How To Get More Subscribers on YouTube: Top 6 Strategies for Content Creators 

Key takeaways: 

• Growing your YouTube subscribers requires a combination of content strategy, channel optimization, and promotions. 
• To maintain steady subscriber growth, make sure to consistently post videos and uphold their high-quality. 
• Adding a call-to-action (CTA) can also effectively convert casual viewers into new subscribers. 

Ever wonder why some YouTube channels succeed fast and others don’t? The secret ingredient often lies in the number of subscribers.  

Subscribers are the heart of a YouTube channel. They drive engagement via views and comments, boost search visibility, and help open doors to monetization and partnerships. 

But how does one transform viewers into a devoted subscriber base? And why does it matter so much for your YouTube channel’s success?    

This article will answer those questions. We’ll teach you how to get more subscribers on YouTube. 

How does the YouTube algorithm work? 

To understand how you can gain more YouTube subscribers, you should understand how the algorithm works. 

Just like with other search-based online platforms, YouTube also uses an intricate algorithm to classify and suggest content to users’ behavior, interests, and search results. At its core, the algorithm’s main goal is to keep viewers on the platform for as long as possible by showing them videos they are most likely to watch and enjoy. 

Basically, it takes into account the following: 

• The viewers’ watch history. What videos and channels you’ve watched, for how long, and when you’ve watched them. The algorithm uses this data to predict what you or your viewers might want to watch next.  
• Your videos’ overall performance. How well a video performs with other viewers who have similar interests to you 
• Your channel’s content consistency. This means consistency in upload schedule and quality 
• Your audience engagement. If a video is getting a lot of engagement (likes, comments, shares) from people with similar interests 
• Your viewers’ satisfaction. User satisfaction using surveys to gauge viewers’ interest 

How to get more YouTube subscribers  

YouTube has become a popular platform for creatives to upload videos to the internet. One of the biggest problems for content creators is attracting new subscribers. So how do you do it? It requires a lot of strategizing and video marketing. 

Try these best practices: 

1. Plan and create compelling content 
2. Optimize your YouTube channel 
3. Engage with your audience  
4. Use effective SEO strategies for your YouTube videos  
5. Promote your channel across various platforms  
6. Include strong calls-to-action in your videos  

1. Plan and create compelling content  

The most effective way in getting more subscribers to your YouTube channel is to make videos that grab their attention and keep them coming back for more.  

This means creating videos that are: 

• Visually appealing 
• Interesting and entertaining 
• Helpful and practical 
• Directly about your viewers’ passions 

If you have an existing channel that has a few subscribers, focus on analyzing your current fanbase to get relevant video ideas. Finding out what your YouTube subscribers like is pretty straightforward:  

• See which of your videos gets the most views and comments 
• Pay attention to what people are saying they want to see 

Experimenting with other content types also gives you more ideas for future videos. For example, if you’re primarily posting videos about cooking and your vegan recipes are performing well, you could explore other plant-based topics like vegan travel guides or product reviews of vegan-friendly ingredients.  

But in case you’re starting from scratch, you will need to do a lot of research. You should: 

Define your niche  

When establishing a YouTube channel, it’s important to consider your niche. This will guide your overall strategy for creating content and attracting more subscribers. 

A niche is a specific subcategory within a broader topic. For example, “gaming” is a broad category, but “retro gaming reviews” or “Minecraft building tutorials” are niches. 

Focusing on a specific video niche helps you stand out from competitors and makes it more algorithm-friendly and pushable o to your content to your target audience.  

To determine your niche, you should: 

• Brainstorm your passions and expertise. What topics do you genuinely enjoy and know a lot about? 
• Use the YouTube search bar for research. Look for topics with high search volumes and low competition 
• Analyze your potential audience. Who are you trying to reach? What are their interests, problems, and questions?  
• Study your competitors. See what other channels are doing in your chosen niche. What kind of videos are they making, what’s working for them, and what gaps can you fill with your unique perspective? 

