The most viewed YouTube video of all time is “Baby Shark Dance” with a mind-blowing 12 billion views. That’s close to the number you’d get if every human being on the planet watched the same video at least twice.
While 12 billion is certainly a record to aspire to from 2.5 billion youtube users, it’s more than a bit out of reach for most YouTube creators. Fortunately, you don’t need nearly that many views to grow your channel and become famous in your content niche. Nor do you need that many to start making money on the platform.
You do need views for your YouTube videos, though. The question that many new YouTube creators have is, “How do I get them?”
This article will answer the question of how to get more views on YouTube by showing you 43 (yes, 43!) ways to increase them. We’ll also share content ideas, SEO tools, and more helpful tips that will help you get as many eyeballs on your YouTube content as possible.
Let’s start by explaining how the YouTube algorithm works so that you know why getting views on YouTube is so important.
Views are one of many important YouTube engagement metrics. The more views your videos have, the more people they reach. The more people they reach, the more popular your channel becomes. That in turn leads to consistent engagement that can help your channel become more widely recognized and qualify for monetization, so you can make money on the platform.
Why do views help your channel in this way? They do so because they’re an essential factor in how the YouTube algorithm does its job.
The YouTube algorithm is a set of rules that the platform uses to determine which videos get ranked highest in search results, the homepage, and Recommended lists. In other words, it decides what videos get shown first, and to which users.
The job of an algorithm like YouTube is to show users videos that, based on their preferences and watch history, they are most likely to want to see. That way, they will spend as much time as possible viewing more content, which helps YouTube generate more revenue.
When a video gains a lot of views, this (and other factors, like audience retention rate, likes, comments, etc.) cause YouTube to categorize the video as popular in its particular content niche. As a result, it ranks higher in search results for keywords related to the video’s topic. The logic is that if a lot of people watched that video, others with similar interests will want to watch it, too.
This means that as a video gains more views, YouTube will factor this into its decision to rank it higher and recommend it to more users. Users themselves will share it with people they know and boost YouTube views even more. They may even subscribe to the channel that the video originated from to catch future content.
With enough views, a YouTube video can be like a well-oiled, channel-growing machine.
What is Considered a View on YouTube?
Believe it or not, there are rules for what constitutes a “view” on a YouTube video. There is one main criterion, and that is that the person watching the video must watch at least 30 seconds of it. If they click away in less than that amount of time, even if they saw the first part of the video, it doesn’t count as a view.
That rule makes the first 30 seconds of your video critical. You must hook your viewers in that short span of time. Otherwise, you won’t generate precious views.
43 Ways to Increase YouTube Views for Your Channel
We’ve arrived at our list of 43 ways to increase YouTube video views for your channel during every step of content creation and promotion.
Let’s dive in!
1. Select a Content Niche for Your Channel
Make your videos appealing to a specific target audience by selecting a content niche for your YouTube channel. The niche can be any industry, field, or genre you want (although, ideally, you should already have some knowledge of it).
This strategy will help you establish a unique channel that only a select group of users are interested in. This makes them more likely to convert into subscribers than a general audience.
2. Choose a Catchy Name
Make your channel stand out and increase brand recognizability by choosing a catchy name. It should be unique and reflect your personality and/or the types of videos you create. That way, viewers will come to associate your particular flavor of content with your name.
3. Create a Channel Trailer
Create a channel trailer, so that users who visit your channel can discover who you are and learn what your content is all about. A great channel trailer not only makes your profile look filled out and professional, but it also excites and entices viewers to check out your other videos.
4. Follow YouTube’s Community Guidelines and Terms of Service
The quickest way to not get more views is to violate YouTube’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Service with your content. Doing so could get your channel suspended, or worse: banned. Avoid this nightmare scenario by reading over all the guidelines and terms carefully and following them to the letter.
5. Research Trending Topics in Your Content Niche
Research trending topics in your content niche to mine for video ideas that will engage more viewers. Use YouTube or Google search or SEO keyword tools to discover what users in your target audience are buzzing about, and then brainstorm video concepts that build on the hype.
