Ask any YouTuber and they will tell you that generating significant views and subscribers isn't easy. But with the right strategy and tools, any video creator can build an engaged subscriber base when they understand what those subscribers want to watch.

Appealing to an audience to watch content you are passionate about making is just the first step, you need to know how to reach them and get your videos discovered. Our guides to how to guide more views on YouTube will give you the best tips to succeed on the platform.

Getting Views

How To Get More Views on YouTube

Getting thousands or even millions of YouTube subscribers is a dream for most creators. In the articles below, we'll show you how to turn casual viewers into long-term fans. 

Subscribers

YouTube Subscribers

Do you want to make money on YouTube? Millions of creators are earning a very good living from monetizing the platform and uploading content that drives huge views and engagements. Whether that YouTube income is from advertising revenue, merchandise sales, or brand deals, or subscriptions, we keep you updated with best practices and ideas.

Monetization

How To Make Money on YouTube

Want to see how your channel is performing? Read these YouTube analytics articles to discover what's working and what isn't. You'll learn how to identify which videos have the most Watch Time, clicks, audience retention, revenue, and more.

Analytics

YouTube Analytics

Watch Time is arguably THE most important metric on YouTube right now, and creators won’t be able to monetize their content without 4000 hours of it. But what is it and how can creators increase the amount of Watch Time their videos attract? We keep you updated on the best practices around Watch Time, and how you can increase how much your video content generates.

Watch Time

YouTube Watch Time

YouTube Shorts content is set to explode! 

All the latest tips, tricks, and rock-solid advice you need for this new feature.

YouTube Shorts

Do you know how to do keyword research so you understand what videos people are actually searching for on YouTube? Do you know how to create a custom YouTube thumbnail? Do you know how to create a Playlist on YouTube?

vidIQ has a ton of tips that will help every creator maximise their video content. We publish content every week to keep you up to date with all the best practices.

Tips & Tricks

YouTube Tips & Tricks

At vidIQ we have incredible insights into what viewers are searching for on YouTube. Not only can we confirm the top keywords being searched for, we can also show you how you can leverage that interest to create content around trending topics and tentpole events. That's going to give you a clear edge over other creators!

Insights

YouTube Insights

Your In-Depth Guide to Building a Successful YouTube Channel

Thumbnails are one of the biggest pain points for new creators, and an important one to solve. Thumbnails are the "book cover" of your video—something that needs to grab attention in just a fraction of a second. 

There are so many elements that go into making that winning thumbnail for your content, and it's simply not possible to address all of that here. So, 

 with expert, John Scott, to get all your thumbnail queries answered.

In this post, we'll walk you through the ideal 

, some key best practices for creating thumbnails that stand out!

12 Types of YouTube Thumbnails People Love to Click On

First impressions are critical in the endless ocean of YouTube content. The thumbnail plays a massive role in getting viewers to click on your video over countless others. For new YouTubers trying to gain traction, getting your thumbnail right can be the difference between a low-performing video and that ever-alluring viral hit. Here’s why size specifically matters:

: YouTube thumbnails appear across a wide range of devices—desktops, tablets, and, most importantly, mobile phones. Therefore, you need a thumbnail that remains sharp and eye-catching across all these platforms.

: Thumbnails with the correct size and dimensions ensure a polished, professional look. Low-quality, blurry images won’t just make your video less appealing—they’ll make it look amateurish.

 Faster Than Ever: 6 Ways to Make YouTube Thumbnails in Record Time

The Best Size for YouTube Thumbnails in 2024

When designing your thumbnail, the recommended size is 

 with a 16:9 aspect ratio. This size works across devices and ensures your thumbnail looks pleasing to the eye. Additionally, the minimum width YouTube accepts is 640 pixels but going lower than the recommended size is probably not a good idea. To keep things simple, here's what you need to follow.

: 16:9 (standard YouTube video aspect ratio)

https://www.oberlo.com/blog/youtube-thumbnail-size

Using the optimal size guarantees that your thumbnail will look crisp, regardless of the screen size it's being viewed on. It also helps your video stand out in YouTube search results and suggested video sections, making it an essential element of your overall video SEO strategy.

