Expanding Your YouTube Channel and Rapidly Building Subscribers

In the forthcoming sections, we'll guide you through the precise strategies that propelled our YouTube following to nearly 200K subscribers. Whether it's crafting attention-grabbing thumbnails that entice clicks or devising irresistible video titles, we're here to unveil the concealed tactics that can hasten your growth on the platform.

Building a flourishing YouTube channel hinges on garnering views, and to amass views, you must attract traffic and subscribers. Our insights below revolve around strategies to draw more viewers to your videos, steer them to your profile, and foster engagement with your content.

18 Strategies for YouTube Channel Growth in 2024

This guide outlines 18 effective strategies for expanding your YouTube channel. While we cover 16 growth tactics in this guide, remember that you don't have to implement every one of them. Trying just a handful of these strategies has the potential to significantly boost your subscriber count.

Optimize for the Right Keywords

Given that YouTube functions as a prominent search engine globally, with creators uploading a staggering 500 hours of video every minute, the platform is undeniably saturated. To stand out in this vast landscape, optimizing your content for search is imperative. Without a pre-existing loyal Twitter following or email list, your content may go unnoticed unless strategically tailored for discoverability.

Begin by identifying keywords with substantial monthly searches and minimal competition. This challenging task is simplified using tools like Keyword Tool, offering insights into search volume. Complement this with TubeBuddy, which assesses estimated competition, helping you strike the delicate balance between high search volume and low competition in your profile, video titles, and descriptions.

Optimizing Your Profile for Maximum Impact

Once you've identified your target keywords, the pivotal next step is to finely tune your profile for optimal visibility. This process involves meticulous completion of data fields, ensuring strategic placement of keywords throughout.

Consider incorporating a key keyword into your YouTube Channel name. For instance, if your channel centers around SEO tips, opting for a name like “SEO Guru” rather than a generic “Kyle’s Channel” significantly elevates your search result prominence.

Delve into your “About Us” section, strategically weaving in relevant keywords, particularly within the initial 48 characters—this snippet is showcased in YouTube search results. Beyond its search implications, your profile page serves as a crucial introduction for new visitors. Rather than expecting them to sift through all your videos, succinctly articulate what your channel offers and why it's worth exploring.

Crafting Compelling YouTube Thumbnails

The impact of your video thumbnail on click-through rates cannot be overstated—it stands as the foremost element influencing user engagement with your YouTube channel. When videos appear on users' homepages or search results, the thumbnail is the initial visual encounter. While your channel and title hold significance, the thumbnail takes precedence, being the first point of interaction for every user.

Recognizing its pivotal role, investing time in optimization is paramount. Avoid the common pitfall of settling for a generic video screenshot; instead, leverage tools like Canva or Photoshop to craft distinctive custom thumbnails for each video.

Examples of YouTube Thumbnails

Explore diverse trends and styles in YouTube thumbnails, united by eye-catching visuals and a clear indication of the content's promise. Take note of the bold text overlays, illustrations, and contrasting colors employed in the screenshot above—these elements captivate viewers. Implement a similar strategy in your thumbnails to ensure your audience never overlooks your content. If a viewer is drawn to a thumbnail, they are likely to delve into the title—your next optimization focal point.

Crafting Click-Worthy Video Titles Like a Pro

Once your thumbnail has captured a viewer's attention, the next crucial step is to secure their click and view through an enticing title. Similar to a high-performing blog title, your video title must be compelling while offering search value. The more clicks your video garners, the higher it climbs in YouTube recommendations, appearing on homepages, search results, and relevant video suggestions.

Steer clear of click-bait tactics and center your focus on delivering genuine value. Address the potential viewer's question: “What's in it for me?” Will they be entertained, acquire a valuable skill, or stay updated on the latest news? Your title should explicitly convey why your video stands out among the myriad of options.

Consider whether your video is the most comprehensive, can impart knowledge the fastest, or presents the most current information. These are the considerations that flash through a viewer's mind in the milliseconds between glimpsing video thumbnails and titles, culminating in a click decision.