Select a content format 

Once you have a clear idea of your niche, you can start generating specific video ideas. Some popular formats for beginners include: 

Content type	Sub-categories	Examples
Vlogs	Daily/weekly vlogs  Travel vlogs  Lifestyle vlogs  Event vlogs	“A day in my life as a university student at UCLA”  “Exploring Tokyo’s hidden gems”  “Room tour: updating my shelf and furniture”
Educational	Tutorials Explainers How-to Documentaries	“How black holes are formed”  “How to create trinket trays using air-dry clays”  “A short documentary about the Roman Empire”
Reviews	Product reviews Service reviews Unboxing	“Reviewing the latest iPhone”  “Unboxing the new Star Wars Lego set”
Comedy	Short skits Parodies Pranks Stand-up routines	“Types of people you meet at the grocery store”  “Parody of F.R.I.E.N.D.S”
Listicles	Top list Best and worst list Rankings	“Top 10 scariest horror films of the 21st century”  “5 Best Street food spots in New York City”  “Ranking the best NBA players of all time”
Q&As	Ask me anything FAQ videos Subscribers Q&A	“Answering your questions about investing”  “My most frequently asked questions about diet and exercise”  “Answering your questions about me”

When choosing among these content types, keep an eye on what’s popular in your video’s topic area. Think about how you can give your take on these trends. If you can solve a problem or answer a question that a lot of your viewers have, you’re onto a winner.  

You also don’t have to stick to only one of these styles: you can mix and match to create videos that are relevant to your branding and audience. 

Remember: be yourself. People can tell when you’re genuine, and it makes them more likely to stick around.  

Make YouTube Shorts 

Besides your long-form YouTube videos, create YouTube Shorts to attract potential new subscribers. These vertical videos, up to 60 seconds long, have a dedicated section on the YouTube homepage.  

They’re effective in converting subscribers because they’re quick, fast-paced, and mobile-friendly. 

Here’s what the YouTube Shorts tab looks like on a channel: 

For more tips, check our blog about using YouTube Shorts for businesses. 

Create a content calendar and set a posting schedule 

After finalizing your video creation ideas, it’s important to create a content calendar to keep track of your posting schedule and your YouTube video ideas. You can create a content calendar using: 

• Pen and paper 
• Spreadsheets 
• To-do list 
• Online/offline management tools 

To create an effective content calendar, you should decide on your posting frequency. A regular posting schedule keeps your audience engaged and looking forward to your next video. If they know when to tune in for new episodes, they’re more likely to follow along.  

This depends on the type of content you’ll create. For example, if you’re aiming for vlogs, decide if you’ll post daily, weekly, or monthly.  

Also, research the best time for posting. You can do this by using your channel’s analytics data and audience behavior. Several tools like YouTube Analytics, VidIQ, and Social Blade provide detailed insights into your channel’s performance. 

How to set a posting schedule 

To determine your ideal posting schedule, you should consider: 

• Time zones and geographic locations. If your audience is concentrated in a specific region, you should schedule your uploads to coincide with their local peak viewing hours. However, if your audience is global, you might need to find a time that works for a broader range of time zones or consider a rotating schedule to cater to different regions. 
• User behavior. Use YouTube analytics to see the days and times when your audience is most active. Posting an hour or two before these peaks gives the YouTube algorithm time to process and index your video so it will be recommended to your audience as soon as they log on. 
• Content types. The best time to post can vary depending on your niche. For example, educational content might perform better on weekdays during work or school hours, while entertainment or leisure-focused videos might get more views in the evenings and on weekends. 
• Trends, events, and holidays. Staying on top of current events, holidays, and seasonal trends is a smart way to build your posting schedule. For example, a cooking channel might schedule holiday-themed recipes in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. 

As mentioned before, consistency is more important than frequency. If you can only produce one high-quality video a week, stick to that schedule. Trying to force out more content than you can handle will lead to burnout and a drop in video quality. It’s better to set a sustainable schedule that you can maintain long-term. 

2. Optimize your YouTube channel  

Optimizing your YouTube channel helps attract and retain viewers. To optimize your YouTube channel page, you should: 

Improve your YouTube channel’s layout 

Like other social media sites, YouTube provides features for organizing content and giving it a professional and appealing layout. This includes: 

• Having an eye-catching banner that reflects the essence of your content 
• Using a clear and recognizable channel icon 
• Creating sections  
• Setting featured videos for returning subscribers 
• Creating a channel trailer for those who haven’t subscribed 

Here’s an example of a YouTube channel with a fully optimized layout: 

As you can see, this channel has a clear icon and banner. They also have a channel trailer that helps increase YouTube subscribers. 

Customizing your YouTube channel layout creates a strong first impression and can significantly affect a visitor’s decision to subscribe. Consistent branding across your videos, thumbnails, and channel art helps viewers instantly recognize your content.  

Write a compelling channel description 

Writing a compelling channel description that briefly tells viewers what they can expect from your channel.  

To write an effective channel description, you should: 

• Highlight the benefits viewers will get from your videos 
• Highlight your expertise and year of experience 
• Include and use keywords strategically throughout your description, but don’t stuff or force them. This will make your description look spammy and unnatural 
• Proofread to make sure it is free of typographical and grammatical errors 
• Include a CTA and links to your other social media platforms 

Here’s an example of a well-written YouTube channel description: 

What makes this description effective in attracting more YouTube subscribers is that it tells you immediately what to expect, as well as proof of expertise in the documentary and educational content industry.  