6. Write Video Scripts and Outlines
While your target audience may not be YouTube creators themselves, they’re perceptive enough to know a poorly conceived, unorganized, amateurish video when they see one. Such content will never convert new subscribers. In fact, it will drive them away.
To make your videos as professional and poised as possible, write scripts and outlines for your content. Plan each video out from beginning to end, so that you avoid embarrassing mistakes like rambling, pausing too often, and jumping to new topics too quickly.
7. Create High Retention Videos
High-retention videos are videos that keep audiences watching for most or all of the runtime. Focus on making your content as high retention as possible by improving its overall quality and entertainment or informative value.
8. Make Longer Videos
Social media experts recommend that your YouTube video be at least eight minutes long. This gives you enough time to provide valuable content and justify including mid-roll ads for maximum revenue. If the topic warrants it, however, you can make the video even longer. There’s no practical length limit.
9. Make an Intro and Outro To Use in Every Video
Increase the recognizability of your brand and the professional level of your content by making an attractive intro and outro for all your videos. This is also a great way to distinguish between different series or themes.
10. Create YouTube Shorts from Longer Form Videos
There are multiple types of content on YouTube in 2023, which means creators have multiple ways to gain views.
One method you can use to generate more views is to upload YouTube Shorts. Unlike a conventional YouTube video, which can be any length the creator desires, a YouTube Short can only be 60 seconds long at the max. As with regular videos, users must watch at least 30 seconds of it in order for it to count as a view (if the Short is less than 30 seconds long, the user must watch the entire film).
Start creating and uploading YouTube Shorts to build another stream of views for your channel. Use clips from your longer-form content, so that users who see your Shorts will be enticed to visit your channel to view the complete footage.
11. Edit Your Videos
Even with scripts and outlines to refer back to, you can still make mistakes while filming content. That’s why it’s important to edit your videos. During editing, you can cut out a lot of errors like dead air, awkward “um’s” and “uh’s,” and flubbed lines. You can also add transitions, graphics, and other elements that will make your video appear more aesthetically pleasing.
12. Add a Relevant Keyword to the Video Title
Relevant keywords help your YouTube video rank higher and become more discoverable in search results. They’re part of a marketing strategy called search engine optimization or SEO. This is where you optimize your content in specific ways – like including keywords – to make it easier for users to find it via a search engine, like the one on YouTube.
The most important place you should include the primary keyword that describes your video best is in the video title. This not only helps it higher, but it also tells users what your video is about at a glance.
13. Optimize the Video Description with Keywords
Another important area of your video to insert relevant keywords is in the description. Because it allows more characters than the title, you can include secondary keywords as well as your primary ones and make your video even more discoverable.
When you’re writing your video description, make sure it’s both concise and readable. Don’t stuff it with so many keywords that it reads awkward and unnatural.
Keyword tags are keywords that you can “tag” onto your video. They tell the YouTube algorithm what your video is about so that it can rank and recommend them accordingly. These are different from the keywords you include in your title, description, transcript, and other text elements of your video, and are added using a specific tool in YouTube Studio.
14. Upload a Custom Designed Thumbnail
Design and upload custom thumbnails for each of your videos. A thumbnail can go a long way to attracting more views. It should be professional and eye-catching, and also give some hint as to the content of the video itself.
15. Add Captions
Add subtitles and captions to your video to improve accessibility and increase views. Many users like to keep captions on while they’re watching a video, so they can enjoy it in a quiet space and not miss any important dialogue. This strategy can also improve your video’s SEO, as it’s an opportunity to include more keywords.
16. Add Cards Throughout Your Video
Cards are interactive elements that you can add to your video that links to other videos. Add these throughout your content to direct viewers toward more of your videos that are relevant to their interests.
17. Add a Watermark to Your Videos
Improve the aesthetic of your videos by adding a watermark. This strategy makes your content appear all the more unique and professional, which will help attract more viewers.