Beyond providing value, incorporate relevant keywords into your title to guide YouTube in understanding your video's content and placement in search results. Striking the right balance between cleverness, keyword inclusion, and value delivery is a nuanced challenge. While there's no exact formula for success, experimentation is key. Tailor your approach based on what resonates best with your unique channel and audience.

Optimize Your Video Release Timing

Determining the optimal time to post on YouTube involves considering the global nature of the platform and the diverse preferences of your audience. What suits tech-related content may contrast sharply with the preferences of the gaming community. To pinpoint the most effective posting times, we recommend experimenting with various schedules and leveraging YouTube analytics to gauge engagement.

While there's no universal best time, Frederator Networks' data suggests that, as a starting point, Thursdays and Fridays tend to yield the highest engagement, particularly around 3 pm. Unlike conventional social media platforms with chronological feeds, YouTube's recommended videos operate differently. Therefore, the precision of timing, seconds or minutes before your audience frequents the site, is not as critical. Experimentation remains key to identifying the posting schedule that resonates most effectively with your specific audience and content niche.

Harnessing the Potential of Video Playlists

The underutilized strength of playlists often goes unnoticed on many YouTube channels, even among some of the best content creators who overlook the opportunity to enhance the organization and visitor experience.

Playlists serve as a powerful tool to encourage subscriber retention, enabling them to seamlessly discover related videos and prolong their viewing sessions. Consider creating series or curating playlists of similar-themed videos to keep your audience engaged.

Extended user engagement plays a pivotal role in elevating your channel's ranking on YouTube. The platform prioritizes content that retains users, contributing to its goal of keeping audiences on the platform. By actively facilitating prolonged viewer interaction, your content becomes more likely to be showcased to a broader audience, aligning with YouTube's overarching objective of retaining users within its ecosystem.

Leverage Cross-Promotion to Amplify Your YouTube Channel

Harness the full spectrum of promotional avenues to expand the reach of your YouTube channel. Employ these cross-promotion strategies:

• Email: Share your latest videos with your email list, keeping your subscribers informed and engaged.

• Social Platforms: Post your new YouTube content on diverse social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Consider driving traffic from platforms like Instagram or Pinterest by strategically featuring your videos.

• Blog Integration: Embed YouTube videos directly into your blog posts. Take it a step further by dedicating entire blog posts to transcribing, dissecting, or highlighting key insights from your YouTube content.

• Quora Engagement: Address user queries on platforms like Quora, providing concise answers accompanied by a link to your more in-depth YouTube video. This not only adds value but also directs users to your comprehensive content.

Convert Viewers into Devoted Subscribers

While viewers may casually watch your content and move on, subscribers constitute a loyal audience that consistently returns for more. Seize every opportunity to transform one-time viewers into dedicated subscribers, ensuring they don't depart from your channel without subscribing, potentially losing touch with your future content.

Recognize that not every viewer will subscribe on their initial interaction with your content. Often, it takes engagement with multiple videos for them to feel confident about adding your channel to their coveted list of subscriptions.

Don't passively anticipate subscriptions—proactively encourage and remind your viewers. Strategically insert calls to action (CTAs) at the beginning, middle, and end of your videos, prompting viewers to subscribe. Extend these CTAs into your video descriptions. When engaging with your community in the comments, use the opportunity to remind and encourage them to subscribe, emphasizing the benefits of receiving notifications for your future content. The more proactive you are in inviting subscriptions, the higher the likelihood of building a committed subscriber base.

Foster a Vibrant Community through Active Engagement

The comment section is your digital agora—be present. Enable comments on your videos and actively engage with your community. In the initial stages, relish the ability to respond individually to each comment. However, as your channel gains popularity (which it inevitably will), this personalized engagement might become a luxury.

Depending on your content, viewers may spontaneously dive into the comments to interact or pose questions. Alternatively, especially in the early phases, encourage engagement by prompting viewers with questions in the video or description.

Transform your comments section into a thriving community where users not only interact with you but also with one another. Aim for a scenario where you become an addition to the ongoing conversation rather than the sole glue holding it together. As your audience becomes more engaged, extend your communication to the Community tab, sharing regular channel updates and posts to maintain an active and connected community.

