If you are one of the ones who have a YouTube channel and publish videos on a regular basis but aren’t happy with how much traffic they are getting, then this article may solve your problem.

In a world where anyone who has a connection to the Internet and wants to create a YouTube account can do it in a matter of minutes, it is no longer enough to create and post videos.  Regardless of how much time you spend working on your content, if you do not market it properly, then your target audience won’t know that it exists, so you won’t get the traffic that you are looking for.

Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that YouTube video promotion is a skill like any other, and while anyone can learn it, it does require discipline.

This guide will explain some of the best strategies and methods for marketing and promoting YouTube videos out there.  Read carefully and remember that you need to be persistent if you want to be successful.

Another important fact is that these tips have all been tested countless times and have been found to work just as well on videos from about every possible niche.

So let’s take a look at what you can do in order to better market your videos and get more traffic.

 

10 Efficient Ways to Promote Your YouTube Videos and Get More Traffic

Below you will find tips regarding all the major promotion tactics available at the moment.  If you are unsure if any one of them is suited to your needs, you should be able to easily find more information online.

1. The title of your videos

One of the most important aspects of being successful on YouTube is to give your videos a good title.  This is one of the first things that potential viewers see and it plays a major role in the visibility of your content.

A good practice is to make a habit out of properly researching various keywords, in order to determine what kind of people are searching for them.  Once you find the keywords that you should use in order to better target your audience, create a title that contains them.

Let’s look at a few tips that will help you write great titles for your videos:

• The titles should be short and to the point.  Don’t add unnecessary words or phrases;
• Add the current year when it is relevant.  For example when creating “Top Ten” videos;
• Ensure that the title will catch your audience’s attention;
• Try to add the keywords at the beginning of the title;
• Consider using words like “best” or “awesome”;
• When possible, integrate emotional triggers such as “sensual” or “censored” into your title;
• Capitalize the headline title;

2. The video tags

One of the biggest enemies of proper, organic promotion of YouTube videos is the improper use of tags.  Surprisingly many people make this mistake, and the worst part is that they do it without even realizing.

This is due to the fact that tagging works differently on YouTube when compared to other platforms such as blogs.  So if this is news to you, then chances are that you’ve used tags improperly.  But don’t worry, you can always go back and edit the tags on your past videos with ease.

Here are the basics of using YouTube video tags:

• You should use a unique branded tag in order to have your other videos show up in the “Related videos” section;
• Use the main keywords that you integrated into your title as a video tag;
• Use the auto-suggest feature offered by YouTube in order to discover variations of your keyword, and use them as tags;
• Use a browser extension like TubeBuddy (on Chrome) in order to determine which are the tags used by high ranking videos and implement them in your own;
• Keep in mind that tags are extremely important when it comes to the organic ranking of videos, so you can’t really do without them;

 

3. Create and use custom thumbnails for your videos

After you have verified your YouTube account, you will be able to take advantage of the custom thumbnail feature offered by the platform.  This opens up a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to making your videos more noticeable.

So here are a few things that you should keep in mind when creating your custom thumbnails:

• Always make sure that the resolution is 1280 x 720, and that they have a minimum width of at least 640 pixels;
• You should upload them in one of the following formats: .JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG;
• Their size should be under 2 MB;
• When you can, try to use a 16:9 aspect ratio.  This is the ratio that is usually used in YouTube players and previews;

While crafting a custom thumbnail may seem a bit complicated, it really isn’t.  You just have to pay attention to a couple of things when designing it.  Also, if you don’t know which application to use in order to design it, two great choices are Canva and YouZign.  These will help you have your thumbnails ready in a matter of minutes.

4. Always focus on branding

There are a few things that you should get used to doing in order to brand your videos. cGreat branding means that your audience will always be able to recognize your content, and can help create a more consistent following.

Two of the most important elements of your videos that you should brand are the Intro, and the Outro.

YouTube Video Intro:  This should be a 3-5 second clip that starts your video and focuses on showcasing your brand.

YouTube Video Outro:  If the intro starts the video, then this one will be placed at the end.  You don’t have to do much here, just ask users to leave a like and subscribe, and show them a few related videos.

You can easily create the intro & outro by using a tool like Camtasia, however, if you don’t have the time for it or simply don’t want to, you can always hire someone on a platform like Fiverr to do it for you.

While you’re there, consider having someone design a logo for your channel, if you don’t already have one.

These elements are extremely important when it comes to branding.  You can look at them like a signature that is specific to your content and that users can look for in order to find your videos.

5. Share your content on various social media platforms

If you are a video blogger, then it is a good idea to have a few social media properties for your YouTube channel.  The number of views that you get on YouTube can be raised if you work to create a community on other social platforms.  The slowest part is actually getting the community up and running. After you do this, people will constantly wait for you to share another video and will watch it the moment it’s online.

