Did you know that besides Google and Yahoo, YouTube is one of the world’s largest search engines? Youtube is also a widely used social media and video-sharing platform that aids in the promotion, entertainment, and education of an enormous audience. YouTube records around 22 billion people who log into the forum monthly. In this world of competition, businesses and brands try to advertise their products on videos having more views. This way they would be able to increase the number of customers for their products. But content creators mainly buy likes, views, comments, and subscribers to get the ranking preference by Youtube’s algorithm. They buy views in hopes of engagement and reach and to lure more people into watching their videos. Just like a coin has two sides, buying engagement metrics too has its pros and cons.

How does the Youtube algorithm work?

Suppose you are not familiar with the term algorithm. In that case, it implies what users watch on a particular occasion around seventy percent of the time. According to some researchers, more than half the Youtube viewers in America watch videos that the algorithm recommends. Suppose you are a content creator who has just started building their channel or building a marketing strategy for your brand. In that case, we are here to educate you on how the Youtube algorithm works. You would need to know how youtube recommends various channels. Youtube
doesn’t show its creators or advertisers what its modus operandi is. Below, you will see how the Youtube algorithm works and all the developments that have taken place till now.

  1. Stage 1- 2005-2011:

    During this period, Youtube used to prefer the videos that viewers clicked to those that got more user engagement. Thus, a lot of clickbait videos sprang up with misleading thumbnails and captions. As soon as Youtube realized that this user experience wasn’t working, they changed gears.

  2. Stage 2- 2012-2015:

    In 2012. Youtube announced that those videos would be prioritized by the algorithm which engages users. They would rank videos according to how long the viewers are watching them. Youtube encouraged creators to make videos that are relevant and interesting for the people.

  3. Stage 3-2016:

    During this period, the product engineers of Youtube designed a whitepaper that made waves. It tracked how much the viewers were satisfied after watching a video. The videos that satisfied the viewers the most would get ranking preference.

  4. Stage 4- 2016 to 2020:

    People have had many questions about the type of content and their engagement metrics that the algorithm prefers or doesn’t. Youtube doesn’t support marginal content, which means those videos that violate any guidelines could be misleading to the audience or harmful. Right now, the Youtube algorithm demonetized videos that have borderline content. Youtube also states that they might never ensure 100% safety of brands even after all these measures.

Tricks to get more views on Youtube

The Youtube algorithm ranks videos according to their engagement. Youtube describes it as a feedback loop that recommends people channels according to their interests. Thus, you must understand that you will need to create content that would hold people’s attention and interest them. Below is a list of ways and techniques by which you would get more views on Youtube.

  1. Create relevant and exciting content:

    It doesn’t matter how many shortcuts or ads you use to monetize your videos if they aren’t appealing to viewers. The key to getting more views is to make good content and keep making them so that your channel is relevant.

    What you should do is ask the audience what they want to see from you. Please pay close attention to the comments and keep their suggestions in mind. When you meet your audience’s needs through your video content, you can rest assured that your video would be interesting and relevant.

  2. Your videos’ titles must include keywords:

    This is the point where your research for keywords comes into play. The ideal title should have two things-

    a) have relevant keywords so that the algorithm,
    b) prefer the video to attract viewers and inform them what the video entails.

    If you are unsure how to do your keyword research, you could use SEO methods such as opting for keyword planners or other such tools. It would be helpful if you also chose to optimize your video content to use the right keywords. This trick would help get you more reach on youtube.

  3. Encourage your viewers to subscribe:

    This trick is pretty simple and straightforward. You must have heard them say that your newer customers are the old customers only. Speaking in context, it means you need to retain your viewers. It is a powerful way to aid in the growth of your channel. Getting your viewers to subscribers would increase your reach and get you more views. You don’t have to do anything except ask your present viewers to subscribe to see more and more content they like.

  4. Create playlists to keep them coming:

    According to Youtube’s Statistics, the brands or channels that make playlists grow faster than those that don’t. You may ask why this happens. The answer is –autoplay. When videos automatically keep playing, it creates a lot of effort on a viewer’s part to stop watching them. It is a psychological phenomenon that can be described as loss aversion. Loss aversion means you would feel much more pain if you lose something than the happiness you would gain from receiving something equally gratifying. You can tap into the human psyche and create a playlist to entice your audience to keep watching your videos.

  5. Cross-promote your videos with cards or end screens:

    When you have already been uploading for a while, you should start cross-promoting them. Cross-promoting essentially means mentioning another video that is relevant to your present video. You could ask your viewers to check out your other videos to find out what else you have discussed on a particular subject.

    Another way to cross-promote is to use cards and end screens. You would be able to access these features in the Creator Studio tabs after verifying your account. Cards come in very handy while promoting. They make a video pop-up any time that you choose in your video. Using cards, you can also create polls to ask the audience what they would like to see.

  6. Add a watermark to all your videos:

    Watermarks are pretty standard in MS Word or presentations. On Youtube, a watermark is pretty similar to something already familiar to you. You can create a watermark and incorporate it in all your videos. When a viewer hovers their mouse or clicks on the watermarks, it prompts them to subscribe. Thus, watermarks are very useful as they would get you more subscribers and views when you promote your channel.

  7. Ensure that you enable embed on your videos:

    Imagine that you spent hours creating and uploading a top-notch video. Now bloggers want to share it on their blogs or websites. Exciting, right? Except that it is not because you forgot to enable your video for embedding. It would be best if you never made this mistake and always allow embedding on your videos. When your videos get embedded on websites or blogs, they would be exposed to a newer audience. They would ultimately start checking out other videos on your channel. You’d get more views and also more subscribers!

