickable image or a title.
For example, when you post videos, you can create a YouTube card displaying links that can help your audience navigate directly to the associated web page. The same applies to all playlists associated with said video.
Check out this guideGoogle for more information on using the cards.
2.1.3. Add value to your video content
To get a lot of views on YouTube, the content you offer must arouse curiosity, that is, be interesting for the viewer. The added value takes more into account the quality of the content.
When you provide quality content on your channel, people will tend to know more about you and watch more of your videos because you have caught their attention.
It must be educational, entertaining, interesting, and meet the expectations of the spectators. You can also make viral videos that generate positive or negative emotions, make you smile, shock, create a debate, arouse curiosity, reflect current events, etc.
Take the example of baby shark dance, this channel which has lots of viral videos. Indeed, Baby Shark produces entertaining, well-targeted videos that tell a unique story.
When the ideas developed in your video are unique and original, you attract more Internet users to follow your channel. When you provide 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.
2.1.4. Stay true to your commitments throughout your video
YouTube has the tools that can measure the exact size and know the content of your video. It is therefore important to remain honest with your initial ideology throughout the editing to gain better visibility.
In other words, only address specific ideas related to your title and which also meet the visitor’s expectations.
Engagement also includes the viewing time of your video, that is to say the time an Internet user spends watching your montage.
If most users spend the average amount of time on your video, YouTube will not hesitate to show you in the first search results, so you will get an excellent engagement score.
2.1.5. Get comments on your post
When viewers leave comments on your video, it encourages YouTube to take more interest in it, to see if it is relevant and accurate.
It takes two things into account:
- The percentage of Internet users who view your video and leave a comment,
- The number and content of comments.
In your videos, it is therefore advantageous to invite and encourage Internet users to post comments, instructions, and appreciations in order to increase the visibility of your audience.
2.2. Best Tips When Uploading Your YouTube Videos
Here are the best practices to adopt to put your onlinevideo :
2.2.1. Create an attractive channel
Creating a channel on YouTube is very important when you plan to upload your videos. You also benefit from a public presence, that is to say you can be seen by everyone when you have a YouTube channel. To create a channel on Youtube, you can use a computer or a phone. Also consider adding an icon to your channel.
How to create a channel on Youtube?
- You must first have aGoogle account
- Log in toYouTube from your computer or mobile phone.
- Go to your Youtube settings, click on “my channel”.
- Check your data used on your Google account (the name and photo used) then confirm the creation of your channel.
2.2.2 Name your file correctly
The name of the file allows YouTube’s algorithms to quickly find you when a user launches their request, it represents the subject covered, 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 ensure that it includes keywords used in those of your competitors.
If your file is edited under the name mov_003_2020.mp4, you are missing out on a great opportunity to tell YouTube what your production is about. Your file name should accurately describe the query you are targeting on YouTube. Take for example this article, you can name its video “The 20 tips to get more views on YouTube.mp4”.
2.2.3. Ask for feedback (likes / dislikes) from Internet users
Finally, we have the famous little Tumb up and Tumb down or like button on YouTube to indicate that you like, or do not like, a video.When editing your video, you can therefore ask people to click on the little blue thumb at the bottom of the video to give you a mention,I like.
You can also ask for feedbackin your video, do it by asking directly, or by annotations, comments, on social networks. This technique used when creating your videos allows you to remind the user or push them to give their opinion by “like” or “dislike”.
2.2.4. Be findable through YouTube
One of the best ways to get views on YouTube is to make sure you can be found by Internet users and by YouTube. Users only click on a video that appears in their search results.
If you want users to have the opportunity to target you, to see your publications, your productions, you must personalize the titles and descriptions so that they appear in searches.
Source : Business2community
To facilitate the visibility of your video, you must do a search on the subject you have discussed and check how the most popular videos appear in your query in order to integratesome of their keywords in the title of your production. Also take an example from the presentation of their description file. This method allows Google to get an idea of your video.
You should also choose an icon representing your channel that can attract the attention of users, because it improves yourimage on YouTube.
2.2.5. Make playlists of your videos (playlist)
Playlists consist of grouping together a list of videos dealing with the same ideas and playing them continuously, that is to say one after the other. The particularity here is that the videos play automatically, once the current video is finished the Internet user no longer needs to click on the next one.
Creating a playlist allows you to get or increase more views for each video without the visitor leaving the player. If the user doesn’t really like the content they are watching, they can change this video to yours perhaps, because it is in this playlist.
Step to follow to add your video to a playlist?
- Go to the start menu and select the stream;
- Then click on the YouTube stream tab;
- Click on add to playlist;
- Select a playlist from the list that appears.
2.2.6. Add end screens to your videos
End screens are like announcements offered by YouTube that appear between the last 20 and 5 seconds of your video to suggest users watch another video similar to the one they just saw.
The steps to follow to insert an end screen in your videos?
- Go to YouTube Studio, go to the Video page and select the video you want to add the end screen to;
- From the left menu, select Editing Application;
- Click Add End Screen.
However, you can add a personal touch to the boxes according to your desires, tastes or those of the public to attract the end screens while your video is uploaded.
Customizing an end screen means making your video attractive, adding content, elements, applying or modifying models, shapes, also changing the moment at which they are displayed and choosing its location in the video.
2.2.7. Optimize thumbnails to attract audiences
The thumbnail is in a way the profile photo of a video, a bit like the cover photo on Facebook and also has a considerable impact on the SEO of a video.
