- YouTube is the second most viewed website of all time.
- Business owners, hobbyists and freelancers use the platform to grow their personal and professional brands.
- Consistently posting content while engaging with your audience can improve brand loyalty and grow subscriptions.
- Searchability and visibility both play a significant role in the growth of your channel.
Did you recently start your first YouTube channel? It doesn't matter if you're a business owner looking to promote your brand or a popular video game streamer trying to make a living, a lack of subscribers can stop you from reaching your full potential.
Many people consider getting their first 1,000 subscribers the hardest part of growing a channel. It's not easy to keep posting videos when you see engagement falling and red dashes on your YouTube analytics profile. But getting past this first hurdle is entirely possible if you're willing to commit to your channel.
When you consider that 1 billion hours of YouTube gets streamed every day, it's clear there's room for small channels to grow. If you're having trouble getting people to subscribe to your channel, you're in luck. We are going to take a look at four tips you can use to get your first 1,000 YouTube subscribers.
1. Stay consistent
Like many things in life, consistency is the key to success. If you have a small subscriber base, they are likely just getting familiar with you and your content. Channel trailers are a great way to set the pace for your audience.
For example, if you plan on creating content for freelance writers, address the kind of advice and videos you'll be posting in your profile trailer. Now, if a writer finds your channel, they can watch the trailer and see that you create videos about various job boards for freelancers. You've likely just earned another subscriber.
You should list your content schedule somewhere clearly visible on your profile. When people start finding your channel and investing in your brand, there's a good chance they will continue to come back if you consistently follow your schedule.
Imagine if you had a friend that wanted to go out to lunch. They flaked on you the past six times, and now they are calling and saying, "This time, for sure!" Your reaction would vary based on your relationship with your friend, but you would probably feel frustrated. What we just described is how subscribers feel when a content creator disregards their own content schedule.
There's nothing wrong with making changes, but address the issue with your subscribers in a short video or post. Consistency and transparency will help you build rapport with visitors, which could encourage them to become subscribers.
2. Focus on searchability
YouTube is the second most viewed website of all time. The only site that gets more traffic is, you guessed it, Google. It's no coincidence that an excellent SEO strategy can help you get more website traffic and subscribers to your YouTube channel.
Specifically, we are talking about optimizing your YouTube SEO so more people can find your channel. The first thing you'll want to do here is keyword research for your channel. If you already have your keywords, great! If not, you can use YouTube's search function to see what people are talking about when you type in the keywords you want to use. You can also include tags to make your requests more niche-specific.
We also recommend that you use tools like Google Search Console to check the search volume and competition for your keywords. The goal is to find words that have a medium to high search volume and a low to medium competition.
Don't forget to fill out your channel profile and include your keywords naturally throughout the page and content. Try to add subtitles on your videos so the algorithm can quickly and easily categorize your video based on the words in the transcript. The more relevant your keywords are to the rest of the content, the better chance you have at rising through the ranks. Your new increased visibility will bring in new people, some of which will subscribe to your channel.
3. Make your content interactive
When you create content for your channel, do you have an interactive call to action (CTA) at the end? In many cases, encouraging visitors to interact with your brand will prompt many of them to take action. Depending on your goals, there are several ways you can encourage engagement.
Start by simply asking people to subscribe to your channel at the start or end of your video. Let them know that it means a lot to you and every like, share, and subscription counts. Throughout your content, you may want to include other CTAs.
For instance, if you're hosting a contest, you are going to want to tell visitors to subscribe to your channel and leave a comment for a chance to enter. If you want to see your channel explode, encourage them to share your video on social media for an additional entry. This kind of organic sharing sends positive signals to both Google and YouTube's algorithm, which improves your visibility – not to mention all of the friends of your subscribers will see your post when they share!
4. Promote your channel
Finally, don't forget to promote your channel on your other social platforms. Most people that have social media channels have at least five different accounts. That's not to say that they are active on these profiles. However, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are the most popular social networks today.
If you're going to make bets, there's a good chance that the people you want to watch your videos use Facebook or Twitter. Sharing your videos on these platforms will help you spread brand awareness and encourage people to follow the link back to your YouTube profile, where they will hopefully become subscribers.
Sharing your video in the right group may be the difference between two and two thousand subscribers overnight. There are groups available on Facebook and hashtags on Twitter. When you create a new post, use the appropriate hashtags on Twitter, and post your videos in public groups that focus on your niche or industry.
Once people start responding to your videos in the comments section on social media and your channel, use this opportunity to engage with them. Answer their questions, ask them their opinions, and learn more about the people that took the time to click the subscribe button.
Back to you
Growing a YouTube channel from the ground up is a rewarding experience. You have to remain consistent as you start uploading content and engaging with subscribers. People expect the people behind their favorite channels to be reputable, honest and transparent. The more time you spend with your audience, the better chance you have at growing your audience.
Consumer research on social media and more popular channels in your niche can help you make smart decisions about your channel. As you uncover more information, you'll start to get a better idea of what kind of people can benefit from your content. Use that information as a starting point and start your journey to 1,000 subscribers today!