Last updated on July 26th, 2024
Today I’m going to give you 18 ways to get more views for your YouTube videos. Because if you’re not growing your views, the algorithm is going to send those viewers to another channel instead.
So you want to do things the algorithm rewards, which fall into basically four categories:
- First, the algorithm wants you get viewers to click.
- Second, it wants you to get viewers to watch for a long time.
- Third it wants them to click on another video, yours or someone else’s.
- Fourth it wants them to come back tomorrow and do it again.
18 ways to get more views on YouTube:
- Good thumbnails.
The view starts with the click, so the thumbnail’s got to be enticing and easy to comprehend in about a tenth of a seconds. And it’s got to be better than all the other thumbnails sitting next to it. - Good Titles.
People look at the thumbnail first, then they read the title before they decide to click. So that’s also got to be enticing your viewer.And this happened to one of our clients, Jenny, not her real name. Jenny was using that kinds of insider jargon that all businesses use, but not the kind customer’s use. So Jenny is in real estate and she was doing videos about “investment properties”, but it turns out people who one investment property don’t use that phrase, they say “rental property” instead. So use the language your customer is using.
- Video Topics
For topics, you’ve got to talk about the viewer’s needs. This is different than the title, which is basically how you talk about the topic. This is one of the biggest mistakes marketers make on YouTube. Viewers don’t care about what a business wants to tell you unless it specifically meets their needs.So whether the viewer wants to live a better life or do their jobs better or something like that, they’re very interested in themselves. A smart person once said “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”
And that’s what Jenny starting doing, she started trying to figure out exactly the problems that the viewer was trying to solve, and helping them solve them, regardless of whether it was exactly what her service offered. And she got more views.
Think of it this way. If your ideal viewer didn’t know you or your channel or your business existed, what would they be typing into Google or YouTube to learn how to do, that you know how to do? If you make videos about that, your videos will get more views.
- Say “You” in the first sentence.
Now that the viewer has clicked. Engage them right from the start by saying the word “you”?
Why do this? Well, we did a study of thousands of videos and, the videos always got more views when the person on camera said you in the first few seconds. Videos where they said “you” just once in the first 5 seconds did more than 60% better than videos they didn’t.
This is because speaking to the viewer directly and saying “you” sends a powerful message to the viewer that this video has been made to benefit the viewer, not the person on camera or the business making the video.
- Rephrase the title in the first sentence.
Here’s something ironic. Right after we click to watch a video, we want to click off. We want to run away. Why? Because we’re suspicious. We’ve watched so many videos that promise in the title and thumbnail that they’re going to do one thing and then don’t do it.
So to build the trust of the customer, rephrase the title they clicked on and say that right in the first sentence or so. And whatever buzzword you said, repeat it. This tells the viewer, OK, I can relax a few seconds, this video hasn’t tried to trick me yet.
- Talk to the viewer one-to-one
You’ll notice I always say “viewer,” not “audience.”
That’s because YouTube is a one-to-one platform that sometimes looks like a one-to-many platform, this means that you want to use the tone of voice that is speaking to a single person, not a room full of people. And this ties in with saying “you” and thinking about what the customer wants.
Since she started thinking of the viewer as a single person, Jenny’s tone changed and now you feel like she’s your buddy, instead of someone who’s trying to make you buy something.
This is something that may take some practice. But the better you do it, the more views you’ll get.
- Look them in the eye.
Remember if you look at the eye of the camera, the viewer will think you’re looking them in the eye, and they will subconsciously feel that you like them and want to help them. If you look even one inch away from the camera, the viewer will think you don’t like them, and stop watching.
- Smile.
You’ve got to smile and bring 2x the energy to your videos. You don’t need to be louder, you need to have more energy. As if you’re sitting across from your best friend who you haven’t seen in a while. - Stand up.
Some people can do great videos sitting down. But we’ve found that most people are too relaxed when they’re sitting down. So instead, stand up while you do your videos. This gives you more energy, but also you’ll tend to avoid going on too long with parts of your video that don’t engage as much. - Get right to the point.
You’ve got to start delivering value to the viewer right away.
For instance, if you’re doing a list, start with No. 1 within 10 or twenty seconds. Or give an example right away.
Your goal is to still have 70% or more of your viewers after 30 seconds. That sounds easy but it is quite hard. So keep improving over time to keep people engaged in that first part of the video.
- Speak quickly.
Don’t be a slow talker. That may work on a call with a client, but it’s not good for YouTube videos. Try to speak as fast as you can without tripping over your words. It’s ok, even recommended, that you say some lines a few times until you get them right. Then edit your videos so there’s very little space between your sentences and words. It’s called a “jump cut.”
- Use stories and anecdotes.
Viewers love stories that give examples of what you’re saying. But they don’t have to be huge stories, sometimes examples will do.
One tip that we offer is to use a real name, but change the name. So for our examples earlier, we said “Jenny” and it made it easier for you to remember the example. But we changed the name to be discreet with our customers.
- Get geeky.
Within your steps or tips, feel free to use as geeky terms as you like. Your ideal viewer will be excited to learn this info.
- Don’t repeat yourself.
You only need to say things once in a YouTube video. People can rewind if they need to. If you start repeating yourself, people will stop watching because they think you have no more value to give. That’s bad.
- Make the video as long as it needs to be.
A YouTube videos should be as long as it needs to be to give the value the viewer wants, and not one second longer. You’ll know when you’ve stopped giving value in your audience retention graph. Whatever happened when your audience stopped watching, remember that and don’t do it the next time.
- Have 50% of viewers still watching at the end.
If you have 50% of your viewers still watching at the end, they will be more likely to click on your end screen to watch another of your videos. If you don’t have those viewers, you have not yet figured out how to keep them interested, and you will not be getting more views.
- Don’t upload irrelevant videos.
Once you’ve decided what your viewers want, don’t upload videos your ideal viewer doesn’t want to watch. If they don’t like it, they’ll be less likely to watch the next video. The algorithm with also extend these dislikes to other people who haven’t even seen this video, so you’ll get put in front of fewer potential viewers the next time.
- Make 2 videos per week.
There’s no rule about how many videos to make, but if you can’t publish two videos per week, you’re probably not going to making them enough to get good enough at following these rules to get those viewers.