Channel Review Is my channel appealing? Looking to get more views.

[Lou C]

User name: Lou C
Title of thread: Is my channel appealing? Looking to get more views.
Self review: Hey everyone! I would love your feedback on my channel please. I'm brand new (about 2ish weeks in) to YT and I'm looking for to ways to improve my channel and get more views. Not sure if this is relevant but my impressions are sitting around 1700 and my CTR is 6.3%. Watch time is 14.2hrs and average view time is 2.23. I've currently only got 7 videos on my channel and not getting a lot of views. The largest view count is 105 and my lowest is 13. Total views 355. Subs are 25. I feel like the image quality and lighting of my videos may be an issue, also the thumbnails are possibly too fussy. Happy to receive any constructive feedback and thank you so much in advance!
Channel review or Video review? Channel review
Link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGzSqcybITJFfmi7Z8D_DhQ/
Link to other review post: https://community.tubebuddy.com/index.php?threads/25887/#post-74058

 

[AurigaDave]

HI Lou, I have looked at a couple of your videos, I do like the theme of your channel, and also doing the video as a silent film with voice over.
What are you using as a camera, or video resolution as it seems to pixelate/blur at times? IF you are using a webcam, I really would consider getting a better video cam when finances allow, you are competing with folk who are putting out 4k resolution and YouTube is VISUAL. Your Audio sounds fine, so I suspect you are using a decent mic.
Most of your vids are around 10 mins, is there a reason why? have you read something that says 10 min vids work best? I only ask as I try and make a mix of shorts (I see you have a couple) 4-6 mins and longer videos...people sadly switch very fast.
In terms of the content, I would try and get your audio to match your video better, you show a product but the audio doesn't mention it at times. everything you do needs explaining...this is an explanatory video after all...treat people as stupid...tell them everything...remember they are learning form you.
Finally have you considered talking to the companies that make the products you use/show? even if you only get freebies to use, it is worth a punt...maybe wait until you have over a few hundred subscribers, but go for it.
This may sound critical, but I like what you are doing and wish you luck, you have so much potential...but are competing with 1000's of teenagers, maybe pitch your channel at the over 25's?? go for it, good luck and don't give up

 

[Lou C]

HI Lou, I have looked at a couple of your videos, I do like the theme of your channel, and also doing the video as a silent film with voice over.
What are you using as a camera, or video resolution as it seems to pixelate/blur at times? IF you are using a webcam, I really would consider getting a better video cam when finances allow, you are competing with folk who are putting out 4k resolution and YouTube is VISUAL. Your Audio sounds fine, so I suspect you are using a decent mic.
Most of your vids are around 10 mins, is there a reason why? have you read something that says 10 min vids work best? I only ask as I try and make a mix of shorts (I see you have a couple) 4-6 mins and longer videos...people sadly switch very fast.
In terms of the content, I would try and get your audio to match your video better, you show a product but the audio doesn't mention it at times. everything you do needs explaining...this is an explanatory video after all...treat people as stupid...tell them everything...remember they are learning form you.
Finally have you considered talking to the companies that make the products you use/show? even if you only get freebies to use, it is worth a punt...maybe wait until you have over a few hundred subscribers, but go for it.
This may sound critical, but I like what you are doing and wish you luck, you have so much potential...but are competing with 1000's of teenagers, maybe pitch your channel at the over 25's?? go for it, good luck and don't give up

Hi there!
Oh my goodness! Thank you so much for taking the time to have a good look around my channel and give me sick awesome feedback.

I'm actually using my phone to film. It's a Samsung S10 and I thought I'd set it up to film in 4k but I've probably done it incorrectly because yes, I totally agree, all of my videos are quite blurry throughout. I'm hoping to upgrade to an actual camera as soon as I'm able.

Really helpful feedback re mentioning the products that I use and when I've got a few more subscribers reaching out to companies is absolutely something I will look into doing .
Re the length of the videos, I struggle to get them shorter. Generally makeup videos are around 10-20 mins long, so I used this as a guide.

With regards to competing with teenagers, that's something that weighs on my mind... I'm 44 so I did need to target an older demographic.
I'm planning to start adding content 3x per week talking about paranormal/true crime soon and adding beauty videos 2x per month so that'll be a whole other demographic.

