I started a YouTube channel for work back in early 2018. I posted videos related to internet privacy tools that my company made. Then at some point I sort of forgot about the channel and let it sit inactive for six months or so. When I returned later and checked my channel’s analytics I saw that a couple of the videos I had made had slowly accumulated over 10k views.
Why I Started a YouTube Channel
I’m an SEO Specialist and I realized that YouTube videos could actually rank on Google for certain types of searches. I would just create video versions of blog posts that I had already written. It allowed me to reach new people that I wasn’t reaching with my blog posts alone.
Growing On YouTube
I quickly saw that the same SEO tactics I was using to rank blog posts and get views worked on YouTube. I saw potential to grow my channel into a more valuable resource for marketing privacy products and sharing information about internet privacy.
SEO is much different than other forms of internet marketing because it is more focused on long term traffic and engagement. People can take the same approach to growing on social media, but most people chase viral content that may or may not work.
My YouTube Growth Has Been Slow and Steady
One of the keys to my continued growth has just been consistently posting. I’ll admit, I have neglected my channel at times but so far I’ve always come back to it. I encourage anyone who is on the same journey as me to just keep going. Every time you post, you’re giving people another opportunity to find your channel.
My Tips for Growing on YouTube
- Post Consistently and Often: The easiest way to grow is to post a lot. Every video on your channel is a new place to gain views. If people see that you’re posting often, they are more likely to return to your channel to check for new videos. Don’t expect to get to 1000 subscribers with one or two videos — Play the long game.
- Your Videos Don’t Need to Be Perfect: Looking at other YouTubers with thousands of subscribers can make you think your videos need to be perfectly edited, with fancy intros and end screens. People often use that as an excuse not to post. When you’re first starting out, you may only get 8 views on your videos. So unless you truly enjoy the editing process or you want to learn how to edit, it’s not worth it to spend 5 hours editing a 5 minute video.
- Do Some Research: Part of being good at SEO is doing research. Look at what successful YouTubers use for their titles and descriptions. Search for topics you know about and see what the top videos look like. If you emulate what is making these videos successful, you won’t have to go through the learning period that these YouTubers did.
My 2021 Goals for My Internet Privacy YouTube Channel
I want to focus more on growing my channel in 2021.
- Post 31 videos in January: You can’t get more consistent than posting every day. I know that by posting every day I will get a lot more views and gain more subscribers that I was getting before. After I get in the habit of posting every day in January, I hope to continue that consistency through the rest of the year.
- Gain Monetization on My Videos: I’m close to being eligible for YouTube’s partner program. I need about 250 subscribers and 2000 additional public watch hours to be eligible. I don’t expect to make a ton of money with YouTube, but the extra incentive to create videos would be awesome!
- Improve My Video Quality: Right now my videos are just me talking to the camera. I hope to include more screen sharing and graphics in my videos in 2021.
Give me some love on YouTube, if you have a second.