how to grow your youtube channel

Posting to YouTube Multiple Times Per Week

Recent reports have shown that YouTube channels that post more than once a week are performing much better and getting more recommended views.

If possible, post a video to YouTube three or more times per week, especially if you’re just starting out and trying to build an audience.

Keeping a regular schedule with multiple posts per week can quickly raise your channel in the algorithm.

Creating a ton of content in the beginning on similar topics will help your channel perform well in the algorithm, and also create a library of content that will usher viewers from one video to another, boosting your watch time and giving them a reason to subscribe.

Develop a Sustainable Video Production Workflow

You might be making Oscar-worthy short films and videos, but if each video takes 6 months to produce, your videos aren’t going to grow your YouTube channel.

Regular video uploads at familiar times are what bring people back for more.

Whatever kind of videos you want to make, choose content that you can develop and create on a regular basis and find ways to streamline your production workflow, whether it’s setting up a studio, creating an editing template, or hiring assistants or a production team. Keep refining your topics and production workflow until your process is a well-oiled machine.

Titles and Opening Credits Short

Attention spans are short. A long title or credit sequence at the beginning of a video can cause people to lose interest. Also, a long opener discourages binge watching because people don’t want to watch the same long sequence over and over.

Instead, make your opening title and credits short and punchy. Make the whole opener no longer

End Screens to Promote Your Videos, Channel

End screens are interactive graphics that link to another video, playlist, channel, or web page, or prompt someone to subscribe to your channel.

As the feature name suggests, you can add end screens only in the last 20 seconds of your video, so you have to plan where the end screens will appear.

Or you can add a slate with an image or logo where you can place the end screens. This option is useful if you don’t want the end screen to interfere with your content.

End screens tend to work best if the on-screen presenter is still talking and giving information to the viewer.

If you just cut to a screen with a color or design and no new information, viewers are likely to click off of the page. YouTube viewers are somewhat conditioned to do that now. If you continue to provide information, it will give viewers a reason to stick around.

Extend Session Length With a Video or Playlist End Screen

Because YouTube wants to keep people on the platform, session length is important to the algorithm. Session length is the amount of time a viewer spends watching videos.

If you add to session length by sending viewers to another YouTube video or playlist (even if it’s not one of yours),

your video will be boosted in the algorithm.

Put some thought into where viewers will go after watching your video and send them there via end screens (and links in the video description).

Marques Brownlee does a good job of leading people from his video to another video on a similar topic through end screens like the one shown here:

On the End Screen & Annotations page, the timeline will automatically snap to 20 seconds before the end of the video.

To add an end screen that will extend session time, click Add Element and then click the Create button next to Video or Playlist.

Next, choose from one of three options for adding your playlist:

Most Recent Upload will link to your most recent video.
Best for Viewer will let Google select the best video based on the viewer’s past viewing habits.
Choose a Video or Playlist lets you choose the video or playlist where you want to send the viewer.

Research has shown that Best for Viewer works really well. That’s not surprising because this option is based on the person’s individual viewing habits.

But if the video is part of a series, make sure you point viewers to the next video in that series or to a playlist so they can watch the entire series in sequence.

If you add a video or playlist end screen, you’re also able to add other types of end screens. As shown above, you can add a subscribe, channel, or linked end screen.

(Note that if you want to show only a subscribe link or a link to your website on the end screen, you’re out of luck. You must include a link to a video or playlist.)

A subscribe end screen will insert a link for people to subscribe to your channel. This end screen is round and by default shows your profile picture. There’s really no reason not to include a subscription button.

Make sure you point viewers to the subscription button in some way, because nothing on it tells the viewer what it is. You can explain what the subscription end screen is by talking on-screen or including a graphic that explains the end screen’s purpose.

A channel end screen lets you promote another channel, which is especially useful in collaborations. If the video is a collaboration with another creator, you can link viewers to their channel as well as your own, as shown in the example below.

If you just want to point people to a channel you admire, you can do that, too.

Distractions Out of Your Video

Long pauses, meandering talking, bouncing from one subject to another, or just being boring can make people start looking at the recommended videos for something more interesting.

Keep tangents to a minimum, and if you do veer from the topic, make sure it’s engaging either visually or with a story. Don’t give viewers a reason to click away.

To simultaneously avoid distractions and keep your videos fast-paced and engaging, you can quickly cut from one shot to another like Devinsupertramp. To create cuts, you don’t necessarily need to film with multiple cameras. You can also use text or transitions that come with basic video editors.

Design Video Thumbnails YouTube Users Want to Click

Thumbnails, more than any other factor, can make or break your success on YouTube. Why? Suggested videos.

Suggested videos are the leading source of organic traffic on YouTube. As someone is watching a video on YouTube, your video thumbnail needs to stand out when it’s a suggested video in the right sidebar. When your video appears as a suggested video, YouTube is basically endorsing it by saying that someone watching some other video might enjoy your video as well.

By Baljeet Yadav