Thank you again for your amazing feedback. I very much appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Stay safe!
Lou

 

[Lou C]

HI Lou, I have looked at a couple of your videos, I do like the theme of your channel, and also doing the video as a silent film with voice over.
What are you using as a camera, or video resolution as it seems to pixelate/blur at times? IF you are using a webcam, I really would consider getting a better video cam when finances allow, you are competing with folk who are putting out 4k resolution and YouTube is VISUAL. Your Audio sounds fine, so I suspect you are using a decent mic.
Most of your vids are around 10 mins, is there a reason why? have you read something that says 10 min vids work best? I only ask as I try and make a mix of shorts (I see you have a couple) 4-6 mins and longer videos...people sadly switch very fast.
In terms of the content, I would try and get your audio to match your video better, you show a product but the audio doesn't mention it at times. everything you do needs explaining...this is an explanatory video after all...treat people as stupid...tell them everything...remember they are learning form you.
Finally have you considered talking to the companies that make the products you use/show? even if you only get freebies to use, it is worth a punt...maybe wait until you have over a few hundred subscribers, but go for it.
This may sound critical, but I like what you are doing and wish you luck, you have so much potential...but are competing with 1000's of teenagers, maybe pitch your channel at the over 25's?? go for it, good luck and don't give up

P.s I had a look at your channel! LOVE IT. Anything science-y gets a big tick from me!

 

[AurigaDave]

P.s I had a look at your channel! LOVE IT. Anything science-y gets a big tick from me!

thanks do not get disheartened, as your channel develops your vids will improve and you will find what appeals to your audience (more views for longer time) concentrate on those while you build your audience

 

[TheRoutineInstructor]

Hi Lou i looked at your channel i would suggest fix the banner a little better put some color to it. Found it hard to read on phone. Don't know how it looks on computer might be ok. But your video content is good just camera looks like you tried the 4k way and ended little blurry. Love the Alcapone story man was a legend. But keep at it if you just started you will learn as you go i am in the learning stage to. Wish you luck

 

[Steve the Barman]

Hey @Lou C You've got yourself a Sub!!! Not for the Crime stories... but for the make up tips!

No of course for the Crime Stuff. That REALLY floats my boat. So i'm going to be having a good stalk laters!

Face value, i think you've got the makings of an amazing channel. So different. perhaps there is loads of stuff already out there in this niche, but i never would've thought to search for it.
The only thing i would say, the Crime and the Ghost stuff work together. the Beauty doesn't. So it may well be worth splitting that into different channels. I have had the exact same thing happen to me. (Not beauty obvs )... I built my channel up in the early days with Gin Reviews. But then i got bored of Gin and went into what i loved, Spiced Rum and Cocktails. What i've got now is nearly 4000 Subscribers, of which 2000+ are not interested in my new videos! I'm great at Ranking Videos for Search, but i just don't get views out of the gate, because my Subs tuned out. So do be careful of that.

Your channel itself...
I think you're pretty good on Camera, deffo engaging. You present well. And the best bit is, you'll only get better. Christ, my early stuff makes me cringe. So if this is your first efforts, well played.
The Camera is good, lighting & audio is good. So i don't think you have many issues with that side of things.

Where you may need to do a little bit of work, is the geek side of YouTube. The SEO and Thumbnails.
Although i like your Thumbnails and they are clearly Personal brand building, they don't make it obvious in a couple of seconds what the video is about. And by that, i just struggle to read the text quickly. It's tough, because it does fit in with the brand really well. (Just remember though where the Time Stamp goes...in a couple of Thumbnails, the Time is on top of key text)

The SEO side is where you can pick up MANY more views. If you spend a bit of time learning how that whole malarkey works, then i think you're channel will fly.
Your tags do not really reflect any notable Search. I always struggle to relay "relevant search" to people, so the only way i can explain it, is to show it below. This is how i rank super well. I attack lower Volume search Terms, get them ranking well, then within 6 -10-12 weeks, i'm sort of playing with the big boys will gazillions of views on the bigger search terms.

