Have you recently started a YouTube channel? Do you have a stubborn subscriber count that’s not increasing? Do you want your content to be seen by more people?
If so, you’re probably wondering how to get more YouTube subscribers. And that’s exactly what you’re going to learn in this post.
Figuring out how to get more YouTube subscribers can feel like a mystery — especially when you see new YouTubers blow up out of seemingly nowhere. An example of this is Joanna Ceddia, who hit 1 million subscribers within 3 months after having a video go viral.
Source: Joana Ceddia/YouTube
Rare occurrences like this can leave you frustrated when it feels like your content is left in the dark. It’s especially daunting realizing that 300 hours of video content will find its way to YouTube each minute.
But don’t let that stop you!
There are many simple steps you can take to get more subscribers.
When it comes down to it, there are three main things you need to be doing to get more subscribers:
- Creating the right content
- Giving viewers incentive to subscribe
- Learning YouTube SEO
Mastering these three things is essential when learning how to get more YouTube subscribers. And it’s simpler than you think! Let’s break each point down into real strategies you can implement today
How To Get More YouTube Subscribers for FREE
1. Create the Right Content
Creating the right content simply means creating high quality, authentic videos. Whatever niche you are exploring, it’s important for your videos to be valuable and real. This is how you’ll get viewers who want to come back for more.
6 Tips for Creating the Right Content:
- Create What You Want to CreateThere are tons of statistics out there that will tell you the most popular content on YouTube, or the content that could spring you to viral YouTube stardom the fastest. But unless you are passionate about those subjects, you should focus on what you really want to create.People can tell if you’re making something “just to make it”.So create what you want, and work hard at it. You’ll have the passion, creativity, and perseverance to make great content if you’re working on what you love. And great content = more subscribers.
- Be AuthenticBuilding off the last tip, being authentic is crucial. No matter the niche, authenticity is what will give you long-term subscribers. Don’t try to be somebody you’re not. Instead, leverage your personality and unique personal experiences to connect with your audience.Just look at Emma Chamberlain, for example. She had several failed YouTube channels before blowing up from the one where she just posted vlogs being herself. Whether you’re a fan or not, there’s something to be said about using your authentic self for long-term success.
Source: Emma Chamberlain/YouTube - Quality Over QuantityCreating valuable content is more important than the quantity of videos you publish. A common tip for quick growth on YouTube is to post more often. While this can be true, the quality of your content matters more in the long run.Think about it yourself: would you rather subscribe to someone who has 100 videos that are mediocre, or someone with 20 videos of high quality, valuable content?
- Know Your ContentDepending on the type of videos you’re making, it’s important to know your content. Whether you produce product reviews, personal development videos, travel vlogs, etc — know your stuff. You will stand out from the crowd if you have research or experience under your belt.
- Create a Channel Trailer Create a brief channel trailer (between 30 seconds to 1 minute) that will play for viewers when they visit your channel. A channel trailer will help viewers quickly learn what kind of content you produce, and if they find value in it — boom, they have a reason to subscribe.
- Film Good Quality Videos
Having clear, high quality videos is an important factor for gaining subscribers. It increases the viewer’s user experience if the video has good audio, lighting, and a non-distracting background.If you’re on a budget, you can actually do this for very cheap with your iPhone. The video quality of iPhones is actually great for those on a budget. The audio is not great, but the investment you’ll make for your iPhone setup is much less than getting an expensive video camera.If you want to take your iPhone setup to the next level, consider these affordable products that will take your video from a 4 to a 10:
Tripod: Make sure your videos are stable with this flexible tripod (You can stabilize your phone or camera to many surfaces with it’s bendy legs — even a tree branch!)Lighting: Get crisp lighting with these ring lights (You can attach it directly to your iPhone!)Background: If you want a clean background, you can setup your own backdrop with these frames and this backdrop. If you don’t have the space for it, clearing up the background of your recording space will do just fine!
Microphone: Improve the audio with this external microphone (Compatible with many devices!)
If you have a slightly higher budget and want to purchase a camera, you can check out the top 5 best vlogging cameras under $100 here.
Making these small investments will improve your video quality significantly. If you’re on a budget, these tools will give you great quality videos without having to spend a fortune on high-end equipment.
Young vlogger girl showing her shopping on a video
2. Give Viewers Incentive to Subscribe & Watch More
If you’re wondering how to get more YouTube subscribers, there are many little tricks you can do that will make this happen. Your favourite YouTubers probably use these strategies!
5 Tips to Give Viewers Incentive:
- Put a Watermark at the Bottom Right of the Screen Place a subscribe button, or even a personal logo, at the bottom right of the screen for every video. This way, the button or logo will be in the viewer’s sight the whole time they’re watching. The subliminal hint increases the chances of them subscribing.
- Tell the Viewer to Subscribe
It’s as simple as that. There’s a reason you hear every YouTuber say, “Make sure to like this video and subscribe for more amazing content!” Telling them what to do in regards to your channel can feel awkward at first, but it increases the chances of them taking action. Call-to-actions increase conversion — in other words, they result in viewers taking immediate action. - Promote Your Best Videos in Your End Screen
Promote 1-2 videos at the end of your videos. Add around 10 seconds of video time at the end of the video where you can link other videos and their thumbnails. This encourages viewer’s to keep watching your content.Key Tip: Promote the videos that generated the most subscribers.
