One video-sharing website, YouTube, nevertheless dominates the online landscape despite the explosion of other social media platforms like TikTok.

With over 2.2 billion subscribers globally, YouTube is currently the second most viewed website on the internet.

You must understand how to expand the websites to promote youtube channels if you want to use YouTube to advance (or perhaps launch) your business.

Here are some of our favourite methods for reaching more people and optimising your YouTube channel. These approaches are basic, practical, and cost-free.

Let’s get started.

Select search engine friendly keywords

SEO should be your top priority if you want to promote your YouTube channel. And a key component of SEO is figuring out what users want.

Nowadays, people also conduct searches on Google when browsing for videos instead of just going to YouTube. It’s crucial that you optimise your films with Google-friendly keywords as a result of the fact that Google now prominently displays videos in search results for numerous inquiries.

To find Google-friendly keywords for any movie, follow these steps:

• To locate potential keywords, use tools like the Google Ads Keyword Planner. If you’re starting from scratch, you may also just use common sense. Identify 5–15 terms or phrases that people might use to describe your company or the services you offer.
• Once you have your list, search for each keyword individually.
• Examine each keyword’s search engine results page (SERP). Check to see if the top-ranking results are blogs or videos.
• Change your keyword and re-search it. If you’re having trouble locating terms with video results, try adding words like “How to” or “Tutorial.”
• Find the keyword or phrases that prioritise videos by going through your list of keywords.

As opposed to “oil painting advice,” which sends browsers to a web page first, “oil painting lesson” displays video results first.

To identify well-liked keywords, you can also use YouTube’s autocomplete function. Start by typing in a keyword or theme to see what titles YouTube comes up with.

Create succinct, informative video titles

Your video’s title appears at the top of YouTube search results for visitors. Furthermore, if your title doesn’t catch their attention, they’ll probably scroll right past your video.

To write compelling YouTube titles, consider the following advice:

• Be succinct. Avoid using titles longer than 60 characters, as some of them may be truncated when shown.
• Use keyword(s) associated with your brand in the first half of the title to avoid omitting important information.
• Use a hashtag that is popular right now or one you’ve already used elsewhere.
• Avoid headlines that are clickbait-y.

Make unique thumbnails

Pay close attention to your thumbnails because the human brain is trained to focus on pictures first. All videos on YouTube really have thumbnails created for them automatically, although they can not be very appealing. Create a unique thumbnail for each video you submit to enhance views.

The following are some general guidelines to remember when making a thumbnail:

• Use straightforward language to explain your video.
• Keep your brand’s aesthetic constant. Keep your films consistent in terms of style, typeface, and colour scheme to make them easier to identify.
• Use top-notch stock photographs if you don’t have unique artwork.
• Dimensions: 1280 x 720 pixels (but you can use any 16:9 aspect ratio, as long as the width is at least 640 px)
• Formats include.JPG,.PNG, and.GIF
• Dimensions: The picture shouldn’t be larger than 2MB.
• The thumbnail from Ariel Hamilton’s channel below serves as an illustration of a nice thumbnail.

Complete your profile’s data

• Filling out your profile area on a YouTube channel is one of the first things you should do. One of the best strategies to improve your SEO and introduce yourself to channel newcomers is with a compelling profile.
• The following are some excellent methods for completing your profile’s information:
• Be dependable. Make sure to stick with the same typefaces, colour schemes, and layouts as your website and other social media pages.
• Make your YouTube description more effective. To improve your YouTube channel’s ranking, add keywords to the description. However, avoid stuffing keywords to avoid having your channel penalised by YouTube.

Tell the audience your schedule. Choose the time and frequency of your new content postings. So that your viewers will know when to expect your films, then keep to it.

Include your contact information so that readers and prospective partners will know how to get in touch with you.

Improve the descriptions of your videos

In the description of a YouTube video:

• Put your keywords at the start of the title and description.
• Put the most compelling material in the first 100 to 150 words so that it will display above the “Show more” prompt. There is a character limit of 5,000.
• To make it easier for your audience to find what they’re looking for, create a “contents page” with timestamps.
• Add a few pertinent hashtags. To avoid being fined, make sure you abide by YouTube’s hashtag guidelines.
• Include links in pertinent playlists (see advice #12)
• You can use the video itself to mention keywords. But for the best outcomes, mention them in the introduction because people often have a short attention span.

Check out the timestamps Santrel Media includes in the descriptions of their how-to videos.

Check out this comprehensive guide on creating engaging YouTube descriptions for both individual videos and entire channels, which includes starter templates that are free to use and can be customised.