The key search phrase i'm attacking here is "Mojito variations". Much less searched for than Mojito Cocktails. But an easier opportunity to rank. Can you see how relatable my Tags are to that search phrase. Once you've got that nailed, then just adapt your description to include a few of these Tags as that's how YouTube will know what your Video is ultimately about.

It's really a 3 part puzzle, but once you get that, I really do believe you'll fly.

Hope that helps!

 

[Lou C]

Hi Lou i looked at your channel i would suggest fix the banner a little better put some color to it. Found it hard to read on phone. Don't know how it looks on computer might be ok. But your video content is good just camera looks like you tried the 4k way and ended little blurry. Love the Alcapone story man was a legend. But keep at it if you just started you will learn as you go i am in the learning stage to. Wish you luck

Hey there!
That's great feedback and I will re think my banner. Thank you! I did upload in 4k (took about 18hrs lol) it doesn't look blurry on my end though, so that's interesting that it looked like that when you watched. But thanks so much for letting me know
I wish you all the best too. Such a fun thing to do!
Cheers

 

[Lou C]

Hey @Lou C You've got yourself a Sub!!! Not for the Crime stories... but for the make up tips!

No of course for the Crime Stuff. That REALLY floats my boat. So i'm going to be having a good stalk laters!

Face value, i think you've got the makings of an amazing channel. So different. perhaps there is loads of stuff already out there in this niche, but i never would've thought to search for it.
The only thing i would say, the Crime and the Ghost stuff work together. the Beauty doesn't. So it may well be worth splitting that into different channels. I have had the exact same thing happen to me. (Not beauty obvs )... I built my channel up in the early days with Gin Reviews. But then i got bored of Gin and went into what i loved, Spiced Rum and Cocktails. What i've got now is nearly 4000 Subscribers, of which 2000+ are not interested in my new videos! I'm great at Ranking Videos for Search, but i just don't get views out of the gate, because my Subs tuned out. So do be careful of that.

Your channel itself...
I think you're pretty good on Camera, deffo engaging. You present well. And the best bit is, you'll only get better. Christ, my early stuff makes me cringe. So if this is your first efforts, well played.
The Camera is good, lighting & audio is good. So i don't think you have many issues with that side of things.

Where you may need to do a little bit of work, is the geek side of YouTube. The SEO and Thumbnails.
Although i like your Thumbnails and they are clearly Personal brand building, they don't make it obvious in a couple of seconds what the video is about. And by that, i just struggle to read the text quickly. It's tough, because it does fit in with the brand really well. (Just remember though where the Time Stamp goes...in a couple of Thumbnails, the Time is on top of key text)

The SEO side is where you can pick up MANY more views. If you spend a bit of time learning how that whole malarkey works, then i think you're channel will fly.
Your tags do not really reflect any notable Search. I always struggle to relay "relevant search" to people, so the only way i can explain it, is to show it below. This is how i rank super well. I attack lower Volume search Terms, get them ranking well, then within 6 -10-12 weeks, i'm sort of playing with the big boys will gazillions of views on the bigger search terms.
View attachment 5480
The key search phrase i'm attacking here is "Mojito variations". Much less searched for than Mojito Cocktails. But an easier opportunity to rank. Can you see how relatable my Tags are to that search phrase. Once you've got that nailed, then just adapt your description to include a few of these Tags as that's how YouTube will know what your Video is ultimately about.

It's really a 3 part puzzle, but once you get that, I really do believe you'll fly.

Hope that helps!

Hey Steve!

Thanks so much for that in depth and very valuable feedback! It's very much appreciated as I know it takes time.

You should try some of the makeup tips ;p don't knock it until you've tried it haha. My hubby and I love gin, spiced rum (went to a RumFest here in Tasmania in November last year..and OMG it was amazing. So many delicious varieties) and of course who doesn't love a good cocktail. I will check your channel out.

The thumbnail feedback is great. I didn't even think about the timestamp, so that's helpful to take into consideration. Same goes for the SEO info. I do struggle with that at the moment, so your tips have been perfect.

Thanks for subbing. I think that takes me up to 40 now hahaha.

Anyway, cheers again! All the best!