Common issues that keep you under 1,000 subscribers

[ZombieBrain]

When it comes to branded intros I agree that when they are too long, too loud etc. then it usually makes me quit watching instantly, unless I am really interested what happens next. That's why I'm adding a short teaser in the beginning of my newest videos, just enough to give viewers the taste what's waiting for them

After analysing Audience Retention in analytics I found out that I probably need to make my videos shorter (max 4-5 minutes long), so thanks for that tip!

I've watched a lot of Tim's videos before actually starting my channel and I still do, I still have so much to learn...

 

[Tim Schmoyer]

channels like slomoguys, kurzgesagt, simonscat or devinsupertramp show that you e.g. don't necessarily need a short regular upload schedule. Their videos take simply too much effort and they don't need to stuff the gaps with random channel update videos (to a certain extend).

Yes and no. You're right, there's some successful channels that don't stick to the normal best practices of YouTube. However, IMO those are exceptions, not the rule. (DevinSuperTramp does have a weekly schedule, BTW, which is what he attributes his success to.) I certainly wouldn't start a channel today like that hoping to have success like these long-established channels. Instead, following best practices and principles that have worked time and time again is probably the best way to start.

If your content is super high-end and takes a long time to publish (like animation channels, for example), then come up with some in-between content that lets you still publish regularly. Consider, "Next time on...", behind the scenes, viewer Q&A, things like that to keep your audience engaged. If later you find you don't need that stuff to keep your audience engaged, then drop it.

 

[Peyton Moore]

I have never had this issue before, mostly because I only have 181 subs. My goal is to reach 1,000 by the end of this year. Hopefully, this issue will not happen to me.

 

[XXLRay]

However, IMO those are exceptions, not the rule.

Although there are more (Wayside Creations, Corridor Digital, Dude Perfect, ERB, Frank Howarth, Paul Sellers, Reallybigmonkey1, samandniko, ted's holdover, Wayside Creations, ...) I definitely agree that a short regular schedule works for the majority of big channels. All I say is that there are still enough channels that show there is a different way (which I don't know).

(DevinSuperTramp does have a weekly schedule, BTW, which is what he attributes his success to.)

[smartarse mode]If you look at the last two months, yes - but he doesn't always stick to a weekly schedule.[/smartarse mode]

following best practices and principles that have worked time and time again is probably the best way to start.

Edit: Lots of whining about why my channel is not in the top ten although it's sooooo good

come up with some in-between content that lets you still publish regularly. Consider, "Next time on...", behind the scenes, viewer Q&A, things like that to keep your audience engaged.

I have been thinking about this idea for quite a long time now but fear to annoy my existing subscribers with "nonsense". It may finally need to come down to some tests though.

After all you are the one who brought more subscribers to channels and that's what counts in the end.

I guess I already know my channel problems (long schedule, no human face, wide content variety) but changing it simply feels wrong. At least I think I got branding (logo, banner, thumbnails, intro, end card) and SEO (titles, tags, description, caption, quality backlinks) straight and random people (not just mom and dad) from different niches attest my channel a very high production quality.

 

[Stachu]

Hey YTTalkers!

Tim it's great to see you here. I love your videos and I always recommend your stuff! The amount of knowledge you give out for free is just sick. I learned so much form your videos... some day I'll buy you an island and a trip around the galaxy for your whole family because you really deserve it!

One client of mine came to me before he even started his channel. After 9 months, he's now making $30,000 per MONTH in Adsense revenue alone.

This is insane! :O :O :O I was doing a lot of research on how fast other channels are growing (I basically just watch a lot of data on Social Blade) and I've never seen anything like this. Could you give us a little bit more info? Maybe the name of this channel? Maybe a case study? It would be awesome because this results are super extraordinary and probably a great source to learn from.

"Who specifically is this content for?" and, "Why should that person care?"

These 2 questions are very hard for me. How can I answer them as a comedian?
- "Who specifically is this content for?" - well comedy seem to be pretty universal interest but I know "Everybody" isn't helpful answer.
- "Why should that person care?" - because my channel can make him / her smile / laugh / feel good?