Pay attention to the metadata

When it comes to writing metadata, YouTube has precise rules (including video titles, descriptions, and tags).

They basically boil down to two things:

• Be truthful. Write about the actual subject of your video. Don’t include fashionable elements solely to make the video go viral.
• Select superior quality over quantity.

When choosing categories and tags for your material, these guidelines are extremely crucial. Only add tags to your upload in the “Tag” area; do not add them to the video description. Then, add a category or two to assist YouTube understand what your video is about and to whom it should be recommended.

Provide actual value

Even while it can seem obvious, it still has to be said.

The best method to attract new viewers, widen your audience, and perform highly in YouTube search is by posting quality video. This is due to YouTube’s ranking system giving the viewing experience first priority.

Before publishing a video, consider the following:

• What issue(s) will this video address for my audience?
• Is the video fun to watch?
• Will it in any way improve the lives of my viewers?

Produce excellent videos

• A calamity is inevitable when good ideas are carried out poorly. So, if you have fantastic, expert content ideas for your YouTube channel, you should also produce top-notch videos.
• Purchase a good camera (modern phones have adequate cameras! ), test your sound before pressing “Record,” and become familiar with basic editing.
• Your videos should be watchable; you don’t even need to be a natural or experienced filmmaker to do this.

Communicate with your viewers.

You must interact with your audience if you want them to engage with you. It’s a mutually beneficial exchange. The most popular YouTubers communicate with their audience frequently, if you pay close attention.

Here are a few ways to communicate with your followers:

• Answer all comments from viewers, positive and negative
• “Heart” the comments you like.
• Subscribe to the channels of other users
• Make reaction videos
• Praise your most loyal viewers
• Run viewers’ contests
• Set up a “Ask me anything” or Q&A session.
• Partner with other companies’ branding

Direct interaction with viewers will increase their likelihood to return (brand loyalty) and introduce your content to new viewers.

Working together with influencers

Growing your YouTube channels is easy when you work with influencers.

Utilize social media to connect with businesses or content producers in your industry to discuss the prospect of working together on each other’s YouTube channels. When you’re stumped for ideas for fresh material, YouTube creators can help you reach new audiences, increase your reach, and tap into active communities.

Remember: You must be genuine and true to your business while working with influencers. Work solely with those whose values are compatible with yours. Your brand could be damaged by unreliable content.

For instance, the About to Eat culinary channel, which is owned by Buzzfeed, produced a video comparing pricey cast-iron skillets. The programming is nonetheless amusing, interesting, and real despite the hosts’ clear disclosure that it is a product of an affiliate relationship with the brands they highlight. This is because it is in keeping with the general ethos and calibre of the channel.

Make a collection

Get your YouTube audience pumped up about your new videos if you want to develop a devoted and active following. Making a series is the only effective approach to accomplish this.

The essence of a YouTube series is the distribution to viewers of a run of related videos, typically at the same time each week, month, or according to another set schedule. Your visitors will be eagerly awaiting your films as a result. Alternately, they might watch the entire series in one sitting.

In either case, everyone benefits. People receive excellent content. You are shown.

Vogue’s “73 Questions” celebrity series is a fantastic illustration of a series.

Create playlists 

Another fantastic technique to engage viewers with your YouTube video is through playlists. The next playlist video automatically starts when the previous one ends by design. As a result, viewers are more likely to binge watch your content, which may lead to fandom.

Playlists are useful if you want to make it simple for people to access your channel and you publish videos on a variety of subjects. Videos in a playlist also increase the likelihood that they will show up in YouTube’s Suggested Videos section, which aids in content discovery.

Here are two techniques for making playlists that work:

• Create a theme for your existing videos and organise them together on your channel. This draws readers to your material rather than that of your rival.
• Gather films from more pertinent partners or influencers. This encourages visitors to share your playlists by demonstrating to them that you are knowledgeable about current trends.

The “Expensive Taste Test” playlist from Cosmopolitan can be a little addictive.

Activate

Although watching pre-recorded videos on YouTube is its main function, it is really one of the most often used live stream platforms. When in-person activities were postponed because to the COVID-19 outbreak, the popularity of YouTube live streaming greatly surged.

A excellent method to broaden your audience and enhance viewer engagement on YouTube is to go live.

Q&A sessions, webinars, podcast-style interviews, and events can all be carried out via live videos.

Use calls to action

Have you ever questioned why the most popular YouTubers include phrases like “Make sure you like, subscribe, and turn on the notification bell to get notified about new videos!” in their videos?

