by Google
Do you feel like you're posting great videos but somehow the views aren't coming in? We've got you covered. With years of experience creating on YouTube, we've been able to uncover the basic mistakes we see from YouTube creators. Getting started on YouTube may not be as difficult as it seems. The first step you can take on the path to a successful channel is to avoid these common mistakes.
Uninteresting thumbnail
Your thumbnail is the very first thing your potential viewer sees. If the video preview looks boring, people simply won't click on your video. If the thumbnail is of poor quality or looks very amateurish, people will assume that your video is equally amateurish. Don't create a thumbnail as the last thing you quickly put together in 10 minutes so you can publish the video as soon as possible. Slow down, follow other creators’ thumbnails, start noticing the ones that caught your eye, and think about what specifically caught your eye. Is it a color, a saying, or a facial expression? Do some research and improve your thumbnail. If you’re not entirely sure what your thumbnail should look like, feel free to experiment. Try different approaches and see which thumbnail sticks the best. Remember that your thumbnail should best describe the content you’re creating, and don’t be afraid of bold colors or higher saturation.
Bad title
After the thumbnail, the title is the next thing people notice when scrolling through YouTube. If the title of your video is boring, it will turn off your audience, and if your thumbnail doesn’t look appealing, you can say goodbye to a large number of views. Let's say you're making a video where you try on a fake tattoo and the title of your video is "TRYING ON A FAKE TATTOO", but what if we played around with the title a bit and changed it to "I GOT A FULL BODY TATTOO?". Can you see the difference? The same video with a different title can have a completely different effect on the viewer. Don't rush, don't settle for the first title idea that comes to mind, write a few on paper and think about which title, along with the thumbnail, would be the most interesting. Don't be afraid to spice up the title a little, but remember that everything you promise in the title and thumbnail should happen in the video, otherwise you're just misleading the viewers.
Boring passages
The Internet is fast, dynamic, there's always something going on there, and YouTube is no different. To engage your audience, your video must be structured in a way that keeps viewers entertained from start to finish. Think about this before you shoot your video, but also during editing. Even before you start shooting, imagine how the video should look, what you want to say in it, what cuts you imagine. Create a concept for your video in your head and write it down on paper. This will help you especially in the beginning, until shooting videos becomes completely natural for you. Preparation will help you avoid dead spots when you don't know what to say or do and you will be focused on what you want to convey to the audience in the video. However, leave room for naturalness and improvisation. If during shooting you didn't know what to say for a moment or you shot some dead spots that aren't very interesting, simply cut them out. Nobody likes boring spots. Focus on making the video dynamic and remove unnecessary fluff.
Call to subscribe, like and comment at the beginning of the video
Imagine opening a video from a creator you just discovered and in the very second sentence of the video they ask you to subscribe. You don’t know the creator yet, you haven’t really seen anything from the video yet, they’re a stranger to you on the internet. What is your motivation to subscribe, like and comment? Let’s be honest, none. Why would you do that if you haven’t seen anything yet? Inviting your audience to subscribe, like and comment is very important and the right timing is the key to success. Don't ask for a subscription at the very beginning of the video, place the challenge in the most interesting part of the video, or create a game with your audience, where you give them a task and they can express themselves by liking or commenting.
Artificially stretching the video
Why is your video 15 minutes long when all the great footage could fit into five? Stretching the video will not only discourage your followers, but it will also be reflected in your analytics, your watch time will decrease, interest in your videos will decrease, and the YouTube algorithm will recommend your content less and less. You will reach a dead end and ask yourself where I made a mistake. As much as we don't like it, the internet is a dynamic place where news from the morning is old by the evening and as if it didn't exist the next day. It is increasingly difficult to keep the viewer's attention, and an unnecessarily long video full of boring passages or a black screen at the end of the video will not help you. Focus instead on creating quality content that will engage your audience without being tied to a specific video length. Will the video be 15 minutes long but I’ll get bored in the first third or will I cut it down to 5 and keep it entertaining the entire time?
There’s a lot of work behind building a successful YouTube channel. The hard work you put into creating content at the beginning will pay off in time, but trust us when we say that you have to go through this phase, you can’t just skip the hard work and suddenly start earning huge numbers on your videos. Every mistake you make will teach you something and move you forward. Are you making any of the mistakes mentioned above? Now you know how to fix it to take your YouTube channel to the next level. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for you on your YouTube journey and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us, we’ll be happy to advise. We look forward to hearing from new talents.