How to find these videos: Go to your YouTube analytics > Click Subscribers > Click YouTube watch page > See which videos brought you the most subscribers.You can promote that video on social media (or even make it your channel trailer for a while) to increase your subscriber count even more. - Reply and Like People’s Comments This simple trick will increase engagement on your channel, as well as subscribers. When you like or reply to someone’s comment, they will get a notification. This will remind them of your channel, and often result in them clicking the notification and further exploring your videos.
Top view working at desk with laptop and documents, business concept
3. Learn YouTube SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Essentially, it’s optimizing your content and channel to gain more viewers and rank higher in YouTube search results. The more SEO optimized your content is, the more subscribers you will get.
The areas of your channel that should be optimized include your video quality, video descriptions, video titles, channel description, playlists, and metadata.
Optimizing your channel is essential for learning how to get more YouTube subscribers consistently — mastering SEO takes time, so the earlier you start, the better.
10 Tips for YouTube SEO:
- Create Long Videos (10+min)Longer videos tend to rank better for SEO. Try to get some videos past the 10 minute mark if the content can support it. If it feels forced to stretch a video that long, don’t force it.This goes back to being authentic — a 4-minute quality video will do you better in the long run if that’s the natural length of it. Stuffing in random content just to make it longer will reduce the value of the video.
- Encourage Comments
Include a call-to-action for viewers to comment. An organic way to do this is to ask for their opinion or experience in the comment section.The YouTube algorithm loves videos with comments. It suggests that people are liking and engaging with your content. This increases the video’s popularity in YouTube’s eyes, and guess what? YouTube likes to recommend popular content. - Optimize Channel Description Writing a good channel description is a great way to rank your channel for relevant keywords. It appears on your “About” page, and can increase views and subscriptions.Fill your channel description with relevant keywords related to your content, but do this organically. Introduce yourself and explain what your channel is about, what kind of content you make, what questions your videos answer, etc.Tip: The first 150 characters are the most important for SEO, so make them count.
- Optimize Video Descriptions In the same fashion as your channel description, your video description should also have many relevant keywords.For example: Let’s say your video is about traveling on a budget, and your main keyword phrase is “how to travel on a budget”, then make sure that phrase appears in your video description several times.Maximize your video description by explaining what the video is about, while including relevant keywords that people may be searching for related to that topic.The point of this is not to get people to read the description. It’s for the YouTube algorithm to recognize what the video is about so that it will appear in search results for anything related to traveling on a budget.
- Optimize Playlist Descriptions Playlists can increase a viewer’s watch time on your channel. To increase someone’s chances of finding one of your playlists, make sure you write a playlist description that has many relevant keywords.
- Irresistible Video TitlesHeadlines are what make people click. A great headline will make you so curious that you just have to click and find out more. The same goes for titles of YouTube videos.Make the viewer so curious that they just have to click. You can use coschedule.com to rank your headlines and offer suggestions to improve them.
- Create an Attention-Grabbing ThumbnailJust like your video title, the thumbnail should grab a viewers attention. Make it relevant to what the video is about and try to avoid click-baiting your audience.Great thumbnails have clear images, vivid colours/contrast, and large text that intrigues the audience to know more.
- Collaborate With Other YouTubersOne of the quickest ways to get your videos in front of a larger audience is to collaborate with other YouTubers. Appearing in someone else’s channel will give you some referral traffic back to you, which helps the YouTube algorithm trust your channel and promote it more.Collaborations can be done in many different ways, depending on the type of content you create. Whether its a series of videos, an interview, or something else — collaborating with other YouTubers is a great way to get your videos seen by more people.You can check various YouTube community forums to find creators to collaborate with.
- Add Closed CaptionsIncluding closed captions (that CC button you see on most videos) can significantly boost your SEO and bring you more viewers.Closed captions can actually be crawled by search engines — this increases search traffic, video views, how high you rank in YouTube search, and how much engagement you get on your videos.Plus, you get the fulfillment of knowing your videos can be enjoyed by those who are deaf or hard of hearing! It’s a win/win.
- Share and Embed Your VideosSharing your videos on social media platforms is a great way to make them known on the web. Embedding your videos into blog posts or any website you run is another way to do this. These simple strategies will improve SEO, as well as increase views and subscriber counts.
It’s extremely important to market yourself, be consistent and share content to all your social channels.
The best part about being a YouTuber is that you are your own brand. You are basically running a business, where you have to brand yourself, learn about your competitors and progressively learn and create content.
Experience is a great teacher. Don’t be afraid to keep experimenting with your content, putting yourself out there and making something different.
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. Use this to your advantage and be yourself! The world is waiting for your stories.
Hopefully this article gave you some insight on how to get more YouTube subscribers! By implementing these simple techniques, you can learn how to get more YouTube subscribers — the ones that will want to stick around for the long run.
Check out some of our other posts about YouTube.
- How Much Does YouTube Pay Per Subscriber?
- Best YouTube Channel Names
- How Much Does YouTube Pay Per View?
Words by: Julie Nowakowski/Outdreaming
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