4 Tips to Grow Your Channel with YouTube Shorts

You can use YouTube Shorts more strategically by focusing on four things:

1. Choose topics people already care about and use search and trend research to shape your ideas.
2. Make each Short valuable on its own, instead of assuming views will automatically turn into subscribers.
3. Use pinned comments and related content to give interested viewers somewhere to go next.
4. Research music and trends before using them, then add your own angle instead of copying what is already popular.Now that you have some background knowledge, here are four tips to grow your channel with YouTube Shorts.

These tactics can help you make more intentional Shorts and give interested viewers more reasons to explore your channel.

1. Research Topics Before You Create a Short

Shorts can appear across several parts of YouTube, including the Shorts feed and search results. Before creating one, research the topic to understand how viewers describe it, what related questions they ask, and what content is already performing.

Use that research to choose an angle that fits your audience rather than assuming a keyword or format will make the Short discoverable.

How Viewers ‘Search’ for YouTube Shorts

Viewers can find your Shorts via YouTube search just like traditional, topic-based videos. Want to learn how? Follow these steps:

1. Open YouTube on your desktop or mobile app.
2. Next to your profile icon, click the magnifying glass at the top right corner of the screen.
3. Type your desired keywords into the search bar and tap the appropriate result when it pops up.
4. Scroll down past the first few results — the regular, horizontal videos — until you see the Shorts shelf. Here you'll find Shorts related to your search term.

When we search for vidIQ, a shelf filled with Shorts called "Latest Shorts from vidIQ" appears in the results. This may contain Shorts we’ve posted as well as those from other creators who talk about vidIQ. So just by posting Shorts, you've created one more way for viewers to find your channel.

If you use vidIQ, the Keyword Research tool can show estimated YouTube search volume, competition, related terms, matching terms, and questions around a topic. Use those signals to compare ideas and understand how people search, not as a guarantee that a Short will rank or get more views.

Watch Rob explain this in more detail below:

2. Give Short-Form Viewers a Reason to Explore Your Channel

A Short can reach viewers who have never seen your channel before, but a view does not automatically turn into a subscriber.

Focus first on making the Short useful or entertaining on its own. Then make sure the topic connects naturally with the rest of your channel so interested viewers have a clear reason to watch more of your content.

It seems like YouTube wants to take the emphasis off of subscribers, at least for Shorts. We’re not sure why. What we do know is that views, not subscribers, have always been the biggest reward for posting Shorts. Some creators get millions of subscribers, but that’s usually because they’re posting unique content that’s hard to duplicate — like Jake Fellman’s animated Among Us Shorts. Those videos attract millions of subscribers.

Views create the opportunity, but they do not automatically turn into subscribers. To improve that conversion, make Shorts for the same audience as the rest of your channel and give viewers a specific reason to return. Instead of a generic “subscribe” reminder, explain what they will receive, such as “Subscribe for a new editing breakdown every week.”

You can measure which Shorts convert viewers by opening YouTube Analytics and comparing subscribers gained across your content. Look for recurring topics, formats, or series that attract subscribers, then create more Shorts around those patterns.

Read more: 18 Viral Video Hooks for YouTube Shorts [Proven Hacks]

3. Use Pinned Comments to Point Viewers to Related Content

If a viewer finishes your Short and wants more, a pinned comment can give them a clear next step. Point them to a related video, playlist, follow-up Short, or another useful resource on your channel.

Keep the recommendation closely related to the Short they just watched rather than using the same generic call to action on every video.

To add a Related Video, open YouTube Studio, select the Short, choose a public or unlisted video from your channel under Related Video, and save your changes.

Pinned comments can still provide context or tell viewers what to watch next, but URLs in Shorts comments are not clickable. The Related Video link should be the primary path from a Short to more of your content.

When the Short and related video serve the same audience, viewers are more likely to explore the channel and understand what they will receive by subscribing.

4. Research Music and Trends Before Using Them

Music and recurring formats can help you understand what viewers are currently engaging with on Shorts. Before joining a trend, look at how other creators are using the song or format and find an angle that fits your own audience.

When adding music, use tracks available through YouTube’s Shorts creation tools or music you otherwise have permission to use. Adding copyrighted music outside YouTube’s licensed tools can still result in copyright claims.

With more creators using music, it's easy to find out which songs appear in certain videos. Then you can add something unique to a trend after seeing what others posted, hopefully making your content stand out.

To start researching, look for the icon below. If you see it, that means the creator added a song from the Shorts camera tool.

Tap the icon to see more Shorts using that song. This is where your research will really take off as you discover how the song is being used, if there’s a challenge associated with it, and more. At the top of the page, you can also see the original YouTube video for the song.

Here's a 90-day plan to get you started on your way to 10 million YouTube Shorts views!