18. Create Playlists to Keep People Watching
Create playlists of your videos that share similar themes or topics. Then link to those playlists in a card or on the end screen. This strategy makes it easy for your viewers to find more videos like the one they just viewed and keep generating views for your channel.
19. Add End Screens to Promote Your Videos, Channel, or Website
An end screen is a still image at the end of your video that plays for the last few seconds. It’s your last opportunity to grab your viewers’ attention and invite them to keep watching your content. To do so, add cards and other graphic elements to the end screen that promote your other videos, channel, or website.
20. Upload a Transcript of Your Video
A transcript is a written record of the words that are spoken throughout your YouTube video. Write transcripts for each video to increase the number of keywords registered on your video and improve SEO discoverability.
21. Craft an Engaging Title and Description
A video title and description can attract more views if they are engaging enough. Be creative with both and feel free to make them humorous, shocking, or catchy as the mood of your topic requires.
22. Incorporate a Call-To-Action
A call-to-action or CTA is an appeal you make to your viewers to perform a certain action. You can write the YouTube CTA in the video description or a pinned comment, or you can state it verbally. For the purpose of gaining more views, encourage users watching your content to subscribe to your channel, check out relevant playlists, or watch a previous video that will expand their enjoyment of a particular topic.
23. Use Timestamps
Timestamps are moments in your video that viewers can click on to instantly reach the points in the video that they are most interested in. They also function as a roadmap that lets users know what, specifically, your video covers. Even if your audience isn’t interested in everything you talk about in a given video, they may still provide you with a view by fast-forwarding to the parts they are curious about.
24. Improve Your Channel’s Session Time
Session time is the amount of time that users spend on YouTube after viewing a video. The longer a user’s session time is after watching one of your videos, the higher YouTube will rank your content. That being said, put every effort into improving your channel’s session time. Some strategies include inserting cards and links to your videos, channel, and playlists throughout each video, end screen, and description.
25. Upload Your Videos at the Right Time
Getting more views on your videos is sometimes a matter of publishing them at the right time of day. According to SocialPilot, who analyzed data from several different brands, the best times to upload new YouTube content is 2-4 PM EST Monday through Friday, and 9-11 AM EST on Saturdays and Sundays. These are the times that you’re likely to get the most views.
26. Publish Videos Consistently
Channels that publish videos on a consistent schedule are more likely to generate more views. This happens for two reasons. The first reason is that your subscribers come to know exactly when you upload new content and wait to watch it expectantly. The second reason is the YouTube algorithm values consistency and may rank your regularly posted videos higher in search results. That in turn will result in more views for your content.
27. Enable Your Videos for Embedding on Other Sites
YouTube creators have control over whether or not their videos can be embedded on other websites and platforms. Enable the embedding feature to allow you and other users to share your content and expand your audience more easily.
28. Leave a Pinned Comment on Your Own Video
Leave a pinned comment at the top of your own video that grabs your audience’s attention and makes them curious about the video itself. Your comment can be a call to action, such as asking your viewers to visit your website. It can also be a question or some other conversation starter that users will want to respond to in the comment section.
Whatever it is, it should pique users’ interest enough that they will watch your video for at least 30 seconds to see for themselves what you’re talking about.
29. Monitor Your YouTube Analytics
Monitor your YouTube analytic data to see which of your videos are getting the most engagement. Then, consider what distinguishes those videos from the rest of your content. This can help you pinpoint areas of weakness, like a limp title or a boring thumbnail, and then make improvements that will increase views.
30. Promote Your YouTube Channel on Other Social Media Platforms
YouTube creators who also have a presence on other social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, can cross-promote. This means they can share links to their YouTube channel and videos on their other social media profiles and encourage their followers there to watch, subscribe, and share. It’s a lucrative way to tap into different audiences who don’t follow you on YouTube yet.
