Is there anything worse than spending a great deal of time creating a YouTube masterpiece and only getting a hundred views and three likes in the end…

Thankfully, there are plenty of relatively simple tips that will help you get the attention that you deserve. Here are 19 ways to get more views on YouTube.

Use the right colors in your thumbnail

The thumbnail is practically always the first thing that the viewers are going to see. Of course, you would want your image to stand out from hundreds of others. And one of the easiest and most effective ways to do that is to use blue, orange, green, and yellow. YouTube utilizes mostly white, red, and black. If these colors dominate in your thumbnail, the image will simply blend in. But when it comes to blue, orange, green, and yellow, the effect will be the opposite – these colors will make your thumbnail pop.

Write the video description wisely

A lot of us tend to neglect video descriptions. After all, the majority of viewers never even bother opening the description box.
However, YouTube’s algorithms love properly written descriptions. Here is the template for your next one:

• A strong intro (2-3 sentences, use your target keyword)
• 150 words that outline why the viewer should watch your video (use your keywords)
• Links (add your social media and a call-to-action)

Come up with a great title

A video will, most likely, get a lot more views, if your title has:

• Between 40 and 50 characters
• A number (for example, 3 Tips to Nailing Your Video Title)
• Brackets at the end (for example, Get Your Video Title Right [full checklist])

Don’t neglect video tags

Your main keyword has to be your first or second tag. After that, add a few variations of the main keyword and then a couple of tags that describe the topic or the category of your content.

Find your way to the ‘suggested videos’ section

Suggested videos are the videos that you see on your right when you’re watching a YouTube video. Turns out, that you can get more views from being a suggested video, than from YouTube’s search bar.

Find a popular video that is related to your topic and copy its tags. The chances are high that you’ll get shown next to that video.

Share your videos

Don’t be shy to promote and share your videos on other platforms. For example, you can link the video in a thread in Reddit, if this is where the users will be able to find the right answers to their questions.

Link your videos on other websites

Embeds help you get more views and make your videos rank higher on YouTube.

Master YouTube SEO basics

Make sure that you know the most up-to-date Youtube SEO information as the algorithms are constantly changing.

Rank your video in Google

To help your video get to the top of google search, do this:

• During the video, say your main keyword out loud.
• Upload a transcription of the video

Get more engagement on the videos

Literally ask people to like, comment, and subscribe.

Make sure that the viewer keeps watching YouTube

Session time is how much time someone spends on the platform after watching your video. You should try to increase this metric, as YouTube cares a lot about it. You can promote your best videos on the channel page, create playlists, or invite the viewers to watch another video after they have finished watching this one.

Link to your videos on the end screen

Ideally, the next video that you’re promoting should be connected to the previous one. Ask yourself – what does the viewer want to learn/see next?

Come up with catchy playlist titles

Focus on the answer that your audience might be looking for. For example, a playlist named “Get more views on YouTube” can have plenty of videos about SEO, boosting engagement, and so on.

Appear on the homepage

Promote your video in the first 2 days (YouTube likes to feature either extremely popular videos or new ones that have managed to get quite a few views). Gain subscribers. The more people are subscribed to you, the more likely you’re going to appear on their homepage.

Share short clips on your social media

Spend some extra time to not simply share your entire video, but to create a clip that is native to Facebook, Instagram, etc. In such a case, the platform is going to promote your clip (this won’t happen if you have the full video there). Tip: use the first comment to post the link to the actual video.

Upload your videos at the right time

Test a few different options to find out what time and day of the week work best for you (and your audience). Such tools as VidIQ can help you analyze the data.

Take advantage of the ‘cards’

Analyze your audience retention report. Find the exact time when the video has the biggest retention drop and add a card to that specific moment. Instead of leaving the channel, the viewers might choose to click on another video.

Focus on what’s already working

Find a video on your channel that performed best and apply what worked in it to your future content.

Build anticipation for your next video

Use the community tab to promote your upcoming creation.