In a world that’s increasingly dominated by video, getting more views on YouTube should be near (if not at) the top of every content marketer’s to-do list.
Before you say it, allow me to address the elephant in the room: YouTube views don’t keep the lights on. If you’re hesitant to dedicate time and resources to a channel that doesn’t drive direct ROI, you’re not alone. Plenty of marketers—under pressure to meet short-term targets—prefer to forgo YouTube and invest everything they have in paid search and paid social.
I empathize with these folks—I really do. But we need to acknowledge a hard truth: Without a healthy volume of top-of-funnel prospects, you won’t be able to consistently meet your targets over the long term. You need to create content that spreads awareness of your company and builds affinity for your brand.
YouTube is the perfect place to publish that content. And with the COVID-19 crisis making it unusually difficult to sell, now is a good time to focus on that top-of-funnel prospect pool.
Here are 10 tips to help you get more views on YouTube this year:
- Make good content (that nobody else is making).
- Think in terms of series, not individual videos.
- Familiarize yourself with YouTube SEO.
- Link up with other content creators.
- Use cards and end screens.
- Write a blog post to accompany each video.
- Add timestamps to your video descriptions.
- Get the word out on social media.
- Don’t skimp on your thumbnails.
- Think hard about your titles.
1. Make good content (that nobody else is making)
Yup. This is it. This is my number one tip for getting more views on YouTube.
Make good content. Make content that nobody else is making.
I’ve made this my number one tip as a matter of principle. If you look hard enough—and you really don’t need to look that hard—you can find all kinds of nefarious and dishonest ways to increase your YouTube views. I know you fine folks wouldn’t think of stooping so low, but it’s important to me that we’re on the same page from the jump.
The best way to succeed on YouTube is to create videos that people want to watch—and watch all the way through, I might add. In a word, it’s all about value. If you’re unwilling to provide value to your viewers, you’re unfit for content marketing. It’s that simple.
There’s a reason Moz has found success on YouTube.
YouTube, much like parent company Google, is a search engine at its core. And what, my friends, is a search engine designed to do? Direct users to the best, most relevant content possible. That’s why Google is constantly advising SEOs to focus on creating value for their site visitors. In this respect, YouTube is no different.
Talk to your prospects. Find out what keeps them up at night. Use that (as well as these underrated YouTube metrics) to inform your videos. Let everyone else depend on tricks and hacks.
Speaking of metrics, check out these four YouTube studio reports you won’t find in Google Ads.
2. Think in terms of series, not individual videos
A lot of YouTube creators organize their videos into playlists. Why is that?
The explanation is simple: If you click on a video that’s embedded in a playlist, the next video in that playlist will automatically start as soon as the current video ends. As a result, a viewer can watch several related videos without lifting a finger. This, of course, makes YouTube happy, as it translates into greater ad revenue. But it should also make you happy, as it translates into greater engagement and more video views.
It goes without saying that compiling a bunch of unrelated videos into a giant playlist makes for a bad user experience. Instead, I recommend brainstorming your YouTube content not in terms of individual videos, but rather in terms of series. That way, as time goes on and you create more content, it’s easy to organize your videos into logical playlists. Your viewers will benefit from a seamless, enjoyable experience, and you will benefit from an uptick in views. Win-win!
Here’s an example. If I were marketing, say, a baseball academy, I would focus on creating a handful of video series: one about pitching, one about batting, one about playing in the outfield, and so on. Brainstorming with this framework from the outset is a great way to set yourself up for YouTube success.
3. Get familiar with YouTube SEO
Like I said: YouTube is a search engine. And just like any other search engine, YouTube uses a handful of ranking signals to organize its search results. Understanding YouTube SEO, the major ranking signals—and how to appeal to them—is a crucial part of getting more views on YouTube.
First things first: You need keywords. Without target keywords, there’s nothing to optimize for. Once you’ve made a list of the topics you want to address (thinking in terms of series!), go ahead and type them—one by one—into the YouTube search bar. As you’ve probably seen before, YouTube will generate a list of suggested search queries. Each of these suggestions is something that’s been searched over and over again by real YouTube users. Each of them, in other words, is a great candidate for a target keyword!
It’s important to note that some keywords are more competitive—i.e., harder to rank for—than others. With WordStream’s Free Keyword Tool, you can get a sense of how competitive each of your keywords is. Although the tool pulls data from Google and Bing—not YouTube—it’s nonetheless an effective way to gauge the level of difficulty you’re dealing with.
Once you’ve got your keywords in order, it’s time to optimize. Let’s briefly walk through the major YouTube ranking signals you need to be cognizant of.
SEO for YouTube video titles
When deciding where to place your video in the search results for a particular query, YouTube looks at a number of attributes—the most important one being your video title. Plain and simple, if you want your video to rank for a given keyword, that keyword needs to appear in the title—ideally at the beginning of the title, as there’s anecdotal evidence to suggest that starting your title with your target keyword can drive a small bump in rankings.
Note that there should be more to your title than just the target keyword. Ranking is important, but it doesn’t guarantee clicks. We’ll talk more about enticing users with your video titles later on in this guide.
SEO for YouTube video descriptions
The second attribute you need to optimize is your video description. Though not as essential as your title, your description is taken into consideration when the search results are being organized. Make sure to include your target keyword at least once!