to start a successful YouTube channel
and grow it in record time.
In fact, these are the same exact steps
I used to take my channel from zero views
and zero subscribers
to over 5,000,000 views
and 200,000 subscribers.
I'm not alone.
My friend, Jeff Rose, also recently hit
250,000 subscribers using
these same strategies.
I'm Brian Dean, the founder of Backlinko,
and in this video I'm gonna show you
my step-by-step action plan
for growing a YouTube channel,
including lots of real life
case studies and examples.
Stay tuned.
When I first launched my YouTube channel
a couple of years ago,
I struggled big time.
Despite publishing lots of great videos,
my views barely budged.
It was really frustrating.
I hate you YouTube!
Flash forward to today,
and my channel consistently gets
hundreds of thousands of views,
and around 8,000 people subscribe
to my channel every month.
My secret, I tested everything.
That way, I could figure out
what advice actually
worked and what didn't,
and I put everything that worked for me
into a simple step-by-step process,
and that's the process I'm
about to share with you.
So, let's dive right in
with step number one,
make a pro channel page.
My first channel page
looked like this, yikes.
Needless to say,
a channel page like that
isn't gonna push anyone to subscribe.
In fact, my ugly channel page
was one of the main reasons
that I struggled to turn
viewers into subscribers.
Today, my channel page is super pro,
and because my channel
page looks professional,
a good chunk of the
people that visit my page,
hit that Subscribe button.
So, how do you create a
professional channel page?
First, write a thorough
About tab description.
When someone's on the fence
about subscribing to your channel,
what do they do?
They click on your About tab
to learn more about you,
and if you're About
description looks like this,
they're gonna say, "Nah, I'm good."
That's why you want to write
a detailed About page description
that let's people know
who your channel is for,
what types of videos you put out,
when you upload new videos,
and anything else that would make someone
wanna smash the Subscribe button.
For example, here's my About section,
nice and detailed.
Next, you wanna upload
nice-looking channel art.
Like my mom always told me,
you never get a second chance
to make a first impression.
Hey, mom, I just mentioned you on YouTube,
and your channel art is the first thing
that someone sees when
they visit your page,
so it needs to look great.
Now, if you don't know
how to use Photoshop,
you can use an easy tool
like Canva or Snappa
to make a nice channel art banner.
Last up, we have your channel icon.
Did you know that your channel icon
shows up in more places in YouTube
than anything else?
It's true.
Your channel icon appears on Watch Pages,
search results, Community tabs,
Subscriptions, video comments,
Featured Channels, Related
Channels, and more.
In fact, for lots of people,
your icon will be the first thing
they see from your channel
before they visit your page.
For example, when you
leave a comment on a video,
your channel icon shows
up right next to it.
So, make sure your channel icon
looks nice and clear
like this or like this.
Then, move on to our next step,
which is to find three key words.
It's no secret that SEO is huge.
You can have the best video ever made.
Best video ever, done.
But if no one on YouTube can find it,
it's not gonna get any views.
In fact, a big reason that my channel
finally found success was that
I started to rank in YouTube
for popular keywords,
like on page SEO, and Google rankings,
and these YouTube rankings
have directly led to millions of views.
Now, I'll show you exactly how
to optimize your videos in a minute,
but before we get into that,
you need to find some keywords.
Specifically, keywords that lots of people
are searching for on YouTube.
So, how do you find them?
It's actually pretty easy.
Use YouTube auto-complete.
You might have noticed that
when you search for something on YouTube,
it suggest keywords for you.
This feature is called auto-complete.
The great thing about auto-complete
is that it only suggest popular keywords.
In other words, YouTube
is literally telling you,
"These are terms that lots of people use
"to find videos on YouTube."
For example, let's say
you wanted to make a video
about the keto diet.
Well, when you type keto into YouTube,
you can see that it suggests
a handful of keywords
related to that term,
and these suggested keywords
are perfect to optimize
your videos around.
With that, let's move
on to step number three,
optimize and plan your videos, real talk.
Most people struggle on YouTube
because they don't plan their videos.
Instead, they turn on
their camera and freestyle,
but if you take a look at some of
the most successful channels on YouTube,
you'll notice that they all plan
their videos ahead of time.
Why is this important?
Well, put yourself in the shoes
of someone that's watching
videos on YouTube,
and whether you're on YouTube
to learn or to be entertained,
you probably have a very
short attention span.
Plus, YouTube is suggesting
cute cat videos left and right.
So, if the video you're watching
isn't super engaging,
you're gonna click away,
and when someone's rambling
and tripping over their words,
you're gonna say, next.
