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

We’ve been hard at work refining our tools that help creators grow, and this summer’s drop is proof that vidIQ today isn’t what it was even three months ago.

a brand-new feature and other major updates

 - all built to help you stop the scroll, boost engagement, and turn casual viewers into loyal fans.

 you’ll want to experience the new power we’ve packed in.

One of the biggest struggles for creators is getting viewers to click on their content. With millions of videos out there, you need to stand out in a pool of endless scrolling.

Stopping the scroll is more of a science than an art. And like all sciences, you need tools to accomplish your goals. You haven’t seen vidIQ tools like this. Smarter AI. Faster workflows. Real results.

. This tool is like your own personal AI-powered design studio.

If you’ve been in the YouTube game for more than five minutes, you understand that 

 and best way to stop the scroll. A great thumbnail is clear, compelling, and makes viewers think, “I need to click this.”

Now it’s easier than ever to make thumbnails that 

. Whether you start with a prompt or upload your own assets, our AI builds out designs that look pro — without you needing any Photoshop skills.

 (we’ll remove backgrounds automatically)

 to match a visual style you love. Upload your own or choose from our library of top-performing YouTube templates. 

 to influence your thumbnail’s aesthetic

 with easy prompt tweaks, image edits, or by dropping in text

Thumbnails aren’t just art - they’re strategy. They’re decision points. The better your thumbnail, the higher your click-through rate. And a higher CTR means the algorithm actually works for you.

, you’re not just making something that 

 good — you’re making something that 

You stopped the scroll with killer thumbnails. Now keep them watching.

 helps you write stronger YouTube scripts in a fraction of the time, backed by real YouTube psychology.

: Continuously trained on what’s working 

: Include callback cues, pacing variations, and cliffhangers

: Adjust your scripts’ tone, add keywords, sound more like your favorite creator. All with one click.

 Automated research provides accurate and relevant information and stats.

 helps keep your message clear, your viewers hooked, and your content performing. And now, it doesn’t have to take days. With 

, you can go from idea to polished script in just 3 minutes - making it easier to publish consistently and keep your channel growing.

“I used to spend an hour and a half scripting videos that came out wordy and boring. Someone even commented saying my videos were 'so wordy' — that really stung. But vidIQ's Script Writer changed everything. Now I get organized, concise scripts in just 10–15 minutes.”

“When I used it for my next tutorial, I was so impressed I printed it out to study it. For creators like me who tend to over-explain on camera, this tool does wonders.”

Shorts are still one of the fastest paths to YouTube growth - but understanding why one takes off while another flops? That used to be a mystery.

We built our Shorts tools to tell you exactly what’s working, what’s not, and how to make your next one blow up.

Think of it as your personal highlight reel, performance breakdown, and growth strategist all in one. Now you can discover when a video truly gained popularity and understand what made them successful. 

All of these statistics can be seen directly in-line without having to exit the Shorts view:

including views & views per hour, engagement rate, views history graph, and outlier score.

including channel subscriber count, monthly & total uploads, and subscriber and view growth graphs. 

 now supports YouTube Shorts, giving you even more insight into what’s trending and outperforming expectations across the platform. 

Instead of just surfacing the most-viewed content, Outliers identifies videos that are gaining momentum relative to the creator’s usual performance. That means you’re seeing videos that are beating the odds, not just riding on big subscriber counts. 

Now that this includes Shorts, it’s an incredibly powerful way to discover smart video ideas, fresh angles, and unexpected winners across any niche.

Let’s say you search for a keyword like “budget travel.” Outliers might surface a Short from a smaller creator that’s getting unusually high engagement and rapid growth, even outperforming videos from much larger channels. That’s your signal: something in that format, topic, or style is connecting. Use it to guide your next idea, ride the wave, and post with confidence.

 now works with YouTube Shorts, giving short-form creators the same data-backed recommendations long-form creators have used to increase views and visibility.

Optimize analyzes your video and delivers clear, actionable recommendations for improving your title and adding the right tags to your description. You’ll also get an overall optimization score, so you can instantly see how well your content is aligned with what’s working — and where there’s room to improve.

Most Shorts get lost in a sea of swipes. To rise to the top you need smart packaging. Optimize helps ensure your content gets the visibility it deserves, boosting your chances of landing on the Shorts feed, reaching new audiences, and turning quick views into long-term growth.

 can now submit a video for personalized feedback from one of our expert creator coaches.