Best Practices for Creating YouTube Thumbnails

Creating a well-designed thumbnail is more than just getting the size right. It’s about crafting something that resonates with your audience and drives them to click. Let’s break down some important design strategies that’ll help your thumbnails pop in 2024:

Your thumbnail needs to deliver a clear message in a split second. Overloading it with too many details, colors, or text can be overwhelming, especially when viewed on smaller screens like mobile phones. Stick to one focal point and keep the design clean.

Text on thumbnails can be incredibly effective—if done right. Use 

 that stand out against the background. Avoid cramming too many words; instead, aim for short, snappy phrases that intrigue viewers. Also, contrast is essential. If your background is dark, make sure your text is light, and vice versa.

Your thumbnail should immediately grab attention, even when it’s displayed alongside hundreds of others. Using high-contrast colors can help your image stand out. Consider using colors that are complementary or that contrast sharply with YouTube’s default red, black, and white color scheme.

Thumbnails that feature human faces—especially ones that show strong emotions—tend to get higher engagement. Whether it’s excitement, surprise, or curiosity, showing a human expression can create an instant connection with potential viewers.

One great trick for building brand recognition is to use a consistent style for all your thumbnails. This could include specific color schemes, text placement, or the use of your logo in a corner. Over time, viewers will come to recognize your videos at a glance, making it more likely they’ll click on your content.

For example, this is how the vidIQ channel home page looks at first glance. As you can see, there is homogeneity in the way we use our creators faces and other graphical elements across videos./

While designing thumbnails can be fun, it’s wise to avoid a few traps. Here are some common mistakes that you should avoid at all costs:

: Never use clickbait or misleading images that have nothing to do with your video’s content. This will only frustrate viewers, hurt your channel’s reputation, and lead to a high bounce rate—something YouTube’s algorithm won’t like.

: You don’t want to clutter your thumbnail with unnecessary text. Keep it short and to the point. Let the title of your video do the talking, and use text on your thumbnail sparingly.

: More than half of YouTube’s traffic comes from mobile devices, so always ensure your thumbnails are legible on small screens. If you’re adding text, make sure it’s large and bold enough to read easily on a smartphone.

: A blurry or pixelated thumbnail can significantly reduce your video’s chances of getting clicked. Always use high-resolution images, and if you’re unsure, err on the side of larger file sizes (

Tips for Testing and Optimizing Thumbnails

If you’re not sure which thumbnail design will work best, don’t be afraid to experiment. YouTube allows you to change thumbnails even after your video has been published. Here are some tips for testing and optimizing your thumbnails over time:

: Try switching between different thumbnails on the same video and track their performance in 

. This way, you can identify which design drives more clicks.

 of your videos. A higher CTR means more people are engaging with your content, which helps boost your visibility in YouTube’s algorithm.

: Beyond the CTR, also look at how long people are watching your video. If your audience is dropping off quickly after clicking, your thumbnail might not accurately represent your content. 

 for optimizing, testing, and comparing different thumbnail options for the same video by using the above metrics. 

According to YouTube, 90% of the best-performing videos use custom thumbnails.

 In 2024, making it on YouTube involves more than just creating great content—you need to package it well, starting with your thumbnail. Understanding the 

 and following design best practices will set you on the path to success. 

Whether you’re just starting or looking to level up your YouTube game, getting your thumbnail right is a crucial step to increasing your views, engagement, and subscriber count. 

Now it’s time to create that killer thumbnail

Learn the correct YouTube thumbnail measurements for 2024 and how to optimize them for the best quality and viewer engagement!

YouTube Thumbnail Measurements: The Right Size for 2024

Convincing viewers to subscribe to your YouTube channel may be the hardest thing you’ll ever do. It takes time and effort to create unwavering loyalty among viewers, so of course, no one gains millions of subscribers overnight. 

In fact, before that happens, you may ask viewers to ‘like, comment, and subscribe’ hundreds of times.

