20 Ways To Get More Views on YouTube

10. Create a playlist.

If you create content clustered around a relevant, related topic, create playlists to encourage video views. The image below shows the playlists on the HubSpot YouTube account, where videos are organized by topic.

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Playlists default to autoplay, so users can watch an entire playlist without taking action themselves.

Playlists and autoplay allow your users to view subject-relevant content that they may not have found themselves. This gives them a well-rounded experience and increases your video views.

11. Lead users to other videos in end screens.

End screens are the final 15-20 seconds of your video, sometimes called credits, used to recommend additional content on your channel as cards. Below is an example from the HubSpot YouTube account.

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Your end screens can feature cards for single videos or entire playlists, a subscribe button, links to your associated websites, or secondary channels your business has (we’ll touch on this below.) It’s important to note that end screens should recommend relevant content.

12. Enable embedding.

Almost anything can be embedded these days, including YouTube videos. If you’ve created a YouTube strategy, you’ve likely identified your target audience on the platform. They’ll probably give you the most views, but enabling embedding can help you introduce yourself to additional viewers that may not have known your content would be relevant to them.

Here’s an example of a YouTube video embedded in a blog post.

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You can embed your videos in your content, like blogs and email newsletters, but it’s also a valuable way to expose your content to new audiences.

Other people can embed your content within their own pages and share your expertise with their audiences. These views still count towards your overall view count, even if they’re not on YouTube.

13. Promote videos on other platforms.

YouTube probably isn’t your only social media profile, and you should use this to your advantage. Share new video announcements on your Instagram Stories, share links and clips on Twitter and Facebook, and share them in your blog posts and emails.

You’ll expose new audiences to your content, and, as mentioned above, views on other platforms count towards your YouTube view count.

14. Leverage current trends.

Leveraging YouTube trends is a valuable tool for obtaining more video views. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should create content that is exactly in line with a current, trending meme on YouTube, but you should pay attention to what types of videos get lots of views.

For example, Mediakix released a list in 2019 of the most popular types of videos. Among them are how-to and Q&A videos.

Suppose you’re a business hoping to utilize one of these trends. You could create a how-to video demonstrating how to use your product or service and a Q&A video where you troubleshoot consumer inquiries. You’re creating content that users want to see that provides value to them to generate more views.

15. Focus on creating relevant content.

Leveraging trends is important for generating views, but you shouldn’t abandon your topic type to get views.  

A YouTube channel filled with unrelated content can generate views but won’t be seen as a source of authority. Your content would be scattered, users might write you off, and algorithms won’t know your niche. So, the two tips come together to leverage current trends to create content that aligns with your existing strategy.

Also, relevant content outweighs video quality. YouTube found that, when deciding what to watch, content relating to a user’s passions is 1.6x more important than the video’s quality (like visuals and camera quality), and 3x more important than whether it features well-known actors.

This means that the most valuable content you can create isn’t expensive and high budget — it’s content that’s in line with your audience’s needs. When you understand what they want, it’ll be easier to earn views.

16. Collaborate with similar accounts.

One of the exciting aspects of YouTube is its community. There are people creating all different types of content, from gaming videos to exercise classes. You’ll likely find people who make content like yours, and collaborating with them is a valuable tool for generating more views.

Collaborations usually involve creating two separate videos, one for your channel and another for the collaborators’ channel. When they’re posted, you’ll gain exposure to their audience group and them from yours.

If you’ve collaborated with a topic-relevant channel, new viewers will likely already be interested in your content and may even subscribe to your channel. It’s also a valuable way to create more content, and more content always inspires more views.

17. Post at the right time.

There is a right time to post on YouTube. The best times to post on YouTube are Thursday or Friday afternoons between 12:00 and 3:00 PM, and on Saturdays between 9:00 and 11:00 AM.

You can certainly leverage these numbers and obtain views, but it’s also essential to create a posting schedule that aligns with your existing viewership.

You can get this information from YouTube’s native analytics tool or your preferred service. If you’re a HubSpot user, you can connect your YouTube account to Marketing Hub and generate custom reports.

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Posting at the right time translates into views, because your subscribers are more likely to watch during a time that they’re free versus when they’re at work.

