7 Actionable Tips on How to Get More Views on YouTube

In recent years, the pursuit of popularity has shifted from TV and cinema to YouTube. The number of views on YouTube has become a measure of success, but to us marketers, it has an even deeper significance. As the second largest search engine worldwide, YouTube has become one of the best places to promote your products and educate your audiences.

According to recent research, 39% of small businesses plan to increase their investment in YouTube in 2018. That is a second-place tie with Instagram (39%), while Facebook (58%) still remains the most used social media promotion channel for small businesses.

This shows two things – most companies have recognized the necessity of social media and YouTube is still one of the most important channels to use in today’s marketplace.

YouTube has over 1 billion users (which is almost a third of the entire online population), while an average viewer spends more than an hour a day watching YouTube videos (and that’s just on mobile).

What does this mean for an Average Joe among marketers?

This simply means that if your YouTube videos aren’t getting enough views, you could be missing out on some serious promotion. That being said, we’re going to show you how to get more views on YouTube using the 7 methods presented below.

How to Get More Views on Youtube

1. Create Amazing Video Content

Okay, this one is obvious, but we just can’t stress it enough.

You wouldn’t believe it just how many people ignore this in the world of social media. If you are wondering how to get more views on YouTube, the first and most important thing you need to make sure is that you’ve created great video content. If you can do that, generating more views for your videos will be a heck of a lot easier. People will share your video content on social networks, if it is good, so your viewers will end up doing a lot of the promotional work for you.

Although it’s difficult to give a general, niche-universal definition of great content, in most cases it’s content that provides exceptional value to your users.

2. Optimize Your YouTube Video and Channel

SEO title and description

Before you get people to watch your videos, they have to find them somehow.

We’ve already written about how to write quiz titles that actually get clicked and the similar applies to YouTube videos.

In accordance with the most basic of SEO practices, your video title and description should include keywords relevant to your video (YouTube might penalize you if they’re not, so beware). In addition, you can include up to 15 hashtags in the video description (but don’t include all 15, as it just looks unappealing).

But this is just half of the work. SEO optimization may help your videos show up in the search results, but there is another, equally important aspect – you need to make real people click and view those. So, you need to appeal to the human factor as well, and not only the search bots.

YouTube’s own Creator Academy says that “Titles that perform best are often those that tell a story.” In order to be fully displayed in the search results, your titles should be kept at up to 60 characters.

Compelling thumbnail

As we live in a very fast-paced society, people don’t have time to read or watch just anything. Most of their browsing online comes down to just scanning content and viewing only the stuff that catches their attention.

What does this mean in terms of YouTube videos?

Well, using a compelling thumbnail will make it more likely for them to take a closer look at your video. You can choose one of the auto-generated thumbnails, but it’s a better idea to use a custom image of your own (which is exactly what 90% of the top-performing YouTube videos are doing).

The dimensions of your custom Youtube thumbnail should be 1280 x 720 px. Also, they need to be less than 2 MB in size and can be in a variety of formats, including JPG, .PNG, .BMP, or .GIF.

In order to be able to add custom thumbnails, you need to verify your account first. In fact, it’s definitely a must to verify, if you want to access all the optimization features described below.

Optimize your YouTube Channel

• Create a compelling channel icon. Think of it as of your channel’s profile picture. It should be visually appealing, easily identifiable, and should accurately portray your brand and its values. When uploading a channel icon image, you should go for an 800 x 800 image, but make sure it looks good at 98 x 98 px.
• Add an amazing YouTube channel banner. At least 2560 x 1440 pixels. For more detailed instructions on how to create a great YouTube banner, check out our ultimate guide to YouTube banner size and design.
• Write a powerful channel description. This section is important, as it appears on multiple places throughout your channel – on the About tab or when somebody places their cursor over your channel icon, for instance. The character limit is 1,000 so make sure every single character counts.
• Showcase your channel content with an amazing trailer. A YouTube channel trailer is a short video displayed to your channel’s new visitors. It enables you to give them a preview of your content and an opportunity to subscribe.

Connect other social media accounts

Add some extra credibility by connecting other social media accounts (such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and so on) to your YouTube channel.

3. Turn Viewers into Subscribers

What better way to get more views on YouTube than to turn people who are already watching your videos into regular viewers – subscribers? That way, you’re creating a great base of potential viewers for all your new content.

Once someone subscribes to your YouTube channel, they can choose to receive a notification each time you upload a new video. This is guaranteed to bring in a certain number of instant views after each new video release.

How to get people to subscribe to your YouTube channel? Simply ask. You’d be surprised how often this works. Just include a compelling call to action at the end of your video, asking people to subscribe to your YouTube channel. To make it even easier for them, you should include a link in each of your videos’ description.

4. Engage With Your Audience

Still wondering how to get more views on YouTube? That’s because you’re sitting here reading this, instead of engaging with your audience. Okay, you can sit through the entire text (as we’ll give you a couple more tips) and then you should go interact with your viewers.

In order to increase your YouTube views, you need to treat it as a social network.

Respond to your viewers’ comments. Answer any questions they might have. This kind of engagement could help you establish credibility and position yourself as an expert in the field.

Of course, if you’ve just started and still aren’t getting enough comments on your videos, an alternative engagement strategy is to reach out to other channels within your niche. Subscribe and comment on their videos. Try to contribute and provide value.

5. Utilize the Power of Auto-Play

According to the YouTube Creator Academy, “the top-performing brands on YouTube build and promote twice as many playlists as the bottom 25%”.

What they actually do really well is utilize the power of auto-play. It must’ve happened to you as well – you go to YouTube with an intention of watching just ONE video or listening to just ONE song, but spend hours there, thanks to auto-play’s unmistakable intuition. 

People, in general, are lazy, which means they might not want to click play to watch the next video, but does it also mean they’re not going to click stop in order not to watch it? In any case, if you want them to keep on watching, you need to provide absolutely great content. 

If you’re not sure how to create a YouTube playlist, here are the instructions.

6. Use Cards, End Screens, and Watermarks

YouTube offers these handy little features, such as cards, end screens, and watermarks, to help you promote your other videos or your channel. 

How to get more views on YouTube using cards and end screens?

Both cards and end screens present opportunities to point viewers towards some of your other videos and encourage them to watch even more. Cards are those pop-ups that appear while the video is playing, while an end screen shows up (quite expectedly) at the end of the video.

But you should be careful not to overdo it as if you cover the entire video window with cards and end screens is likely to annoy your viewers.

As for watermarks, they are another great opportunity to promote your channel. They appear at the same time in the bottom right corner of all your videos (so you can’t really apply watermarks selectively, only to some videos).

7. Experiment with Paid Advertising

How to get more views on YouTube if all else fails? Pay for them. No, we’re not promoting some shady black hat technique, we simply suggest that you use YouTube ads. They are a great means for exposing your videos to people who wouldn’t see them otherwise.

YouTube ads expose your content to viewers who would not otherwise see it. Plus, if you use the targeting options the right way, you’ll be putting yourself in front of your target audience.

The power of YouTube ads is not something new. In fact, according to eMarketer, YouTube takes the second place when it comes to the percentage of digital video ad spending in the US, right after Facebook. 

If you’re looking for some additional marketing knowledge (or inspiration for how to get more views on YouTube), we recommend you check out these 6 digital marketing YouTube channels.