YouTube subscribers are the most important part of YouTube but they haven’t always been. In the starting days, the number of subscribers did not matter since the platform was so small, but today YouTube is the second largest search engine on the planet. Subscriber count is essential to determining your growth and increasing your number of views, watch time, likes, and comments. There are different strategies you can use to increase your subscriber count listed below.
So now that you know the strategies let’s talk about them.
Don’t Buy Bot Subscribers
Successful YouTubers are spending time on their videos, not spending money on shady growth schemes. Here’s how “free” YouTube services work: the service asks you to subscribe and like other channels and if you do, random channels will subscribe to you. So, basically, you’re hiring yourself out as a clickfarm. These services then hope you get tired of the endless clicking and decide to pay for YouTube subscribers. However, bot subscribers don’t engage with your content, you could possibly get banned from YouTube because of their fake engagement policy, and brands might be leery of partnering with you if you have a high subscriber count but low engagement. So, instead of wasting your time and money, grow a legitimate following by working hard and following these strategies.
Ask Your Viewers to Subscribe
All big YouTubers and those who know how to use YouTube ask the viewers to subscribe. Asking the viewers to subscribe gives them a call to action and a feeling of accomplishment. Sometimes, your audience needs to be reminded so a quick reminder at the end of your video makes it easier for fans and yourself. However, make sure you’ve provided useful and new information before asking for a subscription.
End Your Video by Teasing What You’re Working on Next
Teasing your next video gives your viewers something to anticipate and get hyped about. Those who have just seen what your brand is about will want more if your video was done right. Teasing and hyping your next video is the most organic way to encourage people to stay on your channel and click subscribe. However, this requires you to have a good handle on your content schedule.
Make Friends with Your Audience and Build Community
Forming a relationship with your viewers, by replying to comments, following other creators, and checking out their videos, makes the viewers more likely to keep wanting to watch. Think of your channel as a community; you need to be an active member, not someone on a pedestal dropping content from above. Paying attention to comments can also give you free content ideas.
Optimize Videos for Search
1. Title
Search engines emphasize the keywords in your title for indexing and categorizing
Audiences unconsciously look for a title matching our search term
Videos with exact search term matches have a high chance of appearing in search results
Place target keywords as early in the title as possible
2. Description
Like the title, YouTube emphasizes the keywords in your description in their algorithm
The most important characters are the first 25 as the first 100 characters will be visible to your audience (for the rest they have to click on ‘show more’)
Make sure to include target keywords throughout your description
3. Thumbnail
The thumbnail is the first thing audiences see, so make sure it is professional and engaging
Use the same font, color palette, and frame composition for consistency
4. Tags
Tags help YouTube understand what your content is and can categorize the video with other similar videos
Start with the primary keyword, followed by other search terms that relate to your topic
Have a Consistent Publishing Schedule
Your job is to deliver consistent content and quality. You want people to look forward to your content and your audience wants to look forward to more content. Publishing on a consistent schedule keeps viewers coming back and makes your life a little bit more organized.
Embed Your Videos in your Website/Blog
Embedding your video is free of charge. It can keep viewers on your website, which is preferred over your YouTube channel. If a customer finds your video on YouTube it can also lead them to your website which is also preferable. To embed a video click Share, click on Embed, copy the code, and then place it into your code. It should be placed after <iframe src=” and don’t forget the “ at the end.