18. Use a multi-channel approach.

If you’re a large business, consider creating multiple YouTube channels for different purposes. For example, HubSpot has five separate YouTube channels (shown below) tailored to different audience groups.

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Multiple channels ensures that content is accessible to different viewers, and it generates more views.

This isn’t just a HubSpot thing — Interbrands says that the top 100 brands on YouTube have an average of 2.4 channels.

19. Optimize for mobile viewers.

More than 70% of YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices, so create content that these audiences can enjoy.

Optimizing for mobile viewers means creating videos that can adapt to different mobile device aspect ratios, video titles and thumbnails that don’t get distorted on smaller devices, and recommend videos in end-screen cards.

20. Remember to be patient.

As marketers, we all want virality and immediate success for the content we create. While you may sometimes get lucky, generating more YouTube views takes time and patience.

There’s not much concrete advice to give with this tip, but understand that if you’ve leveraged the tips on this list, you’ll likely gain more views to begin growing your channel.

Next, we’ll go over how to keep growing your channel after reaching your first 1000 views on YouTube.

How To Reach 1000 Views on YouTube and Keep Growing Your Channel

Although it certainly would be nice, there is no equation to help you generate your first 1000 views on YouTube. Some people gain instant success, while others struggle to reach even 100 views after making hundreds of videos. In fact, 88.4% of YouTube videos generate fewer than 1000 views.

This may be discouraging to hear, especially since you can only begin to monetize your videos on YouTube after having more than 4,000 public watch hours. Many creators, including Zac Snyder, have attempted to figure out the perfect formula.

Snyder highlighted his mathematical approach in a Medium article recommended that a good start could be to make 300 videos a year at 10 minutes a piece. However, this strategy may not work for all creators.

There are ways to generate more views sooner rather than later. First, you should use and reference the tips mentioned above when creating your videos. There are also four additional tips to consider to continue growing your YouTube channel after reaching 1000 views.

1. Increase your upload frequency.

If it’s taken you a long time to reach 1000 views, it may make you nervous to risk your viewership by doing anything differently. However, it’s easier to generate more views with more videos than to generate more views from one or two standalone videos.

Pay attention to your channel analytics, understand when you generate the most views, and increase your upload frequency to match your engagement metrics.

Once you’ve developed a schedule, identify time frames in which you’ll reassess your strategy. For example, maybe you’ll aim to upload three times per week until you reach 10k views, and then you’ll analyze your metrics and switch to uploading twice a week.  

2. Keep introductions and opening credits short and to the point.

Attention spans are short, so any unnecessary content in your videos can cost you viewers. Once you’ve reached 1000 views and generated an audience, you don’t want to lose them.

Use analytics to understand their behavior and adjust accordingly. If viewers seem to stop watching after a certain amount of time, consider shortening your introductions so viewers get to the core of the content faster and feel more inclined to finish the video.

3. Optimize for ‘Suggested Video’ views.

Suggested videos show up in the sidebar of a desktop YouTube screen, as shown below in the red outline.

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The algorithm recommends videos based on tags, so choose industry-relevant tags that your competitors are also using. When they match, you have a significant chance of showing up in suggested videos for the same tags.

YouTube also doesn’t discriminate by subscriber count, so even if you don’t have as many subscribers as your competitors, it’s still possible to be suggested after their videos.

4. Engage with subscribers in the ‘Community’ tab.

The Community tab is built for YouTube creators hoping to interact with their audience outside of their video comments. You can create polls, feature images, and generate hype for upcoming videos.

Post snippets to get subscribers excited about what’s to come, and they’ll likely be looking out for your video and ready to watch when it goes live.

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If you’re interested in learning more in-depth strategies for growing your channel, check out this HubSpot Academy YouTube Course featured resource. You’ll learn how to build your brand, develop an audience, and gain insight from YouTube influencers on creating a successful channel.

Create Content That Inspires Subscribers and Encourages Views

You’re creating YouTube videos because you know you can provide value to your audience.

Remember, it may be frustrating if results aren’t immediately significant. But if you optimize your videos and channel for SEO, create consistent, relevant content, and engage with your audience, you’ll not only reach 1000 views but own a channel that just keeps on growing.