In today's video you're... (beep)
In this video you're... (beep)
In today's video, you might... (beep)
This video, you're...
So, unless you're an
absolute natural on camera,
I recommend using an outline or a script.
Personally, I use a script.
As you can see,
it has every single line written out,
plus notes, but you can
also use a loose outline.
That way, you have some room to improvise.
Either way works.
Bottom line, plan out
your videos ahead of time
with a detailed outline
or a word-for-word script.
Let's move right into step number four,
optimize your videos for SEO.
Like I mentioned earlier,
SEO is one of the main reasons
that my channel has grown so quickly
over the last year.
So, now that you've
found a popular keyword
and filmed a great video
using an outline or script,
it's time to optimize it.
Here's how.
First, include the keyword
that you found earlier in your title.
YouTube puts a ton of weight on terms
that appear in your video title.
So, make sure to include your exact,
word-for-word keyword here.
For example, here's a video
I published a while back.
My target keyword for that
video was link building.
So, I included that keyword
in my title, simple.
Next, use your keyword two to three times
in your description.
There's no need to overthink this step.
Just sprinkle in your keyword a few times
where it makes sense.
Here's an example from the
video I just mentioned.
See how the keywords
look nice and natural?
That's how you want it to look.
Finally, use keyword-rich tags.
When it comes to tags,
I like to keep things really simple.
I include my main
keyword as the first tag.
Then, I use a handful of other tags
that describe what my video is all about.
That's all there is to it.
And now, it's time for step number five,
get more comments.
My team and I recently analyzed
1.3 million YouTube videos
to figure out why certain videos
ranked higher than others,
and one finding that
surprised a lot of people
was that videos with a lot of comments
tend to outrank videos
that don't get a lot of comments.
In other words,
when your video gets a lot of comments,
YouTube says, "This video
is engaging our viewers,"
and they're gonna give
it a rankings boost.
The question is,
how do you get more
comments on your videos?
Here are three simple
tips that work great.
First, give people
multiple choice questions in your video.
Most YouTubers ask their viewers
something like this.
Yeah, that can work okay.
Instead, give people something
super specific that they comment on.
For example, in this video,
I ask people, which
technique from the video
they're you gonna use first.
They can literally comment
with one to two words,
and that's one of the reasons
that this video has so many comments.
Next, use a pinned comment.
Here's where you ask
your viewers a question
in the comment section,
and then you pin it so
it stays at the top.
Here's an example from my channel.
Finally, reply to as
many comments as you can.
The fact is, most YouTubers
never reply to comments,
which means you instantly
stand out when you do,
and if your channel is brand new,
there's really no excuse not to reply
to every single comment that comes in.
In fact, I reply to
pretty much every comment
that comes in within the first 48 hours
of a new video going live.
Not only does this lead
to more people commenting,
but it also directly
leads to more subscribers.
Speaking of subscribers,
it's time for our next step,
step number six, get more subscribers.
So, how do you get your
first thousand subscribers?
And how do you go from
1,000 to 100,000 and more?
Here are two quick strategies
that are working really well right now.
First, focus 100% on quality, not quantity
because here's the deal.
A lot of so-called YouTube experts
tell you that you need to publish
lots of videos all the time,
but it's simply not true.
The fact is,
there are over 400 hours of videos
published on YouTube every minute.
So, the world doesn't
need more mediocre videos.
It needs more awesome videos.
For example, I grew my channel
to over 100,000 subscribers
with only 20 total videos,
and it only took seven more videos
to get to 200,000 subscribers,
and I'm not alone with this
quality over quantity approach.
JunsKitchen has over
3,000,000 subscribers,
and he's only uploaded
about 25 total videos.
Bottom line, no one cares
how often you publish,
just that the videos you
do publish are awesome.
You also wanna optimize your
end screen for subscribers.
As you probably know,
your end screen is the screen that pops up
at the end of every video on YouTube,
and it's one of the easiest ways
to get more subscribers.
Why is that? Think about it.
Someone just finished watching
an entire video from your channel,
which means they're primed to subscribe.
That's why I recommend using
a big Subscribe button on your end screen.
That way, people can easily subscribe
from inside of your video, pretty cool.
And now it's time for our last step,
step seven, increase session time.
Now that your channel is
starting to get some traction,
it's time to take things
to the next level.
Specifically, it's time to
start focusing on session time.
So, what is session time,
and why is it important?
Session time is how long someone spends
on YouTube after they start watching
one of your videos,
and I should point something out.
