If you’re struggling to get more views on YouTube, the truth is, it’s probably because you’re either creating videos that don’t inspire people to share or you’re posting during times that work against your efforts.

I, too, often fall into the trap of putting out videos that are for my own pleasure, but if you want to get more views on YouTube, you need to get serious about your marketing strategy and start getting detailed with not only your Video Titles and SEO but also the type of content you put out to world and when you post it.

It’s time to start treating your channel like networks treats Primetime television!

Here Are 5 Free Ways to Get More Views on YouTube!

Post During Peak Youtube Days and Times

If you want to get more views on YouTube, it’s important to post during peak traffic hours (especially when your channel is first getting off the ground).

Not only do you want to give YouTube enough time to index your video in their search engine, but you also want to give YouTube enough time to send notification emails out to all of your subbies during times that they’re most likely to be on.

What are these peak traffic hours, you ask? Well, they depend.

According to Frederator Networks, from Monday-Wednesday the best times to post are 2pm-4pm EST. Thursday and Friday it’s best to post between 3pm and 5pm, and on Weekends the earlier the better: 9am-11am.

Essentially, daily online video viewership peaks at the same time that “primetime” viewership peaks for television: in the evening. By posting a video slightly before that, creators can ensure they give YouTube enough time to index their videos and make sure their videos have an opportunity to get into their subscribers’ feeds before peak viewing begins — Tubefilter

Out of all of these days and times, which days and times yield the best results?

It turns out that viewership increases on Thursday and Friday but peaks on the weekend. If you’re looking to add posting times to your YouTube Strategy, keep in mind that the lifespan of a YouTube video lasts for several days. By posting on Thursday or Friday, you can take advantage of back to back peak days!

Create Videos That Inspire People to Share

Now this seems pretty obvious, but most of us don’t know what videos are “sharable”.

First, let’s talk about a type of video that rarely inspires people to share.

Tag Videos:

One of the biggest mistakes I see a lot of new YouTubers make is that they create a ton of Tag videos back to back on their channel. Yes, interview-style questions are fun to answer and the videos are really easy to make. However, while tags are a great way to tell your base more about yourself, there are FOUR reasons why I would not use this as a strategy to increase viewership.

1) Popular tags are very competitive to index.

2) If it’s not a popular tag then most people won’t find it.

3) The only ones who really care about watching your tag videos tend to be the people who’ve already subscribed to you. If you have less than 500 subscribers.

4) Tag videos tend to run super long. When you don’t have a large audience, your videos need to be as short and captivating as possible–not 10-20 minutes long. Someone who doesn’t know you won’t want to sit through twenty minutes learning about a person they have no prior knowledge of?. Furthermore, what would make them want to share it if they’re not willing to sit through it?

Now what videos actually work?

Any video that teaches people how to accomplish a goal.

These come in variations of How-To’s and DIY’S (Do It Yourself).

These types of videos work because they are easily indexed and tend to consist of titles that people are actively searching for. If you want to see what works in your niche, put together a list of people within your niche who create videos for your target audience. Browse the “Popular” videos on their channel, and check out which videos performed best within the last six months. Try to ignore things like tag videos and vlogs. If the person you’re checking out already has a big audience, Tag videos and Vlogs will have a TON of views but in general, you should not view these as videos that pull in numbers. Try looking at smaller to mid-size YouTuber’s who can give you a more accurate view of what has worked for them that may also work for you.

Post Informative, Entertaining Tech Videos

Need a good How-To Content Idea?

People love How-To’s–but more than anything, they love video tutorials that teach them how to upgrade their brand, use a program or learn a difficult skill. One of my most popular videos on my Youtube channel till this day, is a video where I showed all my subscribers how to do a cool effect on a video.

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To date, this video has approximately 30,000 views. At first, I thought the video was a flop because it didn’t do well at first. But due to good SEO and giving YouTube time to index my video, after a few weeks, the video doubled, tripled, and quadrupled in views. My video that once had 200 views skyrocketed to 25k.

YouTube is so foreign to most, that if you post even the simplest tech video, most people will eat it up. Start showing your lighting setup, your filming space, your favorite editing app, plugins, and more!

Choose a Colorful, Vibrant Thumbnail

It’s important to optimize your thumbnail to attract viewers. People are extremely visual and often times will bypass a video just off the thumbnail alone. Unfortunately, most people overlook this important aspect of Youtube marketing. Some even forget to create a thumbnail at all (and trust me, when Youtube chooses a thumbnail for your video, it doesn’t look pretty.)

Here’s a fact: 90% of the best performing videos have CUSTOM thumbnails.

A good thumbnail…

• Is Vibrant with High Contrast
• Has Good Lighting
• Utilizes Close-Up’s of Faces
• Accurately Represents the Content In Your Video
• If it contains text it is LEGIBLE and stands out from your image

While creating a thumbnail in Canva or Photoshop does require going the extra mile, why would you go so far to create an amazing, impactful video only to stop short at the thumbnail? If your thumbnails do not entice or attract viewers, your videos will not get clicks.

Collaborate, Collaborate , Collaborate.

If you want more views, you’ve got to be active in your niche’s community. That means commenting on other Youtuber’s posts, subscribing to people, and collaborating with others within your niche.

Collaborating is great because it allows you to be exposed to another Youtuber’s audience and vice versa. In fact, it’s one of the fastest ways to grow your channel which is why so many people do it!

While promoting your channel, you do have to keep one important thing in mind. You need to be genuine. You can’t make everything about promoting your channel, and you must be willing to connect with others. As people start to become more familiar with you in the name, they will stop by to check out your videos and even like and share them. This takes time but you must be willing to do the work. While YouTube is a powerful platform to promote your brand, rarely is it something that results in overnight success and requires months of hard work.

You can also check- 3 Videos You Need to Create If You Want to Get More Views on YouTube!