The best way to get more views on YouTube is to optimize your videos so they show up in search and recommendations
— and keep viewers engaged once they click. That means mastering clickable thumbnails, compelling titles, and content that delivers on its promise.


With 10+ billion views tracked through coaching and tools, vidIQ provides data-backed insights into what drives video discovery.


In this section, we will break down strategies, examples, and case studies so you can consistently grow your views.

More Views

How To Get More Views on YouTube

The fastest way to get more YouTube subscribers is to publish videos that keep viewers watching and make it easy for them to subscribe.
That means using strong titles and thumbnails, clear calls to action, and building content around topics people are already searching for.


At vidIQ, we analyze millions of channels to see what actually drives subscriber growth, from doubling down on high-retention videos
to packaging content in ways that hook new audiences. Explore our guides and case studies to learn proven tactics that will
help you grow your subscribers faster.

Get Subscribers

How to Get More YouTube Subscribers

To make money on YouTube, creators start by qualifying for the YouTube Partner Program and enabling ads, but that’s just the beginning. Real income comes from combining multiple streams: sponsorships, channel memberships, affiliate marketing, and selling your own products or services. 

At vidIQ, we’ve studied how creators unlock monetization
milestones and scale beyond ad revenue. Here you will learn practical strategies to diversify income and build
a sustainable business from your YouTube channel.

Make Money

How To Make Money on YouTube

The best YouTube tips save time and make your videos perform better. From thumbnail tweaks to hidden features in YouTube Studio, small changes can drive big results. 

At vidIQ, we’ve tested countless tactics across millions of videos to see what really works. Here you’ll find quick wins and practical shortcuts you can use right now to grow faster and work smarter.

Quick Tips

YouTube Tips for Creators

YouTube Shorts are one of the fastest ways to reach new viewers and grow your channel.


With millions of Shorts analyzed, vidIQ has tracked the formats and strategies that help creators break through. Here you’ll learn how to make Shorts that stand out, and how to use them to boost your long-form videos.

YouTube Shorts

YouTube Shorts: Tips and Strategies

YouTube Analytics reveal which videos are working and why, but not all metrics matter equally. Watch time, retention, CTR, and revenue are the numbers that drive real growth. 

At vidIQ, we break down these metrics with examples so you can spot trends, identify weak points, and make smarter decisions for your channel. Here you’ll learn how to use analytics as a growth engine, not just a dashboard.

Data Insights

YouTube Analytics Explained: Metrics That Matter

The fastest way to grow on YouTube is to create content around trending topics while viewers are searching for them. 

With vidIQ’s data, we track the keywords, niches, and formats that are taking off across millions of channels. Here you’ll find insights into what’s working now, including creator case studies and examples, so you can publish videos that ride the wave of demand and stay ahead of competitors.

Trending Now

YouTube Trends and Insights

YouTube evolves quickly — new features, algorithm updates, and policy changes can shift your strategy overnight.


Staying current is the key to keeping your content competitive. vidIQ monitors every major update and breaks down what it means for creators. Here you’ll find timely news and clear explanations so you can adapt your channel with confidence.

YouTube News

YouTube News and Updates

Lasting success on YouTube requires more than strategy, it requires balance. Creators who manage stress, protect their energy, and build healthy routines are the ones who sustain long-term growth.


At vidIQ, we believe wellness is part of the creator journey. Here you’ll find guidance on productivity, mental health, and sustainable habits to help you stay creative without burning out.

Creator Wellness

Your In-Depth Guide to Building a Successful YouTube Channel

Wales Screen Summit 2025 is the premier event for the film and television industry in Wales which brings together leading professionals from the UK and internationally to pitch ideas, broker co-productions, and work together on shaping the future growth and continued success of production in and from Wales.

Our own, YouTuber-In-Residence, Rob Wilson will be attending, please contact us if you'd like to connect with him at the conference. 

Wales Screen Summit

Chief Creator Coach Tim Schmoyer and our YouTube Strategist Braedon Crowder will be attending the VidSummit 2025. Please contact us if you'd like to connect with them at the conference. 