But once you get the number you’re looking for - several hundred, a thousand, or even hundreds of thousands - that’s going to feel amazing. All the hard work of starting a channel, sticking to a niche, and uploading consistently will finally be justified.

And guess what? Nothing will bring you down - not the army of bots spamming your videos with sub4sub comments, not even the discrepancy between 

. Nothing will steal your joy except maybe, quite possibly, seeing a number like this on your channel analytics dashboard:

By the way, that’s how many subscribers our YouTube channel, 

, has lost since joining the platform: 349,032.

But why does this happen? How can any creator lose so many subscribers on a free platform?

If you’re experiencing the same thing, don’t worry. 

The relationship between creators and viewers is just like any other. It goes through changes, seasons of uncertainty, and sometimes it ends altogether. To prepare yourself for the impact of losing fans, watch our “Why Am I Losing Subscribers” video on YouTube:

As long as you’re gaining more subscribers than you’re losing, that’s a win. But if you need more proof, here are six reasons why all YouTube creators lose subscribers at some point:

7 Reasons Why Your YouTube Channel is Losing Views (And How To Fix It)

1. You’ll Lose Subscribers when YouTube Deletes Fraudulent Accounts

It’s true. Now and then, YouTube audits your list of subscribers to track down annoying bots and spam accounts. This process includes some form of account verification, and if YouTube detects any suspicious activity, it may remove those accounts from your subscriber list or the platform altogether.

In the past, YouTube performed these audits three or four times a year, but the process is more nuanced today. Instead of waiting for bot and spam accounts to pile up through the year, YouTube audits accounts in real-time -  or at least within 24 to 48 hours of you gaining new subscribers. That lets the platform remove illicit users as soon as they subscribe.

 from your channel, just know this: There's nothing to worry about, and it’s not your fault. Your subscriber count may decrease, but that just means your channel - and all of YouTube - is becoming a better place for viewers and creators alike. Here's some info on that topic:

2. Viewer Fatigue Can Make Fans Unsubscribe

Have you ever stopped watching your favorite YouTube channels for no particular reason, even though you enjoy the content?

If so, you’re not alone. Thousands of people experience viewer fatigue on YouTube, and if that feeling becomes too heavy, unsubscribing is just one way for viewers to reclaim their headspace.

Rob Wilson, our YouTuber in residence here at vidIQ, found himself in that exact predicament. In 2015, he fell in love with the work of filmmaker and storyteller 

. Around 7 p.m. each night, he’d watch his daily vlogs after downing a cup of tea, which became his ritual for 18 months.

But one day, Casey decided he wouldn't upload daily vlogs anymore and took a break from YouTube. When he returned to the platform, he also decided to post non-vlog content every few days. All of that led to Rob watching less of Casey’s videos over time.

The interesting thing though, is that Rob maintained his subscription to Casey’s channel for quite a while. Only after seeing Casey’s videos constantly pop up, and realizing he was never going to watch them, did Rob finally hit unsubscribe.

3. Viewers Unsubscribe When They Outgrow Your Channel

 and watch our videos regularly, you know our value proposition to you. As you embark on the journey of mastering YouTube, we educate you on how to overcome the challenges of being a creator. 

But does that mean we're going to educate you from zero subscribers to 100 million subscribers? Probably not.

It's not feasible to target every YouTuber - the beginners, the intermediate, the advanced - so we speak to one particular audience. Right now, those viewers have channels with less than 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of Watch Time. Basically, they’re working toward 

When you reach 50,000 subscribers and have already monetized your channel, your relationship with us could change. If we're honest, maybe the vidIQ channel is no longer for you when you’ve secured huge brand deals and sponsorships.

Always remember that your viewers are on a journey of self-discovery. They may outgrow your channel as their interests change, and that’s OK. There are more than 2 billion monthly users discovering new things on YouTube, and many of them will fall in love with your past, present, and future content.

4. Viewers Unsubscribe When You Don’t Post Evergreen Content

As a creator, you should understand the potential shelf life of the topics you cover. 