31. Promote Your Content Using Instagram Reels
Just as you can share clips of your longer-form videos via YouTube Shorts, you can do the same with Instagram Reels. As with Shorts, the maximum runtime of a Reel is 60 seconds. Use this precious minute to show highlights from your long-form YouTube content. Include a link to your channel in your Instagram bio, so that your viewers on that platform will navigate to YouTube to view the full video.
32. Collaborate with Other YouTube Creators and Influencers in Your Niche
Collaborate with other YouTube creators and influencers in your content niche to spread awareness of your videos to new audiences. This strategy can be mutually beneficial, as it exposes each channel’s followers to fresh content and increases views for both accounts.
33. Promote Your YouTube Video or Channel Through Blogs
Create your own blog or pitch a guest post on someone else’s to promote your YouTube video or channel online and convert readers into viewers. It’s easy to do this with a video because you can simply adapt the script or outline into a compelling article.
34. Engage with Your YouTube Community Tab
Engage directly with your target audience outside of your videos by accessing the Community tab on your channel. Post updates, ask questions, and reply to users’ comments. This will help you establish a rapport with viewers and increase your credibility and trustworthiness. Developing those qualities will naturally result in more views for your content.
35. Buy YouTube Growth Services
A YouTube growth service is a website that provides engagement metrics for your videos. You can buy from them to supply your channel with subscribers, shares, likes, comments, and other view-boosting commodities.
36. Buy YouTube Views
Increase YouTube views quickly and directly by purchasing them from a trusted provider. The best views to buy are those that come from real YouTube users, not bots. Real users are more likely to engage with your channel beyond a view, and they also don’t violate YouTube’s no-bot policy.
37. Promote Yourself Offline to Increase Viewership
You can promote yourself and your YouTube content offline as well as online. A few offline promotional strategies you can leverage are attending conventions within your industry; networking with like-minded creators and niche brands; printing business cards and flyers; and spreading the word about your videos among friends and family.
38. Analyze Your Competitor’s Promotion Strategy
You can learn a lot about how to attract more views by analyzing your competitors. Watch their most-viewed videos and pay attention to the promotional strategies they employ. Then, consider how you can adopt those strategies (without directly copying them) for your own channel.
39. Hold Giveaways and Announce the Winners in Your Video Comments
Giveaways are a surefire way to increase views, as well as boost overall engagement for your channel. When you hold a giveaway, be sure to mention it often and build hype for it until the day you announce the names of the winners. Announce the winners of the giveaway in your comment section to bring users to your video and get those views.
40. Promote Your Videos Through YouTube Ads
Help your videos reach your target audience faster by starting a YouTube Ads campaign. The benefit of this strategy is it ensures your video gets in front of the people who are most likely to enjoy your content and subscribe to your channel. The downside, of course, is you have to pay for this type of promotion.
41. Ask Questions on a Poll
Polls are a fun way to connect with your audience, but they also give you the opportunity to ask questions about what kind of content your viewers want to see from you. Post poll questions to your channel’s Community tab and watch the results carefully. The answers that get the most votes can give you ideas for videos that will get lots of views.
42. Share Videos on Quora, Reddit, and Other Online Forums
Post your videos to relevant threads on forums like Quora and Reddit. That way, you can reach the niche audiences that go to those websites to look up specific information or answers to questions.
10 YouTube Content Ideas to Attract Views
The best way to gain more views on YouTube by far is to upload quality, engaging videos. In case you’re stumped for ideas, here are 10 YouTube content and channel ideas that work for just about any niche.
How-To Videos
Among the four most popular content categories on YouTube – next to comedy music, and entertainment/pop culture – is how-to or tutorials. Whenever people don’t know how to do something, from replacing a car part to baking a cake, they look up how to do it on YouTube. No matter what your industry or niche is, you can always find a process or action in it to teach others how to do it.
Debunking Videos
Another popular type of video is those that debunk popular trends, myths, or hacks in a given niche. For example, Ann Reardon of the How To Cook That channel regularly uploads videos in which she debunks claims or hacks related to cooking and the food industry. When applied to your field, debunking is a great way to educate your viewers and dispel misinformation at the same time.
