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How to Grow Your YouTube Channel in 2023: The Ultimate Guide
Starting a YouTube channel is tough, but growing it to thousands of subscribers — or even millions — is much harder to pull off. Some may wonder if it's even possible anymore.
But if you want to restore your faith, take a look around YouTube. There's Ryan Trahan (12 million subscribers) and the infamous MrBeast (136 million subscribers). You might even run into SSSniperwolf, who has 33.1 million supporters. It becomes astonishingly clear that growing a large audience is not impossible.
So, how did they do it? What are the steps to grow a successful YouTube channel?
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If you want to go from zero to content hero, keep scrolling until you reach the end. We're going to tell you the best ways to grow on YouTube!
1. Create High-Quality Videos
Standing out on YouTube is tough, but anything's possible if you focus on making unique, high-quality videos. By high quality, we don't mean having the best camera, lighting, or video backdrop. The best videos come from creators who study their audience and the art of YouTube storytelling.
This skill doesn't come overnight, but you'll know it's there when you can make viewers feel something at the end of a video — inspired, motivated, curious, slightly tickled. Shifting their mood from one state to another means you're wielding true influence (the kind that makes people hit subscribe and turn on post notifications).
So how do you pull this off? You can start by learning what makes a video engaging, such a
2. Optimize Your Content for Search Engines
Did you know that YouTube is the second-largest search engine behind Google? Creators upload over 500 hours of video daily, and YouTube tries to deliver it all to the right viewers.
Want YouTube to recommend your videos to more people? Help them out by optimizing your content for maximum reach!
Here's the only checklist you'll ever need when it comes to optimizing videos on YouTube:
- Choose a target keyword for each video you want to make.
- Add the target keyword (plus related keywords) to your video title and description.
- Create a custom thumbnail that reinforces the title.
- Use relevant hashtags to reach more viewers.
- Add captions and subtitles so your video is accessible to all.
- Organize your videos into YouTube playlists.
- Promote your videos using cards and end screens.
When you use the right keywords, you can also show up on Google search pages. That's a lot of free promotion for your channel!
3. Design Attention-Grabbing Thumbnails
If you want to grow on YouTube, don't underestimate the power of custom thumbnails. Each one is like a colorful billboard advertising your video's "juicier" parts. The more intriguing those images look, the more inclined viewers are to click on your content!
There are plenty of ways to create good thumbnails, such as:
- Using the right thumbnail dimensions (16:9 aspect ratio, 1280x720 pixels)
- Taking clear, high-resolution photos for the background or other elements
- Creating a simple, uncluttered design
- Using bright, inviting colors
- Adding text when necessary
- Sticking to one theme or idea
- Creating harmony between the title and thumbnail
Need design ideas? Here are 12 thumbnails people love to click on YouTube.
4. Write Engaging YouTube Titles and Descriptions
With YouTube titles, you want to get in the habit of writing for emotion and not just describing the video. This is important because viewers are interested in more than "the topic" at hand. Plenty of videos on YouTube cover the same theme; the real question is, why should people care about one particular video?
The answer, once again, is emotion. A great title taps into the viewer's deepest fears and desires. It promises to change your life in 30 days with a new workout routine, or it scares you into pulling all your money out of the stock market. Either way, an enticing title makes you want to click it.
But if you need inspiration (and a nice break), this AI tool can write titles for you!
And once you have a good title, focus on the video description. There are no tricks here because, at minimum, all you have to do is describe the video accurately.
Of course, you can take it to another level by ensuring your description has these 10 ingredients.
5. Use Hashtags to Boost Your Reach
Adding hashtags to your YouTube video helps more people discover it, so tagging your content is always a good idea. Like most social media sites, the hashtags on YouTube are 100% clickable. That means a viewer can tap any hashtag and find themselves on a page showing thousands of videos related to a topic.
As you can imagine, getting featured on a hashtag page leads to more exposure for your channel! If you spend some time researching the best hashtag pages — ones that are popular but not flooded with millions of videos — you can grow your YouTube channel by attracting more clicks.
When you're ready, go to your video title or description. Type the # symbol followed by the descriptor of your choice!
6. Boost Your Engagement with a Call to Action
Wouldn't it be nice if most viewers…
- Subscribed to your channel?
- Hit the like button?
- Watched multiple videos in a row?
- Wrote positive comments?
All of this engagement leads to more channel growth, but most viewers don't think about completing those actions. After all, they're too busy watching videos and exploring new content! To keep building your fanbase, ask viewers to like, comment, and subscribe at the end of every video.
7. Build a Strong Relationship with Your Audience
It's hard to grow a channel if you aren't connecting with your viewers, so always find time to be social on YouTube. You can start by responding to video comments or take it up a notch by hosting live stream Q&A's. Creating polls on the YouTube Community tab will also help you learn viewers' likes, dislikes, and behaviors.
Engaging with your audience isn't too different from hanging out with a friend. All you have to do is get to know who they are!
8. Invest in YouTube Collaborations
YouTube collaborations are a brilliant way to grow your channel by introducing new viewers to your content. But of course, not all collabs are successful. You have to find the right partners, make sure your audiences overlap, and do other things to make the project work.
Here are a few ways to execute the best YouTube collab:
- Collaborate with creators in your niche.
- Brainstorm video ideas before you reach out to collaborators.
- Pick a video collab style (in-person, remote, video takeover, etc.).
- Promote the collaboration to boost its reach.
9. Capitalize on YouTube Trends and Challenges
To speed up your channel's growth, why not participate in YouTube challenges or a couple of social media trends? This approach works for small YouTube creators — especially those looking to grow sooner rather than later.
However, exercise caution when choosing different trends to hop on. Some will be a poor match for your channel's focus, making it difficult to turn casual viewers into devoted followers. Additionally, some challenges may risk your safety, like the viral yet highly dangerous milk crate challenge.
But everyone has to start somewhere, right? Use this guide to find trending topics for your videos, then ask yourself one question before settling on an idea: Does this help or hurt my channel long-term?
10. Build a 'Bridge' Between Short and Long-Form Content
Last year, YouTube announced it would build a bridge between YouTube Shorts and traditional, long-form videos. Notably, the platform vowed to change how it recommends content, making sure that longer videos are suggested alongside Shorts.
In other words, YouTube is analyzing Shorts viewership on all channels. Suppose a particular Short is getting massive views or engagement. In that case, the platform may recommend long-form content from the same creator!
So what does that mean for your channel's growth? Overall, it proves that YouTube Shorts are now a bridge connecting some viewers to your long-form videos. So by posting Shorts, you have a real shot at promoting the rest of your content!
