In one month this platform serves 6 billion video views. That’s one really big reason to learn how to get noticed on Youtube.
Moreover, YouTube reaches more adults in the U.S (a high income market) than cable television.
Crazy, huh?
Before diving into the article I would like to share a story with you. It would inspire you and make you feel that it is well worth learning how to get noticed on Youtube.
Evans is an 8 year old who runs his own channel EvanTubeHD.
And what does an 8 year old post on his channel?
Does he sing? Play an instrument? Play with cats?
No. He actually posts toy reviews. Talk about finding a niche that you love.
These are not typical toy reviews. He takes each toy and tells you what you can do with the toy.
What started out as a fun project with his father, now brings him $1.3 million in cash annually.
Also just one of his videos has gathered over 50 million views.
Say Hi to Evan, because he is one of those (If not the only kid in the wold) who knows how to get noticed on Youtube.
(See This 8 year old makes $1.3 million a year by posting YouTube Videos)In my last post where I shared the stories of how some entrepreneurs got started I happened to mention that these guys stuck to something and mastered it. Even when they had failures, they didn’t let go of the one thing for which they had true passion.
I advise the same once again.
If you learn how to get noticed on Youtube the right way then it will be the most powerful tool for your marketing campaign.
To help the navigation here’s the post’s table of contents:
- Build a community around your channel
- Plan your videos: Write a script
- Have a hook
- Have a solid call to action at the end
- Maintain a schedule
- Stick to the basics of Video SEO optimization
- What does channel keywords mean on Youtube
- Partner with experts
- Brand your channel
- Learned how to get noticed on Youtube?
Build a community around your channel
YouTube is foremost a social networking platform.
YouTube viewers are part of a community and this community is the key to understanding how to get noticed on Youtube.
The community at YouTube isn’t shy about sharing content they think is good. Also, it can act as a critique and tell what is working with the videos that you are uploading.
You can also get fruitful ideas for generating fresh content for this budding community.
But how to get them interested in the videos that you are producing?
Over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube. 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Why should anyone watch your content amongst all these?
(See YouTube Statistics)What makes you stand out?
Think about the communities that you are involved in. Try to draw in similar characteristics between them and the one you are running.
What makes people stay? What makes them tick are the questions that you should be asking yourself and the answers should come as videos.
Don’t forget to develop relationships. Don’t take top contributors and commentators for granted. Send them mails via YouTube’s internal system and engage with them.
People like being valued.
Plan your videos: Write a script
Neil Patel attributes $21,000 in additional revenue to the explainer video on the CrazyEgg homepage.
(See Stop Creating Explainer Videos, You are doing it all wrong)According to Neil, it’s the script that matters and not the video by itself. The goal of the video is to answer the problems of your customers.
While you certainly can make viral videos without any script, having a plan helps. It does two things in general
- It helps you streamline the process
- If you fail, you can analyze the reasons, get back to the drawing board etc. Since there was no planning for the earlier video you might not be easily able analyze the reasons for failure, let alone create a better one next time.
It’s not enough to just go with the script but also do necessary edits, remove breath sounds, crutch phrases and sounds. Also, it can be done with an inexpensive software like Camtasia from TechSmith.
Here you can find some cool pre-production tips.
Have a hook
A hook is something that urges the fleeting viewers to stay on. It can be an introduction to your video. But I have found an even better way to hook your viewers.
It’s by listing out and explaining at the start itself what the audience stands to gain from the video.
It’s true that people are impatient. However, spelling out the key benefits removes a lot of this friction.
You can also begin with a personal introduction or kick-ass monologues.
For example, Dollar Shaving Club’s viral video drops the f-bomb in the first few seconds of the video. Now that alone isn’t going to send in 12000 subscribers within the first 48 hours as in their case. But it’s a bold hook indeed.
Let’s just say that the script was amazing.
Have a solid call to action at the end
YouTube would generally present videos similar to the one already watched at the end of the video. Most people would never utilize this space, but this is one of the main steps on how to get noticed on Youtube.
But you can develop a custom outro slate for the YouTube video and include a good Call to Action. Along with that you can also use annotations to link to your own videos and gain even more views.
Here’s an example:
Source
If you have various parts of the video then one link can lead to another, telling both a story and presenting the entire picture.
