One of the biggest traps we see small YouTubers fall into is making the same mistakes over and over again. These can be tiny missteps, like forgetting to write video descriptions, or bigger problems, like not 

. In either case, mistakes pile up until they snowball into one big problem.

The good news is that these mistakes are temporary. You can fix what’s broken within your content, but the first step is understanding what you’re doing wrong.

If you aren’t sure what that is, don’t stress about it. You can start here by learning the most common YouTube mistakes, plus how to correct them.

1. Asking YouTube Shorts Viewers to Watch Long-Form Videos

Promoting a long-form video within a YouTube Short doesn’t 

 like a bad idea, but it kind of is! Most people look for quick bursts of entertainment when they watch short videos — not lengthy, slow-burning plots.

In fact, viewers are in a different mode altogether when watching Shorts. They’re swiping from one video to the next, and pulling them away from this task is not easy.

Not respecting the audience you’re making content for

Instead of guiding them to a different content type, focus on the Short at hand. Here are some tips for creating a superb viewing experience:

Make a Short that’s 20-30 seconds long (or use a clip from one of your longer videos.)

Communicate one point or overall theme. Maybe you can share an interesting fact or make viewers laugh!

 alongside your shorter ones to a broader audience.

How to Get More YouTube Shorts Views on Your Channel

2. Making Your Thumbnail Text Hard to Read

Do you add text to your YouTube thumbnails? If so, go to your channel homepage and browse the video section. Row by row, look at each thumbnail, and ask yourself a crucial question: Can I read the words easily, or does it take a few seconds? 

Because uploading a thumbnail with confusing text is a major YouTube mistake!

Here’s an example of what you want to avoid. The thumbnail below (from gaming channel  

) is readable, but only after you stare at it for a while.

A youtube thumbnail with skinny, hard to read text

 for this same channel. Lil_P66 has switched to a thicker, simpler font. It’s much easier on the eyes!

An improved youtube thumbnail with bold readable text

Instead of using fancy fonts, keep these tips in mind:

Stick to sans-serif fonts, and make your text big and bold.

Choose colors that create a nice contrast between the thumbnail text and the photo's background.

Never use red text (it’s hard to read).

YouTube Thumbnail Guide - 9 Ways to Boost Click-Through Rate

Another common mistake YouTubers make is not paying attention to video lighting. After all, a well-light environment doesn’t just 

 cool. It’s essential for helping viewers see every detail and understand what’s happening visually.

 has a video with blue and purple lighting (it looks pretty cool, actually), but their face blends right into the colors. Plus, the room is pretty dim altogether.

To be fair, John has videos where you can clearly see the subject in the frame. But it’s something to watch out for if you want to keep viewers' attention every single time.

Video editing and production are complex skills, so correcting this mistake doesn’t happen overnight. Don’t hesitate to give it a shot, though. Plenty of courses will show you how to light videos properly, and you’ll feel relieved to have mastered that skill.

4. Making YouTube Videos that Anyone Could Copy

Posting unique videos is one is the best ways to stand out on YouTube. It gives you a fighting chance to catch people off guard and hook them with a concept they never saw coming.

. And this goes beyond taking inspiration from other creators. If you’re using a video idea that’s 10 years old with millions of people repeating it each day, what makes you different from them? What will viewers find in your video that they haven’t found in all the others?

Let’s play videos are a good example of severely overdone content in the gaming community. This is where someone does a walkthrough of a video game they’re playing while sprinkling in some commentary here and there. 

 is doing this (because it’s easy and repeatable), yet only large creators seem to find success with it. Small gaming channels, such as 

, have a hard time getting discovered with this strategy.

A small gaming creator has 88 subscribers

Here’s what you can do instead as a gaming creator:

Start researching other topics that interest viewers in your gaming niche.

Show them secrets in the game. Bring them along for challenges. Look for trends that will surprise and delight them.

 kind of content serves a specific viewer and stops you from competing with large, established creators.

11 Killer Tips for Starting a YouTube Gaming Channel

Everyone makes mistakes, especially video creators. There’s nothing easy about 

 in a visual format, attracting people through titles and thumbnails, and keeping it up until your channel grows. It’s hard work! You’re bound to make mistakes, but you’re also bound to get better if you learn from the blunders.