A coach will watch your video and record a response, pausing at key moments to explain what’s working, what’s not, and what changes could help you get more views and subscribers. You’ll see the exact moment-by-moment breakdown behind every suggestion. No vague advice, just direct, actionable advice.


Our initial rollout supports Boost users in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, for English language videos only.

__________________________________________________________________

If you’re looking for more than just one video review, you can work directly with a 

 who will take a deep dive into your entire channel and build a custom-tailored growth plan designed to break through the roadblocks holding you back. 

These aren’t cookie-cutter tips, they’re real, personalized strategies you can start applying immediately to unlock quick wins and build lasting momentum.

Want to see what’s possible with coaching?

. After joining vidIQ Coaching, they refined their content, followed their tailored plan, and watched their channel take off.

TL;DR: This Summer, You Grow or You Ghost

Here’s the latest features you get with the vidIQ Summer 2025 Drop:

 - Create high-impact, click-worthy thumbnails with AI and proven templates

 - Hook viewers and keep them watching with YouTube-optimized storytelling

 - Instantly spot top-performing Shorts and track breakout metrics

 - Discover overperforming videos across YouTube to inspire your next big hit

 - Find the best title and keywords to get your Shorts discovered

The Summer 2025 Drop is here: scroll-stopping science, smarter tools, and real coaching to help you grow on YouTube.

☀️ Welcome to the vidIQ Summer 2025 Drop!

Here are a few tips tricks and tools to make sure you have lots of video ideas so you can grow your channel faster.

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world with over 2 billion users.

Don't under estimate the power of answering questions people are asking. Use the YouTube search dropdown to see what questions people are asking and focus in on your niche.

After you search for a term on YouTube you will see that vidIQ has a lot of information on the right hand side. Including keyword score, related queries and top search terms. This helps you understand the universe of keywords around your niche.

You can click on any keyword to launch the explorer to see more details including the current trend of the phrase.

Ask your audience how you can improve and what they would like to see next.

Another great way to get channel ideas is to see what others in your industry are up to using the vidIQ competitors tool.

For more tips on growing your channel make sure you watch the video above. And don't forget to 

Man showing OK gesture next to glowing light bulb icon on blue background with vidIQ logo

To create a sustainable channel that will continue to grow, you need video ideas and lots of them. Video ideas will help you to create content on a consistent basis that you can feed to your audience, attract a new audience, gain more subscriber, gain more views, gain more watchtime... more of EVERYTHING!

How to Grow Your YouTube Channel Fast in with an Idea Generator!

If you've never clicked on the vidIQ Channel Audit button, now is the time.

It is our most power tool, we've just upgraded it, so this is your complete beginner's guide on how to use it.

Note: In order to follow along you’ll need to 

. Don’t worry, we offer a Free version of the tool if you’re not quite ready to access our premium features.

The Channel Audit tool is divided into five sections. Starting at the top you have an instant snapshot of the health of your channel.

Second is the Content to Double Down On section, which includes eight different metrics that track your best videos in each of these categories.

On the top-right hand-side are videos from competitor channels.

On the lower-right-hand side is the traffic being sent your way from other channels’ videos (Top Suggested). These are you cluster channels.

So whether you want to know which videos have the most watchtime, the most views, the highest audience retention or gained the most subscribers, the Content to Double Down On section is what you want to review to help you decide on what content to produce next.

We also include which search terms are driving the most traffic to your channel, as well as the performance of your endscreens and interactive cards.

These often forgotten about YouTube tools can really help with engagement and ensure your audience to directed to more of your content.

As well as showing you what you're doing right you also need to know what needs more work which is why we've included the Content That Could Use Work section.

This section shows your videos with the lowest watchtime, likes ratio, audience retention, views and which videos are actually causing your subscribers to leave your channel.

The final two sections are all about improving the metadata — that's tags, titles and descriptions — of your videos.

The Average Metrics and Items to Improve Upon sections highlight where you might have missed opportunities such as adding video cards, endscreens as well as adding videos to playlists.

The channel audit includes many interactive features to give you even deeper insights and analytics.

Mouse over the channel snapshot metrics for more details such as views this month versus views last month.

Click “View More” in each category to see a comprehensive list of all the videos ranked using that specific metric, as well as if they rank highly in other categories. Those videos which rank for multiple categories could be considered your premium performers.