Touring Videos
Another YouTube video idea that attracts a lot of engagement is tours. You can film a tour of just about anything, from a museum to a bookstore to a national park. (If you film in a store or on private property, remember to ask the owner for permission before you start recording.) Your viewers will love getting a peek into a place they’ve never been before and adding it to their list of locations to visit in the future.
Product Demonstrations
If your content niche involves products of any kind (let’s say, kitchen appliances or electronics, for example), film yourself demonstrating how they work. Your audiences will appreciate getting to see what the product looks like and how it performs before they go out and buy it for themselves. You may even influence their purchase decision.
Unboxing Videos
There’s something mildly thrilling about watching someone open a box or a package for the first time and take out the object or product that’s inside. You can do this with anything: tools, toys, books, clothing, you name it. It’s a versatile concept that anyone in any content niche can use.
Daily Vlogs
Many YouTube users enjoy following channels that upload daily vlogs. Vlogs are like video diary entries in which the creator films themselves as they live their daily lives. Typical vlogging activities include working, exercising, reading, cooking, eating, and even sleeping!
Mukbang Videos
Mukbang videos, or videos of people eating food, are wildly popular. They regularly attract millions of viewers, even though the only significant thing happening is that the star of the video is consuming a meal. Your channel doesn’t even have to have a pattern of food niche content to hop onto this trend. As long as the food you’re eating is interesting in appearance and you eat it with fervor and expression, you’ll garner plenty of attention.
Street Interviews
In recent years, video creators have gone viral for conducting street interviews. They may ask willing passersby on the street serious questions or humorous ones. They may even offer them money or some other kind of prize for answering a trivia question or playing a game. Interview videos can be fun and entertaining. But make sure to never film anyone without getting their permission first.
Review Videos
A YouTube creator can quickly gain credibility and recognition in their niche by uploading thoughtful, authentic review videos. In these videos, the creator reviews a product or service and then gives the audience a verdict on whether or not they should buy, view, or use it.
Pet Videos
Everyone loves animals. Cat videos, in particular, are extremely popular on YouTube and other social media video platforms. The best part is you can work your pets into just about any kind of genre or niche, and viewers will enjoy it just as much as the main content.
5 SEO Tools for Optimizing Your YouTube Videos
Earlier in the article, we mentioned the need to optimize your YouTube videos with keywords and other SEO strategies. Here are five SEO tools you can use to make your videos more discoverable on the YouTube platform.
YouTube Analytics
YouTube Analytics is a built-in data analysis platform that evaluates the performance of your videos and your channels based on certain metrics. These insights can help you improve your YouTube SEO.
For example, if you see through YouTube Analytics that you don’t have much traffic coming to your channel from YouTube Search, but you have a lot coming from external sources, it may mean that you’re performing great on other platforms and should shift your focus to optimizing your videos on YouTube itself.
Google Keywords Planner
Google Keywords Planner generates keyword ideas and estimates for bids on ads. It’s free to use, but it does require you to have a Google Ads account.
TubeBuddy
TubeBuddy is an all-in-one tool that uses AI to help you create SEO YouTube content, as well as manage and grow your channel. They offer three paid subscription tiers starting at $4.80 per month.
YouTube Autocomplete
YouTube Autocomplete is a feature of the platform’s search engine. When you start typing in the YouTube search bar, Autocomplete suggests words to finish filling out your query. Use it as a tool to see what users commonly search for when they enter certain terms, and then brainstorm content ideas using those terms as primary or secondary keywords.
Google Trends
Google Trends is a free tool that lets you see what keywords and topics are trending in the United States and abroad. This tool can help you see what people around the world are discoursing in your niche so that you can create videos that are optimized with those topics as keywords.