VidSummit 2025

Thumbnails can make or break your video. Join us for a special stage takeover with vidIQ’s very own thumbnail designer! We’ll pull back the curtain on how to craft scroll-stopping thumbnails that drive clicks, stand out in a crowded feed, and connect with your audience. Expect insider tips, live breakdowns, and a chance to ask your burning thumbnail questions.

Hosted on our Discord server at https://discord.com/invite/vidiq

Click Worthy Thumbnails with vidIQ’s Designer

Stuck on titles, thumbnails, content strategy, or just want to bounce an idea around? Swing by Office Hours and get direct feedback or just some creative momentum. Open to all members no need to book, just drop in!

Hosted on our Discord server at https://discord.com/invite/vidiq

Office Hours with Coach Tory

Tap into our live vidIQ channel breakdowns. In every stream we randomly select viewer channels, analyze what is working and what is holding them back, and deliver practical guidance on titles, thumbnails, hooks, storytelling, analytics, and audience retention. You will see real examples, real fixes, and real next steps you can apply the same day. Submit your channel during the stream for a chance to be reviewed, or watch along and borrow the playbook for your next upload.

YouTube Live Channel Audit - October 14th

Stuck on titles, thumbnails, content strategy, or just want to bounce an idea around? Swing by Office Hours and get direct feedback or just some creative momentum. Open to all Boost plan subscribers, no need to book, just drop in!

Hosted on our Discord server at https://discord.com/invite/vidiq

Boost Users Only: Office Hours with Coach Tory

Join Coach Tory with a SPECIAL GUEST - Alex our vidIQ short form wizard! We are talking all things shorts strategy and how to take your short form content to the next level!  Swing by Office Hours and join the discussion. Open to all, no need to book, just drop in!

Hosted on our Discord server at https://discord.com/invite/vidiq



Let's Talk About Shorts

Tap into our live vidIQ channel breakdowns. In every stream we randomly select viewer channels, analyze what is working and what is holding them back, and deliver practical guidance on titles, thumbnails, hooks, storytelling, analytics, and audience retention. You will see real examples, real fixes, and real next steps you can apply the same day. Submit your channel during the stream for a chance to be reviewed, or watch along and borrow the playbook for your next upload.



YouTube Live Channel Audit - October 20th

Most businesses miss the majority of their target audience on YouTube. This webinar shows marketing leaders how to turn YouTube into a true growth engine by highlighting the biggest misconceptions holding brands back, focusing on what the algorithm is really optimizing for, and the simple frameworks that drive predictable growth.

YouTube Growth for Modern Brands: Unlocking the 80% of YouTube Marketing Leaders Ignore

Stuck on titles, thumbnails, content strategy, or just want to bounce an idea around? Swing by Office Hours and get direct feedback or just some creative momentum. Open to all Boost plan subscribers, no need to book, just drop in!

Hosted on our Discord server at https://discord.com/invite/vidiq



Explore films, talks, special events, and interactive experiences on science, society, and today’s big questions.

Our own, YouTuber-In-Residence, Rob Wilson will be attending, please contact us if you'd like to connect with him at the conference. 

Silbersalz Science and Media Festival

The TellyCast Digital Content Forum is Europe’s leading event for the social video industry. Join creators, studios, producers, brands, media agencies, platforms, channels and the wider content industry in the must-attend industry gathering charting the next generation of entertainment.

Our own, YouTuber-In-Residence, Rob Wilson will be attending, please contact us if you'd like to connect with him at the conference. 

Digital Content Forum

Join us as Dan TAKES OVER STAGE for a deep dive into collaborations and YouTube’s brand-new Collab feature.

We’ll cover how to use it strategically, what makes a great collab, and how to find the right creators to partner with. Whether you’re looking to grow your audience or strengthen your niche, this is the perfect time to learn how to make collabs work for you.


Let’s Talk YouTube Collabs with Dan! 

Noon PST, 3 pm EST.
Stuck on titles, thumbnails, content strategy, or just want to bounce an idea around? Swing by Office Hours and get direct feedback or just some creative momentum. Open to all discord members no need to book, just drop in! 