Create Compelling Video Series for Sustained Engagement

Maximize the potential of your YouTube channel by producing interconnected video content, linking prior and upcoming videos seamlessly. The objective is to guide users to explore additional content within your own channel rather than redirecting them elsewhere. The most effective way to achieve this is through the creation of video series, conveniently organized into playlists.

Consider initiating a video series format for your content strategy. For instance, if your YouTube channel is dedicated to running, kickstart with a “Getting Started” series covering essential topics like selecting the right shoes and establishing a beginner-friendly running schedule. Subsequently, introduce an intermediate-runner series, concentrating on aiding runners in surpassing their current 10k or marathon records. This series may encompass diverse topics such as pacing strategies, nutritional guidance, and advanced training techniques.

Video series not only captivate your audience, encouraging them to consume more of your content, but they also contribute to elevating your YouTube ranking. This increased engagement enhances the likelihood of viewers transitioning into dedicated subscribers, fostering the growth and success of your channel.

Forge Collaborations with Fellow Creators

Unlock the potential for growth by seeking collaboration opportunities with other channels. Beyond enhancing the quality of your content, collaborations offer a mutually beneficial avenue for exposing both channels to new audiences—a win-win for creators and viewers alike.

Consider the case of Matthew Beem, whose rapid rise to prominence is attributed to strategic collaborations with YouTube's major influencers. By contributing captivating content to creators such as MrBeast, Logan Paul, KSI, and others, Beem leverages their extensive subscriber bases, rapidly expanding his own following. These collaborations create a powerful synergy, with each creator sharing the other's content, effectively tapping into diverse and expansive audience networks.

Explore collaborative ventures that align with your content and audience, as this not only enriches your content but also broadens your channel's visibility, fostering accelerated growth and community engagement.

Dominate Google Search Results with Strategic Optimization

YouTube videos frequently secure top positions in Google search results, presenting a valuable opportunity for your content to surface prominently. With precise optimization strategies, your videos can achieve visibility on both YouTube and Google search engine results pages (SERPs). To ascend to the top of these results, focus on targeting keywords that already yield video results on the SERP.

For instance, a search for “skateboarding tricks” on Google reveals a selection of videos ranking prominently. Notably, these videos may differ from those that appear in the YouTube search engine for the same query.

To enhance the likelihood of your videos ranking on both YouTube and Google, prioritize creating content with a high click-through rate (CTR). A strong performance on YouTube, marked by a high CTR, significantly increases the chances of your content being featured in Google's SERPs. This dual optimization approach ensures that your videos are well-positioned for maximum visibility across these two influential platforms.

Embrace YouTube Shorts for Dynamic Content Experimentation

YouTube Shorts emerges as the platform's response to the soaring popularity of TikTok and Instagram Reels. Incorporate short-form videos into your content strategy, leveraging this feature as an additional organic promotional avenue.

Explore this by extracting segments from your most popular videos or adapting existing content tailored for TikTok into Shorts format. If a Shorts video successfully engages with your audience, it can seamlessly channel viewers into your overall channel, creating momentum for your long-form videos.

Recognize that YouTube Shorts is still in its early stages, and the platform is actively working to integrate it into the homepage and app experience. While experimenting with Shorts, maintain a balanced approach by continuing other content initiatives on the platform. This ensures a comprehensive and diversified content strategy, optimizing your reach and engagement across different formats on YouTube.

Power of Live Video

Explore the potential of live streaming on YouTube as an impactful strategy to cultivate excitement for new product launches, announcements, or time-sensitive content. Going live offers a unique opportunity to connect with your audience in real-time, fostering dynamic engagement that can be further monetized through donations in the comment section.

Prioritize Consistent Content Publication

The key to building a loyal viewership and subscriber base isn't necessarily tied to a rigid posting schedule, be it daily, weekly, or monthly. Instead, the emphasis should be on finding a rhythm that aligns with your capacity and resonates with your audience.

Take note that successful channels exhibit diverse posting frequencies; for instance, GaryVee thrives with daily content, while Matthew Beem opts for a weekly schedule. Both approaches are valid, highlighting that there's no one-size-fits-all formula for success.

