How To Blow Up On YouTube in 2023

Congratulations! 

You’ve decided to start a YouTube channel in 2023 and of course, you want to know how to blow up on YouTube. Below you will find a complete guide on channel-building best practices.

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Congratulations! 

You’ve decided to start a YouTube channel in 2023 and of course, you want to know how to blow up on YouTube. Below you will find a complete guide on channel-building best practices.

Introduction

  1. How to Blow up on Youtube – Checklist
  2. Channel Setup
  3. Get Discovered (Plus SEO!)
  4. Keeping Audience Engaged
  5. Promoting Your Channel
  6. In Summary

Iterate with us! Leave us your comment.

How To Blow Up On YouTube – Checklist

  • Find a niche audience
  • Channel header image with a brand message
  • ‘About’ channel description
  • Channel Trailer
  • Eye-catching thumbnails
  • Keywords as tags
  • Keywords in Titles and Descriptions
  • Compelling Titles and Descriptions
  • Descriptions are 200+ words
  • Transcripts available
  • Proper Categorization
  • Strong hook in first 15-seconds 
  • Long-duration videos (10+ min)
  • Pattern interrupts (resetting attention)
  • Use Call-to-action(s)
  • Curated playlists
  • Engagement (Views, Likes, Comments, etc.)
  • Connect website or social accounts
  • Collaborate with other creators and brands
  • Live stream

Find Your Audience

Before you can blow up you need to know who you’re talking to and what they care about. This gives you clues on what content to feed them.

Find a niche (specific) topic matter and research what other content creators are doing in this particular industry. Take note of which videos get the most views and engagement. This gives you an idea of what your audience wants to see and what style of videos capture their attention.

Channel Setup

Pro Home Cooks Channel Header

Your channel’s header image will be one of the first things users see. 

Use this space to give users an idea of what to expect from your videos with the use of a brand message. Visiting the Pro Home Cooks channel will help you ‘conquer your kitchen’. 

Babish Culinary Universe Channel Description

To cement what your channel is about, add a short ‘About’ channel description to tell them why you’re here and what you’re showing them. 

Babish Culinary Universe Trailer

For anyone wanting a visual description of your channel use YouTube’s Channel Trailer.

Plop in a quick video introduction for your viewers – it’s just like a movie trailer but for your channel.

Getting Discovered (Plus SEO!)

You’ve set up your channel and now you need to bring people in to see your content in all its glory.

Here’s how to entice those clicks…

Channel Thumbnails

You’ve got two choices above. Which one will you watch? 

People browse and see suggested videos on YouTube all day long. But they need to notice YOURS first.

Creating eye-catching thumbnails is one of the most important things you can do. 

The thumbnail is the first thing a user will see, followed by the video title. Think of these two things as a one-two punch to catch a user’s attention. This is a subjective area to continually test, but to get you started…

Here are some thumbnail best practices:
  • Be visually appealing with something unique or unexpected
  • Use image creation tools such as Canva
  • Use bright colours
  • Use lots of contrast
  • Include a very short text title in the thumbnail
  • Be different from your competitors

Want to keep up to date with the most effective thumbnail trends? 

MrBeast’s Video Thumbnails

Follow big accounts like MrBeast. These channels constantly test what’s effective.

Keywords on YouTube work pretty much just like in Google.

When uploading a video make sure to tag it with keywords. Keywords must make sense for that particular video. No keyword stuffing!

Aim for at least 5-10 keywords to tag per video and say them in your video too. 

Brian Dean of Backlinko says mentioning target keywords in your video helps YouTube better understand what the video is about. You can also use seed keywords to find new content ideas. Seed keywords are super broad topics like “food”. 

Try typing in a ‘seed’ keyword into YouTube’s search bar to harvest their suggested long-tail keywords.

YouTube Search Suggestions

These are topics/keywords that already have an audience. They’re just waiting for you to make the content!

Strategically placing keywords in your video’s title and description is also a must.

You should have 1 primary keyword that describes the content of your video. Use this keyword in the tags, the video title and the description. Sneak them in while coming across naturally.

Oh, and by the way, write your titles and descriptions in an exciting way. 

“10 Great Foods” won’t get the same clicks as “10 Foods That Will Change Your Life”. 

Optimal YouTube titles should be between 50-70 characters long. YouTube videos show up in 70% of the top 100 Google search results, so don’t slack on this step!

Now, descriptions should aim to be 200+ words.

The length gives a deeper understanding of your video topic. Not only that, short descriptions could hurt your video’s ability to rank in search.