Click on the video panels within each category to instantly view the relevant metrics for that video in the classic YouTube Creator Studio analytics.

Back on the audit screen, for both the Competitors and Top Suggested categories, click on any of the panels to link directly to that video's watch page.

And in the top-right-hand corner of the channel audit screen, change the time frame to see your channels performance over the past 30, 60 and 90 days. (Note: This feature is only available with vidIQ Boost.)

You can even tick the “Limit to videos in timeframe” box to audit only videos published within the selected timeframe with all other vide0s and their metrics filtered out.

Dive deeper into all of the data points you find within top search terms, interactive cards and endscreens by clicking on each one to take you back to the classic YouTube creator studio for more in-depth analysis.

Finally, the bottom two sections are all about taking action now on your existing content. Let's take title length as an example.

vidIQ suggests our average title length is good, but does that apply to all titles? Clicking on the panel will list all videos published in the selected timeframe and show us whether each title hits the sweet spot. (Note: If you’re a Free vidIQ user, you’ll see only 2 results on these screens.)

Now if we take endscreens as another example, we’ll discover we’re missing endscreens on one video.

Clicking the edit icon to the right takes us directly to the endscreen tool for that video in YouTube, allowing us to fix the issue instantly!

Channel Audit V2 as we are affectionately calling it is one of our biggest upgrades ever, which is why we want your help.

Do make sure to click “What do you think” at the top and share your thoughts on what you like, what you don't like and what you want to see next. Or give us a shout on 

As a side note you can tick the “Include Screenshot” box to download a full-screen image of your channel audit.

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level then make sure to download vidIQ. It will help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

YouTube content strategy dashboard showing video performance metrics and engagement data.

Your Complete YouTube Channel Audit Guide with vidIQ

Last week on January 23rd 2019 the Burger King social media team started liking influencer Tweets from 2009 and 2010. They liked three of Casey's tweets and here was his response.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">why is Burger King liking my 8 year old tweets? <a href="https://t.co/q8xL1S23NG">pic.twitter.com/q8xL1S23NG</a>&mdash; Casey Neistat (@CaseyNeistat) <a href="https://twitter.com/CaseyNeistat/status/1088235837089898497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2019</a></blockquote>

At the time of this Tweet he did not know that this was a trick Burger King was using to get influencers to give them free publicity and this single Tweet got over 13,000 likes. The truth was Burger King was using many influencers for a launch campaign. They are reintroducing funnel cake fries.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">some things from 2010 are worth revisiting—like your old tweets. and funnel cake fries. get them now for a limited time.&mdash; Burger King (@BurgerKing) <a href="https://twitter.com/BurgerKing/status/1088244260820975616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2019</a></blockquote>

Shortly after that the truth came out from an article from Complex titled "

the truth on why Burger King was liking your old tweets

". Here is Casey's response video where he claims that Burger King Exploited him.

On one hand you could say that Burger King used shady practices to get buzz about a new product launch. But on the other Casey took full advantage of this situation and tells Burger King to work with him for charity.

Infact they responded and seem to have agreed to his terms

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">sup <a href="https://twitter.com/CaseyNeistat?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CaseyNeistat</a>, we’re ready to meet your “suggestions.&quot; slide into our DMs real quick. <a href="https://t.co/PjIuwyWtGl">pic.twitter.com/PjIuwyWtGl</a>&mdash; Burger King (@BurgerKing) <a href="https://twitter.com/BurgerKing/status/1090331472035282945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2019</a></blockquote>

No matter your opinion on the matter this all happened from a brilliant social media team. We are not saying what they did was the right thing but it did gain attention and start something bigger. For example we are blogging about Burger King and Casey on a Tuesday.

Man in sunglasses and red jacket making a gesture outside a Burger King restaurant at night

Burger King created a shady social media campaign last week that has gained a ton of attention and upset a lot of social media influencers.

Did Burger King Exploit Casey Neistat or did Casey Neistat Exploit Burger King?

Curious which analytics you should be focusing on in the coming months to help grow your channel? Look no further — here are the top 5 analytics to get you more views and subscribers on YouTube in 2019.

Note: In order to follow along you’ll need to access the new YouTube Studio beta. If you’re still on Creator Studio Classic, you'll see a big blue “YOUTUBE STUDIO BETA” link in the top-left-hand corner. Click there and you'll instantly see a radically different analytics page.