Would you rather learn about YouTube mistakes by watching a video? If so, here’s a nice guide for you!

Are you making huge mistakes on YouTube without even knowing it? Here are 4 of the most common ones to watch out for.

4 Common YouTube Mistakes (and How to Fix Them for Good)

Every creator wants to get more views on YouTube. That singular goal drives people to improve their videos in various ways, such as generating more watch time, getting a higher click-through rate, and enhancing audience retention. After all, these are the YouTube analytics you want to pay attention to because they serve as powerful ranking factors.

But as you focus on those areas, don’t forget 

 and understand how to get clicks, SEO is like gasoline for your content, blasting it to thousands of additional viewers on YouTube.

YouTube SEO (search engine optimization) is a set of methods for optimizing content, whether that’s individual videos, playlists, or even an entire channel. The practices range from using popular keywords in your video and its metadata (such as titles and descriptions) to using hashtags that reach more viewers.

SEO is important for YouTube because it helps the recommendation system understand what a video is about. Over time, this should help the content get featured on search pages. After all, the goal of YouTube SEO is to make videos rank higher and 

Ready to get started? If so, it’s time to build a YouTube SEO strategy. Read the tips below for a complete optimization checklist, from enhancing titles to adding hashtags to writing video descriptions.

1. Choose a Target Keyword for Your Content

Before you can optimize your video, you have to know what keyword you’re targeting on YouTube. Most of this knowledge comes from keyword research, so once you have a topic in mind, the next step is identifying the 

Any keyword research tool can help you with this. The best ones will show you the most important things about a keyword, such as:

From there, you can see which keywords are easier to rank for and plan your video accordingly.

For example, let’s say you want to make a video about teacakes. When you type this phrase into vidIQ’s keyword research tool, you’ll notice the term has 

The term "tea cakes" has a keyword score of 60

Because competition is low and searches are fairly high, “tea cakes” will make an excellent target keyword. Few creators are exploring the topic on YouTube, but 

 for that content every month; you can be the one to fill the gap!

Of course, that’s just the beginning of keyword research. Your target keyword could be hiding in another section of the tool, such as matching terms, related terms, or questions people ask.

So here’s a full guide for understanding YouTube keyword research!

2. Include Keywords in Your Video Title and Description

Once you have a target keyword, find a natural way to add it to your title and description.
For example, if your keyword is “London train views,” use that in your title just once and make sure everything is understandable.

Compare these two titles to see the difference:

Natural-sounding title: “Amazing London Train Views for $40 a Ticket”

Unnatural-sounding title: “London Train Views Vlog: Cheap Views From London Train Stations"

The second title confusingly over-uses the keyword. The first title is clear, informative, and intriguing!

9 Ways to Write Exciting YouTube Titles for Your Videos

Also, try to repeat the keyword in your video description. You can even throw in a few related keywords if you have them.

All of this will help the YouTube algorithm understand your content and display it on the right search pages, leading to a higher video ranking.

3. Make Sure the Video’s Thumbnail Reinforces the Title

Most people don’t think of thumbnails when it comes to YouTube SEO, but they’re extremely important. Thumbnails are the first thing people notice about a video — not the title, description, or how SEO-friendly those assets are. More than anything, viewers use the thumbnail to confirm the video matches their interests or offers something special.

That’s why you should always add a custom YouTube thumbnail to your videos. That way, you can design the image to reinforce the title and draw people in.

For example, let’s say you have a title that reads “Modern Billionaires versus Historical Ones: How They Spent Their Fortunes.” To reinforce the title, you might have images of Elon Musk and Henry Ford, the word “versus” nestled between them, and $100 bills scattered throughout the thumbnail.

A YouTube thumbnail showing a millionaire and a billionaire surrounded by money

As you design, remember to optimize your thumbnail from a technical standpoint, too:

You can also read this guide for more tips on designing thumbnails.

Using YouTube hashtags is another way to optimize your video content. These clickable pieces of metadata help people find what they’re looking for on YouTube, so adding a couple to your title and description never hurts. Simply type the # symbol followed by the descriptor you want to use.

