Mistakes I made regarding my YouTube channel and what I've learned

As some of you know, I'm also a YouTuber. I've been a YouTuber for quite a while already. However, I still haven't reached any of my personal goals regarding my YouTube growth. I have uploaded over a 150 videos (which seems much but isn't actually), and still at this point I don't even have 1000 subscribers. I know the exact reason for that, and I'm not blaming the algorithm. 

Lessons learned 

Too much different content - stick to one niche

On my channel you find a lot of different content. That's actually problem number one. YouTube likes it if you have a niche. I've been uploading tutorials, workout videos, vlogs, music videos and self-improvement videos. As you can see, that's way too much variety. Analyzing my own content helped me realize that I have to stick to one specific niche. I really love self-improvement, so I have to dedicate my YouTube channel to that niche. If I feel like creating some other type of content, it's probably better if I do that on another YouTube channel.

Bad thumbnail design - design appealing thumbnails

When I'm scrolling through my videos and look at the thumbnails, I should ask myself the following question: “If I searched for this topic, would I click on this video?”. If your thumbnail looks bad and if it's not in line with the title, people won't click on your video. Your thumbnail should look very visually appealing and must be in line with the title. Do NOT create clickbait type of thumbnails! The goal of the thumbnail is to make someone click on your video. When someone has clicked on your video, this person has turned from a searcher to a viewer. Of course you want to turn the viewer into a subscriber. When the thumbnail is clickbait and the viewer noticed that the video is not in line with what they thought it would be, they will stop watching your video and find another one. So the lesson learned, is to create visually appealing thumbnails which are in line with the title so the viewer gets kind of what they expect, turning them into subscribers. The best way to do this, is to search for other videos in your niche which are doing well and to see how their thumbnails look like.

Bad SEO - focus on search engine optimization

YouTube is a search engine, so if you do not focus on how to optimize your videos to be found on that particular search engine, your videos are not going to be found. On my channel I noticed that I haven't been focusing enough on search engine optimization. This leads to the fact that my videos have difficulties to get found. SEO is a topic that needs to be discussed deeply in a separate blog post, so I won't go too deep into this in this blog post.

Bad keyword research - spend time finding the right keywords for your video

Finding the right keywords is just as important as the rest! Without the right keywords, your video will also not be found. I want to separate this part from the SEO part, but they are definitely connected. We'll talk about that in another blog post, but in this one I want to talk about how I should search the right keywords for my video and how should you. There are three ways how I find my keywords from this very moment. TubeBuddy, VidIQ and the YouTube search bar. The first two are Chrome extensions which are really helpful (especially with a paid subscription, but the free version also does it quite well). The third one is something that's trending right now. Finding your keywords or key phrases using the YouTube search bar. When typing a keyword into the YouTube search bar you will get some suggestions. These suggestions are keywords or key phrases which people are looking for, meaning that they are relevant. This is not only a great way to find keywords, but also a great way to find topics to talk about. There are many ways to find topics to talk about, but that's something which could be better covered in a separate blog post as well. 

The lesson learned here, is to mainly use these three options helping you find the right keywords for your video.

Consistency - uploading regularly, preferably at the same day

To figure out this part - it took a  while for me, because I had to experiment a lot with it. If you're looking for YouTube tips, then consistency is definitely one you will find. If you stick to a certain uploading schedule, your viewers know when to expect new content from you. What works best for me, is uploading once a week. I have a full time job and a family to take care of, so in order to put out quality videos I really need to take the time for that. I like to really understand what I'm talking about, so I have to do my research, script my videos so I don't miss out on anything, taking the time to properly edit them, spending time on keyword research and search engine optimization and a bunch of other stuff. Don't underestimate the time that goes into YouTube! If you want your channel to grow, you'll need to put a lot of time in it. I spend easily 3 to 4 hours on a daily basis on my YouTube channel. Besides working on that, having a full time job and spending time with my family, I also need to work out in order to stay fit and healthy. I work out 4-6 times a week, so that costs me also a lot of time. But OK, we're going off-topic here. I just learned over time that consistency is one of the keys to success to making this work!

Not enough research - Spend time researching the topic you want to talk about

Like I mentioned earlier, YouTube is a search engine for people who are looking for things. Most of the time there are 2 things people are looking for: they either want to learn something, or they want to be entertained (or both). My niche is not an entertaining one, because I'm all about self-improvement. I like to learn people things and help them. In order to do that the best way possible, I have to do proper research. With every video I put out, I have to ask myself the following question: “Does this video cover everything I would like to know about this topic?”. If the answer is yes, you're good to go. If not, you need to spend more time researching. I think it's important that the viewer does not want to look elsewhere for the thing they are searching for. If you cover a topic properly they don't need to, so they will stay on your channel and maybe you turn a viewer into a subscriber.

So these are the things I am working on at the moment. If you are experiencing similar issues with your YouTube channel, then I hope the tips I provided in this blog post will help you to solve your issues! Have a great day and make sure to make it count!