How to Grow your Youtube Channel in 2024

Are you looking forward to enhancing and increasing viewership for your YouTube channel? 

Then you are at the right place!

There is no doubt that video content over the past decade has seen an enormous audience engagement. All social media platforms have made provisions to promote video content. These can be found through various features. Instagram Reels, TikTok videos, and Snapchat Stories all contribute to this notion. 

However, the platform that dominates this medium of information and entertainment is YouTube.

For over 15 years, YouTube has been promoting video content creators and videographers. YouTube is an archive of over 800 million videos and has 2 billion users every day. 

Now, the most anticipated query is how do you stand out from all this pre-existing content? Anyone can make a YouTube channel today with a few clicks. But the question is how to grow your YouTube channel and build an authority in the market?

We are here to help you!

We have created this article dedicated to all the constructive steps and techniques you can follow on how to grow a YouTube channel and increase efficiency.  

Without any further ado, let us get started!

#1. Build Topical and Keyword Optimized Content

When creating content, the first question that comes to a creator’s mind is ‘what topic should I cover with this video?’. You can always explore multiple arenas of information but we suggest that you pick a niche that you will be talking about the most.

Say you want to create content on food. Now, food is a very broad concept and under its umbrella has many cuisines and dishes. 

With your YouTube channel, you must be clear with the idea of what cuisine or delicacy you will be talking about. 

Or will you cover them all in different vlogs and video content? We will discuss the content type later in detail, but first, we need to decide on the topical content or topic of content. 

Once you have decided on your niche, you can optimize your content. Here, optimizing content refers to creating content that is relevant and most searched on the internet. You can study the various seed/primary keywords of your niche.

For instance, the primary keywords for a fitness YouTube channel are;

You can utilize these primary keywords to find other long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords refer to co-related concepts or terms. For the same example as above, the long-tail keywords would be;

With this information, you can easily generate content and scripts for your videos. This will also provide you with more ideas and projects. To create apt content, you will have to research your competitors’ works as well. You can get inspired by their content and create your own rendition and study.      

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#2. Revise Your Video Titles, Descriptions, and Tags 

When we talk about optimizing keywords, it is not restricted to finding new topics and a niche. Keywords play an important role in ranking your videos. If your titles and descriptions have the primary keywords, the video can be discovered easily. This is another method how to grow your Youtube channel. 

Remember to add the keywords in your video titles. They do not have an extensive impact, but they can help your video be more relevant to the topic. 

The descriptions of a video are very underrated. Most people just add links to their videos or to their social platforms. This section can be utilized to help the viewer understand a brief idea of what your video will contain.

Do not add all the information as they might not watch the video then. Try to make it intriguing na interesting.   

Tags are also another way to add visibility to your video. They work similar to that keywords and are quite helpful. Tags can be segmented into three types;

Direct tags refer to the primary keywords or the direct keywords of your topic. Say you are making a video on Keto Diet, here your primary keywords are;

The semantic tags refer to wider concepts and contain co-relating keywords. Taking the same example, the tags are;

As for cumulative tags, they contain the keywords from the industry the topic comes from. Here the tags can be;

#3. Create Videos To Enhance Watch Time

Where other platforms promote short-timed videos, the YouTube algorithm works differently. For them, the longer you keep the user engaged on the platform, the more are the chances of your video being ranked higher.  

To give a brief, ‘watch time’ refers to the total time a video is watched since its upload. YouTube explains in a blog that videos that have a longer watch time are given preference. Now, what can you do to enhance your video’s watch time? Let us help you!

Following are a few ways you can emphasize the watch time;

This goes without saying that to increase the watch time of your video you need to make long videos. Try to keep the time rate between 8 – 15 minutes. However, do not increase the time rate by adding misleading or irrelevant substance. You should craft your script in a way that the video falls within this is time rate. 

The mentioned time rate is for a regular video but if you are making documentaries or films the time will increase inevitably. Compared to short videos, long videos perform well in terms of watch time and are ranked on the YouTube pages.

Intros are normally seen as credits of your brand and channel. They should also consist of a gist of what your video is going to be about. The first 15 – 30 seconds in a YouTube video are vital. This gives the viewer an idea of what they are watching.

As mentioned above, to increase the time rate, do not compromise on your content. No matter how good your intro is if your content lacks quality, the user will leave. You need to create content that creates curiosity and provides a solution for the same.

#4. Consistency In Uploading Videos 

Consistency refers to relevance, and staying relevant in the market is imperative for growth. Uploading videos on a weekly basis is advised based on your content topic. You can upload once or twice a week. Content creators that make videos on current affairs and routine news upload videos daily. 

Rather than uploading, the process that you should be focusing on is planning your content. For instance, if you plan to upload your video on a Monday, your video should be ready by Saturday.

This will give you time to study your video and make amendments if required. Planning your video regime is a step to optimizing your channel. 

However, for content creators like filmmakers, musicians, and travel vloggers, uploading consistently is difficult. To stay relevant to the audience, you can opt for shorter videos. They may not help you rank, but they will definitely keep your audience engaged. 

You can also use this platform of short videos to create anticipation of your content: upload teasers and snippets of your larger project for the audience to stay connected. 

#5. Create Mix Content 

The theory that is used to create a range of creative content is called mixed content. You can always create content on the same topics and their advancement. However, most content creators tend to explore and branch out into the different forms of content. 

Let us give you a better idea of how to make your YouTube channel grow with content.

You can use the ‘Hero – Hub – Help’ communication model to create diversified content and engage with your audience. This model focuses on the three types of content you can pursue to build an optimized channel and learn how to grow your YouTube channel. Let’s discuss the core aspects of this model.

