I feel bad to see many YouTubers struggling to get more and more views. Some are even forced to buy them. While some YouTubers successfully managed to purchase views a few years ago, today, it may not be possible because YouTube’s algorithm is much wiser than ever before and getting better by day.
However, there are legit ways to get more views on YouTube, and I’m going to show you precisely what you need to do. Let’s dive right in.
Ways to get more reviews on YouTube
Create great video content
Great content goes a long way into getting you more reviews and search results. If you can create such content (I believe you can do that comfortably), generating more views for your videos will be a breeze.
Ensure your YouTube basics are up to snuff
Are your fundamentals up to the required standard? Make sure you have ticked all the boxes!
Here are some of the YouTube basics worth your considerations:
- Up-to-date contact information
- A consistent visual identity (YouTube channel art, your channel icon, etc.)
- A completed and informative About section
Get familiar with YouTube SEO
YouTube uses several ranking signals to organize its search results. Knowing the primary ranking signals—and how to appeal to them—is a critical part of getting more views on YouTube. At the most basic, you need to be sure about your target keywords and where to include them.
Transcribe your videos
Video transcripts come in handy in helping you address language constraints and disability issues. They are more helpful when planning to open your videos to international markets as they help those with other language capacities to understand your videos.
Increase your views by creating playlists
When you create a video playlist on YouTube, you minimize viewers’ chances of moving on to other channels once they have consumed your content. This is because playlists do Netflix rules: as soon as one video ends, the next begins. And when you guide your viewers, you increase your chances of getting more views.
Zero in your specific niche and your audience
Some YouTubers ignore this step, but I can assure you it is worth it and pays off very well. Why? If aiming to optimize your YouTube marketing strategy, you want to get specific and pitilessly selective about your goal and the content that will get you there. And because you aren’t making videos for everyone. You are here for a particular target: your audience.
Increase your views with custom BOGY thumbnails
BOGY thumbnails use four colors (blue, orange, green, and yellow). But why use BOGY thumbnails? If you look around YouTube, you will notice that the website mostly black, white, and red. Now, if your thumbnails also use black, white, and red, it will blend in instead of standing out, and that is how BOGY thumbnails come in— they make you stand out from the crowd.
Go beyond the how-to video
I can assure you that there are many “how-to” videos out there. Just search, and you will be surprised by the volume of such videos. But how do you make sure your video stand out and get viewed by many people. Here is the thing, make how-to videos no one else is making, and it is simple to do so if you research well in advance. Need help on how to make better how-to videos? I would be happy to help!
Drive traffic to your videos using cards and end screens
Just like playlists, you can also use cards and end screens to influence your viewers’ next choice directly. Cards are interactive, clickable areas that appear during the video. You can use them to increase your views by choosing a card that links to another one of your videos or playlists. It worth making sure the video or playlists you link to is relevant to the moment and offer extra info or entertainment.
On the other hand, an end screen is a feature added at the end of your video to encourage viewers toward the next step. They are used to encourage viewers to subscribe to your channel or visit your website.
But how do you earn more views with them? Any viewer who sticks around to watch your video to the end is probably interested in your content — and likely will be happy to view your other videos. As such, to earn more views with end screens, use them to promote your other videos.
Bonus! To use end screens, you will need to add a few extra seconds at the end of your video when editing it.
Offer content that educates or entertains or both
No viewer will watch your video to the end or come back if your content provides no value. So, whatever your content is about, make sure your viewers find it valuable if you really want to increase your views on the upcoming video content.
Piggyback off viral trends
Are there existing viral trends in your niche that you can leverage? If so, don’t hesitate to tie your content with such trends. It is not normally easy to do so, but you will surely boost your views on YouTube if you can find a clever way to achieve this. This is because there is already an audience desire to view content within the context of a viral phenomenon.
Build relationships with your viewers
With about 70% of YouTube users saying they follow YouTubers and interact with their channel every day and YouTube confirming engagement is on the rise, no doubt building a good relationship with a viewer is a good thing. To put it simply, note that audience engagement is just another term for building relationships.
