YouTube is one of the biggest social media platforms available today. In fact, it is actually more of a search engine than just an entertainment platform.
Think about it, everyone is searching for stuff these days, and where do they go to find it usually… YouTube! I know I often consult YouTube to find the answers to things. For instance, last week I needed to know how to tie a neck tie for an event my son was going to. I looked it up on YouTube and found a very helpful instructional video.
Millions of people are doing the exact same thing at any given time on YouTube and if you can tap into even a fraction of that, you can become successful.
Growing a YouTube channel is not that difficult if you follow these 4 steps. These are the exact things that all the successful YouTubers are doing because it works!
1. Be Consistent
The number one key to building a large following on any social media is to be consistent and this especially applies to YouTube. The more videos you create the greater your chances of getting views which often leads to subscribers.
Another reason to be consistent is because YouTube loves it! They want to see that you are always creating more content and that you are going to stick around a while.
The more videos you create, the more YouTube will start recommending you to viewers as well as rank you higher in the search.
When I first started my channel, I didn’t maintain much consistency and that really hurt me. But once I realized that I needed to constantly be producing content, my subscribers started to increase and my views went up dramatically.
The best way to be consistent is to try to create a new video and upload it every single day. Now this doesn’t make sense for some channels, but it does for most of them. Aim to create a video per day.
One of the things that I do is create a schedule for my week. So for instance, one day I will research all the topics I want to cover that week. Another day I will actually record the videos. And one day I will spend editing them and adding tags and descriptions. Then I set them up to be published… one per day.
Another strategy would be to just record, edit and publish all in one day. Do this every single day and you are good to go. Just do what works best with your own personal schedule. The key is to just keep creating!
2. Create Longer Videos – 7 to 10 minutes at least
The second thing you need to do if you want to grow your YouTube channel is to create longer videos. The point is to keep people on YouTube longer and with videos that last about 10 minutes on average, you will see better rankings within search.
Keep in mind that you want the viewer to watch the entire video and not just leave after 2 minutes, so make sure your content is useful and engaging. 
A good tip is to tell the viewer that you are going to explain something (or show them something) at the end of the video. Use words like, “stay tuned til the end…” and “at the end of this video I’ll reveal my number one recommendation for….”
Creating listicals (videos that list things out) is another great way to get them to keep watching the entire video. For instance, do a video listing the 5 best cameras for vlogging or 10 websites that save you money. By listing things out, people will be forced to watch so that they can find out what the 5 things in the list are. Make sense?
3. Get More Engagement
Another thing that YouTube really likes is when people engage with your videos. By this I mean that they do more than just watch the video.
Different types of engagement include, liking the video, sharing on social media or email, commenting, and even subscribing. These are all things that you want your viewers to be doing with each and every video you create.
But how do you get people to engage with your videos? I have found that just asking them is a very effective approach. For instance, I will tell viewers to “like” my video if they found it useful. I also ask them to subscribe if they are not already a subscriber to my channel.
⇒ Click Here to Subscribe to My YouTube Channel ⇐
Simply providing a call to action like this actually gets people to take action. A lot of people forget that they can like or share a video, so if you remind them, they will most likely do it.
Asking a question of your viewers during your video is a great way to get people to comment. It can honestly be anything, but try to keep it relevant to the topic if possible.
4. Keep Viewers on YouTube
The final thing you should be doing is providing a way for your viewers to stay on YouTube even longer. Remember that YouTube wants people to stay on their platform… obviously… and rewards those channels that do this.
By adding cards to your videos linking to either one of your other videos or to another YouTuber’s video, keeps people on YouTube longer. You can also utilize the end screens to suggest another video and most people will click on it.
Place links to your other relevant videos within the description area and you might also mention that you have more videos on a particular topic that people can check out.
All of these things will get people to stay on the platform longer and thus give YouTube a reason to like you even more!!
Final Thoughts – Treat YouTube like a Business
Getting over 100k subscribers and massive hours of views may seem daunting, but if you apply these simple steps and remain focused, you WILL see success with YouTube.
The best advice I can give is to treat it like a business. Work hard and work consistently as if you were working a 9 to 5 job. This is after all YOUR business and the effort that you put in is equal to the success that you will achieve.
Leave me a comment below if you have used any of these YouTube techniques to gain more traffic and get more views. I would love to hear about your success.
Thank you for your wonderful tips. These are great for a beginner like me. I keep thinking about making youtube videos, but I have so many excuses why I don’t. I don’t like my voice, I’m camera shy, I don’t have anyone to do it for me, no experience, too much competition, no one will like it, blah blah blah. I hope I can eventually get past all that though. I even though about hiring someone on fiver to do it, but if I did that then it would cost at least $5 a day. And I can’t do that lol.