Hero content refers to the section of content that is created to blow up your brand. This content is made to go viral and connect with audiences that are not from your niche or the targeted audience. Hero content takes a lot of time to be produced; hence, it is created in intervals.

For instance, let’s take the example of a videographer or filmmaker as a YouTube content creator. The hero content for them is their short films and documentaries, which consume a lot of time and finance.    

Where ‘Hero Content’ is uploaded once in six months, Hub content is the weekly feed of the audience. This content is what keeps your audience connected to your channel. This content is majorly created in an episodic or series format and consumes moderate time. Hub content is an integral part of learning how to grow your Youtube channel, as this content helps you gain subscribers. 

For instance, we are taking the same example of a filmmaker. The hub content for their YouTube channel will be media analysis (movie critic), series on best cinematography, and more. This content can be enjoyed by the target audience. 

Help content, as the name suggests, refers to helping the audience with their queries. 

This content helps in generating more viewers and visitors to your channel. Help content mostly revolves around engaging with the audience through tutorial videos and guides. This content is considered evergreen content, as it will always stay relevant to a section of the public and users. 

For instance, for a filmmaker, help content can be segmented as tutorials on ‘Which lens to use for portrait or landscape?’, ‘How to use the grid in a camera?’, or ‘How to set up a studio at home?’. 

This is the model of communication you can use when creating content for your YouTube channel.  

#6. Optimize Your Playlist and Channel 

As we discussed, creating a series and episodic content is a great way to attract and engage the audience on your channel. However, a few content creators forget to optimize their content once uploaded. 

For instance, a viewer comes to your channel and watches a video from the series content. They want to explore the next video but cannot find it on your channel as they are not sequenced at all. This is where you need to optimize your content and create playlists. 

Creating playlists for your channel can be very beneficial, especially when creating tutorials or guides. You can also categorize your content on the channel for the audience to find and explore the content easily. 

Say you have created videos on recipes of multiple cuisines; now, if someone wants to find a video on Italian food, they will have to go through your whole content list. But if you create a playlist for different cuisines, it will be easy to access. Hence, optimizing your channel means helping your viewers to navigate around your channel. 

#7. Add Attractive Thumbnails 

Now that we have discussed the quality and ease of use of your channel, let us shift our attention to packaging. You must be thinking, are thumbnails really that important? The direct answer is yes. 

More often than not, youtube users tend to watch videos after analyzing the thumbnails. Especially through suggested videos. If you feature in suggested videos, they can help you grow organically and to stand out, the visual appeal should be impactful. Hence, designing your thumbnails and prioritizing them can help your video grow. 

Now, what kind of thumbnail design formats can you follow? 

Thumbnails should be designed in a way that attracts your attention. Try to avoid cartoon-ish editing and emphasis on dramatic statements like ‘Did You Know?’. You have to create curiosity within the users with your thumbnails. 

Why are we pestering this notion so much? It is because thumbnails are the first impression of your video content. Hence, they need to be precise and intriguing.  

#8. Cross Channel Promotion 

It goes without saying that in order to promote and grow your YouTube channel you need to cross-promote on your other social media platforms as well. The other platforms work on the mutual following or the concept of befriending to access the content. 

Some of these platforms are Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Discord, and Pinterest, among others. This tells us that these platforms may have the potential of growing subscribers for your channel. 

Also, most of these platforms have a forum to post video content. You can add a snippet or a teaser of your upcoming video and ask them to subscribe to your channel to view the whole content. This will create engagement as well as viewership for your channel.

You can use these platforms to promote your content as well as to get inspired by new content. You can start a Q&A session on the stories and get ideas for your new videos. This will also help you understand what the audience wants and how you can stay relevant in the market.  

#9.Collaborations With Multiple Creators 

One of the most celebrated methods of growing your YouTube channel is collaboration. Collaborations refer to teaming up or partnering with a fellow YouTuber who creates content in a similar niche as yours or something different.

Collaborations are an exciting experience for the audience as they get to witness different content creators in the same space. This generates anticipation in the audience and can help your channel to grow in terms of subscribers and viewership. As the radius of the audience has now widened. 

The content creator you are collaborating with will also get their set targeted audience to view content. This will help your channel to be discovered more among that niche audience as well. 

These collaborations can also be seen from the point of view of Hero Content. YouTubers can work on a larger project than just a short video or discussion. As the reach has been widened, the content will be viewed on a larger scale and will benefit the YouTubers.  

#10. Engage With Your Audience 

The final suggestion on how to grow your YouTube channel is to engage with your audience. This might seem very simple but can be very tedious if not planned well. Engagement can be extended through various methods. To mention a few;

Live streaming is the most cost-effective way of creating a connection with your audience. Through live streams, audiences can interact with you in real-time. These are very helpful for content creators who make videos on skill sets. For instance, painters, gamers, musicians, and others. Live streaming is helpful in understanding your audience and determining what they want.  

Try to engage as much as you can in the comment section as the viewers are giving you feedback for your videos. This can build trust amongst viewers and they might want to express their views even more if they see you replying. This is an organic way to build a connection with your audience. 

You can create posts where you request your subscribers to ask you questions and you can answer them through a video. This will create a sense of relatability with your audience and will also give you a content creation idea. You can create a series where you do this session once a month and get feedback through comments. 

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With this, we would like to conclude our suggestions on how to grow your YouTube channel. Hoping this was helpful and that these recommendations will help you in creating high-quality content and receiving appreciation for the same.