2. Poor titles and thumbnails.

My approach to titles is to basically to focus on keywords. So my title would be "girls on omegle - making girls smile on omegle" if I want to rank my video for "girls on omegle" keywords. But the problem is that this title isn't probably to catchy... (and it's also not working right now, because you can't see my video anywhere in YouTube search results ;/) On the other hand a lot of catchy titles seem to not work pretty well with SEO.
So my question is: should I focus more on keywords on titles or "catchy" aspect of it? Do you have any examples that you consider "good"?

3. Craft better videos.

I believe my videos are good and I also get good reviews. But I'm always asking myself: Is it good enough or should I push myself to make it even better?
I know that I should always try to make my videos better and better.
But the question is: how can I tell if they are "good enough"?

 

[XXLRay]

So my title would be "girls on omegle - making girls smile on omegle" if I want to rank my video for "girls on omegle" keywords. But the problem is that this title isn't probably to catchy...

Having a keyword (omegle) two times in a title doesn't add up in my eyes. In fact some search engines penalize such keyword stuffing.
I tend to start with a catchy phrase that shows up in search followed by less important keywords. Your most important keyword is not omegle as it is far to competitive. You would try to compete with all other kinds of omegle videos.
You rather want to rank high for "make girls smile".
A better title in my eyes would be "Fun with hot girls - making them smile on omegle". Round it up with a bewb screenshot as thumbnail
Don't forget to also adjust your first description lines accordingly. Let the first sentence contain the keywords "Today I had fun making girls smile on omegle." The second sentence needs to contain synonyms "The cute chicks got some really good laughs on the chat with me."

 

[LadyDewinter]

That would be just an intro without branding if I understand you correctly. A branded intro uses elements from your existing branding on logo, banner and thumbnails. This could be colors, fonts, icons or a combination of all these.
If you have a look at my channel for example you will see that I use the same color scheme in all the mentioned and my annotated end card. Furthermore you will find my icon also in the (very short) intro, on all my (newer) thumbnails and encoded into my videos.

@Tim Schmoyer There is certainly a formula for a certain kind of videos that simply works on YouTube. But channels like slomoguys, kurzgesagt, simonscat or devinsupertramp show that you e.g. don't necessarily need a short regular upload schedule. Their videos take simply too much effort and they don't need to stuff the gaps with random channel update videos (to a certain extend).

All of them only chase trending content once in a while if any.

The latter three show that that you don't need to be a talking head or show your face to build a fanbase.

What they all have in common is that they produce top notch content that is not even highly searchable.

So yes, there is a recipe for success on YouTube and I even know it in principle. Unfortunately it doesn't fit my channel but the examples show that the needs to be a different way.

I tend to use the same font in all my titles, but I do not have my logo on my videos. I also use the characters from the various games I play in the intro, but thats just so my viewers will see what I look like in each video. Im still really new to all this, but for a 57 year old lady who knows NOTHING about computers I think Im doing pretty good so far. I have 107 subs so far and it seems I get new ones at least weekly.

 

[XXLRay]

@LadyDewinter that looks like you are a winner. More than enough people don't pass the 100 subscriber mark. Keep up the good work.

 

[Stachu]

Having a keyword (omegle) two times in a title doesn't add up in my eyes. In fact some search engines penalize such keyword stuffing.

I've heard that this might help but we can't actually know anything for sure :/

You rather want to rank high for "make girls smile".

But if someone is searching for "make girls smile" he is not exactly searching for Omegle videos. That's why I'm worried that even if my video rank high on that keyword, a lot of people might not be interested in watching it (because maybe they don't like Omegle videos). What you think about that?

A better title in my eyes would be "Fun with hot girls - making them smile on omegle".

I like it and it sound better then my actual title. I'm still worried if it's going to rank better or not. There is probably no other way then trying it out. Thank you @XXLRay

 

[XXLRay]

But if someone is searching for "make girls smile" he is not exactly searching for Omegle videos.

And if somebody searches for omegle videos he probably doesn't want to see girls smiling

I stand my ground. If you try to rank for omegle you will likely rank low for all searches but if you try to rank for niche keyword you may rank for less searches but you rank high.