How to Increase YouTube Subscribers in 2021
In the starting days of YouTube, the subscribers of a channel had made no difference whatsoever. All it did was bring you some recognition on the platform to an equally small audience.
Times have changed drastically, and with time, YouTube has evolved into the second largest search engine on the planet that we all know and love.
Subscriber count, which was earlier considered a vanity metric, has become one factor that will determine your growth on the video-sharing platform.
When you successfully manage to get YouTube subscribers to your channel, you will notice an increase in the number of views, watch-time, likes, and comments you receive on your video. All these factors are essential to reach new heights in your YouTube career.
This article will discuss different tactics that you can use to get more subscribers on your YouTube channel – methods both known and unknown to you.
Let’s get started.
Optimize Videos for Search
YouTube is a search engine; hence it has platform-specific SEO practices to help your videos show up as top results for a user’s search query. A user will seldom scroll past the top 5 results, so you have to make sure that your video is always in your viewer’s line of sight.
You can start by optimizing your video title, description, and meta tags:
- Title
Your title is an essential part of your metadata; thus, search engines emphasize the keyword you include in your title for indexing and categorizing your content.
Your title helps not only search engines but also your target audience too. From a user’s perspective, when a video comes up in search results, our eyes unconsciously look for a title matching our search term – this is often the point that drives a person to click and watch a video.
Pro tip – videos with exact search term matches have a higher chance of appearing in search results. So, it would help if you placed the keyword you discover from your research in your title in a way that tells users precisely what they are going to find once they click on your video.
For example, let’s assume that your primary keyword is “social media marketing.” Now, instead of only using this keyword, your title could be something like this – “5 best social media marketing practices”. Because chances are, your target viewers will use a similar search term.
Be sure to make it a habit to place your target keyword as early in the title as possible. Click here to see how to choose the best keywords for seo.
Creators also have the option to buy YouTube subscribers legit way from authentic sources.
- Description
Just like your title, the YT algorithm depends on your description to understand what your video content is all about. Google has set a description limit to 1000 characters. You can choose to use all that available space, but remember, your viewers came to watch your video, so they are unlikely to spend time reading a lengthy description.
According to YouTube, using targeted keywords in your description can bring in more views and watch time for your videos, so make sure to sprinkle them throughout your description, especially in the first 25 characters.
You are free to write a lengthier description, but only 100 characters will be visible to your audience. To see the rest, they have to click the ‘show more’ link. Hence, include all vital details at the start of your description.
- Thumbnails
Your title and thumbnail are the first things a viewer will see when your video shows up for the search query or appears in the recommendation section. Think of them as your left and right hook, one-two, and bam; you have yourself a new subscriber.
Although YouTube takes a frame from your video, always go for a custom thumbnail. Because the one selected by YouTube can appear unclear and often misleading.
Every professional YouTuber makes a custom thumbnail – it works to add appeal and elegance to the video.
If you have a decent budget, you could hire professional help to design your thumbnails. If you are short on cash, you can consider using the free graphic creation software like ‘Canva,’ which comes with pre-created thumbnails and many visual elements.
- Tags
When it comes to your videos getting found, tags (unlike your description and title) are the least important part of your metadata. Nonetheless, they help YouTube better understand your content so that the search engine can relate your video with other relevant content on the platform.
As your title and description, start with the primary keyword as one of your tags, followed by using different long-tail search terms. You can also use tags related to topics that you cover in your videos. Remember to keep the tags relevant to your videos.
Optimize Your YouTube Channel
Your efforts should not be limited only to your videos; you can also optimize your channel to convert prospects into real YouTube subscribers.
- Channel Art
Channel art or banner is a visual graphic that takes a considerable chunk of your channel homepage.
I am sure you go from one end of the screen to the next. Very hard to miss by a naked eye. already get the gist, but your Channel Art has to do the job of grabbing visitors’ attention and bring more awareness to your brand and your channel.
Your banner can be a place where you highlight essential details about your channel, like when your new videos go up or information about the type of content you produce. You can also include a solid call-to-action to prompt users to subscribe to your channel, visit your social media handles, or your e-commerce store.
- Channel Trailer
Over time YouTube has become more innovative. It now gives its creators an option to create a channel trailer.
What is the job of a trailer or teaser? – to provide a summary of what your visitor can expect if they choose to associate with you as your subscriber.
Please practice restraint and don’t go overboard. It is best to limit your channel trailer to 30 to 60 seconds tops. We understand this time limit is not nearly enough to pack everything you have to offer in one video. But with careful planning, you can include only relevant details that are enough to convert your viewers into subscribers.
Start strong, introduce your channel as an opener.
As you reach the 30-second mark, highlight the type of content you produce on your channel. You can also drop in your posting schedule for good measure.
Finally, end with a solid call to action, asking viewers to subscribe.
- About Tab
To view the ‘Above tab’ content would require some action from the visitor. This place is not readily visible to someone that comes to your channel homepage.
About tab is where you write a description for your channel, much like writing one for your videos.
Here, you do not have to hold back – write your hearts out. You can also drop your email ID or links to your social media accounts and website.
Remember: you cannot post links in the body of your description. But there is a reserved space for links at the bottom of your page.
- Playlists
As you start as a YouTuber, you do not have to worry about grouping your content. But as videos start accumulating on your channel, it can get complicated for your audience to navigate and find what they are looking for.
How can you help? – you can start by organizing and aggregating videos in playlists based on relevant themes or other similarities.
Next, link them in your video and channel descriptions.
Since you are the creator, you are the best person to know how your videos come together and which ones are the best fit for relevant content.
Videos in the playlist automatically play one after another, resulting in more watch time and views – this is important when you look at it from an SEO perspective.
The YouTube algorithm is programmed to lean more favorably towards videos that get high engagement – earning higher exposure to new audiences. And what happens when more people see your content and like it? – you get more YouTube subscribers.
To Sum Up
If you want to be known as an authority in your niche, you need to get more subscribers to your channel. You can do this by optimizing some critical areas like your title, description, and tags with the right keywords and constantly keeping in touch with your audience.
We hope you found our article on ‘How to increase YouTube subscribers in 2021’ helpful.
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