How to get more views on youtube 2019

Last week we started on the journey to transform your YouTube channel from meh to wow. In this post I’m going to get stuck into the next steps. How we make sure the content you create is found.

It isn’t as simple as giving your video a cute name, sitting back and watching the views roll in. If only! You need to start with the right keywords.

Picking the right keywords

There are a few different tools that you can be used to help you on your quest to find keywords that will help you get views. Tube Buddy is one and *MorningFa:me is the one I use.

MorningFa:me

MorningFa:me is a keyword research tool, which actually makes keyword research fun. I never thought that was even possible, but it’s true! It does keyword research specifically for your channel. It takes into account the engagement, the velocity of your previous videos and other metrics of your channel.

Simply type in your keywords and it will grade your choice based on a number of different factors from A to F. It’s super easy to know if it’s a good fit for your specific channel.

They send you an email 24 hours after the video is published showing you how it’s doing against your others. Showing you the thumbnails of the videos it’s competing against and giving you the opportunity to change your thumbnail if you think it needs to be changed.

Description

The description is also a great place to improve the SEO of your video, but so many people miss this opportunity.

You want to share what your video is about while also writing the tags into the description. Obviously you want it to sound natural, but the more tags you can seamlessly write into your description the better. MorningFa:me will tell you is you’ve gone overboard and ‘stuffed’ the description with keyboards.

Exporting your video

When you name your video make sure you name it with the title you’re going to give it on YouTube. YouTube will index this file name and so having it include the keywords will help you.

When the video has exported, go into the details of the file (on a Mac right click and ‘get info’ and then paste the tags you will use on YouTube into the tags box). This gives YouTube even more information to work with.

Scripting your video

Whether you choose to script to YouTube videos or not is completely up to you. Even if you choose not to stick to a rigid script, it’s a good idea to script it out, read it a few times. Highlight some key points, and then have it beside you should you need to refer to it.

I usually script out the video so I stay on track time wise. I read the intro then deliver it to camera. Then pause to read the next section and deliver that and so on. Then the edit is really easy, just removing the gaps.

Formula

There is a popular format which has proven to be very effective on YouTube and this is an example;

Watch my video for this foolproof method/step by step system showing you how to do X, Y, and Z.

For the best X tips and advice, subscribe to my channel and hit the bell to be notified when I post a new video every single X.

By the end of this video you will know how to do X, Y, and Z. I’ve used this formula loads of times with all of my clients and now you can too.

Then you start to deliver the first half of the content.

Halfway through your content delivery. You would break for an engagement question. You would say something like, ‘Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever struggled with X, Y, and Z, I’d love to know and I’ll respond to your comments’. I would put a graphic over that part of the video with the question on it.

Then go straight back into the second half of the content. Direct people to an opt in freebie that will help them and directly relates to the content you’re sharing if you have one. Put the link in the description and add a card too. (Don’t do this on every video as YouTube want you to encourage people to stay on the platform).

I would be at the end I would saying, ‘If you like this video, please let me know by liking it below, subscribe to my channel and hit the bell to be notified about new videos’.

Quick tip

As soon as your video goes live you should go into it, write a question as a comment and pin that comment. Then you should be engaging with everyone who leaves a comment. It can help your engagement and views if you’re active on YouTube commenting and engaging with other people’s videos when yours goes live.

Thumbnails

Thumbnails are extremely important because they are literally in the search results that people will see. In many cases people will decide to watch your video or not based on the thumbnail alone.

The use of contrasting colours can help to catch the eye. Often people use a cut out image of themselves pointing and then overlay the text to be inline with the pointing. It’s psychologically proven that people’s eyes will be drawn to where you are pointing.

I have a video on how you can make your own thumbnails in Canva, which you can check out if you need help. Canva is an awesome tool for all things design.

Always use the keyword phrase as the name of your thumbnail image (remember that YouTube SEO!).

Use cards and end slates

If in your video you mention something that you want to link to you can add a card. A card is a link which appears on screen in a graphic. Also you can add links, playlists and other videos to the end of your video, which is an end slate.

Linking to other platforms

If you want to link to something that’s not your own website. For example, if you’re doing a video to promote an affiliate and you want to include this affiliate link. YouTube will only let you link directly to your own domain from the cards and the end screen. However, you can use the Pretty Link plugin to create a link from your own domain to any other domain.

I have a Pretty Link for all of my affiliates. For example, youbabymemummy.com/convertkit.

It would also be clever to link to the category the affiliate is in for example youbabymemummy.com/email this means if I change who I’m an affiliate for in the future, I can just change where the link is pointing to in my WordPress plugin and all the links will now point to the new email affiliate. This would save me tracking down all my old links or having to create a redirect.

If you need help to go deeper with your YouTube Strategy I have a mini YouTube challenge in the Inner Circle, including the script templates, thumbnail templates, etc. So if you’re thinking about joining the inner circle, you’ll get all of that information too.

Remember YouTube is there forever, the second largest search engine. If you produce the right content, it will be there for years to come and it will help you reach new people. As well as driving traffic and leads for years to come. Do you have any issues with YouTube?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to MorningFa:me. I love this tool and get a small commission if you love it too.