I had ALL of those reservations as well when I started my channel… but I just jumped in and realized that I have value to offer people and believe it or not, it was easier than I expected.
I started out by simply making screencast videos (not showing my face) and once I got used to hearing my own voice, I thought I could finally step it up and include a webcam of myself as I spoke.
As far as there being too much competition, I thought the same thing however people will relate to you for different reasons. They may relate to your story and therefore listen to what you have to say above another YouTuber. They may like the way you describe things and feel a connection with you.
Don’t underestimate yourself. I hope you give it a try because I know you will find it’s not as hard as you think.
What jumped out at me was the end tip, to keep others on YouTube. I wouldn’t have thought of it, but the other three are ones that we must apply on a consistent basis. Consistency is key and I think what gets people in trouble when it comes to generating traffic for anything is lack of consistency. Call to action is something I think a lot of people are afraid to do, but once we ask those to like, comment, or share a few times, it becomes ingrained in us. I’ve wanted to start a YouTube channel for a while now, and I think the time has come to start.
When it comes to any online venture, CONSISTENCY always gets the bigger share of importance. I started out a YouTube channel to publish very short reviews without me having to appear on them physically. And for about 70 days continuously, I published a single short video review every day.
For some reason, I stopped. Blogging and Vlogging at the same time could be challenging altogether.LOL. But guess what? My channel had gained some momentum, and even though I’ve stopped vlogging for well over at least 5 months or so, I still continue to get views from those videos and getting traffic to my website. Awesome indeed.
Consistently is definitely a strategy that works with literally anything you wish to accomplish, not only online business.
Excellent article about how to succeed with YouTube. I enjoyed the read.
Hi Elizabeth, I must say that this article is very helpful and informative. YouTube is truly a great platform for gaining free and targeted traffic and I currently work on that. My question is is it good to use laptop mic in the beginning or should I buy professional mic immediately? Thank you in advance.
Hi Daniel,
I actually use a very cheap USB microphone that works great. I think it was about $10. It extends up closer to my mouth and picks up the sound perfectly. If you can get a separate microphone (doesn’t have to be expensive or “professional”) I would recommend that, but otherwise just keep using the laptop microphone and try to limit any other outside sounds while you are recording.
All excellent tips and you’re absolutely right about people needing to treat YouTube like a business. I think too many people get discouraged when they upload a video or two and they get hardly any views, subscribers and what not. I think if more people focused on creating lengthier videos and putting effort into getting engagement, as well as ACTUALLY treating (like you said) it like a business, then they’d have a solid chance of being successful on YouTube.
I found your post at the right time for me, I am ready to start my YouTube channel. I would like to get more exposure to my blog content.
But, I really think it’s gonna be hard for me to be consistent on YouTube because I don’t really publish new content every week. Will it be good if I create special content for my channel only?
thanks.
Really good info. I like how you record all your videos one day, edit another day, and upload them one per day. What a great way to do it. I haven’t started doing Youtube videos yet but I will come back and review this info when I do.
Love the tip to just ask viewers to engage by liking or subscribing.Your point that it’s important for YouTube itself to like your channel is eye-opening. I guess it increases your ranking in a topic when people are searching?
Do you have special software on your computer for recording? What do you use?
Thank you for this article. 🙂
Really good info. I like how you record all your videos one day, edit another day, and upload them one per day. What a great way to do it. I haven’t started doing Youtube videos yet but I will come back and review this info when I do.
Love the tip to just ask viewers to engage by liking or subscribing.Your point that it’s important for YouTube itself to like your channel is eye-opening. I guess it increases your ranking in a topic when people are searching?
Do you have special software on your computer for recording? What do you use?
Thank you for this article.
I use ScreencastOmatic to record most of my videos. And I use a software called Cyberlink PowerDirector to do all my editing.
These are great tips. I have to say, the idea of trying to create a video per day is intimidating to me – I don’t think I’d be able to keep coming up with fresh ideas, but I guess I’ll never know unless I try.
As far as video length, do you have any experience with how YouTube’s algorithm treats channels if they have videos that deviate from the 7-10 minute range? Meaning, if your channel’s videos average right around that sweet spot of 10 minutes, but then you put out a video that’s two minutes and another that’s 25 minutes, will all of your channel’s videos suffer in the search rankings, or just those specific videos?
Again, really helpful stuff, thanks – you’ve given me inspiration!
Building a YouTube channel can be a daunting task but you have hit in some key points that will make the effort more successful and faster. I have several channels and use the site mainly for hosting some of my videos on products or e-commerce websites.
