OptimbeMaking money online has become the norm for many of us nowadays, and running a YouTube channel is one of the more popular methods that netizens have come to embrace. Whether you are using YouTube as a means to market products (for affiliate marketing or even for your own eCommerce business) or simply as a content creator, you’ve probably noticed that there is a lot of competition on the platform. Succeeding on YouTube requires a lot of patience, hard work, and strategic planning. By the end of this article, you should have the knowledge on how to revive a failing YouTube channel, or get the ball rolling for a brand new one.
Hacking the Algorithm
Anyone who deals with social media or establishing an online presence will inevitably come across the term “algorithm”. This is the set of rules that search engines (even those on social media platforms) use to choose which content to recommend to which users. A great way to help the algorithm notice your channel is to improve your social media metrics by using websites such as SubscriberZ. By having more likes, subscribers, followers and other engagement on social media, you are signaling the algorithm that your content is worthwhile and that the search engines should recommend your content more often to new users.
Search Engine Optimization
Of course there is a more sophisticated approach to allowing search engine algorithms to take note of your channel. Search engine optimization is a set of practices that webmasters and content creators use to make their content more noticeable by search engines. This is not a black-hat hacking trick, but it is perfectly within the terms of use. In fact, search engines encourage these practices because it makes it simpler and easier for their algorithms to make sense of your content and categorize it accordingly. This helps the search engine match search queries (from users) to the relevant content. To make things more clear, search engines use the optimization rules that content creators apply to their content in order to understand which content best answers the search queries of users.
Be Unique
They say that there is nothing new under the sun, and every piece of content created is some regurgitated form of previously created content. However, that still does not mean that blindly copying successful YouTubers will get you anywhere. There is a lot of competition on YouTube and copying other users will just make your channel feel unoriginal. Why would a user view your content if the original content is just a click away? You need to find a way to put your own spin on things, and make your content uniquely yours.
Of course, you can draw inspiration from other content creators, successful or not. You may stumble upon a bad video on YouTube that you believe can be improved greatly if you just change a few things. Draw inspiration from other users but make sure you are not copying their content too closely.
Targeted Content
One of the most common mistakes that YouTubers and other content creators make is that they try to please everyone with the content they create. But as the old adage goes; you can’t please everyone. The best approach for social media in general is to create content that is specifically designed to attract your target consumer. This means you are able to get more conversions out of your content. After all, you probably have an objective goal that you aim to achieve from your content. For example, If you aim to persuade viewers of your content to purchase a product, then a conversion would be when a viewer goes ahead and purchases the product through the links you provided. This is the general premise of affiliate marketing. Of course, you will have a target market in mind — these are the people that are more likely to purchase the products you are marketing for, or rather, the potential users that are more likely to be converted. Creating content that is more appealing to your target market means you are likely to get more conversions out of your content.
Make Use Of Other Social Media Platforms
It is understandable if you are focusing your time and energy on YouTube alone, especially if your target market uses the platform heavily. But YouTube isn’t the only social media platform. It may be the second largest search engine worldwide, but it is still recommended to branch out into other platforms to attract me viewers or at least to keep your current viewership more engaged. This doesn’t necessarily mean double the work. Try to find ways to repurpose content that you’ve already created for your YouTube channel, in order to market or promote it on other social media platforms. This will give you more opportunities to catch the eye of potential viewers that would then visit your channel. For example, many people have both Instagram and YouTube installed on their mobile but may not necessarily be subscribed to your channel on YouTube. By using the appropriate hashtags, your content can appear on Instagram to said users. An eye-catching cover photo from your YouTube channel can be repurposed into an Instagram post and it could lure users out of Instagram and onto YouTube to view your content. As you diversify your approach to include more platforms, you increase the size of your potential market.
Final Thoughts
Finding success on YouTube is no easy feat. However, it is certainly something that the average content creator can aim for if they put in the hard work and dedication. Remember to work smart, not just hard; and be confident in your decisions. It takes time to find success on YouTube but if you persevere, nothing can stand in your way. You can earn a decent income through ad-generated revenue on YouTube, or even as an affiliate marketer on the platform. All you need to do is focus you content creation on a target market and create relevant content for them.
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