In the digital age, YouTube has become a global stage where content creators vie for the spotlight and audience attention. However, standing out in this sea of content can be a daunting challenge. How can you ensure your videos don’t just float in the vast ocean of YouTube but ride the waves to success? That’s by learning how to get more views on YouTube.
In this article, we’ll delve deep into the techniques you can use to increase YouTube views, capture the audience’s attention, and keep them coming back.
Table of Contents
What Counts as a View on YouTube?
A view on YouTube is counted when a user intentionally plays a video and watches it for at least 30 seconds. The 30-second rule is applied so that the views are authentic, not just random or accidental clicks.
It is important to know that the play should be viewer-initiated and not embedded or without user interaction. Additionally, every time a user watches your videos, it counts as a new view. This applies to all devices, whether they watch through a laptop or a smartphone.
Having said that, there might be limitations to viewing a video. YouTube may not count every view from a device or account in a 24-hour span after a certain threshold, usually around four or five times.
Interestingly, if someone checks out your YouTube channel, it’ll also count as a view. It’s the same whether you have a regular account or a YouTube brand account.
What Counts as a View on YouTube Short?
The same rule of authenticity that is held for long-format videos applies to YouTube shorts. Therefore, the user must view a couple of seconds of the short for it to count as a view.
YouTube specifies that only views counted from the Shorts player are legitimate; views that arise from clicks on related content from the home page carousel do not contribute to the view total for Shorts analytics.
It’s worth noting that while Shorts views count as a part of the total views for your channel, they do not contribute to your monetization metrics like the long-format videos.
The Importance of YouTube Views
YouTube views play a critical role in the platform’s recommendation algorithm. The higher your view count grows, the more YouTube promotes your videos on other users’ homepages. Therefore, learning how to get more views on YouTube will help you reach a broader audience.
Additionally, this is particularly important if you want to make money on YouTube. Views are essential from a monetization perspective as they directly correlate to your ability to earn money on YouTube. Moreover, ad placement depends on the number of views your videos have. So, the more views you accumulate, the better your chances of making money are.
Tips on How to Increase YouTube Views
Here are a number of tips on how to get more views on YouTube:
1. Do Your Research
Before making a video, research through YouTube and see what keywords and concepts related to your niche are being searched. Inspect the high-ranked searches and determine what your audience is looking for.
Include these keywords in every part of your videos, from titles to tags to descriptions or thumbnails. That’s what you have to do to rank high in the user search, and that is the key to getting more views.
2. Niche Down
One of the best ways to increase YouTube views is to choose a specific niche and focus on it. Having a specified audience and knowing what precisely to create will help you excel in your channel. Here are some quick tips to help you find your niche:
- Understand your passion: Reflect on what truly excites you, and ignites the fire inside you.
- Experiment with different niches: Don’t be afraid to try out various niches before settling on one.
- Try to find unsaturated fields: Search through the internet, and find questions or needs that are not answered.
- Consider long-term viability: Before committing to a niche, examine the long-term potential of it. Ask yourself if you see yourself creating content in this niche for the years to come.
Moreover, committing to a niche will lead to a loyal audience, and that’s the best thing you can ask for when creating content.
3. Use Striking Thumbnails
Creating attention-grabbing thumbnails is one of your biggest allies. Your first line of visual creativity is your thumbnails, and you can engage more users by using colors that stand out in the platform’s interface.
Since YouTube’s own colors are red, black, and white, by using other colors like blue, green, orange, or yellow, your content can stand out and avoid blending in with the site itself.
Additionally, if you use custom thumbnails, you’ll have a better chance of drawing more users to your content. Go through videos that engage a high number of views and see how they create their thumbnails and extract the blueprint.
4. Master YouTube SEO
Learning the fundamentals of YouTube SEO is as crucial as any other step you’ll take in increasing your views and engagement. You should master the following foundational aspects of creating content on YouTube:
- Watch time and audience retention
- Title optimization
- Keyword research
- Engagement analytics
Have a thorough understanding of these concepts and how to get more views on YouTube will be as easy to answer as 2+2.
5. Use Hooks
It’s important to remember that a viewer must watch 30 seconds of a video for it to count as a view. So, creating hooks in the first seconds of a video can help you increase watch time. Your hooks should evoke emotions in the audience. Therefore, they can either be shocking, entertaining, or unexpected.
You can use short previews at the beginning of your videos to create suspense and build curiosity in your audience to continue watching.
6. Write Engaging Titles
A significant part of drawing attention to a video is its title. Creating an engaging title will increase your video’s click rate. There are techniques that can help you write better titles:
- Use numbers: Using numbers in your title will help your video get more views instantly. You can use numbers in different ways. They can be used to show the amount of tips in the video, the steps involved, the year, or any other progress that can be made.
