Ex YouTube Employee Reveals How To Grow Your YouTube Channel
Discovering Your Niche
First and foremost, take ample time to contemplate the type of content you wish to create. Regardless of the genre you choose, there will undoubtedly be numerous others pursuing similar paths. It’s vital to distinguish yourself by offering something unique that captures attention amidst the sea of options. With countless possibilities available, you must provide a compelling reason for viewers to invest their time in your content over the myriad alternatives. Strive to pioneer a fresh perspective within your chosen genre, enabling you to capitalize on high-demand topics without direct competition. Instead of imitating others, aim to become the channel others emulate. Carve out your distinct niche and establish a commanding presence within it.
To illustrate this point further, consider a hypothetical scenario. Suppose you aspire to launch a successful gaming channel. Despite gaming’s oversaturation on the platform, success is attainable with the right approach. For instance, targeting a newly popular mobile game can yield favorable results, even with a modest audience initially. The initial challenge of garnering the first 1000 subscribers is formidable, but once achieved, growth accelerates exponentially. By nurturing a dedicated following, your content gains traction, facilitating broader exposure through the platform’s algorithms.
Moreover, success isn’t contingent on being the first to explore a particular topic. You can thrive by delving into established but underserved niches within popular games, such as creating helpful guides, comedic skits, challenging feats, or innovative modifications. Embrace experimentation and embrace novel ideas, even within saturated domains like Fortnite, where unconventional gimmicks can captivate audiences. Additionally, aligning your content with currently trending properties can amplify visibility, although maintaining flexibility is essential to adapt to shifting audience interests. While specialization enhances performance, diversifying content occasionally ensures audience retention and resilience to fluctuating trends. Infusing your content with personality fosters a loyal following, facilitating smoother transitions between topics and mitigating the challenges of shifting focus.
In essence, discovering your niche entails innovating within your chosen domain, leveraging unique perspectives, and adapting to audience preferences. By embracing creativity, flexibility, and authenticity, you can establish a distinct identity and thrive in the competitive landscape of online content creation.
Compelling Thumbnails
Transitioning to a crucial aspect often overlooked by many YouTubers – thumbnails. Surprisingly, they hold more significance than the videos themselves. Regrettably, for most creators, thumbnails are an afterthought, hastily slapped on post-production. This oversight is perhaps the gravest mistake one can make. Even the most exceptional video falls flat if it fails to entice clicks. Crafting thumbnails demands meticulous thought and effort. Personally, I’ve scrapped entire videos simply because I couldn’t do them justice in the thumbnail.
It’s worth noting that I adhere strictly to using elements present in the original video for thumbnails. However, for those unbound by such constraints, a separate photoshoot or commissioning an artist can yield remarkable results, especially for videos lacking strong visual material. Nonetheless, honesty should prevail in thumbnails; deceitful representations risk alienating the audience.
A skillful thumbnail is adept at sparking intrigue and prompting questions. Many overlook the fact that even a fledgling channel’s first video is exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of viewers through recommended feeds. Consequently, if your videos aren’t gaining traction, the onus falls squarely on you. Your thumbnail competes against a myriad of others, necessitating a compelling premise to stand out. You want viewers to pause, intrigued by the possibilities teased in your thumbnail.
YouTube rewards videos with high click-through rates by promoting them within its algorithm. Thus, mastering thumbnail creation is paramount for success. Each thumbnail should be scrutinized objectively, considering its appeal to a casual viewer scrolling past. Seeking second opinions or conducting polls among subscribers can provide invaluable insights.
Furthermore, it’s imperative to optimize thumbnails for mobile viewing, as the majority of users access YouTube via smartphones. Investing in Photoshop can greatly enhance thumbnail creation, offering unparalleled versatility. Additionally, titles should complement thumbnails, either posing questions to pique curiosity or incorporating relevant keywords for improved performance. A synergy between title and thumbnail can significantly amplify a video’s visibility and appeal.
Extending Watch Time
Lastly, the third critical factor is watch time. Your objective should be to extend viewers’ watch sessions while ensuring your content remains engaging enough to retain their attention. Achieving this involves maximizing the frequency of your videos entering the “PA” state. But what exactly does “PA” signify? When YouTube recognizes a video not only attracts numerous clicks but also generates substantial watch time, it begins to promote it extensively. This amplifies its watch time further, perpetuating a cycle of promotion within YouTube’s recommendations.
PA videos serve as an invaluable insurance policy for your channel. Even amidst a series of poorly performing uploads or extended periods without content, they ensure a consistent flow of views, preventing YouTube from deeming your channel inactive and halting promotion. These videos can maintain their PA status for extended durations, making topical content less desirable. Aim to create evergreen content that remains entertaining regardless of when it’s watched, thus prolonging its PA status.
Furthermore, PA videos are instrumental for growth due to their high view counts, enabling access to broader audience bases. You should strive to produce as many PA videos as possible. However, even shorter videos can attain PA status. If your content necessitates brevity or topicality, consider linking videos through end cards and shared metadata keywords. This fosters addictive, binge-worthy content that keeps viewers engaged for extended periods.
While longer videos generally perform better, prioritizing enjoyment over length is paramount. Forced elongation can diminish watch time rather than enhance it. Strive to strike a balance where you can maintain a reasonable upload schedule without succumbing to burnout or compromising content quality. Experimentation is key in determining the optimal approach that aligns with your capabilities and audience preferences.
