Rob started out on YouTube in 2012, building up a tech channel before joining the vidIQ team. He now educates over 450,000 subscribers on the vidIQ channel which has over 25,000,000 video views. Today he is hard at work sharing everything he has learned on the YouTube platform; educating video creators on how to grow their own channels and turn hobbies into careers - just like Rob did in 2017.
How to Get More YouTube Views: 20x Increase in 2 Weeks!
Many new YouTube creators have serious concerns like: it's too late to start a channel in 2019, my topic on YouTube is too saturated, I'll never be able to compete with the big boys, or my channel’s too small it'll never get shared on YouTube. All of this is absolute rubbish and I've been waiting for an opportunity to show you how it is still possible to start a channel in 2019 and be successful.
This video is all sparked from something that we do on a regular basis here at VidIQ. We audit channels on YouTube for free 11 a.m. PST every single week (make sure you join us for that). One of the channels we listed recently made me go wow, this is what I've been trying to tell video creators for years and it still works.
How a New Tech Channel Generates More YouTube Views
‘Home Tech’ is a YouTube tech channel like many that have come before it. and the channel description tells us that it reviews smartphones, tablets and overheard tech. Now if you're a regular visitor to VidIQ especially the live streams, I know what you're about to say. That's all very well, smartphones, tablets, home tech, but where is the focus, where's the niche?
If you think that the channel’s focus is not specific enough, you’re absolutely right. If your first video is about a Lava Lamp and your ninth video is about a wireless doorbell and your 17th video is about a Black & Decker Multipro two in one cordless vacuum cleaner, you are going to get a confused audience not knowing what to expect next. Now for a new channel this is perfectly acceptable, the video creator is trying to find their feet on a platform. Learn how to make videos and publish them and they're in the hustle stage. They're trying to find out what content they like making which resonates with an audience.
And in the early stages of this channel, they had some success. Incredibly, their second video on a gas meter got 5,000 views. But what did they do next? A video about Google Home Hub which does nothing. Then a video about a thermostat that did well. Then a video about a tablet that does even better. A follow-up video to that tablet that doubles of views again. Then a video about a light bulb that somehow does even better. Another video about a smart meter that doesn't do as well, followed by a video on a smart Samsung device that completely tanks.
So I was curious - here’s a new channel making videos about fairly different tech products and it’s getting good views. That leads me to two conclusions; either the video creator was playing around with Google AdWords, just to artificially inflate the viewing figures a little bit but legitimately of course, or the video creator was strategically targeting a couple of very niche areas such as a specific tablet or smart energy thermostats and working out which one would be most successful for that channel. I think it was probably a combination of a two. But let's continue to see where this video creator goes on their journey.
Find Your YouTube Channel Focus
It continues on the theme of random bits of tech until we hit a breakthrough video on a mobile phone. 17,000 views for a small channel is a hit. and quite rightly the video creator follows this up with another video but that one absolutely tanks. Now I would have liked to have seen this video creator have a couple more attempts at this keyword and this device but given that the second video did really poorly and the lights of dislikes ratio is relatively low, maybe the video creator lost their confidence on the topic. So let's move on. The next set of video see reviews of smartcams, a kitchen vacuum sealer and of a tablet video, a quick revisit of that phone which does okay, some headphones, smart energy savers and that vacuum cleaner. So I think it's pretty clear at this point that the video creator is basically reviewing anything that they buy for their own house. And you know what, that is absolutely fine.
As a new video creator you can't expect brands to just send you products to review. We've always said that this shouldn’t be a barrier to entry, you just work with what you have. And the next thing this creator gets, changes absolutely everything. Aaaah, the Samsung Galaxy Tab s5e. You've all heard of it, right? No, me neither. I thought Android tablets disappeared five years ago. Anyway, this is a brand new tech device and a trending one at that.
Our VidIQ Research Tools clearly illustrate this. High search volume, low competition score. That's a keyword of interest. Click on the keyword tag itself from one of these videos and this launches the VidIQ keyword inspector, where we can see the keyword started to trend a few weeks ago, and interest is peaking now. That's a keyword of great interest. What the video creator did a month ago was create a preview video on this tablet. Now given that this video has a very low likes and dislikes ratio, people didn't react to it very well. But it did give the video creator more views than they've had in any of the previous five to 10 videos. So that was an indication of some kind that YouTube did like this content. The audience just wasn't that keen. However, and quite rightly, the video creator pressed on and released an Unboxing video. Not only was that much better received in terms of ratings, it brought in lots of views too.
Now a legitimate question you might be asking at this point is how does a channel with a couple of hundred subscribers, get a video with 8,000 views when it might be competing against big tech channels. And I think the answer is all to do with timing. I had a quick check to see when the device was officially released and Google tells me it was April of 26. But this creator was able to release an Unboxing video six days before that. Being able to create content before or during a release date of a product, show or service, gives a creator a huge boost. Because while information is scarce, the people who are searching for that information will consume every resource they can find.
There's nothing particularly special about this video. A seven-minute top-down recording of unboxing a product, it's been done thousands of times before and done better. But here's a principle I've talked about before, most successful channels are bigger, better and before anyone else with the content. This creator has one of those elements. Their video was before most of a competition. And when you have a video on your channel it's done really well and you're before the rest of the competition, there's only one thing you can do. Make more content as soon as possible.
Double Down on YouTube Content That Works!
You may have heard us refer to this as the Double Down concept. And over the last two weeks that's all the video creator has done. That same keyword title Samsung Galaxy Tab s5e, followed by whatever aspect the Creator wants to investigate with a fine-tooth comb. The big YouTube channels review these devices and move on, the smaller creators provide the real value to those who have decided to buy it and use it on a daily basis.
Remember the journey so far, this channel could get 1,000 views per video or they could get 20 views per video. Now with an absolute focus on a trending topic, they are guaranteed 1,000 views and occasionally 10 times as many as that. People often ask us this question here at VidIQ, when it comes to YouTube what's more important, quantity or quality? And the answer like many things on YouTube is that it depends.
In this particular example because the video creator has a trending topic and it's not gonna last forever, quantity is more important. You want to try and get as many videos out on a topic to hit that keyword over and over again and it's working for this channel. If there is less time sensitivity about your content then obviously quality is more important. I know we've specifically talked about tech in this particular case of it but you can apply this strategy to any topic on YouTube.
There is almost always something to talk about or something to talk about in a completely new way. And when you find the videos that hit, don't go on to something else. Really just nail down on up topic and grow your channel. For small channels, this is the quickfire hack way to get more views and build an audience.
So come on, don't tell me that it's too late to start a YouTube channel in 2019 because this channel has just proved you can go from hundreds of views a day to thousands of views a day. I have no doubt that you work hard, you've just got to think smart as well.
Want To Get More YouTube Views & Subscribers?
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