6 Ways To Build A Successful YouTube Channel

Quick fact about YouTube: People watch a billion hours of videos on YouTube every day and it is generating billions of views. 

The idea of starting a YouTube channel these days is fully understandable among the tech-savvy millennials or young adults with the continuing growth of the video blogging phenomenon. After all, it’s a pretty fun hobby that has the ability to turn you into a YouTuber — with the added benefit of helping you meet new people around the world, getting free samples from different brands, and, of course, make a pretty good money (Read more: how much influencers can earn for a single sponsored post)

But, first of all, how to make a good YouTube channel with Million, Billion and Trillion of subscribers also most importantly sustain it?

#1 Know who your audiences are
According to a study conducted by Google and Omnicom Media Group, video contents that are related to viewers’ personal interest are 3x more important than the video featuring famous celebrities and it is also 1.6x more important than whether the production value is high. This means video creators should put more effort into coming out with some content that is relatable and able to engage with their audience.

YouTubers are encouraged to use YouTube Analytics to keep track of their audiences’ watching habits to see which part did the audience usually drop off often and which kind of video content the audiences are interested in. In another way, you can always ask audiences to leave a comment below your video about what kind of video they would like to watch in the future. 

#2 Have a catchy, short and engaging titles

People are uploading 500 hours of video on YouTube every minute and the competition there is very tight among the brands and YouTubers. Never underestimate the power of a catchy title! The title is one of the first elements audiences will notice and it also helps them to decide whether to watch the video or not. Try to catch their attention with interesting and short titles and this will help you to increase your video views as well as the exposure of your channel. More views eventually will come with more shares, which is important for your channel to be promoted on the “recommended for you” bar.

Tip 1: To increase visibility in search engines, use important or relevant keywords in your video titles and descriptions. This not only helps you gain more exposure in YouTube search but also increases your chances of being found in Google Search.

#3 Create your own attracting thumbnails
YouTube thumbnails are as important as your title because it helps to capture existing and new audiences’ attention to your channel and you will be missing out a lot of viewers if you don’t feature a catchy thumbnail.  You may think that thumbnails are nothing important for a video, but it could give a huge impact on your YouTube channel. Your title will help audiences to understand your video’s content, however, your thumbnail gives an idea of how the content quality will be.

Generally, videos with a captivating title and attractive thumbnail will rank higher, even if the content itself is not as relevant because they have a higher click-through rate (CTR). Consider using some techniques like highlighted areas, arrows, large text, and unexpected or odd images to get your CTR to where it needs to be.

Tip 2: Never use the suggested thumbnail images that YouTube recommended. Try to customize your own thumbnail for every video. You could easily add some graphics or text or interesting elements to make the thumbnail stands out from a normal one. As we can see how SoImJenn standardizes her thumbnail with short yet straightforward title and graphic and it makes the whole profile looks neater and easily capture audiences’ attention.

#4 Collaborate with other YouTubers
As a YouTuber, building a relationship with people (no matter with fans or other influencers) is very important. In a way, it is one of the best ways to promote your channel. Collaborating with different YouTubers or influencers has been proven to be effective in helping a channel to grow and gain new subscribers because it actually helps both sides to gain exposure from another’s subscriber base and turn them to be your subscriber. It is definitely a win-win game.

Also, collaboration has been today’s hottest and common trend on YouTube. We can see many YouTubers are actually collaborating with different YouTubers in many creative ways and some even collaborate internationally. But, make sure you collaborate with YouTubers that have similar audiences with your channel. If there’s nothing in common with your viewers, nothing will come of it and everything will be wasted.

#5 Ask viewers to subscribe
Your viewer-to-subscriber conversion rate will be significantly affected by a call to action, which is why all top YouTubers never miss doing. Always ask your viewers to subscribe to your channel in each of your videos (it doesn’t matter whether it’s in the beginning or end of the video) and make sure you keep engaged with the existing subscribed viewers too so they don’t feel left out. 

Aside from that, you can also create an “end-slate” where it’s essentially the last part of the video that often has a link to other videos and a button for viewers to subscribe. Night Owl Cinematics has a very good end-slate at the end of every video where they will ask their viewers to subscribe to the YouTube channel, follow their social media accounts and leave comments below the video. This helps them to engage with the existing viewers too.

#6 Make use of your social media account

Being present and active on multiple major social media platforms is indeed a requirement for surviving in the world of social media and it is also a must to be discoverable. And one of the best things about social media is that you are able to cross-promote your content on different channels. 

Promoting your videos on your own social media platforms is the easiest and cheapest way to promote your YouTube channel and it is also very effective for you to reach a bigger bunch of audiences and drive them to your channel. The more audiences you are able to reach, the more viewers you have and then the greater the chance you will be able to convert them into your subscribers. 

It takes a lot of time, effort and commitment to build something unique and valuable, and it’s the same if you want to build your own YouTube channel. Success doesn’t come easy to you or even happen immediately. Keep on exploring and trying different methods and you will find yours one day. It is also important to track your changes, so you could know which method works best for your channel. Don’t just follow other people’s method blindly without knowing what is the end goal that you want to achieve and what your audiences really want to watch. 

Remember, never give up and keep going! You will get there one day!