For example, if you started a YouTube channel about fidget spinners back in 2016, where would you be now? Fidget spinners are still cool, but nobody's watching videos about them. And what about the cultural phenomenon that was “Game of Thrones"? The television series was popular on YouTube for 10 years, but unfortunately, the show ended.

I think ASMR is a good topic to evaluate too. It had phenomenal growth in the last five years, and prior to that, many of us didn't know what that abbreviation meant. Now it seems to be an ever-expanding universe with no end in sight. However, as a creator, you can’t be blindsided by its current popularity. There has to be an inflection point somewhere in the future where the topic plateaus or dips in popularity.

If there’s a trend you want to cover on YouTube, act fast, and enjoy the extra views and subscribers you may receive. Just keep in mind the probability of your audience unsubscribing when the trend inevitably dies.

5. YouTube is Competitive. Viewers May Unsubscribe to Watch a Better Channel

This is a bold statement, but probably true nonetheless: If we uploaded videos about YouTube growth education 10 years ago, we’d have millions of subscribers right now. That's because a decade ago, there were fewer YouTube education channels to compete with.

Because there are so many good channels today, including our own, the views and exposure in this niche are divided amongst several creators. So here’s a reminder for every YouTuber: 

If you stand still, never seeking to improve your channel, someone better is going to take your audience.

It wasn't always this way. A decade ago, individual creators making content from their bedrooms dominated YouTube. But these days, YouTube is filled with traditional media companies who’ve taken the platform seriously, or new groups creating phenomenal channels run by skilled production teams. The world is realizing the power of video, so it's becoming increasingly difficult for individual creators to dominate YouTube. 

It's possible, of course. Just extremely challenging.

To make sure your audience grows with you, do everything in your power to become a better content creator with each upload.

6. Viewers Unsubscribe When You Don’t Stick to One Niche

And now, let's talk about the one thing we always cover: the focus of your YouTube channel.

To start, here’s a scenario among viewers and creators that happens repeatedly. After watching one of your videos, new viewers will subscribe to your channel under the assumption that the video they watched reflects your entire channel. 

But upon diving deeper, those viewers may realize your channel is all over the place. They may find gaming content, sports commentary, DIY challenges, and crafting videos during a five-minute scan. All those unrelated topics make it hard to know what a channel is really about.

To keep your audience, don't confuse them by uploading videos about many different topics. 

Instead, try to stick to your channel’s niche. It’s OK to branch out a bit and even ride the wave of certain trends, but you should only do that when they align with your channel’s focus. We did a video on the simple mistakes creators often make on YouTube that includes advice on niching down on your content:

So, losing subscribers is a natural part of the YouTube journey. I would estimate that channels with a million subscribers have lost 100,000 along the way - and I'm probably being generous with that number. 

Your current subscriber count is the number to pay attention to

. If it keeps decreasing overall, analyze your YouTube data to see what’s going wrong and get yourself back on track.

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level and 

 then make sure to download vidIQ. Join over 1 million other users and use vidIQ to help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

And if you’re really serious about growing your YouTube views and subscribers, sign up for exclusive access to the 

 and learn how to launch a successful YouTube Channel in just 30 days.

Are you slowly losing subscribers on your YouTube channel? Here’s why.

6 Honest Reasons You Might Be Losing YouTube Subscribers

Phone numbers, passers-by, and license plate numbers are common things that often end up in YouTube video footage. But according to YouTube’s 

, certain types of sensitive information - even if recorded by mistake - are never OK to post on the platform.

If you need a reliable way to clear your video of anything that really shouldn't be there, YouTube is on top of the problem. 

To reduce the risk of identity theft and violation, the platform has created a tool for blurring objects and faces in creators’ videos. 

Best of all, the tool is free to use and easy to find in the YouTube Studio.

If you haven’t tried YouTube’s blur feature just yet, here’s everything you need to know to get started.

In the top right corner of YouTube, click on your profile icon and go to the YouTube Studio.

’. This will show you all of the uploaded content on your channel.

Mouse over the video you want to edit, then click the pencil icon to jump into that video.