Every creator has said it: “The algorithm hates me.”
But what if that’s not true?

In this Stage, we’ll bust the biggest myths about how YouTube recommends videos today. Our goal: to help you understand what the algorithm is really doing, why it rewards certain behavior, and how small creators can use that knowledge to grow faster.


The Algorithm Isn’t the Enemy

Boost user office hours. Noon PST, 3 pm EST.

Stuck on titles, thumbnails, content strategy, or just want to bounce an idea around? Swing by Office Hours and get direct feedback or just some creative momentum. Open to all Boost members no need to book, just drop in! 


Whether you’re grinding uploads or just starting your gaming journey, this Stage is for you!

Join Braedon, our gaming expert and enterprise strategist, as he breaks down how top gaming creators are growing faster than ever and the pitfalls holding others back.

We’ll talk growth strategies, what NOT to do, and how to stand out in one of YouTube’s most competitive spaces.


Game On: Growing Your Gaming Channel

Boost user office hours. Noon PST, 3 pm EST.

Stuck on titles, thumbnails, content strategy, or just want to bounce an idea around? Swing by Office Hours and get direct feedback or just some creative momentum. Open to all Boost members no need to book, just drop in!


If you’re like most small channels, you have the goal to 

 and unlock monetization. That 1K milestone is when your channel starts feeling like a real business.

How do you get 1,000 subscribers on YouTube for free? By using these practical, repeatable methods that actually work with no ads, no bots, and no gimmicks. We’ll cover four key areas:

Each section builds on the last to help you attract viewers, convert them into subscribers, and get consistent growth.

This 15-minute video covers practical strategies to grow your channel faster, including better packaging, stronger hooks, and ways to turn more viewers into loyal subscribers.

Free vs Fake: Why Real Subscribers Matter

Let’s be clear on what “free” really means.

"Free" means no ad spend, no bots, no sub-for-sub schemes. You'll earn subscribers who choose to follow because your videos deliver value.

 They kill watch time, stop your videos from being recommended, and 

. Even if you avoid a penalty, you end up with the wrong audience, so future uploads underperform.

buying subscribers backfires for channels

How to Get More Subscribers on YouTube: The Core Foundation

To reach 1,000 subscribers faster, start with clarity on

. These two decisions form the backbone of every successful YouTube strategy.

Female fitness youtuber filming yoga workout

You can’t grow a loyal subscriber base without focus. 

 clearly so viewers know instantly that your channel is made for them.

Choose a niche that sits at the overlap of your 

Who am I helping, and what problem or interest connects them?

Validate it by checking that people are already searching for your topic (YouTube search, comments, and forums).

 Find a focused audience you can serve repeatedly.

Define what your audience will consistently get from your channel.

Write your promise in one clear sentence: 

“For [audience], I publish [format] that delivers [outcome] every [cadence].”

“For beginner creators editing on a phone, I publish 10-minute tutorials that teach one editing skill every Tuesday.”

Once you define your niche and content promise, your channel setup and every video should reinforce that same message.

 The YouTube algorithm rewards consistency, which makes your channel recognizable and builds long-term subscriber trust. 

Learn how the YouTube Algorithm works and how to make it work for you

The Channel Setup That Converts Visitors Into Subs

As you start optimizing your channel, it’s important to understand how a viewer becomes a subscriber. Every video and page on your channel plays a role in the 

, the journey from discovering one video to deciding if your channel is worth following.

Each video has the potential to convert viewers directly, but a more reliable strategy is to guide them to the next step in that journey.

the subscriber path going from a discovery video to a related video to channel page and then subscribing

 Discovery video → Related core video or playlist → Channel page → Subscribe

Your goal is to make this path frictionless by connecting videos together, using playlists to guide viewers, and keeping your channel home clean, focused, and compelling.

Here’s how to lead that path into a channel that converts casual viewers into subscribers.

 introduces your channel to new viewers who haven’t subscribed yet. Keep it under 90 seconds and make sure it clearly answers two questions:

 help YouTube understand your content themes, improving how your videos are recommended. But more importantly, they keep viewers watching multiple videos in a row, and that’s when most subscriptions happen.

