YouTube is the biggest video site on the web, getting an estimated 1 Billion views every day! That being said, it can be frustrating when you struggle to get any views on your own uploaded videos. No need to worry, there are a number of simple things that you can do to help get your videos more views on YouTube!

Optimize Your Videos On YouTube

If you are a regular reader of OnlineIncomeTeacher, you will know that we often talk about the benefits that SEO can have for attracting visitors to your website. Well the exact same techniques can be used to attract more YouTube views!

For anyone unfamiliar with SEO, it stands for Search Engine Optimization. This is a term that refers to techniques that help your online content rank highly in search engine results pages (SERPs) on Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. The higher up in the search engine pages your content ranks, the more likely it is that people will find and click through to your content.

Like I say, SEO is usually talked about in relation to blogging and website development, but the same methods can be used to optimize your YouTube videos and get more people watching them. You may think this sounds complicated and technical, but in fact it is really simple and only requires you to follow some simple steps. Let take a look at them;

Video Title

When you upload a video to YouTube, you need to enter a video title. This is a vital part of getting more views, as it is this that will help people to find your video. Many people don’t bother entering a title at all, so they end up with a video titled something like ‘HDBE37734’ or whatever default name your video is assigned. This obviously makes it incredibly hard for people to find your video, as they need to specifically know your video title to find it.

Lets say your video is about starting a website. You want to include as many keywords in your title as you can that relate to the subject matter of your video. So in this example, keywords like; starting a website, starting a blog, blogging, how to, etc. would all be useful. Tools such as ‘Google AdWords Keyword Tool’ can help you identify which keywords will work most effectively, but often using a bit of common sense is enough.

When people search for a video, either directly on YouTube or via a search engine, a proper title will help to identify your video as being the one that they are after.

Video Description

You also have the opportunity to enter a video description when uploading to YouTube. Again, many people don’t bother to fill this in because they feel that the title speaks for itself, but a proper description can help to get more views on YouTube!

Not only can you give a good idea to people what the video is about, but you can include keywords which will improve your SEO. Search engines can’t watch your video to see what it’s about! They use all the information around it to judge what it is about, which includes the video description.

Also, if you have your own website or refer to exterior sites within your video, you may want to include a link here. I always leave a link back to my blog in the description, so if people want to learn more they can click through to my site. This is a good way to improve your website SEO, but that is a different subject.

Video Tags

You need to enter a series of tags when uploading your video. These are simply words that refer to your video content, so make sure that you include as many keywords that you can. Again, this helps when people are searching for your video.

Market Your Video

The previous 3 simple techniques all help to get your video found more easily. But these aren’t the only things that you can do to get more views on YouTube. To actively encourage people to go and view your video, you must market them!

Social Media

Social media is one of the best marketing tools available online, and the best bit is that it’s completely free! Not only does it let you connect with your friends online, but it allows you to connect with people from all around the world with similar interests. In today’s world I can talk to someone living in Canada about the latest cinema releases, or someone from India about my favourite books.

Whatever your video is about, there will be people out there who want to watch it. You just need to go and find them! Post a link to your video on your Facebook page, Twitter stream and Google+ profile. Join LinkedIn groups, Facebook groups, etc. Talk to people about your video and watch similar videos from others. The point is, get involved!

Comment/Follow

As well as social media, there are many websites and forums online where you can go to find like minded people. Get involved within these communities, leave comments, answer peoples questions, follow other people, etc. All this helps to build a community, who will be more likely to go and watch your videos.

Use Your Blog

If you have your own website or blog, then use it to market your video. You can place links to your YouTube channel encouraging people to subscribe, and you can insert your videos into your web pages and blog posts. This way, there is more chance for your videos to be seen as they will be both on YouTube and your own site.

I hope you found this post helpful. Check out our ‘How To Make Money With YouTube‘ as well. Please leave your comments below and I’ll leave you with one of my own videos as an example.

httpv://youtu.be/_0fetVHe87E