1) Choose Your Niche
You’ve heard it before: choose your niche. It’s an old adage, but it holds true. If you’re going to start making videos and putting content out on YouTube, you need to know what your channel is about and make sure that message comes across in everything you do. For example, if you have a yoga channel that features instructional videos, don’t branch out into travel vlogging or comedy sketches. Stick with what made your channel popular and consistent from day one. The more people who identify with your content from the start, the higher chances of building an audience.
2) Create Quality Content That Addresses Audience Needs
To have an effective YouTube channel, you need to not only create videos that people want to watch, but you also need to create videos that help them. It’s important to ask yourself, what’s in it for my viewers? Do you offer actionable tips and advice? Do you provide solutions to their problems or entertain them with silly skits and pranks? Regardless of what your motives are behind creating videos, if you’re trying to build an audience on YouTube (and gain subscribers), it’s all about quality content. To grow your presence, try posting useful tips each week as part of a weekly series that addresses common questions from new users who are struggling with challenges in using YouTube effectively.
3) Use SEO To Optimize Your Videos
It’s easy to get frustrated with SEO when you can’t seem to rank high enough for your main keywords. But, by adding SEO-friendly tags to your videos, you can ensure that new viewers have an easier time finding you on their first search. There are even programs like TubeBuddy and VidIQ that automate much of this process. Don’t forget about Google Posts either—you can write posts directly on your channel page, ensuring more people know exactly what it is that you do.
4) Make Video Editing Part of Your Routine
Video editing is going to be a big part of your career on YouTube, and spending time in Photoshop or iMovie before you even start shooting footage will give you an edge. Become familiar with basic video editing so you can learn what looks good and what doesn’t—and make it easier to produce great work overtime. What makes an eye-catching thumbnail? How do you create an engaging title sequence? If you learn these things as soon as possible, video editing won’t ever feel like just another task on your never-ending to-do list. It will become part of your process, which is essential when your job depends on it! It may also help speed up production down the road if there isn’t any learning curve involved in editing your work.
5) Work to Attract an Audience
Chances are, you’re not going to have any luck attracting an audience if your videos are boring. Make sure you find interesting and informative content that interests your target audience. Think about what kinds of things would be relevant to them and what kinds of things they might want to watch. Test out different content types until you find something that resonates with viewers. Once you do, work on improving it over time so it continues to appeal to new viewers. This is also a good way to see what kind of response you get from your audience as well as how long people stick around watching your videos. For example, if people leave quickly after starting a video, try changing up how you present information or look at other ways to engage viewers better. If there’s one thing that most successful YouTubers agree on is that consistency is key when it comes to building an audience—the more often people come back and check out new content, the more likely they are to stay engaged with your channel in general.
Bonus Tip
Use your channel to make social statements. The world of video is extremely open, and you can truly say whatever you want. Although using videos as an outlet can be cathartic and help bring awareness to important causes, it’s important not to forget that others are reading your content. You don’t have to put on airs when creating videos on YouTube, but consider what type of example you want to set before recording. Using YouTube as a platform also comes with its own share of scrutiny; if someone decides they disagree with what you said or did, expect hate comments and negative reviews. This can be draining and even unsafe at times, so take care when choosing what statement you want to make. © 2022 Patrick M