Session time is a little bit different
than audience retention and watch time.
Those two metrics are how long
someone spends watching one video.
Session time is different.
Session time measures the amount of time
that someone spends
on the YouTube platform as a whole,
and YouTube has stated on the record
that session time is super important.
According to YouTube,
the longer you can keep
people watching on YouTube
because of your content,
the more your content may get surfaced.
The question is,
how do you maximize your session time?
First, use a next video
in your end screen.
I already mentioned that you wanna add
a big, old Subscribe
button on your end screen,
but you also wanna link
to one of your other videos here too.
Here's an example from my channel.
That way, you give people something else
from your channel to watch right away.
As a quick pro tip,
use a next video that
someone want to watch
after they finish the
video they're watching.
For example, I have a video on my channel
that shows people how to get more views.
What would someone that just finished
watching that video want to see next?
A video on how to turn those
views into subscribers.
So, I featured a video on
getting more subscribers
in my end screen.
Next, use a special
type of playlist format
that I call power playlists.
As you might already know,
playlists are one of the easiest ways
to boost your channel's session time.
That's because playlists
automatically play
one video after another,
which keeps people on YouTube.
So, what are power playlists exactly?
They're basically the
same as regular playlists
with a cool name.
Just kidding.
The difference is this.
Instead of organizing your
playlists around topics,
with power playlists,
you organize them around
outcomes and benefits.
For example, let's say you have
a bunch of videos on your channel
about healthy desserts.
Most people would name their playlist
something like Healthy Dessert Recipes,
and there's nothing wrong with that title,
but it's not gonna push people
to watch every single
video on that playlist.
Enter power playlists.
With power playlists,
you organize your videos
around a specific outcome
that your viewers want.
So, instead of organizing your videos
around healthy dessert recipes,
you just collect a batch
of four to five videos
that will help your viewer lose weight
without cutting out dessert.
Then, name your playlist
with a benefit-oriented title.
For example, I have a bunch of videos
on my channel that show people
how to rank in Google.
So, I put those videos into a playlist
and called it How to Get
Higher Google Rankings.
Simple. Before we close out this video,
I've got a quick bonus strategy for you,
YouTube Studio hacking.
The YouTube Studio is one of the best ways
to take your channel to the next level.
To be clear, if your channel is brand new,
the YouTube Studio isn't gonna be
that useful for you.
That's why I only recommend
using this technique
after you get a few hundred subscribers
under your belt.
So, if you're new to YouTube,
I recommend sticking to the other
techniques that I showed
you in this video.
With that, here's how this strategy works.
First, look at your videos'
top traffic sources.
The traffic sources report tells you
where your views and watch
time are coming from,
and it's an absolute gold mine.
Here's exactly how to use this information
to get more views.
First, you can double down
on what's already working.
For example, if you're getting
lots of views from SEO,
spend more time looking for keywords
and optimizing your videos.
You can also use this report
to find untapped traffic sources.
For example, maybe a big
source of potential views,
like suggested video,
is only bringing in 10% of your views.
Then, it's probably time
to start creating videos
that are designed to rank
in suggested videos sidebar.
Next, look at the
audience retention report
for a couple of your videos.
This report shows you
where people drop off,
and when you notice a pattern,
you can stop doing that
thing in future videos.
For example, in some of my older videos,
I noticed a huge drop off
in the first 30 seconds of my video.
Now, it's normal to have
a significant drop off
in the first 30 seconds
or so of your video,
but my audience retention
was dropping off a cliff,
and when I looked at my video intros,
I realized why.
I was going on and on about why
my videos topic was important.
That's when it hit me.
Anyone that's watching this video
already knows that this
topic is important.
That's why they're watching this video.
So, I started to test intros
that cut out the fluff and
got straight to the point,
and my watch time
and audience retention
significantly improved.
If you like this video,
make sure to subscribe to my
YouTube channel right now.
Just click on the subscribe
button below this video,
and if you want exclusive SEO techniques
that I only share with subscribers,
head over to backlinko.com,
and sign up for the newsletter, it's free.
Now, I wanna turn it over to you.
Which technique from today's video
are you gonna try first?
Are you gonna try YouTube Studio hacking?
Or do you wanna use power playlists?
Let me know by leaving a
comment below right now.
Okay, here we go.
So, I feel like I have
something in my teeth.
And I should...
Playlist.
This is me, I'm gonna...
When you type keto in...
Oh, it's a fly.
Always a good rule of thumb, right?
Oh. Are you getting that?
You know, beep, beep, beep.
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