How to Grow Your YouTube Channel Fast - According to SEO Experts
For both rookie YouTubers and seasoned content creators, fast channel growth is a dream come true.
Growing subscriber numbers open up all kinds of possibilities: monetizing with the YouTube Partner program, finding better brand deals, generating additional income from tipping platforms like Patreon and Buy Me a Coffee.
But how exactly can you grow your YouTube channel, well, fast?
If you’ve done any research on the subject, you’ve probably come across countless “growth hacking” articles with wildly different suggestions. Some of them are pretty outlandish.
To cut through the noise for you, we asked three search engine optimization (SEO) professionals for their best tips and tricks. Here’s the secret sauce to supercharge your YouTube channel growth.
Work on Your Branding
“If you want people to subscribe to your YouTube channel, you need to seem professional,” is Taylor Murchison’s top piece of advice. Taylor is the SEO Growth Director at On the Map Marketing.
“Users will be able to identify your material more easily if your social branding is on point. When it comes to blogs and websites, you’re likely to have a distinct look and feel that sets you apart,” he says. “Your YouTube channel should be a continuation of that branding.”
This means you need to create a unique and engaging brand design, including a signature color palette, fonts, and an instantly-recognizable logo.
On this basis, you can create channel assets like intros and outros, banners, icons, and thumbnails. Or have professional video editors and graphic designers create them for you.
With good branding, your existing audience can recognize your channel instantly if it pops up in their recommendations. And simply because it shows you’re putting in the work, you may well draw a bigger audience.
And that means that picking up a few design tips can be an important part of your YouTube growth arsenal.
Spread the Word About Your YouTube Videos on Other Social Media
Post your videos on YouTube videos and hope for the best? That won’t cut it for channel growth, says Murchison. To really grow your YouTube channel fast, you need a solid marketing strategy across several social networks.
“Cross-promotion,” Murchison says, “is one of the best features of social media. Growing your YouTube following is as simple as sharing your videos on other social networks.”
His trick to make these shares more attractive? “You can use shorter teasers for longer YouTube videos on other platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, so that your content is seen by as many people as possible.”
The big social media platforms aren’t the only places to showcase your videos. “In addition, don’t overlook your blog, if you have one. Plus, your YouTube channel may work together seamlessly with a podcast.”
Since YouTube now offers channel handles, it’s a good idea to pick one that matches your brand on other social networks.
Part of why waiting for people to find you doesn’t work very well is because viewers tend to avoid very small channels, even if they do pop up in the results.
This is also why you might want to think about hiding your subscriber count at first – because no number is sometimes better than a low number.
That said, viral growth can happen pretty much at random – we interviewed a creator whose subs shot to over 100 k within weeks. The key thing is not to rely on this kind of surprise.
Create Videos Around a Single Keyword or Topic
Bram Jansen, SEO expert at VPNAlert, takes growth tips in a different direction. According to him, the best place to start is by doing your homework well before you start producing a video.
“The easiest strategy to attract traffic and develop your YouTube following is to focus your video on a specific subject or keyword. Marketers and creators who are unfamiliar with SEO may overlook this phase in the video ranking process, but it is critical to include it if you want your videos to reach as many people as possible.”
Keywords are words and phrases that your viewers use to search for content. The more specific a keyword, the more likely it is that your content gets found if you use it. (Think “15 minute Yoga for lower back pain” rather than just “Yoga”.)
“Look for the most searched phrases in the niche you want to target using a keyword tool like KeywordTool.io, which is dedicated to YouTube,” Jansen advises. “It’s critical to choose your keyword before you start creating video content since it will help you build the greatest material possible around that topic.”
This boosts visibility. But that “material” isn’t limited to just the video itself – this also includes the video description, title, hashtags, and other metadata.
Apart from that, keyword research is also a pretty good tool to generate ideas you know people are already searching for.
Riff on Existing Top Performing Content
Another gem of wisdom Jansen can offer is to re-create content that already does well.
“Creating and distributing outstanding material is, of course, the greatest method to expand your YouTube channel. However, such material does not necessarily have to be created from scratch.”
Basically, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Research what kind of content does well in your niche, and let it inspire you. Quite a few creators are doing well riffing off 2022’s richest YouTuber, MrBeast, in particular his giveaway videos.
You’ll often find cool stuff out on the internet that just doesn’t have a video version yet. Or if there is, there’s no reason why you can’t rack up watch hours with a better take.
“Some of your finest videos may be made from existing material that is interesting, informative, helpful, and actionable,” Jansen explains. “For instance, many people turn to YouTube for answers and how-to lessons. Viewers binge-watched 4 billion hours of how-to videos in a single year. As a result, creating content that solves issues for your audience is an excellent method to increase traffic.”
Engage with Your Audience
The final pointer comes from Tim Davidson, a SEO expert in financial services. The stitch? Interact with your audience!
“In my opinion, it’s critical to remember that YouTube is a social media platform,” Davidson says. “A lot of people are losing out on the opportunity if they’re just publishing videos and not promoting dialogue.”
Interacting with your audience won’t just increase the loyalty of your individual viewers. It will also help your videos’ rankings and drive traffic to your channel.
“In addition to the time spent on the channel, watch time, likes and dislikes, and – most significantly – comments, YouTube awards channels with high levels of interaction,” Davidson explains.
“As a result, you should react to all of the comments you get (if possible) and utilize audio and visual cues to encourage people to participate. Take time to explore other social media accounts and connect with brands that are comparable to your own or that you just like.”
If you’re a veteran YouTuber looking to scale your channel, it’s difficult to respond to every comment – or even every 100th comment. In that case, you could consider hiring a channel manager to cover this base for you.
The Bottom Line
Growing your YouTube channel fast is a challenge. Not gonna lie about that.
But by following the strategies above, you can seriously increase your chances in the shot at lightning growth.
Invest time and effort in your brand design. Harness other social networks to promote yourself, aligning the handles you use on each. Re-use top-performing content. Do your keyword research. And bond with your audience.
That way, you can captivate both your viewers and the YouTube algorithm – and see those subscriber numbers explode.
The Experts
Ready to give professional video editing a shot?
Apart from consistently producing high-quality content, you should:
- create a recognizable brand style
- harness other social networks to promote your videos
- base your content on keyword research
- take inspiration from high-performing content
- engage with your audience
Reply to comments, and ask for feedback in comments, polls, and live streams. In addition, you can give user-decided content a shot.
YouTube’s autocomplete feature is a great place to start. It gives you an initial idea of the popularity of different keyword variations. Beyond that, check out the YouTube tab in Google Trends, and dedicated keyword research tools such as Keywordtools.io and SEMrush.
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