Here are some ways to engage your viewers and build a strong relationship:
- Run a YouTube contest
- Include other people’s content in your videos (with their permission)
- Reply to comments as soon as possible
- Make reaction videos
Partner up
There are various ways to do this. You can make guest appearances, mash-ups, crossovers, etc. with individuals you believe will give you an edge in getting more and more exposure. This works well if you narrow down to influential YouTubers in your niche. I have witnessed many content creators excel this way. Why not you?
Use autoplay for embedded videos
Autoplay automatically starts playing a video when it is embedded. However, you need to be careful when you do this, as auto-played videos may upset some users. If the video content is explanatory, it might be a good idea to use it as users can immediately jump into the video explaining how to do something.
Rank your videos on Google
You have probably seen YouTube videos show up in Google; yours, too, can show. But how? It is simple! Search for videos that already get traffic from Google and create videos about those same topics. Tools such as Ahrefs’ Content Explorer can here where.
Promote a marquee video
Having a marquee video on YouTube can go a long way to helping you spread awareness and push traffic and views to your other videos and YouTube channel. An excellent marker is for your video to have at least 5,000 views so that it will display in more search results due to its already prevailing popularity.
Bonus! You can create end screens, card, and other links to your other video content within your marquee video.
Promote your videos across all your social media channels
Unless you live under a rock, you know that social media comes in handy in the promotion world. To get more views on all your social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram) add images or texts with a link to your YouTube video. Alternatively, upload your entire video into these platforms. You can also post a short teaser video as a native video and add a link to the full video back on YouTube.
Pro tip! Whether you decide to post an image, text, or teaser video, make sure to customize it for each channel. Posting the same thing across your social channels may not pay off.
Request your viewers to subscribe to your channel
The more subscribers your channel has, the more views your videos will likely get off the bat when you publish them, especially if those subscribers have their notification turned on. Fortunately, they are different ways to ask your viewers to subscribe, including using CTAs at the end of your videos.
Be present within your niche community
Promoting yourself as a pro in your own videos is one thing, but being an active member in your niche community is another. Luckily, it isn’t hard to be and remain active in your niche. Simply comment on other videos and offer your feedback or advice, and if there is video content that is missing some important information, link others to your content to provide them with more details.
Tip! Try to be as supportive as possible, and you will be rewarded with more users to grow your subscriber’s list and, eventually, your video views
Add a watermark to your videos
A watermark is an image that you can set to appear on all your videos. You can also use your logo. The thing is, a watermark allows you to gain free YouTube views and more subscribers by promoting your channel across all of your videos.
Note!
- Your YouTube account must be verified to be able to upload a watermark.
- You can’t choose which videos display watermarks and which don’t — they either appear on all your videos or none of them.
Post about promotions and giveaways with the links embedded in your video description
Who doesn’t love giveaways? I haven’t seen anyone who doesn’t like them, have you? For that reason, consider posting about giveaways, raffle, or promotion on social media and telling your viewers that the link to participate is in your video’s description. That way, you will send these users to the video’s YouTube page, resulting in an increase in views.
Understand the importance of “Watch Time”
YouTube’s algorithm is complex, but the most vital thing to understand is that it is largely based on ‘Watch Time.’ In fact, according to YouTube, every channel on YouTube — as well as each video uploaded— is ‘ranked’ by watch time.
This algorithm determines which videos are shown:
- On the homepage
- As suggested videos
- In search results
- Under the Subscriptions tab
- Through notifications that viewers have created
Run a paid YouTube ad campaign
Yes, though you have to drop some dollars, promoting your YouTube channel via ads is worth it. YouTube offers a variety of ad formats to choose from:
- Skippable and non-skippable video ads: These show up before, during, or after a video. As the name suggests, skippable ads can be skipped after 5 seconds. On the other hand, non-skippable ads have to be watched all the way through before the viewer can watch the video.
- Display ads: These show up on the right-hand sidebar of videos and are only available on desktop.
- Bumper ads: are non-skippable ads that have to be watched before the viewer can watch their video. They can be a maximum of 6 seconds.
- Overlay ads: are semi-transparent ads displayed at the bottom part of a video. They are only available on the desktop.
- Sponsored cards: These are cards that get displayed within relevant videos. You can leverage them to promote your products or other content
The bottom line
There are different ways to get the desired views. You just need to do the right thing and be patient to see the desired results. So, before you even try buying views (don’t even think about it) give the above approaches a shot — hope they will work for you.