#LifeHacks: Three ways to get more YouTube subscribers

You may have noticed an influx of brands on YouTube lately — and there’s a good reason for it!

YouTube not only maximises your reach and exposure, but it’s also the place to be nowadays.

Just take a look at the facts:

• Six out of 10 people prefer to watch content from online video platforms as opposed to TV.
• YouTube gets over 30 million visitors per day.
• Nearly five billion YouTube videos are watched on a daily basis.
• Eight out of 10 people between the ages of 18 and 49 watch YouTube in an average month.
• By the year 2025, viewers under the age of 32 will not be subscribing to any pay-TV services.

It’s all about streaming services now, which makes you think … where will all the ads go? On platforms like YouTube, of course!

And that’s why it’s important for your brand to get a head start.

Here are three #LifeHacks that will show you how to get people smashing that subscribe button:

Lifehack #1: Modify your YouTube video metadata

First things first, you need to modify your videos’ metadata (the title, descriptions and tags) so that Google and YouTube will be able to rank it in terms of searchability — and you definitely want your videos to come out near the top of the search engine results.

Here’s how to improve your YouTube videos’ titles, descriptions and tags:

Title

When creating your next YouTube video, ensure that your title is eye-catching and ‘quirky’ enough to grab users’ attention, while at the same time maintaining good SEO. This means that your title needs to contain searchable keywords and phrases.

Use a Keyword Suggestion Tool and take note of how much monthly traffic a particular word or phrase gets – this will ensure that you’re not inserting words that no one is looking for.

Description

Your SEO strategy for YouTube needs to include the optimisation of your videos’ descriptions. This will not only allow your videos to be found more easily but it will also give users an idea of what your video is about.

According to an article by Shout Me Loud writer Harsh Agrawal, the key to a good description is not to overdo it.

“... Like the title, you should use your keyword in the description … [and] don’t overdo it. Don’t think you’re outsmarting the search engine by adding in your keyword 17 times. Doing this will actually hurt your chances of showing up in searches,” Agrawal says.

Tags

Okay, so now you know that you can’t add 17 keywords in your descriptions or title —  but you can add them as tags.

Keep in mind, however, that each tag still needs to be relevant to your video. Don’t include tags just because you know they have been used in another video that’s doing well. If your tags are irrelevant, no one is going to watch the video once they’ve been directed to the page.

Lifehack #2: Edit, edit and edit some more

This might seem obvious, but remember to edit your videos. And by edit, we’re talking about the length, quality, colour, sound, text, images and any other additional quirks that make your YouTube videos unique!

Taking the time to edit your videos will show your viewers that you care about their viewing experience, and it will improve the overall quality of your channel.

New to video editing? Start familiarising yourself with video editing software, like Adobe. It might even be helpful to do a short course in video editing to ensure your skills are up to par.

Beyond editing your videos, you also need to edit your YouTube channel, which includes the branding of your page. According to an article by Neil Patel, this includes:

1. Your YouTube channel’s background: A customised background establishes your brand’s presence on YouTube. Be sure to keep it simple, high quality and highlight the focus of what your brand does best. Patel suggests using a nifty too like Line25 to get you started.
2. Your banner and layout: A custom banner and layout will improve the overall experience of users, but it does come at a price – but it’s all worth it in the end! Take a look at other professional YouTube channels to see how their layouts have been customised in order to get some idea of how you’d like to polish up your own.
3. Linking to your other social media profiles and website: Adding links to your other social media pages and your website will drive traffic to your brand’s pages, which is always a good thing. Plus, if users like what they see, they might be more inclined to subscribe to your channel where you’ll (hint hint) expand on what your brand does and what it has to offer.

Lifehack #3: Interact with other YouTubers

Engaging with your audience on YouTube will build good, lasting relationships with your subscribers and also boosts your channel’s credibility. If users can see that you are willing to answer questions and comments in response to your videos, they’ll be more likely to return or even subscribe to your channel.

Not to mention, responding to requests and acting on them will also make your subscribers feel as if you care, which can help you build a loyal fanbase and even new followers.

Another way to boost your subscriber base is to collaborate with other YouTubers who have similar goals and interests as your own. The collaboration will form mutually beneficial partnerships that will benefit your channel and theirs.

“You’ll be able to connect to a new audience, your collaborator will be able to connect to a new audience, and your viewers will love all of this extra value they’re getting,” says Agrawal.

Have any YouTube lifehacks of your own? Let us know in the comments section below.

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