Did you know that 60% of people prefer online video platforms to traditional television viewing? This is evident in the fact that YouTube has over 1.9 billion active monthly users.

The trickiness of YouTube videos is ensuring that your memorable video lands in front of a certain number of eyes. So, how do you get more YouTube views?

The key is to talk about driving engagements and thereby increasing your views. Keep reading to find out how.

Understanding YouTube

Let's have a quick look at the important need-to-know characteristics of YouTube and how it differs from other social media platforms.

YouTube itself is basically a massive search engine, much like Google, that only produces results in video format. Really, anything you type into a search engine can be typed into YouTube.

People or brands will create a profile for themselves and post videos under different categories for their subscribers. Ultimately, the goal would be to increase the number of subscribers that your YouTube channel has in order to maximize the number of views you get.

Video marketing is rising, and you will want to be part of the movement.

How To Get More YouTube Views

There are a number of great tactics that you can use in order to get more YouTube views. Some of these need to be implemented before you even create your video though, so be sure to have your plan in place before you get started.

1. Choose a Niche

This tip is for content marketing as a whole but is important for your YouTube content.

The thing is, you'll have a good idea of who your ideal target audience is, and you should use this information to niche down your content and really target these people with videos that are useful and relevant to them.

Also, this helps YouTube suggest your video at the end of other videos, particularly those in a similar niche. Thus, helping you get more views.

2. Keywords Are Important

Similar to the process you'd use for your SEO efforts, keywords need to form part of the foundation for your YouTube content.

It's about being in the know when it comes to what people are searching for. For example, if your content centers around products that help declutter your home, your video might be better centered around, 'Tips and tricks for decluttering your home,' instead of saying, 'Products you need for decluttering your home.

Having the right keywords associated with your YouTube video will make it easier for people to find your content.

3. Use Custom Thumbnails

It seems like a really trivial, minor task, but custom thumbnails are one of the ways you can ensure people will click on your video.

Creating well-designed, creative thumbnails for your videos allows viewers to see what your video is about and pique their interest.

Choosing a still image from within your video isn't going to cut it when trying to grab people's attention. Your thumbnail should showcase your video's content through both written and visual elements.

4. Use The Playlist Feature

Once you've got a few videos under your belt, it's imperative that you use the playlist feature that YouTube has.

Why?

Well, imagine they've landed on your channel and watched a video, with the playlist feature, your video will automatically suggest follow up videos hosted in that particular playlist. This means that you may be able to convert a 'one video viewer' to someone who may stick around longer on your playlist.

Use the playlist feature to group together videos that cover similar topics, this creates convenience for your audience.

5. Use Your Video Links Elsewhere

Simply posting your video on YouTube and hoping people find it is not enough. One simple way to increase your YouTube views is to ensure that people can find your video elsewhere.

You can use your website as one way to 'deliver' your content to people in a different place. You could write a blog post that covers a similar topic and embed the video in the blog post itself.

In the same way, you can share the YouTube link on your other platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook.

Remember, when people watch the embedded link on other platforms, it forms part of your number of views list, so even if they don't navigate to YouTube itself, it still increases your views.

6. Use Cards and End screens

You know, when you've watched a video on YouTube right to the end, sometimes small boxes will appear with suggested videos to watch afterward.

These are called 'End screens.' You can program these to show up towards the end of the video and convert a one-time viewer to someone who navigates to more of your videos.

Cards, on the other hand, can be placed anywhere within your video. For example, if you're talking about a topic with a similar blog, you can create a 'slide-in' that links to this blog post on your website.

In turn, this blog post could have a video embedded that points the viewer to another section of your YouTube channel. It's like one big happy circle of continuous viewing.

The Road to Increased YouTube Engagement

One of the fundamentals of getting more YouTube views is understanding your audience. We cannot stress enough how important this is for engagement.

If you're simply posting content for the sake of posting, you won't achieve anything. Base your video content plan on the persona of your ideal target audience, and you're already halfway to getting more YouTube views.

Try to be objective with the content you create, and steer clear of videos that center around, me, me, and me. Make your videos with your audience in mind, this is a clear path to success.

Want to make videos that stand out? Then you have to read this.