Two hashtags in a YouTube video description

By using the right hashtag(s), your video could show up on a popular 

. Getting featured in this lucrative part of the app or website gives your video more exposure!

Featured videos on the hashtag page for #makeupasmr

The key is to research these hashtag pages ahead of time. Which ones are popular enough to boost your video but small enough that you can still get featured there?

5. Add Captions and Subtitles for Accessibility

It’s tempting to skip the entire process of adding captions, especially when you’re ready to upload. But what if we said you could miss out on 

This reason why is because people have different viewing experiences on YouTube. Some prefer watching videos with the sound off and reading captions instead. Others need captions 100% of the time because they can’t hear the audio. And a third group of viewers needs language-based subtitles to understand the video in their native tongue.

YouTube can help with some of this, as each video you upload comes with automatic captions. The translation technology on YouTube does most of the work; you just have to review the transcript and correct a few errors here and there.

You can also add subtitles during the video-editing process if you have a multicultural audience. For example, 

 creates videos in Japanese with English subtitles and vice versa.

English subtitles for a video with Japanese audio

If you want your video to get more views, one solution is to put it in a story-based playlist. Not only do playlists encourage people to binge your content, but they also help people discover your videos in the first place. After all, viewers can filter a YouTube search to show playlists only.

The playlist filter within YouTube search

Here are eight ways to grow your channel with YouTube playlists.

7. Promote Your Video Using Cards and End Screens

Once you’ve optimized your video, promoting it within other videos on your YouTube channel is a good idea. You can do this easily with cards and end screens.

YouTube cards are clickable elements that pop up when someone’s watching a video. They’re typically used to refer people to another piece of content, which is usually related to the topic at hand. So if you want a video to get more views and exposure, make it a YouTube card in your next video!

 are interactive outros that appear in the last 5-20 seconds of a video. You can add many things to an end screen (subscribe button, website link, etc.), but the best option is to recommend 

 to watch next. That way, viewers click the next video without thinking too hard. This is the perfect place to give more exposure to a fully optimized video!

A youtube end screen recommending another video to watch

Promote your entire YouTube channel with this handy guide.

Knowing the latest YouTube SEO tips will take you far, but you don’t have to become an expert. Realistically, it’s faster to use SEO tools that analyze content for you. That way, you can get back to what truly matters, like coming up with video ideas and filming content.

This is where vidIQ can help you out with a 

. Each time you upload, this tool will analyze your video’s SEO and tell you what’s missing. There’s even a checklist to remind you of the important stuff, like adding keywords to your title, putting your video in a playlist, and adding closed captions to your content.

YouTube SEO: The Key to Unlocking More Views

If you take these tips to heart, you can start improving your YouTube ranking today. You’ll increase your channel’s visibility and get more people watching your videos, which makes room for even bigger goals like YouTube monetization.

Does that sound like the direction you’re headed in? 

If so, here’s a quick breakdown of how to make money on YouTube!

Hands typing on a computer with a search bar overlayed on the image

Do you put a lot of effort into making quality YouTube videos? If so, don’t skip the most crucial step in getting your content discovered: YouTube SEO.

YouTube SEO: How to Optimize Your Videos for Maximum Views

Why do some YouTube Shorts go viral while others don’t? If you break it down by what makes a good video, the best ones always have the following:

Emotional transfer (happy, funny, moving, etc.)

In this post, we’ll focus on the most critical part — creating a strong concept for your video. So if you want more views this year, here are nine YouTube Shorts ideas to go viral!

YouTube Shorts may be brief, but there’s more than enough time to squeeze in a tutorial. That could be anything you’re good at, such as DIY projects, art, tech repair, or another topic related to your niche. Just make it brief and informative!

If you need some inspiration, here’s a skin-retouching tutorial from 

. It’s pretty short, but you get a step-by-step guide on improving anyone’s skin in Adobe Photoshop. Plus, the tutorial also has more than 5 million views!

Of all the viral YouTube Shorts ideas, life hacks may be one of the best. After all, everyone loves a shortcut to achieving their goals!