Create playlists 

A YouTube playlist boosts your channel’s growth because it organizes your video content into categories or series. This helps new visitors understand what your YouTube channel is about and the type of content they can expect when they subscribe to you.  

Curated YouTube playlists also increase your watch time, which impacts your YouTube SEO. The algorithm prioritizes content that keeps viewers engaged for longer because it signals value. 

This is what playlists would look like on your YouTube channel: 

To create video playlists, you should: 

• Group similar videos together. For example, if you have a cooking channel, you can categorize it by methods (e.g., “baking tutorials”) or theme (e.g., “quick dinner recipes”)
• Naturally insert keywords into the playlist titles and descriptions 
• Use relevant tags to give additional context 
• Arrange videos strategically. For example, if they’re a series, organize them chronologically 
• Keep adding new videos to your playlists regularly to keep it fresh 
• Share your playlists in your video descriptions or on social media   

Add end screens 

YouTube end screens are the last five to 20 seconds of a video that include a call to action (CTA) that either directs viewers to watch another video or urges watchers to subscribe.  

Here’s an example of a YouTube channel with a good ending screen:

To create an effective one, you should: 

• Use a minimalist design or incorporate your signature color palette, fonts, and pictures 
• Include elements such as video suggestions, subscribe, playlist, and a link to your own YouTube channel 
• Time the end screen to appear after the main content to avoid distracting viewers 
• Direct viewers to a specific video or playlist to increase watch time 
• Customize the end screen for each video 

You can add end screens via the YouTube Studio Editor section. It lets you select the element you want to add. 

Use closed captions (CC) and subtitles 

Adding subtitles or CCs to your videos helps you gain subscribers by increasing your content’s accessibility, engagement, and reach. These timed-text media make your content understandable to a wider audience, particularly to deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals.  

Here’s what a YouTube video with subtitles or CCs looks like: 

These texts also help those with different languages understand the context of your YouTube videos.  

Subtitles are text versions of a video’s dialogue and often serve people who can hear the audio but do not understand the language. Meanwhile, CCs can also include dialogues but also transcribe non-speech elements like sound effects and music. CCs are intended for deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers. 

How to add captions and CCs 

• Manually by typing the captions directly into the video editor 
• Use the built-in automatic generation via speech recognition 
• Create and upload caption files in SubRip (.srt) or SubViewer (.sbv) format 

3. Engage with your audience  

Building a community around your YouTube channel is all about connecting with your viewers. When you actively engage with the people who watch your videos, you start conversations and create relationships. This kind of connection can turn casual viewers into loyal subscribers.  

Here’s how you build a strong engagement with your audience: 

Respond to the comments 

One great way to do this is through the comments section of your videos. When responding to comments, make sure to: 

• Read what people are saying before responding to show interest in their feedback and what they have to say.  
• Engage with them via answering questions, thanking them for their support, or join their conversations about the topic. 

Actively participating in comments and discussions makes your viewers feel heard and appreciated, which encourages them to keep coming back. 

Utilize community posts 

Community posts on your YouTube channel offer yet another opportunity to connect with your audience. Use these posts to: 

• Share updates on new and upcoming uploads 
• Ask for opinions on your recent upload or content suggestions for future vides 
• Conduct polls related to your recent video’s content 
• Check in with your subscribers and ask them how they’re doing 

Posting and creating community posts are great way to keep the conversation going between uploads and maintain a sense of community.  

Host giveaways 

Giveaways and contests encourage active participation, which boosts engagement and subscriber growth. Make sure to: 

• Define clear rules and requirements to join (e.g., if they should subscribe or like the video, or leave a specific comment) 
• Select a prize that appeals to your target audience 
• Announce the contest in a video and promote it on your community posts 
• Announce the winner publicly to build audience trust and show that the giveaway was legitimate 

4. Use effective SEO strategies for your YouTube videos  

YouTube is considered the second largest search engine in the world, so it’s a no-brainer that implementing search engine optimization (SEO) techniques  

With so much content uploaded to YouTube every single day, making yours stand out can seem like a huge challenge. But SEO is an effective way to help your videos get noticed. Using keywords, tags, and other SEO techniques strategically makes your video more likely to appear in search results and attract viewers.  

