Getting the first 1,000 subscribers is often considered the hardest part of growing a YouTube channel, but it's definitely possible. YouTube is the second most-visited site on the web, and we now spend up to 6 hours per day consuming video content. Considering that YouTube also has over 2 billion active users, there's still room for new channels to grow.
The average YouTube channel grows quite slow initially. Most channels take an entire year before they reach the 1000 subscriber milestone. See if you can accelerate the growth of your channel with the following tips.
YouTube SEO
The basics of YouTube SEO are no different from web SEO.
Optimize the video titles and descriptions for your target keywords. A lot of the repeated advice is to keep titles under 70 characters in length. This is because that's the maximum that is displayed without the text being truncated.
Regularly check YouTube analytics. In addition to researching target keywords, check the search queries for your existing videos, in the Analytics tab in YouTube Studio This can give you inspiration for new target keywords that you hadn't thought about.
Include your target keyword in the video file name before uploading it. Don’t use spaces between each word, but rather hyphens or underscores.
Add relevant tags to each video. While most users don’t use tags to find videos, they can help the YouTube algorithm categorize your video and serve it to the appropriate audience. Keep it under 5-8 industry tags to avoid being flagged as spam. There are actually two places to add tags. The first is under Video details > Advanced Settings > Tags. The second is by simply including hashtags in the video description.
Add your video category to each video. While not as specific as tags, categories also help the YouTube algorithm understand what your video is about, and help users find your video.
After you've built up your video catalog for awhile, organize your content into playlists. This is great for SEO and viewer engagement, leading users deeper and deeper into your content and increasing the chance they subscribe.
Promotion
Don't even think about promotion until you have uploaded at least 10 videos. If you only have a few videos, the YouTube algorithm is still learning your channel and audience. So the more data you give YouTube, the more likely that the algorithm puts your videos in front of relevant viewers' eyes.
Once you're ready, start by cross-promoting on your personal website, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, or Facebook groups. On the YouTube side, you'll need to first complete a one-time verification before you can include clickable links in the video description.
Video Quality
The aforementioned tips only matter if you're committed to producing high-quality videos. Watch through the finished product with a critical mindset.
You don't need to be a professional filmmaker or editor, but keep some basic guidelines in mind when recording.
If possible, outdoor light is usually better than indoors. If it's late at night, find somewhere with the most light to record.
Beware of background elements that just add visual clutter.
If you're filming people (either yourself or others), don't cut off heads at the neck or feet at the ankles. Either move in closer or back wider.
For your first 20-30 videos, aim to try something new each time. Experiment with the background music, camera angle, theme, length, etc. of your videos and see what works. You'll know that you've got it right when you start getting an influx of views via browse instead of search.
Note that videos as short as 1 minute can be monetized, but the optimal length to ensure a high ROI is around at least 8 minutes.
Monetization
YouTube needs a critical mass of videos and subscribers before they can make an informed judgment of whether your channel meets the monetization policies. But once your channel hits 1,000 subscribers, it's eligible for the YouTube Partner Program. This means that you can monetize your video and earn income from ads. The other requirement is getting 4,000 hours of watch time in the past 365 days or 10 million public Shorts views in the past 90 days.
Before getting started with your ads account, read through the YouTube Community Guidelines and monetization policies.
Curious about your favourite channels? This site estimates how much revenue a monetized video has made: https://isthischannelmonetized.com/
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