How to Succeed on YouTube
After 4 years of YouTube, I’m sharing what I’ve learned.
YouTube is a great place. Sure, it has its quirks, but nobody can deny that YouTube has fundamentally changed the way we view video content. Some would even say that YouTube has been the biggest thing in video consumption since color TV. Just a few days ago my total view count for my YouTube videos reached 8 million across my 600+ videos. YouTube is much easier to succeed with if you know what you’re doing. Had I known some of these tips, I would have crossed the 8 million mark earlier.
YouTube’s Favorite Analytic: Retention
When I started out on YouTube, things were much different. One of the biggest changes in how YouTube chooses which videos to rank highly is by analyzing the view time, or retention, of a video. In essence, YouTube wants to show the viewer videos that have historically had very high watch durations and have ultimately kept visitors on their site. YouTube wants the viewer to keep watching videos, any videos really, so that YouTube will collect more ad revenue.
Keeping your retention high can be a little tricky. Some people will tell you that you just need to make very short videos so that the viewer will watch a higher percentage of your video. Unfortunately, this strategy does not always work. From the research I’ve done, YouTube values viewing duration over viewing percentage. In other words, YouTube would give a better rating to a video where the average view was 6 minutes out of a 12 minute video (or 50% of the video) instead of a video where the average viewer watched 3 minutes out of the 4 minute video (or 75%). To put this into practice you need to find the right video length for your content. For my videos, I found that 4 minutes was optimal; I still had a high retention rate on a video with a decent length. I also found that adding movement and excitement to a video could really make the retention increase. I had many videos that basically showed me talking to my camera. I tried adding images to supplement what I was saying and found that my videos were being watched longer. Keeping the audience’s attention is harder when there is only a static shot of something with no movement or graphics. The bottom line is that if you can make your video interesting, people will watch it and help your rankings.
Make. Good. Content.
I’ve found that too many people focus on every part of YouTube but their actual video. The YouTube audience is impatient and the back button is very easy to press. If you have bad content, you will not succeed. Simple as that. Your content needs to be engaging. Previously, a poor video could get to the front page of YouTube for a often searched keyword, but not anymore. Now, a bad video will not even be bothered with. If you can create engaging content that will keep a viewer’s attention, you’re already a step ahead of a good portion of YouTube videos. Below is an example of one of my more popular videos I recently made. The quality isn’t amazing, but people loved it.
The videos you make must be the best quality you can make with your budget and equipment. Not everyone has access to a nice DSLR and expensive lens, but you probably already have a decent camera in your phone. Likewise, you don’t need a fancy Adobe product to edit your videos. iMovie for Mac is a great editing software that most Apple computers have. Depending on the types of videos you make, you probably don’t need anything too fancy to start out with. If you’re new to the YouTube scene, make videos with what you already have. This way, if you do find your videos getting very popular, you can purchase better equipment later if needed.
Optimizing Metadata
Metadata (the title, tags, and description of your video) is key for viewers when they need to find the type of content that you offer. Your YouTube video will be indexed by not only YouTube, but Google and other major search engines as well. Some channels rely heavily on search results, while others rely on subscribers and social media. Regardless, having good metadata will improve your view count.
The title of your video needs to have the proper keywords while still being catchy and interesting. Potential viewers should see the title and know what the video will be about and still be enticed to see what they will see in the video. Some of my most watched videos are called: “iPhone 5 Predictions”, “How to Save iPhone 4 Battery Life FOR FREE — Works for iPod Touch and iPhone 4/4S/5”, and “How to Make your iPhone Camera Better”. As you can see, they all have important keywords but are interesting enough to draw in the viewer. Never have a misleading title. A misleading title will get plenty of clicks, but almost every viewer will exit the video as soon as they realize that your title was misleading, thus reducing your retention.
The description of your video is just that: a description. The first part of your description should have any links that you would like to promote. This way, the viewer doesn’t even have to expand the description to see your links. Next, you’ll want a 2–3 sentence description about your video. This description should adequately summarize what your video is about with some of the same keywords found in your title. After the 2–3 sentence paragraph, you can add any additional links and information. From my research, I’ve found that YouTube only looks at the first few sentences of your description, hence the 2–3 sentence summary. The tags section of your video isn’t as important as it has in the past, but it is good to repeat some of the keywords found in the title and description. Don’t add any tags that aren’t relevant to your video.
Be Consistent
YouTube is done best on a schedule. If you have great content, as discussed earlier, you can really attract an audience. YouTube has a nice little subscribe button on your videos and on your channel. Unfortunately, not every subscriber is going to check and see what new videos are out. Instead, pick at least one day in the week and release videos on those days. If your viewers expect a new video every Tuesday, they will check for new videos if you release great content on a consistent basis. If your viewers know your schedule you will get a lot of views early on in the video’s lifetime from your loyal fans.
Call to Action
Once you’re done watching a video, you need something to do afterwards, right? That might be clicking on another video, finally finishing that email you’ve been procrastinating on, or commenting on the video. As the last thing the viewer has seen before deciding what to do, you have a lot of influence over what the viewer does next. At the end of the video, ask for your viewer to do something. Asking the viewer to like or comment on the video can really help your rankings. You can also provide an annotation or two to give the viewer an easy way to see another one of your videos. Whatever you do, make sure that there is a strong, clear call to action.
Many YouTube niches are very competitive. With that being said, having the right information and producing great content will give you a leg up on the competition. Listen to your fans and keep improving your content and you’ll go far on YouTube and beyond.