The first analytic we want to look at is click-through rate. Put simply, your click-through rate is the number of times somebody clicks on one of your thumbnails or titles from the total number of times it's been seen.

So if three people see your video and one of them chooses to watch it, that’s a click-through rate essentially of 33.3%.

In the YouTube Studio beta, you can see the impressions and click-through rates for the past 28 days by simply navigating to “Analytics” from the dashboard and then clicking on “Reviewers.”

You can also go to different cards in the YouTube analytics and look at a breakdown of click-through rates. So if I click on Top Videos, for example, it will list the click-through rate for individual videos as well.

Now if you’re wondering why you should care about your click-through rate, here are three key reasons:

Every single analytic from your YouTube channel trickles down from click-through rate. People have to actually click on your thumbnail to watch your content before you can gain traction with other analytics such as watchtime, subscribers, comments, and all the rest of that good stuff.

Viewers judge videos by their thumbnails just as readers judge books by their covers, so it's really important to have a good first impression. Your click-through rate represents intrigue — of topic, thumbnail or title. For example, recently we covered the subscriber rate of PewDiePie vs. T-Series. Because it was a very intriguing topic at the time, and we used very targeted keywords and colorful thumbnails, our click-through rate for that particular topic went through the roof.

An important to remember about click-through rate is it’s not an exact science. I often hear people say between 2% and 10% is a “good” click-through rate, but I think it’s better to focus simply on improving your click-through rate.

Click-through rates vary from video topic to video topic, and it's heavily influenced by where you are simply in the order of suggested videos and search pages. If you're at the top of a search page, you can have a terrible thumbnail but a high click-through rate simply because of the prime real estate.

Don't get too caught up comparing your click-through rate versus somebody else's. Look at your click-through rate, and aim to improve it one or two percentage points over 2019 — that will bring in a significant number of views.

Channel analytics can give you some insight into average view duration, but a more accurate approach is look at audience retention on individual videos.

To do this, click “Videos” along the left-hand nav. Click on the video that you want to investigate and you’ll see audience retention.

Mouse over the graph and you'll see the audience retention at a specific point in the video, or click on a point and then press play. Doing so will allow you to see the audience retention alongside the video in real-time, giving you clues to investigate drops and spikes in retention.

And if you’re thinking that watchtime is the ultimate analytic king on YouTube and not audience retention, consider that YouTube tends to favor content with more than 50% audience retention. So whether your videos are two minutes long, four minutes long or six minutes long, aim first to make your content better to improve audience retention, and then start to think about making longer videos if that's what you want to do with your content to get more watchtime.

Each individual video has likes and dislikes, and 

 has a funky little tool that turns these metrics into a Likes to Dislikes Ratio.

But what if you want this for your entire channel?

Well they do in the form of YouTube recommended content. When viewers watch your content and enjoy it, they generally watch for longer, and YouTube loves this.

When YouTube loves your content, they want to share it with more people. That means putting it on the homepage, Browse Features and the suggested videos on watch pages — and the more you can push this line into the orange, the more YouTube is doing all the hard work for you.

Rather than people having to search to find your content or find it through the subscription feeds, they're finding it in random places because YouTube wants to share your content with a wider audience.

So how do you manipulate this magic formula to get it to work for you? Engaging thumbnails, intriguing titles — which are then clicked onto — increased watchtime on your content and, as we mentioned, getting above 50% with your audience retention.

For example, take a look at vidIQ’s September analytics below. Notice the 2.5 million impressions, 27.8% of which came from YouTube recommending our content.

Now take a look at vidIQ’s analytics for October when the T-Series vs. PewDiePie subscriber rates was in full flow.

Look at the radical change here: 17 million impressions, and YouTube was recommending our content way more, especially on homepages.

We were feeding YouTube exactly what they wanted and so they responded by sharing it with a much wider audience.

I may be missing something here in the new analytics dashboard, but I can't find a good way to show subscribers gained from videos, so we're going old school here.

Navigate to Creator Studio Classic, click on “Subscribers” and then “YouTube watch page”. This will show you all the videos that are converting viewers into subscribers.

Since there is no analytic that tracks trust, tracking subscribers gained is the next best thing. Think about it, why else would someone subscribe to your channel unless they trust you — trust you to entertain, educate or emotionally impact you.

People who subscribe to your channel from a video watch page usually do it because they’ve experienced a light bulb moment — something that instinctively and instantly drives them to click that button.

 you can look at subs gained a lot quicker than through YouTube analytics through the subs gained column on our channel audit.