The next thing you’ll see is a page titled ‘

’. On this screen, find the left navigation menu and click ‘

When the next page loads, you’ll see a video timeline. Go directly below this editor and click the link that says ‘

’. You should see two menu options appear, one to create a face blur and another for custom blurring.

For real-time guidance, watch our video tutorial on how to find this section of the YouTube Studio.

If you want to blur anything other than a face, your best option is to use YouTube’s custom blur tool. This feature allows you to place circular or rectangular blurs over different objects in a video.

A few weeks ago, we used the custom blur tool to hide an object in a vidIQ video. Rob, our YouTuber-in-residence recorded himself waving a red ‘subscribe’ button, and we were able to make it disappear - even with all those jerky movements.

This worked because YouTube lets you track the objects you’ve chosen to blur. All you have to do is find the Blur Behavior section on the video editor page and select ‘

’. If you don’t need to blur a moving object, select ‘

’ to keep everything in place. You can see both options in the screenshot below:

Once you make your selection, you can also reposition or resize your blur shape. To make Rob’s subscribe button disappear, we dragged a corner of the blur box, which is shown in the screenshot above, until it was big enough to hide everything underneath it.

Lastly, you can determine when a blur appears in your video. To do this, go to the video timeline and drag the marker to any point. Then navigate upward and use the time indexes to define the duration of your blur, as shown below:

The first time you try to blur a face, YouTube’s editor will spend a couple of minutes detecting all the faces in your video. When it does, you can easily select the ones you want to blur, as shown below:

Luckily, that’s the only piece of new information when it comes to blurring a face. If you want to reposition the blur, track it to a moving face, or make it appear at a certain timestamp, you can repeat the steps we’ve already outlined in the custom blur section.

As you experiment with these blur tools, you may notice that they sometimes behave strangely. That doesn't take away from their helpfulness or convenience, but these small hiccups are good to know about:

The tracking feature doesn't look perfect when you're editing, but it improves a lot when the video is fully processed.

It can take a few hours for edits to stick. In the meantime, viewers will be able to see the original, unblurred video, if it's public.

Sometimes the tool leaves faces unblurred for a fraction of a second, which can be frustrating.

We also noticed an odd error while editing blur timestamps. The message ‘Blur region must contain at least one checkpoint’ kept appearing in the editor. We’re not sure what that’s about, but we fixed it by starting over until the error disappeared.

As helpful as YouTube’s blur tool can be, most creators probably use off-platform software to blur faces and objects. Of course, not every video editor has that kind of technology. And to be fair, YouTube does a good job of blurring and tracking objects with its free tool.

However, if the tool doesn’t perform as promised, go back a few steps to catch the root of the problem. As frustrating as that sounds, it’s a better alternative than exposing someone’s identity or information (or your own) without permission.

Want To Learn More YouTube Tips and Tricks?

Have you ever needed to blur a face or a logo in one of your YouTube videos? Here's a quick and easy guide on how to do just that in YouTube Studio

How to Blur Anything You Need to in Your YouTube Video

Have you ever wondered what happens to the analytics on your video in its first 12 hours on YouTube? Well, wonder no more! To understand certain traffic source trends, we recorded a video timelapse to see exactly what happens. If you have the time, watch the below YouTube Short a couple of times to catch all the percentages and traffic sources:

Did you see anything interesting? Here are three things we noticed:

In the first few hours, notifications from your subscribers are king

. They made up 60% of our initial views, so be sure to make content your audience wants to watch.

After your video gets those early notification views, another traffic source comes into play: 

 An increase here means YouTube is testing your content in a more random fashion to see if people like it.

If a video is successful as browseable content, YouTube might start promoting it as 

vidIQ is a YouTube education channel, so we aim to create informative, searchable content. Within 12 hours, the video we studied for this timelapse was already being 

 - and that’s exactly how we planned it!

You can do the same thing. Keep reading our posts about how to succeed on YouTube and you’ll be one step closer to making it happen.

Join over 1 million other users and use vidIQ to help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps today.

. Learn how to launch a successful YouTube Channel in just 30 days.