There are two ways to execute this idea on YouTube. You could react to a life hack that’s already trending, or you could film yourself attempting the hack in a brand new video. Either path could lead to a viral moment if the topic flows with your niche.

Before and after videos have a strong appeal on YouTube. They're just 

 in a way that most videos will never be, especially when something goes from dirty to clean or from boring to beautiful.

With these videos, just make sure the “after” looks better than the “before.” The gap between those states is what creates the “wow” factor.

Quick tips are like tutorials, except you have more space to play around with the format. You don’t have to go step-by-step, but you can find creative ways to break complex topics into bite-sized pieces of information.

 posted a Short about answering tricky interview questions. Instead of showing a list of tips, this creator mimicked an actual job interview! There are also captions to help people memorize what they’re learning.

Have you noticed any myths within your YouTube community? What about common mistakes people always make?

If so, set the record straight in a short, punchy video. Your findings may shock viewers so much that they 

 has a video about mistakes people never catch in popular movies. It has over 7 million views!

Motivational content works best for people chasing popular goals, such as getting in shape, staying healthy, or adopting the right mindset. They're extremely hard to accomplish, so a little motivation goes a long way.

You can make a difference by sharing a goal you achieved over time. Show a time-lapse of your progress, or find creative ways to break down your journey and get people inspired!

 has a great example of this, where she documented her full-body transformation in exchange for 

 disappoints? You can’t go wrong with fun facts!

For this idea, you’ll expose hidden truths that appeal to a curious audience (which includes most viewers). Combine that with 

, and you’ll go viral while entertaining millions of people.

But that’s just one side of the coin. Some facts can simply be relatable (not rare) and still get millions of views.

 posted a Short about actors who do the same thing in every movie. It has over 29 million views!

We have good news! You don’t have to post long videos on YouTube to start getting discovered. Many people create short, viral, unboxing videos, proving anyone can transform the idea for YouTube Shorts.

, for example. This creator posted an iPhone XR unboxing with more than 6 million views. Not bad for one YouTube Short!

If you have popular long-form videos, why not turn those into YouTube Shorts? You can see the 

 of a video now, making it easier to spot popular chapters that could go viral.

The most popular segment of a YouTube video versus the least popular

Once you find that special clip, it’s just a matter of “dressing it up.” Add music, captions, and special effects, then give it a title people can’t ignore. All of this helps you go viral on YouTube!

Need more guidance? Here's a video explaining all nine of the Shorts ideas we mentioned above.

Now that you have some video ideas, it’s time for the next step: 

A smartphone screen showing the YouTube Shorts logo

Need some video ideas for your YouTube Shorts? Here are 9 ideas that will help you go viral!

9 Video Ideas to Go Viral with YouTube Shorts

By now, you probably know that a small percentage of people post YouTube comments. It only happens when a video is insightful, inspiring, or polarizing in a way that riles people up. In other words, comments aren't easy to attract.

That's why you should treat each one like 

. Whether you're getting 10, 50, or 500, it means you have some engaged viewers on your channel. Many of them will become the heart of your community, and if you want them to stick around, you have to show them attention.


All it takes is a few responses here and there. Here are six rules for thriving in the comment section!

t is shortly after it's posted. By doing this, you prove to viewers that their thoughts and concerns are a priority for you, which unlocks their hard-won allegiance!

But what if you're getting hundreds of comments on average? No matter how social you are, the thought of replying to each person can be daunting.

Set realistic expectations for you and your audience

. For instance, how many comments can you address before feeling overwhelmed? Whatever that number is, use it to set a healthy benchmark. Tell viewers you'll respond to the first 25, 50, or 100 comments you see after hitting publish.

2. Thank Viewers for Their Positive Feedback

A little recognition goes a long way, especially when you want to make viewers feel special. So when you see those "golden" comments, such as "awesome video" or "this is really inspiring," send a quick note expressing your gratitude.

These messages don't have to be long and flowery, either; a simple "thank you" works in many cases. We spotted a nice example from gaming creator 

, where they used a brief response to acknowledge a viewer.

A YouTube comment and a response from the video creator, which reads, "Thank you!"

