Tips On How To Get More Views On YouTube

With more than 400 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every single minute, standing out in the crowd is harder than ever.

Add to that the one billion hours of YouTube videos that are watched every day (that’s more than Netflix and Facebook video combined, to put it into perspective), and you can understand why businesses and YouTubers are turning to corporate video production to help them get more views. The views are out there, but how can you get more eyes on your videos?

Create Evergreen Videos
Evergreen videos never go out of fashion. They don't tap into current trends, which means they’re useful year after year. A lot of channels with a high view count are getting the majority of their traffic from one video that accidentally went viral or hit the big time. However, for more consistent views across the board and a more engaged audience, creating a stream of videos that are popular and useful is a much more successful strategy. Let’s take a look at what kind of evergreen videos you can create.

Educational – think 'How To' videos here that provide a solution to a problem that people continue to have:
Explainer – these videos do as they say on the tin; explain a concept or your product/brand in a simple way
Testimonial – had a great review from a customer? Their mind isn't going to change over time and video testimonial production is huge business at the moment
Case study – if you've run a successful project or campaign, get those results down in a video

Publish Consistently
The more videos you have on your channel, the more opportunities you have to capture the attention of viewers.

A case study by Flight Drummers shows that ramping up their posting schedule to a consistent 2-3 times per week did wonders for their viewer numbers (and their subscriber count jumped up, too).

After analysing their competitors and seeing they only posted once a week, the brand decided to go one step further and publish more content on a more consistent basis. This positioned them as the go-to YouTube channel for drumming and viewers began to eagerly anticipate their three weekly videos.

Optimise Your Videos
YouTube is the second biggest search engine in the world (you can guess what's first, right?), which means there is huge potential for organic traffic via the in-built YouTube search function – something any video marketing agency will tell you. In order to show up in relevant searches, you’ve got to plug in the right keywords so the platform knows what your videos are about. To do this, you want to enter keywords in a variety of different places:

• The title of your video
• The description of your video
• The metatags of your video

Create Stand-Out Video Thumbnails
The truth is people do judge a book by its cover (they just might not like to admit it). Your video thumbnails are like movie posters for your content, so making them striking and inviting is the key to getting people to click through.

There's tons of similar content out there on YouTube (remember those 400 hours that are uploaded every minute?), so standing out against the others is a case of drawing people to your video over someone else’s – especially on such a visual platform. Here’s how you can make your video thumbnail work for you:

• Make sure it conveys the subject of the video
• Make it eye-catching so people can't help but click through
• Brand it so that it’s recognisable and all your videos look cohesive
• Optimise them so they don't warp on different sized screens

Use Calls-to-Action
People like knowing what they need to do next, and by not inviting them to subscribe to your channel or view the next video in a sequence, you’re throwing potential views down the drain. A simple call-to-action at the start of your video encouraging people to hit that subscribe button can work wonders, while a selection of 2-3 relevant videos to continue watching at the end will keep people on your channel and watching more. Here’s how to add a subscribe button to your videos:

• Go to the Creator Studio on your YouTube account
• In the menu on the left, click Channel and then Branding
• Click 'Add a watermark'
• The on-screen instructions will help you upload a branded element that will appear across all of your uploaded videos

Keep Videos Short and Engaging
People's attention spans are plummeting by the day (we’re at around 8 seconds at the moment, which is less than a goldfish) so to keep viewer’s attention, you need to get to the point – and quick.

While it might make more sense to create longer videos that mean people have to keep watching for longer, you’ll actually get more views and loyal subscribers by splitting longer subjects up into bitesized videos that are around five minutes long.

Collaborate with Other YouTubers
Briana White, the YouTuber behind Strange Rebel Gaming, landed her first 1,000 subscribers by collaborating with other YouTubers and being featured on their channels. Find channels in your industry that have sizeable followings and reach out to offer an interview or a 'guest' video for them.

This gives you exposure to their audience (which, if they’re in the same industry as you, is likely to be the kind of audience you’re after) and, because they’ve already built up a loyal following, their subscribers are more likely to go ahead and follow you too.

Boosting Views and Subscribers is the Key to Successful Growth

Growing a YouTube channel can seem like a daunting task, especially with so many people trying to do the same thing. But, if you focus on creating videos that your audience keep coming back to, optimise your content so it has a higher chance of showing up in search results, and make sure your videos are short and engaging with eye-catching thumbnails, you’re well on your way to creating a solid channel that continues to grow.