Do you know what actually happens in the 12 hours after you publish to YouTube? We recorded the live analytics of a video to discover three keys to snagging more views.

What Happens When You Publish a YouTube Video? [Timelapse]

At vidIQ, we get asked the same question from new creators all the time: 

How can I get more views and grow my channel? YouTube is so competitive!

You probably weren’t expecting this answer, but we’ve got to say it: 

YouTube Shorts may be the key to getting discovered on the platform.

If you’re unfamiliar with the new feature, it’s basically YouTube’s way of entering the short video universe. The platform has created an in-app Shorts camera, where creators can record and upload short, vertical videos.

You can access this feature right now if you live in India, as that’s where YouTube is testing the Shorts camera. For everyone else, posting a general YouTube Short requires three simple steps:

Record a vertical video under 60 seconds.

Add the hashtag #Shorts to your video’s description or title.

Plenty of YouTubers have already published these micro-videos, and we’ve noticed a 

. A common scenario is witnessing a previously stagnant video skyrocket to hundreds of views - a strong sign that YouTube is featuring it on the new 

. If you want to see what such a feat looks like, watch our latest video about YouTube Shorts:

Now that you have some background knowledge, it’s time to dig deeper. More views are what YouTube dreams are made of, so here’s how to get them with YouTube Shorts.

Small Channels Are Getting More Views With YouTube Shorts

As a creator, it’s important to boldly test new strategies on your channel. After all, you never know what positive discoveries you could make - whether that’s a gateway to more views, subscribers, or both.

 is a good example of this. A few weeks ago, this was just another small gaming channel struggling to gain traction with long-form videos. That partially ended when they decided to test YouTube's short video format and earned thousands of views in the process. The screenshot below shows a bunch of successful videos highlighted in red, plus the low-performing ones this channel was previously uploading.

Of course, this isn’t all good news for 

. Unfortunately, they tried posting another short video that didn't perform as well as the others. After that, the channel returned to posting long-form content with equally disappointing results, but hey - that comes with the territory of testing new features.

 was definitely getting more views from YouTube Shorts, if only for a brief moment.

 had a similar experience. This channel reached out to us on Twitter and said that after creating a new YouTube channel and uploading a short video, hundreds of views rolled in, as shown below.

If you've ever started a YouTube channel from scratch, you know how difficult it is to get a mere 100 views on your first video. We checked GamingDestiny’s main channel, and again, there was more evidence of short, vertical videos outperforming other content.

We received another success story from Adrienne Smith, who shared her YouTube Shorts experience in our Facebook group. Apparently, one of her Shorts with little to no traction suddenly gained more views on YouTube. You can read her testimonial below:

This is great news, but seriously: How often does that happen to anyone? Is it just another coincidence?

YouTube Shorts and YouTube Analytics: Is There a Connection?

We’re not prepared to say YouTube Shorts is the next big thing. The examples above only represent a small handful of channels, and they’re only getting hundreds of views - not thousands.

However, these channels have a few things in common:

They earned more views than expected from posting YouTube Shorts.

The surge in views all came from the same traffic source on YouTube: Direct or Unknown.

Are you a smaller YouTuber looking for your first big break? If so, give YouTube Shorts a try. Some creators are getting thousands, of views from testing the feature.

Your In-Depth Guide to Building a Successful YouTube Channel

6 Honest Reasons You Might Be Losing YouTube Subscribers

Published

How to Blur Anything You Need to in Your YouTube Video

Published

What Happens When You Publish a YouTube Video? [Timelapse]

Published

How To Get More Views as a Small YouTube Channel

Published

Virtual Halloween 2020: Top Keywords on YouTube

Published

Career Goals: Make Money Drinking Boozy Beverages on YouTube

Published

How to Find the Right Time to Publish on YouTube

Published

What is Cottagecore and Why is it Taking Over Social Video?

Published

How Creators Can Get More Views With YouTube Shorts

Published

Why You Must 'Niche Down' if You Want to Succeed on YouTube

Published

How to Reach 1000 YouTube Subscribers with Gameplay Videos

Published

How to Get Your Videos to Rank on YouTube

Published