I’ve been on YouTube for a looooong time. Back before being a “YouTuber” was a full-time gig. Some of you know the story…

My wife and I (then girlfriend at the time) met at grad school and I wanted to introduce my family to her through video. I would send videos to them of us and to my surprise… other people started watching them too.

This was a time when we weren’t supposed to use our real names on the internet out of fear because there were crazy people out there.

As I started to figure out how people were finding my videos, that’s how I started to learn a ton about YouTube.

In my search for YouTube knowledge, I also built some great connections with YouTube themselves because I wanted to hear everything straight from the horse’s mouth.

In today’s podcast episode, I sat down with YouTube employee, Tom, to talk about what makes a “good video”, mistakes that hold creators back, and more. Hope it helps to hear this stuff straight from YouTube themselves!

  1. Avoid policy issues! The fastest way to kill your channel is when your content somehow goes against YouTube’s policies. This could mean your videos aren’t suitable for monetization, copyright issues, etc.
  2. Make sure your videos are as compelling as possible. Even YouTube will tell you – the best tags and keywords mean jack squat if your video is a letdown. Creators like Mr. Beast spend hours making sure the first 30 seconds of his video keep his viewer hooked and that they stay on the video through his storytelling.
  3. Don’t forget about your thumbnail and title. Sometimes people have a GREAT video, but their thumbnail stinks. Your thumbnail has to build your viewer’s expectations. If they’re not inclined to click, no views for you! That’s why it’s so important to put more than 10-20 seconds into this. This is a visual representation of what your video is about. Same with the title!
  4. Embrace the YouTube journey. The majority of creators on YouTube know it takes time to be successful on YouTube. It’s not an overnight thing. If it was… everyone would be doing it. It takes time to figure all this stuff out and if you’re just going to give up because you’re not growing as fast as you want, then you’re not going to be successful on YouTube.
  5. Be open to feedback. Listen to the constructive comments from your viewers. Study your analytics. Is there a video that is performing better than other videos? What is it about that video that stands out? Can you create more content around that video? Use data to make your decisions going forward. Be ready to pivot and try new things. Look for patterns in your highest performing videos.
  6. Get inspired by other YouTubers. Pretty much all of the bigger creators spend time studying YouTube. It’s important to know who else is in your space, what bar you are set to, and what a unique angle is that you can hit that no one else can!

Hope this helps you as you are on your own YouTube journey and building up your channel.

Thanks for reading!

Keep changing lives,

Tim

Check out Creator Insider on YouTube for more behind-the-scenes updates from YouTube themselves: https://www.youtube.com/creatorinsider