No matter how positive you are, you're bound to have critics on YouTube. If someone is critiquing anything about your video, such as the lighting, intro, topic, or something else, take it as a learning lesson. Can you 

 and content structure? Could the lighting 

If so, let viewers know that you understand and will think about making improvements. After all, you're there to create content for an audience, and they should be able to weigh in from time to time.

Or you could take the comedic route. In the example below, creators 

 respond to criticism with a lighthearted response and a string of laughing emojis.

A YouTube comment and a comedic reply from the video creator

, which are messages prepared ahead of time to make the process of replying much easier. It saves time when you have a large audience, but there are better ways to engage with viewers.

Building a community takes empathy, trust, and some level of personalization. So when you craft your responses, be conversational and down-to-Earth. Make viewers feel comfortable in the comment section, and they'll keep coming back!

 response to a viewer who got scammed by a business coach. Camille gets personal, says she has also been scammed, and adds, "Sorry about your wife being victimized." It's empathetic, emotional, and a moment that likely bonded Camille and her viewers together.

A video creator responds to a YouTube comment with empathy and understanding

When it comes to fighting with trolls, you just can't win. They never show their face on YouTube, so you have no idea who they are or what they represent. Even if you manage to shut down one troll, another one pops up like a pesky garden weed. 

Unfortunately, that old, common phrase is still accurate: The internet is undefeated.

 (or any viewer, for that matter). Spend your energy on people who matter, such as viewers that offer support and healthy critique.

, especially if you have a small channel. But how much promotion is too much?

Let's just say that if every video has a "salesy" comment from you, it's time to pull back. Try to align your requests with normal YouTube behavior, such as asking questions or challenging viewers to get a specific number of likes before releasing the next video. You're simply asking for engagement, which is much safer than asking for sign-ups, money, or downloads every time.

Want to win over your comment section? Imagine that each conversation is happening in person. Be light and conversational, avoid pointless fights, and show appreciation when someone compliments you. Most people will follow your lead in having healthy, positive dialogue.

Want to take your community-building to the next level? 

Here's how to properly engage on the YouTube Community tab

A woman tapping her smartphone screen while smiling.

Replying to comments on YouTube is the key to growing an active, engaged audience. Want to do it the right way? Here are six golden tips!

6 Golden Rules for Responding to YouTube Comments

Does YouTube promote new channels, or does it only give credence to large, established ones?

Small creators always ask this question — and for a good reason. If you’re in those numbers, you’ll be happy to know that YouTube does, in fact, promote small channels! It may happen through titles and keywords instead of video recommendations at first, 

Regardless, don’t let YouTube do all the work. There are good ways to promote your YouTube channel, from optimizing your videos to collaborating with others to networking through YouTube comments.

The Best Ways to Promote a Small YouTube Channel

Are you ready to start promoting yourself on YouTube? At a minimum, you should have two things covered already:

Understanding your YouTube niche/audience

Knowing the YouTube keywords you want to target

If you’re good in both of these areas, here’s how to promote your YouTube channel for free!

1. Write a Good Description for Your Channel

One of the easiest ways to promote your channel is by simply describing it. Explain your YouTube niche, the type of videos you make, and most importantly, what viewers gain by subscribing. It also helps to sprinkle in some keywords so your channel ranks higher on YouTube search pages.

, for example. This theme park channel has keywords like “Universal Studios” and “Florida” in its channel description. Plus, they accurately describe the channel’s purpose.

YouTube keywords are highlighted within a channel description

When we type “Universal Studios Florida” into the search bar and filter by channel, Rix Flix is near the top! That’s YouTube promotion at its finest.

A channel shows up high in YouTube search for the keyword "universal studios Florida"

If you want people to pay attention to your channel, 

 they can’t ignore. Typically, the best titles appeal to our strongest emotions, like fear, desire, and curiosity.

Fear: “The Dark Side of the Stock Market (Protect Your Money Now)”

Desire: “What You’re Doing Wrong in the Dating Scene”

Promoting your YouTube channel is the fastest way to reach more viewers and gain thousands of subscribers. Here’s a complete guide for small creators!

Posts Written By Lydia Sweatt

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