Here are a few YouTube SEO strategies: 

Research relevant keywords and place them in your content 

Begin by picking keywords that match your video’s topic. It’s important to do research to generate a list of relevant keywords. There are plenty of tools available online to help with keyword research, such as Tubebuddy and Tuberanker 

Once you have found your target keywords for SEO, put these in your video’s title, description, and tags. This helps YouTube’s search system figure out the topic of your video and show it to people looking for that kind of content. The better you are at choosing relevant and precise keywords, the more likely your video is to appear in searches that matter.  

Create engaging thumbnails 

Remember to make great thumbnails and video titles, too. Your thumbnail is the first thing people see, so a good one can make them want to click and watch. Your video title should also be clear and inviting enough to pull viewers in. Together, a striking thumbnail and an enticing title can make a big difference in getting people to watch your video.  

5. Promote your channel across various platforms  

Using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn can help you reach a wider audience that might enjoy your YouTube videos.  

Promote your own YouTube channel by: 

• Sharing your videos 
• Making interesting posts that link back to your YouTube channel 
• Giving a sneak peek of your upcoming videos to get your followers excited 

Keep in mind that each platform has its own way of doing things, so make sure you’re speaking their language when you post.  

If you have a blog or a website, make sure you’re: 

• Embedding your YouTube videos. These can also enrich your content and drive your website visitors to your YouTube channel.  
• Including links to your latest videos in your email newsletters. These can boost views from your existing subscriber base while reminding them of your YouTube presence.  

Collaborate with other creators 

In addition, collaborate with other YouTube creators or influencers in your niche to introduce your channels to each other’s audiences.  

People who already like their content might enjoy yours, too, especially if you appear in each other’s videos, give each other shoutouts, or host live streams together. This can help both of you grow your channels and reach more viewers.  

Interact with other YouTube channels 

Commenting on other videos from other YouTubers helps you get more subscribers. But avoid spammy-looking comments like “subscribe to my channel” or “watch my video!”  

Just focus on starting conversations or saying something interesting and relevant to the video. 

6. Include strong calls-to-action in your videos  

Clear and compelling CTAs guide viewers through the steps to take next—whether it’s to subscribe, like, or share your video—directly influencing your channel’s engagement metrics and visibility. These prompts remind viewers to support your channel in ways they might not think to do on their own.  

A well-placed CTA can significantly boost your subscriber count, increase likes, and enhance video shareability, contributing to your channel’s overall growth and reach.  

How to use CTAs 

There are plenty of ways you can use CTAs effectively: 

• Make CTAs fit smoothly into your videos without annoying your viewers. For example, while you’re talking about something interesting in your video, you can casually mention, “If you want to keep up with all the latest updates, don’t forget to hit the subscribe button” This way, it feels more natural and less like you’re just asking for a favor.  
• Add visuals. You can also use visuals like little graphics or pop-ups that appear on the screen for a short time. These can catch the eye and remind viewers to take action without stopping the video to ask. Using the end screen of your video is another great spot to include these CTAs.  
• Ask your audience. Asking questions or having a little quiz can also encourage viewers to interact more with your video. For example, if you post video essays, ask them if they have opinions they want to share about the topic. When viewers leave a comment or vote on something, they’re getting involved, and that makes them more likely to support your channel in other ways, like subscribing or watching more videos.  

Why it’s good to have subscribers  

Having subscribers on your YouTube channel brings several benefits: 

• Subscribers help your channel stand out and build trust on the platform.  
• YouTube’s algorithm considers channels with a good following because it sees them as more valuable and engaging. This often means your videos are more likely to be recommended to others and appear higher in search results.  
• Having a large subscriber base shows that you have a loyal following and a strong community, which adds to your channel’s credibility.  

Then there’s the money side of things. A high subscriber count directly influences your ability to earn money and attract business deals. YouTube’s Partner Program, which lets you make money from ads on your videos, requires you to have a certain number of subscribers to join.  

If you have a lot of subscribers, you’re in a better position to meet these criteria and start making money from your content. Plus, companies and advertisers like to collaborate with channels that have a large and active audience. This means more chances for sponsored videos, partnerships with brands, and other money-making opportunities.  

In short, subscribers not only boost your channel’s visibility and credibility but also play a key role in helping you earn money and secure partnerships. 

Convert casual viewers to subscribers  

Throughout this guide, we’ve explored key strategies to attract and retain subscribers. From optimizing your video content for search engines to regularly uploading content, each strategy plays a crucial role in building a successful YouTube channel.  

Remember, every big YouTuber started with zero subscribers, just like you. So, keep at it, listen to what your viewers say, and refine your strategies over time. Your persistence and willingness to try new things will help you build a loyal following and turn your channel into your next big breakthrough. 

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