Ok, so here is the deal. This is the single most asked question not only on this forum... but in the entire world. I'm being dramatic of course, but the problem is that this gets asked so often that the people who have been around for a while are tired of giving the same answers over and over. So here is the deal; we are going to cover this topic one last time here. If you asked how to gain subscribers or views in the forum then you have been directed to this article and trust me that is a good thing... this is going to be your single best resource for this question. It isn't going to be pretty; there is no single, simple, elegant solution to gaining views. There is no way to purchase fame and fortune and you are not going to game the system. You are going to need to put in work. It will be difficult. It will take away a healthy portion of your free time, it will take years and when you finally get monetized you are going to go
months before you even see a check. So sit back and be prepared for this to be a long, multiple-year journey. YouTube is a marathon, not a sprint.
How to Get More Views
The YouTube Search and Discovery Systems (what everyone refers to as the 'algorithm') is not some big bad guy out to destroy your channel. It has been put into place for one
very good reason; it puts videos in front of the people who want to see that video. And luckily there are only two things that you really need to do in order for your video to be mega-successful. You need clicks and you need watch time. That is it. That is the magic formula; get viewers to click and when they do keep them watching. There is a third factor... but we'll cover that in a moment. For right now let's focus on the big two; clicks and watch time.
Getting clicks comes down to crafting clever titles that captivate the viewer. It needs to be intriguing; it should compel the viewer to stop scrolling and click your video. It also comes down to your thumbnails. The image that you use for your thumbnail doesn't need to be the single most impressive piece of graphic design ever... but it needs to be something that visually captures the attention of the viewer and
compels them to click. It needs to captivate them. You need to spend time learning how to crat a title and design a thumbnail that not only describes the topic of your video but it needs to grab attention. Side note: do not make clickbait thumbnails/titles. It isn't a fine line. Just don't do it. That's bad and we shouldn't need to explain why.
Watch time is the other most-important factor. There isn't a whole lot to cover here, but basically if you are not getting your viewers to watch a good portion of your video then why on Earth would they watch another video or even consider subscribing? This is the single most important thing you need to focus on...
Make Great Videos!!! You ay not be great yet. It may take 100 videos. It took Mr. Beast 400. If you want to grow your subscriber base you should spend the next 100 videos learning how to improve your content to make it more interesting, more entertaining and more valuable for the viewer so that they not only watch longer but so that they want to click on the next video and share them all with their friends.
That is how you get views.
Nick Nimmin has an excellent video about gaining views on YouTube, I highly suggest watching this if you have never done so:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7uoNdROg4Y&t=567s
Right now is when you are asking
but how can I get these views and watch time if YouTube isn't sharing out my videos? The better your videos perform the more YouTube is going to share them out. But you also have some measure of control over who YouTube shares your video out to. If you learn how to optimize your videos for search then you can put your video in front of people searching for the topic and get a ton of views that way. You need to learn SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and you are going to spend long hours researching the keyword phrases necessary to put your videos on the top of the search ranks... but it works. And a library of 100, 400 or 1,000 videos all performing in the search ranks will provide a solid foundation of views
and income for
years. If you are new to this and you are unfamiliar with SEO here is a video to get you started:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAqfpr91CCA
How to Gain Subscribers
People aren't numbers. Quit thinking about these human beings as a collection of numbers and start thinking about the person that represents that number. You are speaking to a person... how would you like a person to speak to you? Do you subscribe to YouTube channels who constantly spend their time talking about their own YouTube channel and are always reminding you to Subscribe? Or would you prefer if they were more social. Do you want someone who takes the time to explain the topic that you are wanting to watch a video about. Maybe you want someone who is approachable. Above all the single most effective thing that you can do to gain subscribers is to
provide value. You need to be an authority in your niche; either be really good at what you do, be really entertaining about what you do or at the very least do it differently than anybody has ever done it. This is how it works; a human being clicks on your video because your thumbnail sold them on this being the video they need. They watched it because the content was strong. They
subscribed to
you because you provided the value, the personality and the experience that they needed now and will need again in the future. The more you can increase your value, your experience and your personality the more people are going to subscribe. You need to have a call to action... called a CTA these are the visual and audio prompts that you provide to remind the viewer to subscribe. It is entirely possible that they are so enthralled with your work that they forget to subscribe before the video ends. But make no mistakes; all the CTA's in the world are not going to convince someone to subscribe if you are not providing the value that they desire.
More is always more... per Roberto Blake:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqLrcMYRRCg
So this is it; this is everything that you need to know to begin your journey on YouTube and start growing your Channel, your audience and your exposure. It does not happen over night; this will take time and as many people will tell you the first thing you need to do is to focus on making that first 100 videos. You are going to make mistakes. You have things that you are going to need to learn and nobody can explain it to you. You are going to be a different, better creator 100 videos from now and it is important to go through that portion of the process. This is not the fun part of the process. Nobody enjoys being the channel with 17 subscribers trying to work their way towards 1,000 and 4,000 hours of watch time. But it is an extremely important part of the process that you must grow through.
We are here for you. We are a community of creators who are all at various stages of this journey and we all have a wealth of experience to share and to gain from you. We are here to bounce ideas off each other and help to brainstorm. We are all here to learn the different elements of graphic design, marketing, editing, scripting, filming and optimizing our videos. Welcome to the community!
Now take a deep breathe... get yourself a cup of coffee and clear your head. It's time to get to work!
And don't forget about collaboratins with other channels!