Create at least three playlists, each promising a clear result. The goal is to guide viewers into topics they’re interested in which increases the chances they subscribe. Arrange your playlists by importance for new visitors.

Your channel description reinforces your content promise and helps YouTube understand your niche. Keep it short and focused on the value your channel delivers.

Summarize who your channel is for, what they’ll learn, and the results they can expect.

Add a subscribe link at the end for quick access.

Visual cues build instant credibility, and that credibility matters because every new visitor is deciding whether your channel feels worth following. Your banner, icon, and watermark work together to reinforce your channel promise and make your brand memorable across every video.

 Keep it simple and recognizable at small sizes

 Enable it for always-on subscribe access

Optimize Your Videos to Get More YouTube Subscribers

Great videos don’t just get clicks, they hold attention, guide viewers deeper, and stay consistent over time. Here’s how to optimize each stage of that process.

A YouTube video in search, including the thumbnail, title, and description

Getting more viewers is the first step toward gaining more subscribers. The fastest way to do that is by improving your packaging, your titles and thumbnails. Focus on clarity and curiosity to make every video instantly clickable.

 Promise one clear outcome. Avoid vague phrasing like “tips” or “tricks.” 

Learn how to write clickable YouTube titles

 Use one bold idea and strong contrast that pops on mobile. Test new designs if CTR drops. 

See our full guide on custom YouTube thumbnails

 Use the first two lines of your description to restate your title naturally, include 3–5 relevant tags, and add up to 3 hashtags.

 should always work together to deliver one clear message.

Now that you’ve earned the click, you need to give viewers a reason to stay. Your first 30 seconds should be captivating enough to hold attention and deliver quick value. This is how you start earning the trust of potential subscribers.

 Confirm the payoff within 10 seconds. Show what’s coming or reveal a quick result early. 

Here’s how to craft YouTube intros that keep viewers watching

 Remove slow intros and filler. Jump straight to the solution or key point.

 Deliver on your promise with clear segments or steps. End with a strong visual or summary.

 Maintain at least 50% retention in the first 30 seconds, this sends strong satisfaction signals to YouTube, helping your content reach more potential viewers and build real momentum.

a chart showing a pinned comment, next video, playlist and end screen leading to a subscribe button

Don’t leave viewers at a dead end. The end of every video should point to a clear next step. Providing easy paths for viewers to go deeper into your content increases the chances they’ll subscribe.

 Link to the best next video or playlist with a clear benefit line.

 Group related videos by outcome so viewers binge through a clear path.

 Leave 10–15 seconds for a suggested video or playlist and a subscribe element.

 Simplify your end choices, one strong CTA (watch next or subscribe) beats multiple weak ones. 

Learn how to craft effective YouTube calls to action

Shorts are one of the fastest ways to multiply your reach and find new viewers. They extend the life of your best ideas and introduce your content to audiences who might never find your long videos otherwise.

 Treat Shorts as a distinct, mobile-first format built for discovery. They’re quick and designed to grab attention fast. Use strong hooks, on-screen captions, and tight pacing to keep viewers engaged. Always add a pinned comment or end tag that leads to a related long video or playlist. 

Learn more about how the Shorts algorithm works

 to repurpose your existing long videos. Pull high-value moments, tutorials, or soundbites and reframe them as stand-alone pieces of content. Update each title and description to match current search intent and viewer interests. This extends the lifespan of your best ideas while driving more traffic to your core uploads. 

How to Increase Subscribers on YouTube Using Analytics

Growth gets predictable when you stop guessing. Use your data to identify which videos turn viewers into subscribers and where you’re losing attention. Use these insights to double down on what works and fix what doesn’t.

Identify the videos that convert viewers into subscribers most efficiently. These are usually your 

, the ones that sit at the center of your subscriber path.

list of videos that gained the most subscribers

 Advanced Analytics → Metrics → add “Subscribers gained”

Note your top five videos when sorted by 

Identify shared traits: topic, packaging, length, or delivery style, and apply them in future uploads.