  8. Promote your channel on your social handles:

    You should tell your followers on your other socials to check out your new Youtube video. A great way to go about this is to upload a small teaser video of the same. You should also link the Youtube video in your post. If you have a website or blog, embed your video there too. You could try email marketing. Every time you upload a video, you could send out an email to your subscribers telling them you released a video.

  9. Understand how vital watch-time is:

    According to Youtube, their algorithm works on a system basis of search and delivery. This algorithm decides which videos Youtube would recommend to viewers on the search results, under the subscriptions tab, homepage, as suggested videos, and through,h notifications that viewers create by themselves. The algorithm doesn’t determine the ranking of only individual videos. They give preference to channels as a whole depending on their watch-time. Watch-time is a graph showing how long people watch the videos on your channel. It is evident that the better your content, the longers viewers will watch it. When your watch-time increases, the Youtube algorithm will prefer your channel and videos.

  10. Nurture a community for your channel:

    Youtube isn’t only a search engine for videos. It is a social network which implies that you have to use like one. You will need to interact and actively engage with your audience. Don’t be afraid to reply to your videos’ comments. Make sure you also comment on others’ videos in your niche. Engaging with creators and audience alike would show your passion for your work as a content creator and appealing to people.

  11. Create a trailer that features your best videos:

    A Youtube trailer is a short video that shows new viewers what your video is all about. You would indicate what type of content you create and highlight the advantages of watching your channel. A right trailer would also appeal to viewers and entice them to subscribe. Though there are no rules to the time-limit of a trailer, you should keep it within 25-30 seconds. It would be best to have a trailer that tells about your story, goals, and what you envision.

  12. Pay attention to your video description:

    You would probably think that the video description isn’t as important as the title, but that is incorrect. The description is that part which informs users and search engines about the content of your video. It would be best to have a general yet unique description with exciting elements and shorter keywords. You can easily lure in users with an accurate description. Optimize your descriptions correctly as you would do with a usual SEO meta description.

  13. Create genuine yet appealing thumbnails:

    A thumbnail, as you may already know, is a preview of what a video entails. This small, seemingly insignificant image serves a great purpose. You should give your video thumbnails of utmost importance if you wish to increase your view count. When you upload any video, you could choose to use one of the auto-generated thumbnails that Youtube suggests. You could also opt for creating and uploading a custom thumbnail image that you make. Most channels that are seen to be performing better use their custom thumbnails

  14. Ensure transcribing your videos:

    Creating good videos is all fun and pleasant. But sometimes, you would need to consider the part of your audience who don’t speak the same language as you. Language constraints or disability in speaking one is one factor that could hinder your view count. Youtube allows you to enable closed captions for your videos. Such captions are like subtitles which viewers can easily switch on and off when they want. If your plan to make your videos available for an international audience, you must make scripted transcriptions.

  15. Have a routine for posting videos and upload them at the best timings:

    The best possible time to upload videos is when your viewers can watch them immediately. It is excellent that Youtube tracks all the timings of viewers being most active on the platform. You could take help from Youtube analytics tools and other such reports. Accordingly, you should post content a couple of hours before those timings. Uploading videos earlier would enable viewers to discover your other videos, thus helping you get views. You must also post regularly, so have a routine ready and plan.

  16. Invite guest bloggers:

    Guest blogging is an excellent way to help you get new viewers and subscribers. You should identify influencers in the same niche as yours. Doing this would expose your channel to more viewers who watch similar content. Try and build a close relationship with other Youtubers in your niche. When you create videos with them and promote their videos, they share your videos with their subscribers. Consequently, this interchange would surely get you a lot many views and even subscribers.

  17. Build or be a part of an Influencer Community:

    An upgrade to guest blogging is building or being a part of an Influencer community. It could feel too lonely or competitive if you don’t interact with others in your niche. It would be best if you opted to be a part of an Influencer community where everyone shares their content and works together to help involve everyone. You would be able to share knowledge, thus improving communication and relationships within the community. You should also know that reciprocity is maintained as communities can’t survive on one-sided relationships.

  18. Keep up with the latest trends:

    You should always be aware of what is happening with your industry to be relevant while making content. You don’t want to be one of those Youtubers famous for some time and then shrink in the background. If you know the latest trends and topics, you will use them to your advantage. Your videos would always be appealing to your viewers, and you would lead in your field. Leading in your niche would also result in more exposure and thus a more significant number of views.

  19. Create videos that imitate others in the industry:

    Have you heard of Picasso’s famous quote, which stated good artists borrow while great artists steal. No, we don’t support plagiarism at all. But if you ponder further, you will see how he is right regarding making popular Youtube videos. When you want to gain more views, you should try making videos similar to what would appear in most viewers‘ suggested sections. Youtube algorithm offers those videos to users that are similar to ones that they watched recently.

  20. Host giveaways and contests:

    Last but not least, you must host giveaways and contests to make your channel exciting. It is quite evident that everyone loves free stuff given in giveaways. You could post about the giveaway on your social media handles and say that the details are in the Youtube video description. You can then link that video to your post. People will then click on the link and be directed to your Youtube video to learn about the giveaway and participate. Not only will you gain more viewers by this but also more subscribers.

Conclusion

The critical factor to gaining views is to optimize your channel so that it is appealing and exciting. It is necessary to strengthen your brand and also to boost the number of views on your videos. The steps to optimizing your channel are creating a consistent and robust brand aesthetic, optimizing your channel’s description, and putting in links to websites or blogs.

It would be best if you remembered that your channel would take time to start getting popular even after implementing all the above tricks. It is a continuous process, and you shouldn’t be disheartened at any stage of it. Believe in yourself, keep working diligently, and you will soon see results.