While we’re talking about words…

It’s helpful to make transcripts available.

Uploading your own video transcript ensures accurate translation. The subtitles also make the video accessible to anyone hearing-impaired or for those who wish to watch without any audio – maybe a parent with a sleeping baby.

Use Proper Categorization.

Video Categories

When uploading a video, there’s a drop-down menu that lets you choose what category your video belongs to. This helps YouTube organize its library of content and indicates who and what to suggest to its users.

Keeping the Audience Attention

Now that people have clicked to watch your video, you need to be diligent in keeping their attention. 

Use a strong hook in the first 15 seconds.

The first 15 seconds are crucial in building excitement or intrigue. You got them to click on your video. Now you need to immediately tell them why they need to stay and watch.

Now that they’re hooked and watching intently…

Offer long-duration videos (10+ min).

A lengthier video provides richer content, delves deeper into a subject matter, and will naturally improve the Total Watch Time (TWT). TWT is a top YouTube ranking factor since the more time someone spends watching a video, the more time they spend on the platform.

Since longer videos offer more content, they tend to outrank shorter videos. To keep your audience watching a long video, it helps to use…

Pattern interrupts.

Think of this as resetting or refocusing someone’s attention. Watching a long-form interview with a talking head can get dull. And this is when the mind wanders. 

To combat that interrupt the pattern every so often. 

Pattern Interrupts example from Stoic Finance video

Instead of just talking, mix in articles, graphics, charts, animations or any other supporting visuals. Anything that tweaks the flow, at least temporarily.

If people are watching more of your videos, you’ve got buy-in. This is a perfect time to use…

Call-to-action(s)

Ask your viewers to do something… anything, so YouTube gets the signal that people care about your channel.

  • Ask them to like and comment on the video
    • Ask whether they agree or disagree with the content
    • Ask what they found helpful or need clarification on
    • Create new content from popular questions or comments
    • Respond to and answer their comments
  • Add a subscribe button to your End Screen
    • People that watch your entire video are primed to subscribe
  • Remind people of your other videos and cross-promote when it makes sense
    • Add links into the description or use video cards

So they’ve watched your video. They’ve even clicked Subscribe. Now what? 

Keep them on your channel with curated playlists.

The more videos you create the more difficult it becomes to navigate your channel. 

Playlists

(Have you noticed I like food yet?)

Help users deep-dive into your content by creating playlists. This lets the search engine categorize your channel and it creates curated content within a niche itself!

Creating a specific video series that covers a recurring topic is a great way to promote a channel’s authority. It enables them to find topics they really care about AND it means a possibility to binge-watch.

All of this increases their Session Time on YouTube (and your channel). A channel with a high Total Watch Time and high Session Time will get boosted by the recommendation algorithm. 

Promoting Your Channel

Connect your content with your website and social accounts.

Anytime a video is uploaded, make sure to blast out its availability on all available channels. Update your website with a quick blog post. Repurpose that post and let your followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all the other apps know about the new content drop. 

Repurposed content can come in the form of shorter video clips or snippets, tweets that summarize content, and can link back to the full video. Making these digestible bits across platforms allows the opportunity for other users and creators to share your content too. 

This brings us to another promotion tactic…

Collaborate with other creators and brands

Collaboration Example

Introduce yourself to new audiences with collaborations, whether in the same industry or others (that make sense). 

If you’re a food channel you could collaborate with a kitchenware or travel channel or brand. This is sure to bring in more views and more subscribers.

And finally, one of the newest trends for video content…

Do some live streaming!

You’ll notice this is a huge trend across social platforms. And it’s only gaining traction. 

Twitter has spaces where you can listen to live conversations. TikTok and Instagram have live video feed you can watch and comment on. 

Similarly, YouTube Live is a streaming option that gives its audience a sense of community. People can watch, comment and ask questions together. 

Here are some examples of how you can use YouTube Live:

  • Webinars
  • Live tutorials
  • Q&A sessions
  • Product demonstrations

In Summary

YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world… Meaning ample opportunity to grow a massive audience, as long as you take measures to get people to click on your video. 

The more people that click on your video and the more people that stay and watch, the more YouTube will promote your channel.

Remember, YouTube’s #1 goal is to keep people on YouTube. So, consistently publish with the above checklist in mind and you’ll no longer wonder, “How To Blow Up On YouTube”.

Don’t forget to sign-up for Iterate’s newsletter so we send you the newest strategies to grow!

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