Discovery video → Related core video or playlist → Channel page → Subscribe

 data shows whether viewers want more from you. A strong end screen keeps people watching and continuing down your subscriber path.

Advanced Analytics → Metrics → add “End screen element clicks”

Watch the final 20 seconds of your top videos

Add a short visual pause and one clear next step to a related core video or playlist

Woman holding a subscribe sign while filming a video

Woman holding a subscribe sign pointing to it while recording video content at home.

Learn how to get 1,000 subscribers on YouTube using a proven framework of channel optimization, video strategy, analytics, and promotion: no bots, no gimmicks, no guesswork.

Free Subscribers for YouTube: How to Get 1,000 Real Subs Fast

Our YouTube analytics tool provides incredible insight into how your viewers are consuming and engaging with your videos across Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. YouTube creators love our insights so much, they requested that we allow them to export our data so they can perform their own analysis on it; so today we’re announcing YouTube CSV Export! Simply click the “Download data as CSV” button on the Video Dashboard and slice and dice our data to your heart’s desire!

We can’t stress enough how critical SEO is to your success on YouTube. vidIQ’s YouTube SEO tool takes the tedium out of tagging and enables you to choose the best tags for your video, increasing your visibility within YouTube’s Search and Recommended Videos. One request from our users was that while they love our channel-wide tag recommendations, they’d really love the ability to optimize the last video they uploaded for SEO on a video-by-video basis. So as of today, you’ll be able improve your video’s SEO in the video detail pane and see video specific tag recommendations in one convenient location.

Find the best tags for your YouTube video automatically with vidIQ YouTube SEO

Growing your YouTube audience and increasing your views and subscribers has never been easier. 

Sign up for vidIQ and grow your audience today!

Blue background with upward graph arrow and bold text "Per Video YouTube SEO" centered

"At vidIQ, we’re constantly on the prowl for ways we can improve our product and help you grow your YouTube audience. That’s why today we’re announcing that we’ve made some impressive improvements to two of our most popular features: YouTube Actionable Analytics and YouTube SEO.

Introducing Per Video YouTube SEO and CSV Export

Trying to keep up with your YouTube channel’s comments and engage with your community can seem like an uphill battle.

To the brands that have pleaded with us to make their lives easier by building YouTube comment moderation and YouTube management tools to satisfy their needs; we hear you! This has been a huge area of focus for us, and we’re making our YouTube tools better every day. Here are some of our powerful features that are making YouTube comment management less of a headache for the enterprise:

No community manager has enough time to respond to every YouTube comment made on a popular video – community managers want a simple way to find their best YouTube comments by the viewer who has the most subscribers. To solve this, vidIQ allows you to sort your YouTube comments by reputation in order to discover and engage with your most influential viewers – these viewers are what we at vidIQ refer to as your Top Influencers. These top YouTube viewers are the ones who you want to connect with and encourage to evangelize your video.

Don't try to respond to every YouTube comment – sort your YouTube comments by reputation and only respond to influential viewers

vidIQ offers advanced comment sorting capabilities that allow you to narrow down your YouTube comments to a specific time period. Rather than having to visit each individual video’s page, vidIQ takes the tedium out of YouTube comment moderation by allowing you to view all of your most recent comments across all of your videos in one convenient location, saving you time.

Some of the best YouTube marketers we’ve encountered prefer to reply to comments from a personal channel vs. their brand’s channel in order to reveal the human behind the brand and prevent their brand from engaging in distracting conversations. With vidIQ you can reply to comments from another YouTube account, making YouTube play nice with large brands.

Although YouTube already supports threaded / nested comments (which Facebook just introduced for Pages), they don’t provide you with the ability to easily find every comment a viewer has made or a viewer’s YouTube comment history. We do. Knowing the context of a viewers’ comment and whether or not you’ve had other interactions with that user in the past is critical, especially if you have more than one community manager.

