YouTube Recommended Practices: to Grow Your Channel & Expand Your Reach
With over 500 hours of video being uploaded every minute, YouTube is one of the most popular platforms, accounting for 25% of the world’s mobile traffic. It’s certainly not an easy task to make a video stand out amongst the billions that have been uploaded, which is why we made this list of YouTube Recommended Practices. Tested by YouTubers themselves, this guide will allow you to grow your audience and your impact, one YouTube video at a time.
The Three T's
Arguably, the most important factors of a YouTube upload are the three T’s: thumbnail, title, and tags.
The thumbnail is usually the first thing that catches the viewer’s eye and entices them to click on the video, so it should stand out, be easy to read, aesthetic, bright, and be precise.
The title is also one of the first aspects of the video that viewers evaluate when deciding whether or not to watch the video, so it should be easy to understand and engaging. In addition, the title should demonstrate that the viewers will have something to gain from watching the video. Finally, it should also be searchable, including phrases that the target audience will likely search on YouTube.
The tags in the video are essential as they notify YouTube of the appropriate audience to show your video to. The tags should primarily be searchable, meaning they are exact phrases that viewers are likely to search for. Inspiration for which tags to include can be found by looking at the tags used for other YouTube videos that have similar topics and are well-performing. It is best to include the most relevant and searchable tags towards the beginning, as these are the ones that the algorithm will consider the most. If you use the same tags on many of your videos, they will be more likely to be recommended to the viewers after they watch one of your videos. It is important to remember not to overdo the tags and include too many and not to include tags irrelevant to your video. You can go back and add tags after posting a video, but it is best to add them when originally posting.
How to grow your YouTube channel - what is the most important
Description
The description box of the video can include any relevant information to the video. It also helps with search results to include the video’s title in the description box.
End Screen
End screens on YouTube allow audiences to stay engaged by allowing them to continue watching the videos or subscribe to the channel. Add a few seconds of extra time at the end of the video with a neutral visual so that the end screen can be applied here during the uploading process. When choosing the icons to include on the end screen, you can add a “subscribe” icon and a “best for viewer” option for the recommended video, or you can specifically choose the video you want to be recommended to the viewers.
Analytics
Your channel analytics is a gift from YouTube, so make sure to use them! Analyzing YouTube analytics lets you see what specific searches have brought viewers to past videos. You can then use this information to decide which tags to continue including, which new tags to include on your videos, which tags to move to the beginning of the list, and which titles to use.
Upload Schedule
It is best in terms of the YouTube algorithm to upload videos for the channel on a schedule. For example, you can upload once, twice, or three times a week, but on the same specific weekdays each week.
Overall Channel
Having a niche for your YouTube channel is beneficial in building an engaged audience. Having a clean and clear appearance that is visually pleasing will also be beneficial overall.
Following these guidelines is the first step in growing your YouTube channel and expanding your reach. Just remember – consistency is key!