How to Gain 4000 Watch Hours on YouTube for Monetization
One of the main reasons that YouTube creators want to gain views on their channel is so they can qualify for monetization. Monetization is when advertisers pay to run ads on popular videos. The minimum requirements for a YouTube channel to get monetized are 1) acquire 1000 subscribers and 2) gain 4000 public watch hours in a 12-month period.
For new channels, getting 4000 watch hours can be a tall order. Here are three tips to help you achieve it faster.
Optimize Your Videos and Channel for SEO
We’ve gone to length in this article about optimizing your videos and channel for SEO. It’s worth repeating, though, because it’s so vital to getting your content ranked higher and pushed to more users by the YouTube algorithm.
Focus on Creating High Quality, Consistent Content
Aside from SEO, high-quality and consistently published video content is the best way to increase views for your channel. Focus heavily on making sure that all the videos you put out are reflective of your integrity, expertise, and level of professionalism.
Buy YouTube Views
Another option that you can use to get YouTube views fast is to buy them. The key is to buy real YouTube views from real users, as they will bring the most value to your channel. You can learn more about Viralyft’s plans for buying YouTube views here.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no set time for you to get more views organically. If you buy them from Viralyft, however, you will receive the views from your plan within 4-6 days. Buying YouTube views is not the only way to get more views on your video, but it is one of the fastest. It can also lead to growth in organic engagement in the future. To market your videos and boost your views, you can 1) optimize your YouTube content for SEO, 2) create unique, quality videos in your content niche, and 3) buy YouTube views. You can engage with your YouTube community by posting channel updates and polls on the Community tab, responding to comments, and collaborating with other creators in your niche. The best way to track the performance of your videos and track audience data is to use YouTube Analytics, the platform’s built-in performance analysis tool. You can share YouTube Shorts or clips of long-form videos on Instagram by repackaging them as Reels. To share YouTube videos on your mobile device, 1) open the app, 2) tap on the video you want to share, and 3) select the “Share” button underneath the video title. Collaborating with other YouTube creators can help increase your views by exposing you to new audiences. No. As long as your viewers watch at least 30 seconds of each video, it can be as long as you like. It depends on your target audience and how well they respond to advertisements. We recommend trying other methods to boost your channel, like SEO or buying YouTube views, before resorting to paying for ads. Yes. It’s important for your video descriptions to be optimized for SEO, so that the YouTube algorithm will recognize them and rank them higher in search results. Yes! Networking and connecting with your niche community can help you increase awareness of your channel, which will help you generate more views. Yes. Updating old videos with more attractive thumbnails, attention-grabbing titles and descriptions, and cards can help them get more views. Yes. That’s often why a YouTube video goes viral: it gets watched over and over by thousands of the same users because they enjoy it so much. There could be multiple reasons why your videos aren’t generating any views. They may not be fully optimized, the content may be too vague or not unique enough, or the videos could be low quality. Yes. However, don’t try to rewatch your YouTube video over and over to boost your view count. YouTube has a way of tracking such activity, and you could get in trouble for it.How long will it take me to get more views on my YouTube videos?
Do I need to buy YouTube views to get more views?
What strategies can I use to market my videos and boost my views?
How should I go about engaging with the YouTube community to boost views?
What is the best way to track the performance of my videos and acquire data about my audience?
What platform is the best one to share YouTube videos on?
How can I share YouTube videos using a mobile device?
Should I collab with other YouTube creators? Will it help increase my views?
Will the length of my YouTube videos have any impact on how many views they get?
Is it smart to market my YouTube channel via paid ads?
Do I really need to optimize my YouTube video descriptions for SEO?
Is it possible to get more YouTube views by joining communities or networks online?
Will going back and optimizing old videos help me increase views?
Is a rewatch of the same YouTube video considered a view?
Why is it that my YouTube videos aren’t generating any views?
Do multiple views from the same user count as new views?
Conclusion
Now that you know our 43 ways to increase YouTube views, you can take advantage of the awesome power of views to help you grow your YouTube channel organically. In addition, you can leverage our content ideas and SEO tool recommendations to create content that attracts new audiences.