See all YouTube comments by a specific user to see the user's comment history

Introducing Real Time YouTube Comment Moderation

No longer will you need to wait for a YouTube comment notification email to arrive – manage and respond to your YouTube comments in one place with vidIQ’s live comment dashboard.

YouTube real time YouTube comment moderation tool

To learn more about these features and others, visit vidIQ and grow your YouTube audience today!"

Dashboard showing 1,439 synced new comments under the Comments tab for social media monitoring

To further enable our users to build a community around their content, we recently announced Real Time Updates, which will allow you to use vidIQ’s advanced YouTube comment moderation tools to manage and grow your YouTube audience on a split-second basis.

How To: Moderate Your YouTube Comments Like a Pro

"And just like that we’re back from SXSW 2013!

During SXSW 2013 interactive, geeks from all walks of geekdom (myself included) descended on Austin like wildebeests at a watering hole. From Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal’s humorous and inspiring keynote on performance anxiety, to a presentation I attended by Thomas Pickens on Developing Meds in Space to Save Lives on Earth, there was an impressive array of discussions on technology and science that spanned every topic imaginable. Trying to document all the sights and sounds of SXSW here would be a nearly impossible feat, so instead I’d like to concentrate on an overarching theme I noticed during my time in Austin; YouTube is the next big thing in social enterprise.

Out of all the panels I went to see, nowhere was this more apparent than at the B2B Social Marketing: Blazing New Trails panel I attended where the VPs and Directors of Social at Salesforce, Xerox, and Cisco spoke about their craft. Since their inception, Facebook and Twitter have dominated the social conversation, so it was interesting to see that a majority of the time spent on this panel (and elsewhere) was around YouTube strategy. At this juncture, it is clear that VPs of Social and CMOs have Facebook and Twitter figured out; social media management software and audience development tools for these platforms have existed for quite some time (I’m looking at you, Buddy Media / Wildfire Interactive!) and the best practices are well documented. However, YouTube is still very much the Wild West, and marketers are scrambling to understand this platform as brands rush to double down on original video content.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in YouTube search, which, if you’re Salesforce, dictates how 60% of your content is discovered, according to Jamie Grenney, VP of Social and Online Video. SEO hasn’t necessarily been a factor in traditional social media marketing, but it has emerged as The Great Differentiator between winners and losers on YouTube. Which is precisely why we are investing heavily in YouTube SEO.

We couldn’t be happier to be innovating in this space at such an exciting time; our tools and best practices act as a democratizing force that empower YouTube marketers and ensure they won’t miss out in the scramble for YouTube.

Panelists speaking at SXSW Interactive 2013 conference in Austin, Texas, featuring laptops.

For every similarity that exists between YouTube and Facebook / Twitter, there are drastic differences that present unique challenges.

SXSW 2013 Recap: YouTube’s Big in Social Enterprise

Over the past 8 years my passion has been online video.

I’ve lived and breathed it for my entire professional career — and I’ve loved every minute of it. This has always been the most exciting area of technology for me, and there hasn’t ever been a more exciting time than now. It doesn’t seem like that long ago that I was graduating from college, going to work at Macromedia, and founding Viddler at 22 — since then the online video industry has changed a bit (to say the least). YouTube grew from relative obscurity to become the 2nd largest search engine in the world, and a critical destination for brands to develop and engage with their audience. Bettering this audience development experience for brands and helping them manage their YouTube presence and increase their views and subscribers has been my focus for the last year, and we’ve built something truly amazing. The best part? Now we get to share it with the rest of the world! Today we’re announcing vidIQ is coming out of beta! And we’re excited!

While we have your attention, we would like to give our thanks to a few people, whom without their help, vidIQ would not be launching:

The hundreds of brands, networks, and YouTube creators who have been giving us feedback every step of the way. The thousands of people who have signed up for our beta and have been patiently waiting until this moment. Our world class investors who believed in us very early on and continue to be an incredible source of expertise and guidance. For YouTube on having an awesome developer relations team and continually making APIs available for our team to build amazing things with. We feel extremely blessed to be innovating in this space and encourage you to sign up and check out vidIQ for yourselves!