It is an image relating to the title and description of your video.
The fonts must be visible and clear; you can create your own thumbnails using software and insert them into your video.
The more pleasant your thumbnail is andattractive, more the viewer clicks and spends enough time on your film and this increases the number of views and advertising. It is in fact the showcase of your production.
A good video thumbnail helps you differentiate, get out of the section or list several suggested videos.
Some criteria to have the right thumbnails, you must:
- Have a resolution of 1280 x 720,
- Above all, download your video in .JPG, .GIF, .BMP or .PNG,
- Consider using the most used, popular formatat the house of the readers.
2.2.8. Choose the most attractive title for your video
Just like Google, YouTube sorts among its videos those that meet the user’s expectations. The title of yourvideo must be concise and clear to all.
It is therefore essential to have an excellent title that strongly encourages people to click in order to be more visible and referenced by YouTube. It somehow describes the ideas developed in the production and allows you to be referenced.
At this level, you need to look for the words most used in user queries related to the subject of your video. Use these words to formulate your title.
There are several tips for finding keywords that are used more than other words, you can use tools such as:
To make your title more attractive, you can use tips like:
- Numbers,
- Adjectives,
- Parentheses,
- symbols,
- Capital letters or
- Hooks.
2.2.9. The full description of the content of your video
The description consists of making a short text of around 300 words briefly describing the content of your video while inserting several keywords and links pointing to your sources.
It also contributes to good referencing, the visibility of your video by Youtube.
The description is often neglected by many YouTubers when uploading videos, so using it can work to your advantage and also improve your profile on YouTube.
It can be written in the form of a blog article. You should also not create confusion in the minds of visitors, the description and content of your video should be on the samelength d’onde.
It answers questions like:
- What is the type of your business?
- What kind of videos, subject, content do you want to publish to your subscribers, audiences will be able to on your channel?
2.2.10. Put attractive images at the front of your video
To have your video online, it is not enough to make and share it, you must ensure the quality and format of your images. Internet users are only interested in attractive videos.
Our eyes are much more attracted to beautiful things, you can personalize your images yourself by adding unusual texts, which are out of the ordinary, arrows to arouse the curiosity of users.
Each time a user clicks on your video, your number of clicks increases, this shows that your content is useful to Internet users and therefore to YouTube. Youtube relies more on user behavior toto classify your post.
When an Internet user launches a search, several results are presented to him, among these, we can see images, titles, thedescription, date of publication of thevideo, number ofviews, the challenge, is to make your video stand out from the crowd.
2.2.11. use the best labels / Tags
Tags are tags added to your videos and havingalways a report with the ideas covered in the montage.
When a user launches their query in the search bar, all the videos with this word for tag appear. This makes your videos easier to seeon YouTube.
2.2.12. Make a good transcription of your video
YouTube is constantly evolving, it has several analysis tools in order to respond more or less to the requirements of its users to interpret each of their actions.
For example, the platform has voice recognition tools that automatically transcribe or translate the words of the video into words.
If you are used to using YouTube, you will find that the transcription is generally not correct. It is full of mistakes which are very easy to spot.
From a usage point of view, the experience is not optimal when the subtitles contain mistakes. Especially since not all viewers will necessarily watch your video in quiet, noise-free places.
Additionally, one of the most important rules in YouTube SEO is to always have correct subtitles.
Therefore, it is important to proofread your transcriptions in order to provide an optimal user experience and boost the SEO of your videos.
2.3. The best tips for promoting your YouTube videos successfully.
Once your videos are created andbets online you have to promote them. Here are 3 tips for good promotion of your videos:
2.3.1. Direct people to your videos
When an Internet user looks at your post and likes the content, they will probably want to view other similar content. It is therefore advisable 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 to the end, there is a good chance that they will click on your link.
You can also use, as said previously, YouTube cards or more simply annotations redirected to your other videos.
Just be careful not to include more than three lines,fear that Internet users, often too lazy, ignore it.
2.3.2. Use the YouTube Analytics Tool to Track Your Video Statistics
Video analytics allows you to track your videos in real time and fix inconsistencies. It measures the popularity and performance of the content of your published videos. Thanks to video analysis, you will know where your videos have been seen, the number of Internet users who have viewed your publication, and their reaction.
It allows you to answer questions like:
- Who watched my video?
- In which country was my video watched?
- What is the total viewing time in hours, minutes, seconds each time a user clicks the play button on my video?
2.3.4. Reply to your comments
You can interact with your audience by responding to them when they ask questions or raise concerns.
If an Internet user has taken the time to click, watch and share their opinion or ask you questions about your video, it is important not to leave them unanswered.
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 inviting other members of your audience to share their concerns and opinions.
By sharing your videos on your other social media accounts while responding to each of your visitors’ concerns, you expand your community.
You can also publish your videos, your channel on sitesInternet, in forums or groups, by mouthto ear and even on other social platforms.
Properly promoting your channel begins with the design of the video, content, and ideas to develop. It is therefore important to look for the types of videos that have potential in terms of views on YouTube.
Here are some social channels on which you can share, talk about your videos or put links to your YouTube channel:
In summary
There are several ways to increase the performance of a YouTube channel and everyone can go about it in their own way.
In this article, you had the opportunity to discover the best tips to improve the performance of your videos in order to get more views on YouTube.
These tips will not only help you get views, you will also boost the popularity of your channel and get more subscribers.
Please share with us your experience on how these tips have improved the performance of your Youtube channel.