I do not have large followings on any of the channels at this point but I am using more and more video for all of my sites. You are right regarding the power that YouTube offers, and the ads are also cheaper than on Google or Facebook. After reading through your post, I am motivated to pay a bit more attention to the platform.
Since you are also in the Making Money Online niche, as I am for some of my online business efforts, I will follow you and invite you to follow me back on my channel. You will find me as a new subscriber (I just went to subscriv=be to your channel).
I also like your suggestions on the types of videos to post. The ‘listical’ suggestion is particularly a good one, that is one that I fall for often! I will add that to the types of videos that I create. I also offer online courses for business startups, MMO, and self-development. Do you think I should establish a channel for each?
Thanks Dave… I will definitely follow you back as well. As far as establishing a channel for each, I would only caution you not to spread yourself too thin. But if that is something you can handle, then separating them into their own channels might be a good idea.
Oh thanks for these useful tips for beginners like me. I want to start growing my YouTube channels, buy I’m actually a bit afraid because I’m a shy person. Is it necessary to record yourself talking and presenting something for successful video content? And it’s amazing that you can publish one video per day. Do you have a producer team? How long do you spend to record and edit one video? Thank you for your answers
I do all of my own recording and editing and it usually takes me about 1 hour and a half (start to finish) to get it all done. Personally I think that having at least your voice on video helps a great deal for people to relate more to you, but not every video has to be done this way. You could use music and a whiteboard type presentation if you don’t want to record your voice. These types of videos don’t do as well, but can work for certain types of presentations.
Wow you’re such an inspiration Elizabeth!
Thanks for being so transparent, I love creating YouTube videos but some videos do not get many views and that lets me down and sometimes, it affects my mood on creating other videos too. Creating videos daily, I would have never thought of that, will get right to it! What about time, is there any specific time that we should be posting for YouTube, or is any time okay?
I actually haven’t experimented with time and when to actually publish during the day… but I’ve heard some people claim that it makes a difference. To be honest, I don’t really know that it does because if someone is searching for the topic that your video is covering, then the time of publishing doesn’t really matter. I think it is more important to focus on posting a video per day at first and once you’ve got that consistent, you can experiment with time of day.
What can I say, have wondered for a long time about video’s and You Tube, at the moment the cost of a camera is putting me off. However this article is absolutely amazing so when I can afford the equipment will use these very useful tips.
Suppose if I am honest wanted an article like this rather than having to study the number of video’s on making video’s that I have.
So very many thanks,
Stuart
I’ve always wanted to make videos on YouTube. I just never knew how to start, what to YouTube about and so forth. And well to keep viewers on your YouTube Channel is to keep them entertained with more interesting videos that is relevant to your previous video. This is a good read for beginners that is starting out, like me.
Hello Elizabeth; Wow! Your post is very insightful and informative. I learned something new today. I will have to begin making video and view them to ensure that they are good enough for YouTube advertising. Thank you.
I am sure it would please you for me to follow your principles and apply myself and time to YouTube production.
DorcasW
Hello Elizabeth,
Thank you for this great post. I do have a YouTube channel (2 actually, for my different sites) but right now I use it for storing and embedding videos that support my posts. As such, I don’t make videos all that often and I know it’s something I need to work on. Sadly, time is precious and I find I don’t always have enough of it.
Consistency is key in almost all forms of business communication. That’s why I write 2 posts per week for my sites and one for the affiliate marketing platform I’m a member of. That’s a total of 5 posts per week or 1 per day. These posts can take me anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours and I work a full-time job still. I’m just not sure when I’ll be able to incorporate creating videos regularly too.
You mention adding cards and what not to my videos. Can you tell me a bit more about them and how to go about doing that? Is there a special video editor I should be using or something?
Thank you,
Scott
Hi Scott,
The cards are actually something that YouTube provides for you to add. In other words, within the YouTube creator studio (where you upload and add the descriptions and tags) there is a place where you can add “cards.” These are basically pop up links that appear in your video (you decide when they will pop up).
Elizabeth
I must say that this article is very helpful and informative. YouTube is truly a great platform for gaining free and targeted traffic. I think if more people focused on creating lengthier videos and putting effort into getting engagement, as well as actually treating (like you said) it as a business, then they’d have a solid chance of being successful on YouTube. My question is good to use a laptop mic in the beginning or should I buy a professional mic immediately?
Excellent article about how to succeed with YouTub. I enjoyed the read.
The laptop mic is perfectly fine in most cases (unless it’s been damaged or something). The point is to start creating and buying a professional mic is not going to make a huge difference.