The reason being that asking someone to subscribe to your channel or do anything else is the easiest approach to catch their attention. You may make the most of the audience you have attracted by using a call-to-action (CTA) that is intriguing.

Anything might be your CTA. Perhaps you want people to see your video and share it. Or perhaps you want them to visit your website directly. Make sure your video is clear about everything you want viewers to accomplish.

There are numerous free ways to add CTA to videos, even though YouTube includes a CTA plugin for in-stream advertisements:

• In the description box of your video, invite people to like, comment on, and share it.
• Direct mentions: Speak your request to the audience.
• Add a personalised screenshot at the beginning, middle, or end of your film with end cards. These visual signals give your CTA additional authority.

Cross-promote your channel

You should advertise your YouTube videos on other social media sites and through other marketing channels (such as your blog or email).

While there are many ways to cross-promote your films, here are a few straightforward suggestions:

the internet

Learn the necessary video requirements for each social network before using social media to cross-promote your videos. then adjust your video optimization accordingly.

Use unique captions each time you release a video and be sure to uphold the aesthetic and tone of your business.

Various social media platforms call for various social media strategies. You can simplify the process of creating and releasing content by using tools like Hootsuite, especially if you manage many social media accounts.

Blogging

A great strategy to broaden the audience for your material is to post your video on your website’s blog area.

You can either write a brief explanation of the video and embed it directly into the post for readers to watch, or you can transcribe your films and publish them verbatim. Both video and page visits will rise as a result of this method.

You can also utilise Google Analytics to identify the blog entries that Get More Views On YouTube, then create a movie on that subject. Insert the video into the post after that.

This will improve your blog and entice readers to visit your YouTube channel.

Keep in mind that producing quality content is just as crucial as ensuring that it loads swiftly for site visitors. A built-in CDN (content delivery network) supports all of your hosted material to ensure that it is delivered more swiftly.

email advertising

Even while email marketing may seem like a thing of the past, it still works. The estimated value of the global email marketing market in 2022 is $9.6 billion.

Create a mailing list with only your YouTube subscribers on it. After that, you may utilise email to let them know whenever you upload a new video. By doing this, you will raise your videos’ early view count, which will activate YouTube’s recommendation system.

You may also include a link to your YouTube channel in your email signature to increase the number of subscribers on YouTube without coming across as aggressive. But use a straightforward icon rather than a lengthy, ugly URL.

Produce seasonal material

This is the time of year when celebrations like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween are actually advantageous to you. We are aware of your love for family time).

A smart method to acquire new eyes on your content during certain seasons is to anticipate what people will be searching for. People post about the top Christmas movies, the spookiest Halloween outfits, and the most intriguing Thanksgiving turkey recipes because of this.

Use current events, well-liked films, and fashion trends as inspiration for fresh content. The effectiveness of this would surprise you.

Create timeless videos

Don’t undervalue the power of evergreen videos despite the fact that seasonal material will increase your viewership in specific months.

Make a few videos that people will want to watch again and again. How-to videos, lists of tools and resources, compilations of suggestions, and other types of videos are all common evergreens.

Evergreen material of this kind can rank highly in YouTube searches for years, improving SEO and driving visitors.

Analyze your data, please.

Numerous data contained in YouTube’s analytics can be used to better understand your audience and expand your channel. So give your data some thought.

Ask (and respond to) significant queries like:

• Interests of the audience: How old are they? What dialects do they use? Who lives there? What types of video do they prefer?
• What kind of content is most popular?
• What days of the week see the highest activity from your audience?
• What time of day is the most active for your audience?

Knowing your analytics will enable you to post material with intention as opposed to just doing so because it might trend.

Learn more about using YouTube statistics to expand your channel by reading this.

Use TikTok to post teasers

The Hootsuite team produced some statistics to demonstrate how popular TikTok is right now, but the app’s 3-minute maximum limit pales in comparison to YouTube’s limits of 15 minutes for non-verified users and 12 hours for verified users.

However, you might benefit from the popularity of TikTok by releasing teasers of your YouTube video. You might only share the first 15, 60, or 180 seconds of the video and invite people to watch the rest on your YouTube channel.

Take part in YouTube challenges and trends

Taking on YouTube challenges and trends can assist in the virality of your videos. For challenges and trends that rapidly spark fresh content ideas, check out the Explore page.

Videos depicting your morning and evening rituals or “A day in the life of (insert occupation here)” are popular in 2022, for instance.