If you click on “View More”, you can see all of the videos that are driving viewers to turn into subscribers. It's almost like your trust column.

We also have click-through rate, audience retention, YouTube recommended content, and subscribers gained.

We said earlier that gaining subscribers through your videos is like building trust with your audience. Gaining comments, likes and dislikes through your videos is building engagement — another really important facet of YouTube.

Strictly speaking, YouTube doesn't track engagement rate, but the vidIQ channel audit tool does. Use it to see which videos are generating conversation or whether they're polarizing in terms of how many people react to it with likes versus dislikes.

Astonishingly here, we have one video with 68% engagement rate, but that's because we were having a little bit of fun with YouTube premieres.

In terms of engagement rates, we also want to look at the finer points as well. If we scroll down the channel audit page, we can look at how often the end screens are clicked on — you know, those boxes right at the end of videos.

As a final thought on engagement, don’t forget the Community tab if you have access to it.

Use it to ask your audience what video you should make next, collect general feedback or start a conversation. You might be surprised by the response. In fact, we’ve found that some of our posts are getting more feedback from the videos themselves.

All of these analytics are super important, but if you don’t actually do something with them then you’re missing the point. Remember: Doing the same thing over and expecting different results is a sign of insanity.

Our challenge to you is simple: Act on the data you’re getting from YouTube and 

 and good luck in growing your channel in 2019!

Like to dislike ratio showing 306 likes and 9 dislikes with 97% positive rating

Video creators have access to A TON of analytics, but which ones should you prioritize to get more views and subscribers? Dive into the top 5 vidIQ-approved analytics and grow your YouTube channel fast.

How to Get More Views and Subscribers with YouTube Analytics

With the recent passing of Article 13 as part of the EU copyright reform law, many a video creators are asking themselves, “Could Article 13 kill YouTube?”

We’re hardly copyright experts here at vidIQ, but we clearly have a vested interest in how Article 13 will be interpreted and enforced in the coming months and years.

Here’s what we know so far, and where you can learn more about Article 13 and #SaveYourInternet.

Article 13 is part of European copyright legislation created with the intent to protect creators and their online content.

At the basis of Article 13 is the question, “Who has copyright ownership?”

For example, every vidIQ video opens with an intro kindly made for us by an audio and podcast expert by the name of Mike Russel. The problem is, we don’t have official documents saying Mike created the sound effects and that he gave his license to use his voice or that we have permission to use the graphics, which were probably created using Adobe After Effects.

Here’s another example: If you’ve watched 

, you’ve probably noticed the memorabilia in the background — Batman and Ironman action figures, a WWE title belt, Spider-Man, Shredder, a YouTube ‘Subscribe’ pillow and a Nintendo question mark block from Super Mario.

We didn't ask permission from any of the companies who make and license these products to put them in our videos, and in the past we’ve not needed to, but will Article 13 change this?

In order to interpret Article 13 for YouTube video purposes, we have to take 

With Article 13 as currently written, copyright matching tools like Content ID wouldn't help platforms such as YouTube to keep content on the platform. Content ID works if rightsholders use it and provide clarity as to what belongs to them. However, in many cases information on copyright ownership is missing, or there is partial knowledge, meaning that no system could accurately identify full copyright information at the point of upload.

What does Article 13 mean for video creators around the globe? Here’s what we know so far, and where you can learn more about Article 13 and #SaveYourInternet

Your In-Depth Guide to Building a Successful YouTube Channel

☀️ Welcome to the vidIQ Summer 2025 Drop!

How to Grow Your YouTube Channel Fast in with an Idea Generator!

Your Complete YouTube Channel Audit Guide with vidIQ

Did Burger King Exploit Casey Neistat or did Casey Neistat Exploit Burger King?

How to Get More Views and Subscribers with YouTube Analytics

Could Article 13 KILL YouTube? #SaveYourInternet

How to Get More Views and Subscribers FAST on YouTube

I Didn't Get 4000 Watch Time Hours on YouTube... Do I Need To Start Again?

Introducing vidIQ Achievements for More Views and Subscribers

Why YouTube AdSense Revenue SUCKS in January

How to Get More YouTube Views & Subscribers

YouTube Rewind 2018 Hits 2 Million Dislikes in 24 Hours

Introducing the vidIQ App for HootSuite