When determining your content cadence, think long-term. Assess your current bandwidth and evaluate whether the pace is sustainable in the coming months or even years. Establish a schedule that allows you to create content comfortably, avoiding the stress of last-minute edits and rushed publishing. A well-thought-out content calendar enables you to stay ahead of deadlines, fostering a consistent posting routine that becomes ingrained in your audience's expectations. Similar to the nostalgia of tuning in for a favorite TV show every week, your viewers will subconsciously anticipate and appreciate your consistent posting schedule.

Incorporate CTAs Strategically, Every Single Time

The potency of a Call to Action (CTA) cannot be overstated—each and every video should seamlessly integrate a CTA to guide your audience on how to interact with your content. The variety of CTAs is vast, catering to diverse objectives, including:

• Like and subscribe (a timeless classic)

• Follow our partner's channel

• Explore another video in the playlist

• Join our email list

• Check out our Instagram

• Purchase the latest merchandise

• Visit our website

• Download our app

• Share this content with a friend

• Embed this on your website

• Comment below

• Pose a question

• Participate in a poll

Encouraging your audience to take specific actions not only fosters engagement but also aligns with the algorithms, potentially leading to direct sales. Seize every opportunity—ensure that each video concludes with a compelling CTA, guiding your viewers on the next steps to deepen their interaction with your content and brand.

YouTube Analytics for Actionable Insights

YouTube Analytics stands as a valuable repository of channel insights, offering a plethora of metrics that warrant regular scrutiny. Here are some key metrics to monitor consistently:

• Views: Identify the videos with the highest views to discern the content preferences of your audience.

• Video Subscribers: Determine which videos effectively convert viewers into long-term subscribers. Distinguish between one-hit wonders and content that fosters lifetime followers.

• Average View Duration: Assess the engagement levels of your videos by analyzing the duration viewers spend watching. This metric unveils insights into the effectiveness of your introductions, thumbnails, and video titles.

• Real-Time Analytics: Observe the performance of your content in the initial 24 to 48 hours, gaining swift insights into what resonated and what fell short. This allows you to learn quickly from any experiments or deviations from your usual content.

• New Viewers vs. Returning Viewers: Determine whether your audience comprises primarily new or returning viewers. Striking a balance that caters to both long-time subscribers and new visitors is crucial for sustained engagement.

• Traffic Source Types: Understand where your audience discovers your videos—whether through the search bar, suggested videos, or their home screen. This knowledge aids in optimizing your content for maximum visibility in preferred channels.

By actively monitoring these metrics, you gain a comprehensive understanding of your audience's preferences and behaviors, enabling strategic adjustments to enhance your content strategy and channel growth.

Leverage Mobile-Friendly End Screen Promotions

End screens serve as a valuable mobile-friendly tool that appears in the final 5-20 seconds of a video, offering an opportunity to promote up to four elements, including:

• Videos or Playlists: Highlight specific videos, the latest content, or videos recommended by YouTube's algorithm based on the viewer's preferences.

• Subscribe Button: Provide a direct link for viewers to subscribe to your channel, fostering audience growth.

• External Links: If you meet specific eligibility criteria, utilize end screens to promote external websites, such as merchandise or crowdfunding platforms, enhancing additional revenue streams.

• Another Channel: Facilitate collaborations by directing viewers to a collaborator's channel, fostering cross-promotion and audience sharing.

End screens represent a strategic tool for viewer engagement and channel growth, enabling you to seamlessly guide your audience toward additional content, subscriptions, external links, or collaborative channels. Incorporate end screen promotions strategically to enhance the overall viewer experience and optimize the potential for continued audience interaction.

FAQs on growing YouTube.

How can I grow my YouTube channel?

The secret to growing a YouTube channel lies in a combination of strategic audience engagement and authentic passion for your content. While anticipating your audience's questions is crucial, it's equally important to create content that genuinely excites you.

What are the most common YouTube mistakes made by newbies?

In the initial stages, establishing your identity might not be a priority for viewers. When starting, the audience is typically seeking answers to specific questions. It's crucial to convey the value of the video upfront rather than using valuable seconds for elaborate graphics and a personal introduction. Grabbing the audience's attention with immediate value is key.

Is it too late to start growing a channel on YouTube?

There's no expiration date for beginning and cultivating a prosperous YouTube channel.