Let’s look at a few social media platforms that work great with YouTube and can be used to direct traffic to your channel:

• Create a Facebook page.  You probably already have a personal account, but that isn’t efficient when it comes to marketing, so it is better to create a separate page for your channel/brand;
• Twitter profile.  Twitter is one of the most popular communication networks ever. Share news that you have posted a new video and people will come;
• Google+ page.  While it does have a smaller number of users that Facebook, it won’t cost you anything to tap into this channel as well;
• Instagram profile.  Instagram users are extremely visual, and if you create and maintain a strong community here, your views will grow;
• Pinterest profile.  Same as Instagram;

If handling all of these social media platforms at once seems to be overwhelming, then keep in mind that you can always use a tool like Buffer in order to schedule videos to be shared on your various accounts.  Furthermore, you can also use IFTT, which supports Buffer integration in order to automatically share videos as you publish them.  This way, everything is automated, and the only thing that you have to worry about is creating great content.

You should also remember an extremely important tip:  Make a schedule and keep to it.

People like it when you share videos at regular intervals, this way they have something to look forward to.  How often you share is entirely up to you.  Some people share videos every two days, some every two weeks.  You won’t get fewer views if there is more time between shared videos, so you can make whatever schedule you want, just stick to it.

6. Create a blog to complement your YouTube Channel

We live in an interconnected world, and if you are a full-time YouTuber, then you’re going to want to create a blog for your YouTube channel so that you can share your videos on that platform as well.

There are a lot of free options at your disposal, and all of them allow you to embed your YouTube videos on your blog webpage, with very little effort.  While you can choose whichever platform you like most, the recommended one to use is WordPress, due to the fact that there are many video themes for a WordPress website. Also, you can manage it using Managed WordPress Hosting, so you won’t have to worry about technical issues like maintenance.

In addition, choosing this platform will give you the option to use plugins like:

• Yoast SEO WordPress Plugin, which will make your blog rank higher;
• YouTube Viral Subscribe Plugin, which automatically adds a “Subscribe” tag after every video that you share on the blog;

Alternatives to WordPress include, but are not limited to:

• Medium;
• Tumblr;
• BlogSpot;

Keep in mind: If you are willing to spend a bit of cash for some extra traffic, you can always buy a domain name and redirect it to your YouTube channel.  Basically, you can use it as a business card of sorts, so that when someone asks how they can find your channel, you can just give them the domain name.  The price will change according to the domain that you want.

7. Get in the habit of organizing your videos into playlists

One of the somewhat ignored functionalities of YouTube is the creation of playlists.  These are a great way to get more views on your existing videos.  Basically, when you upload a new video, remember to include it into an existing playlist or into a new one.  Either way works.

Now, what does this do? First of all, it will help users find related content much easier.  Also, it will help with the visibility of your videos.

When creating a new playlist, it is recommended that you keep the following in mind:

• You should give the playlist a meaningful title, and also integrate a keyword in it;
• Write a detailed description of it and add keywords here, as well;
• Playlists should be sued to group similar videos;
• Don’t forget that you can include a video in more than one playlist;
• YouTube playlists also appear in search results, along with individual videos.  So you are increasing the chance that users discover your content;

 

8. Use calls to action

One thing that you should remember when it comes to social media sites, is that people need to be told what you want them to do.  In other words, you need to use calls to action.

This can be done by actually asking your audience to leave a like and subscribe to your channel.  You can put this request at the end of your videos, or in the middle.  Also, you can ask them to share the video if they liked it.

Pretty much all of the big YouTube stars use this technique in order to take advantage of their existing viewership.  If you aren’t doing this, then it is certainly time to start.  You may be surprised by how many things can be accomplished by simply asking.

9. Create videos in which you interview influencers in the same niche as you

This one is more of a secondary technique when it comes to promoting your YouTube channel due to the fact that it does not directly enhance the visibility of your channel (it increases it by using the created association between you and the influencer), but it allows you to tap into a community that is already there.  This having been said, these interviews will also help you pick up some of the subscribers that already follow those particular influencers.

You don’t have to physically interview them.  You can just send them a message and ask them if they are willing to do an interview over Google Hangouts or Skype.

10. Use the YouTube Creator Academy to hone your skills

A common mistake of many YouTube marketers is that they focus too much on publishing, and not enough on learning.

YouTube changes its rules and functionalities faster than any other platform, and this means that being able to keep up is essential.

Go to the Creator Academy offered by YouTube and spend some time learning various tips and tricks that the platform openly discloses, in order to get the most out of your videos.  Also, make sure to repeat this process regularly, in order to ensure that you keep up with all the changes that may occur in terms of search algorithm.

Start promoting your YouTube videos and enjoy the larger number of views

The only thing that remains to be done is for you to use the knowledge in this article in order to turn your YouTube channel into a hit.