- Use brackets: By incorporating brackets and parentheses at the end of your titles, you will undoubtedly create more traffic for your content.
7. Analyze Watch Time
Although you will get your view after 30 seconds of watching, it is important to create content that is engaging and watchable enough for the audience to hang around longer. YouTube’s algorithm will understand that you’re creating quality content if the watch time of your videos is higher.
Also, you can analyze the highs and lows of your videos’ watch time and see where it was spiked and replicate the formula used in that instant to create more engagement. Use YouTube analytics in your profile to get this information.
8. Invest in Shorts
Although YouTube shorts don’t fit in the same compensation program as the normal videos, but they can play a crucial role in creating more views for your channel. Moreover, you can use shorts to funnel traffic to your channel and your long-format videos.
You can either create shorts from scratch or use snippets of your videos in a short format and put a CTA under them to lead to the main video.
9. Add Subtitles and Closed Captions
It’s been known through the years that subtitles and captions will engage a broader audience as most users watch clips without sound. You can use the help of a transcriptionist or do it yourself if you have the time. Additionally, you can appeal to an international audience by using subtitles.
10. Add Timestamps
It is quite common for viewers to be either short on time or need specific information. By adding timestamps to your YouTube videos, you can have those who are not able to watch the whole video stay for a meaningful amount of time.
Additionally, having timestamps will help attract more traffic from Google searches that cater to the specific needs of those searching for a keyword.
11. Let There Be Embedding
The answer to how to get more views on YouTube may not always be inside YouTube. Enable embedding on your YouTube so that your fans can spread your content across other mediums. This feature is on by default, but if you’ve deactivated it yourself, make sure to turn it back on so that others can do what you seek to do yourself.
12. Use Other Social Media Platforms
You can use your presence on other social media platforms to promote YouTube. For example, Instagram story is one of the places your can post a link on Instagram. Therefore, you can promote your YouTube video there with a short reel and add its link to the story so your followers may click and view the video.
Furthermore, it’s also helpful to get more subscribers on YouTube if you add your YouTube channel link to your Instagram bio. However, you may already have your TikTok link or website in your bio. Don’t worry, you can have all these links in one place.
Gather the important links in a link-in-bio tool and add that link in your TikTok bio or Instagram Facebook or any other channel you use.
13. Identify Your Audience’s Habits
One of the best tactics to increase YouTube views is to recognize when your audience is most active. There is not a native tool for you to have exact answers for this, but you can experiment by posting your videos at different times and analyzing the results.
14. Make Playlists
Organize your YouTube channel by creating a playlist. Group your videos in a way that is the most engaging. Utilize the same strategies used in creating a title for your playlist names to attract more users.
Extra Tips and Tactics for Getting More YouTube Views
Mastering the tips above will help you grow your channel exponentially. However, if you want to become THAT creator, you want to consider the following tips too. They’re as follows:
1. Use The Community Section
You can build anticipation by posting on YouTube’s community. Show your audience sneak peeks or create polls asking them what they want to see in your channel. Anything that helps you engage with your audience can be of huge benefit.
2. Read Comments
Checking out comments may be a bit daunting in today’s social media, but it can help you tremendously to see what your audience is thinking. Recognize the common themes, don’t take it personally, and plan your next videos having those in mind without compromising your foundational ideas.
3. Have a Posting Schedule
Creating a posting schedule will help you put out content consistently, and consistency is what you need to thrive in the social space. Additionally, letting your audience know when you’re going to post will build more anticipation. Getting early views will help your channel grow and get more visibility.
4. Collaborate with Other Creators
Making joint videos with other YouTube content creators is one of the biggest X-factors in growing your channel. You can be recognized and seen by other creators’ fanbases and let them converge. Do this consistently with multiple creators, and you will see how it impacts your exposure to new users.
Conclusion
Knowing these tips will help you have a better understanding of how to get more views on YouTube. Use these tips and keep putting out content consistently, and you’ll ultimately see an increase in your views and subscribers.
FAQs
1. What Is The Most Viewed Video on YouTube?
With nearly 15 billion views, the viral sensation of the Baby Shark Dance video is the number one video on the list of most viewed videos on YouTube. Published in June of 2016, Baby Shark is ahead of Despacito with 8.5 billion views.
2. How Much Do You Earn Per 1,000 Views on YouTube AdSense?
According to the latest data, you’ll earn anywhere between $2 to $12 per 1000 videos on YouTube. However, this is not a set range, and depending on criteria like niche or subscriber count, it will be different.
3. Which YouTube Channel Has The Most Subscribers?
With 310 million subscribers, MrBeast stands as the YouTube channel with the highest number of subscribers.