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What is the easiest way to get 1,000 subscribers on YouTube? Should you try to go viral with a trendy video that gets millions of views?
There’s nothing wrong with this method, but it’s not the best way to gain subscribers. Viewers will move on when the hype is over because trends – and trending videos – always lose momentum. Plus, going viral on YouTube is never guaranteed.
You need a deeper plan to make people stick around – one that prioritizes five parts of the YouTube journey:
Watch the video below to learn more about these five areas of YouTube growth:
If you can master those five things, you’ll get 1,000 subscribers in no time. Here’s a guide to help you get started.
If you haven’t posted many videos, make that your first step. This will help YouTube understand what your channel is about and which viewers enjoy your content.
Read More: Quantity Over Quality - The One Thing New YouTubers Should Focus On
To start, make 100 videos in the next three or four months. That’s a big number, and it’s going to be hard to stay on track, but don’t panic. The goal isn’t to make a few perfect videos people rave about; at this stage, you want to make lots of content so YouTube can test your videos with different audiences. One hundred videos should be enough to penetrate the algorithm and have YouTube suggest your content.
As you create, avoid the trap of making perfect videos. That will only slow you down and make “100” seem like an impossible number. Instead, focus on making valuable videos that have good information, proper lighting, and adequate audio. That’s what viewers need to enjoy a video, and ultimately, subscribe.
OK, here’s where the fun starts. Now that you have dozens of videos to analyze, you can go into the YouTube Studio and see which ones are performing well. This is a crucial step to gaining 1,000 subscribers; your absolute best videos – not the average performers – are more likely to make people subscribe.
First, take a look at the top five suggested videos on your channel. These are the videos YouTube recommends to viewers based on what they’ve already watched or what they might watch next. So essentially, YouTube will “pair” one video with another if people frequently watch them “together” on the platform.
Read More: YouTube Algorithm Guide - How Your Videos Are Recommended to Viewers
If someone watches a video about how to get more subscribers on YouTube, they might see some of the suggested videos below. These could appear as a “watch next” prompt within the video, on the right side of the screen (pictured below, as seen on desktop), or below the video being watched (mobile).
Follow these steps to see your top five suggested videos:
Your suggested videos list should look something like this:
Write down the top five videos on your list, and for each one, film a companion video on the same topic. As YouTube suggests "pairs" of videos to viewers, you'll give the algorithm popular but similar content to pull from.
Out of all the videos you’ve made, how many of them are searchable? Do they address problems people are always trying to solve? If so, find out which video topics are most helpful to viewers.
You can do this by identifying the top five search terms on your channel. These are video topics that perform well in the YouTube search traffic source. Getting views in this area means people are clicking on your videos after searching a specific term or phrase.
Here’s how to find your most popular search topics:
Next, you’ll see a list of your channel's popular search content.
Like we did in the last section, write down your top five search topics. Then make additional content using the same topics. If things work out, you’ll reach new viewers who are constantly searching for such videos. That creates an opportunity to snag more subscribers.
This might be the most straightforward tip on our list. When viewers hit subscribe, they probably watched an awesome video beforehand. But not every video convinces people to join your community. That’s why our next strategy is pure gold: Go into the YouTube Studio and identify which videos bring in the most subscribers.
Here’s a step-by-step guide:
Here’s what the list should look like:
Take a look at your top five videos; this is the content that convinces viewers to hit subscribe.
Pick one video from your list and make an additional video about the same topic. If the original video is working for you, a follow-up could potentially increase your subscribers.
Everything we’ve listed above should be repeated to start seeing success. Your analytics will change as you make more videos, so make a habit of checking those “big three” areas: YouTube search, suggested videos, and the subscriber traffic source. You could check every month or every three months; it just depends on how often your analytics change.
Making content that performs well in certain traffic sources is smart. But don’t forget that YouTube success comes from building a community, which means you have to make content your viewers like. At the same time, it doesn’t hurt to find an intersection that satisfies both the YouTube algorithm and loyal subscribers.
Getting 1,000 subscribers on YouTube takes planning and dedication. Here are eight more ways to reach that magical number.
Lydia Sweatt is a writer who loves balancing her article/blog time indoors with a healthy dose of nature. She bikes, hikes, and identifies edible plants along the way.
