Why You Aren’t a Famous YouTuber… Yet
Among social media platforms, YouTube is relatively unique. That is, it’s set up much like the other Google-owned social sites, which are far less popular than the video-sharing platform. A successful YouTuber understands that instead of serving users a never-ending “news feed” of posts, like Twitter or Facebook, YouTube is driven by searches and suggested content. As such, to become a famous YouTuber, you must employ a series of specific techniques and leverage the unique features of YouTube and get discovered for your great video content! To help you with this, we’ve put together a list of things you might be doing that have been standing in the way of becoming a famous YouTuber.
You’re Getting Clicks, not Views
Because YouTube generates most of its revenue through displaying before, during, and around the videos on the site, it has a complex system for determining which videos are getting watched. As such, it is not enough to get a bunch of clicks on your content. Users have to stick around and watch a certain portion of the video in order for you to get credit for that view.
If you’re wondering why this matters for you becoming a famous YouTuber, it’s because both the search engine and the suggested video functions of YouTube depend on metrics of the popularity of your content. As such, the more popular your videos, the more likely they are to be suggested, and the higher they will rank among search results.
You’re not Optimizing Your Titles
A successful YouTube title has two aspects: it’s search-engine optimized to a relevant keyword, and it’s interesting enough to make viewers click to view it. As such, a popular YouTuber must employ both art and science when writing titles for their video content. Much of the skill comes from trial and error, so if your titles don’t seem to be driving traffic to your videos, don’t be afraid to change tactics. However, successful titles do often have certain characteristics: many are controversial, many focus on a keyword, and, perhaps most importantly, most are highly relevant to the video content.
You’re not Picking a Great Video Thumbnail
When you upload your video to YouTube, the platform will automatically generate an image that it thinks will serve as a good thumbnail for your content. However, the computer algorithm is only so smart. Most famous youtubers know that editing the video thumbnail by selecting an image that includes bright colors can help to get more views on the video.
In general, there are a few specific tricks that play on human psychology and can help with driving more views on video content. I mentioned already that bright colours are engaging to a person scrolling through different videos and can be the difference in making your video the one that a viewer clicks on next. Additionally, something shocking that jumps off of the screen at them can help to drive views. Finally, all people have a reflex to engage with human faces. This trick is leveraged by vloggers everywhere – and many don’t even know they’re doing it!
You Haven’t Established Your YouTuber personality
With 300 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every minute, what sets apart the content of a popular YouTuber from the masses is the person’s personality. Remember, YouTube may be a video platform, but it’s still a social media site. Which means that it also subscribes to some of the same rules as Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. As such, it’s not just the content that matters, but also the YouTuber behind the content. As such, you should develop a caricatured version of yourself that you think people would relate to.
Remember, people may watch a video for the content. But when they decide to follow their favourite YouTuber, they are not following the content as much as they are following the personality. Unless you’re a talented actor, chances are you’re just going to have to be yourself. But be yourself genuinely. Many famous YouTubers gained the level of recognition they have by embracing their flaws and inspiring people who can relate.
You Haven’t Published Enough Content
No successful YouTuber has ever hit the big time on their first post. Gaining popularity requires publishing lots of content, experimenting, failing, and learning. You’ll post duds before you find the type of video content that you and your viewers love. That’s ok. Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither was Pew Die Pie’s near-religious YouTube following.
Comment below and let us know the name of your favourite Youtube channel?