Maintain a schedule
The most advantageous thing with maintaining a schedule is that subscribers/viewers know what to expect from you.
Anticipation is the key to subscription. If they know that you put out great content every now and then they’d feel like subscribing. No one wants to miss good content because of carelessness.
While some argue with uploading new content every week, others would make it to at least twice a week. There are still others who would post only once per month.
Find a schedule that doesn’t task you a lot and is in terms with the industry you are in.
Stick to the basics of Video SEO optimization
SEO optimizing your video can drive a lot more organic traffic as there are lots of marketers who wouldn’t bother with this simple step.
Title: Don’t make your titles keyword ridden. The title plays a huge role in letting the people decide whether they want to watch the video or not. So it should appear natural. There should be some keywords as well, but they are supposed to nicely balance out.
For example say you have a tutorial video on building backlinks.
A good title would be “ How to build backlinks to your site? ” If the title is merely composed of keywords it would wind up being something like—“
Guide: Building high PR backlinks weblog on internet” which doesn’t that good.
YouTube has a keyword suggestion tool that you can use for finding some good keywords.
If you know the basics of SEO learning how to get noticed on Youtube will be a lot easier. Here are the top tricks:
1. Description
A good and long description of what the video’s content is befits any video. Moreover it gives ample hints to search engines— both Google and YouTube on what the video is about. Search engines can’t understand video. Uploading a transcript is also a good idea. If there’s too much to type then use a software like Dragon Natural Speaking to convert voice to text. There are plugins on Chrome for this too but I don’t know how effective they really are.
2. Tags
How many tags should you add? All I can say is that don’t spam by using some keyword scrapper like Scrapebox and adding 100s of keywords. I generally add 5 to 6 tags on my videos. There are others who go for 10 or 20.
Each tag should fit in the description of the video and shouldn’t be there for just being there. Think of the keywords a potential viewer would be searching. If you think that way then the number of tags that need be added will be quite clear to you.
3. Make use of annotations
YouTube is a powerhouse of various kinds of annotations. Annotations empower your viewers in making greater sense of the video and are very useful.
However, don’t use them in excess. Too many annotations and you could be raising the “bullshit detector” of the viewers.
What does channel keywords mean on Youtube
Channel keywords are like general tags for your entire YouTube channel.
1. What are Channel Keywords for?
This is a chance for you to clearly define your channel into a few key phrases/terms. They are keywords that you feel best characterize your channel.
2. How do I Choose Which Keywords to Use?
Think of keywords your target audience would search for.
Look at your channel, and think about what content you’re providing. Describe those ideas into simple keywords!
3. How many Keywords should I use?
You don’t want to dilute your search ranking by overusing keywords.
You want to list keywords that represent your channel and content as well as possible. A good parameter is about 10-15 keywords.
4. How do Keywords work?
We don’t know exactly, however, they’re used along with your about section, video description, and views to determine when and where your video is viewed.
So they’re definitely important.
5. How does the About Section of My Channel Help My Video SEO?
You can use your about section to help boost your video ranking by understanding it’s purpose.
Take very careful consideration of how you describe yourself, your channel and your content.
YouTube takes this section very seriously when determining if your content should be shown to viewers.
Partner with experts
If you have a look at YouTube’s “Most Viewed” channels you will see a lot of high quality and popular channels. Find one such channel with a good audience and that which is in your own niche and connect with the owner. Ask them if you can partner with them. If agreed, you will also need to display affinity with the channel.
It would literally give wings to your own channel and more exposure than any form of advertising can.
Brand your channel
Uploading a custom YouTube cover is one of the primary things that you can do to brand your channel. You can do it yourself if you want. If you are short on skills, time, and money get someone from Fiverr do it for you.
Another option is using Canva. It takes the hassle out of graphic design and consistently offers the best experience.
Another thing you could do is add social media buttons to your custom cover and make it more appealing. You hit two birds with one stone—the channel appears professional and you also get to connect with your audience on other platforms.
Learned how to get noticed on Youtube?
These are the ways in which you can optimize your YouTube channel and build an audience for you.
As described earlier, building a viewership on YouTube is well worth it.
The time spent on making videos, ensuring that everything is fine-tuned, making the message right is an investment that brings outstanding ROI.
Let us know what is holding you back from learning how to get noticed on Youtube?