YouTube’s top tips for growing your channel
Increase your chances of gaining viewers and subscribers on YouTube with the best advice from the platform itself.
Making an impact on YouTube can seem a daunting task. With many established creators on the platform earning millions of views, it’s hard to stand out and make yourself a success. But it’s still doable!
Thankfully, to help you along the way, YouTube themselves have offered up their six best pieces of advice to making it on YouTube. Let’s get into it!
1. Begin with the basics: Find your niche
The very first step with your channel should be to decide on the type of content that you want to make. You need to come up with something that you know you can create regularly, with quality – so it helps if you have a passion or skill on that theme.
It’s not just going to make it easier for you to create, but it’s going to help build your audience. If your channel has defined the sort of content it’s going to make, then it’s easier for viewers to know whether your channel offers them content that they will enjoy video after video.
YouTube revealed: “We’ve heard time and time again from creators with more than one million subscribers that the most important first and next step is to make authentic, genuine content. All the tips, tricks, and advice mean nothing if you aren’t making videos that attract viewers. Luckily, it isn’t hard to go back to the basics.”
They add that your thumbnails, descriptions, and titles are all important. You should aim to make them both accurate and engaging to pull viewers in. If you’re primarily a YouTube Shorts creator, the first few seconds are important in grabbing viewers’ attention.
2. Consistency is key: Upload regularly
Maintaining attention and keeping traction of growth are key to making a successful YouTube channel. You need to upload regularly to gain the trust of your audience and keep them engaged with your channel.
However, you also need to consider the sustainability of your plan. YouTube want you to ask yourself: “Sure, posting three videos every single week sounds like a great goal on paper, but do you have the time and energy to sustain that schedule in the long term?”
They implore you to find the balance that suits you, depending on the amount of time you have to create videos and the type of videos you want to make. You want to be able to remain consistent without burning out by overworking yourself.
YouTube recommend “trying a new format like Shorts, Live or Community Posts [to] help increase your consistency”. They also recommend scheduling your videos in advance so that you don’t have to spend time waiting for the perfect moment to click upload.
3. Know your audience: Cater to them
When you know what it is that your audience want you can create content with more certainty as to what will grow your views. Use your YouTube Analytics to gain a deeper understanding of who your audience is and how they’re interacting with your videos.
YouTube tell you to: “Go into Creator Studio, open your Analytics, then select the Audience tab. There, you can find information on what formats, channels, and videos your viewers watch and when they’re active on YouTube.
“You can use this information to plan your next batch of content, brainstorm new ideas, and even identify potential collaborations. Look at the “Videos growing your audience” section. Make more videos like those, and videos that are easy follow-up watches to maximize growth.”
4. Go get it shorty: Make YouTube Shorts
YouTube Shorts have become a huge part of the platform and aren’t just a distinguished content type – they work together with regular videos. They can bolster your full length videos and channel in a number of ways.
Shorts are easier to make and offer a bite sized, accessible introduction for casual viewers. Grabbing the attention of viewers may lead them to invest more time in trying out your longer videos.
You can create shorts from your full-length, regular content for easy content and to open that content up to a wider audience. Find the highlights or most interesting parts of your video to highlight in Shorts.
YouTube say: “For those who are already dabbling in long form content, Shorts is another great way to stay connected with your audience and get discovered by new viewers.
“YouTube recently introduced the Related Videos feature to help direct viewers from Shorts to your other content, including long form, which gives you even more potential for growth by getting your videos in front of audiences that may not have found your content otherwise.”
5. Get inspired: Learn from others
Every big channel started from somewhere. Watch their latest content to try and understand why it works and what techniques they’re using to make great content that can inspire yours. But also, consider their humble beginnings and how they’ve progressed.
YouTube note: “Go back and watch almost any big creators’ first video. I can almost guarantee it’s nowhere close to the quality and scale of their content today, and that’s because growth is a constant part of the process.”
They add: “Each video is a new opportunity to improve, increase your confidence, and sharpen your editing skills.” They point towards Rene’s Creator Advice series for more advice on improving your videos, with advice from creators who have found the techniques that work across all sorts of different types of content.
6. Respect the culture: Join in on trends
Whilst you want to find your niche and try to make your content independent and unique, there is benefit in taking part in trends. Be wary of trend-chasing, but taking part in a trending conversation can boost your audience.
YouTube recommend checking out the insights contained in the Research tab in YouTube Analytics. From there you can enter a search term in the search bar to see how your audience is engaging with certain topics.
We hope this advice helps! Looking for some more vital information on making an impactful channel? Check out our comprehensive guide to becoming a YouTube creator below.