If you’re making a video for YouTube, you want to make sure that it’s seen by everyone. But since there are millions of videos being added to YouTube every day, it’s hard for your small video to compete with all the entertainment and information currently out there. But just because there is a sea of videos out there it doesn’t mean that yours has to go completely unnoticed. There are plenty of ways that you can make your video stand out and increase your views. You just need to employ the following tactics.

Make it visible

Nobody will watch what they can’t see, so make sure that you’re placing links to your videos in high traffic areas, such as your website, blog and social networks. You should also make sure that your videos are optimized for SEO so that they can appear in the search engines. This means that you need to make sure your video contains keywords that people would use to find the information provided in your video.

Reply with it

Search for other videos that focus on your topic, and in the comments section at the bottom of the video, you can use a video response. Make sure that the video you’re choosing has a large number of viewers, and then post your video as a response to their video. The author of the video will need to authenticate your comment first before it can be seen by others, but once approved, anyone who lands on their page has the ability to see your video.

Use the best thumbnail

A thumbnail is the image capture that appears for your video. In order to increase views, you need to make sure that you choose the best possible thumbnail for your video. Violence, naked people, kittens, babies—find the part in your story that contains the most entertaining image and use it as your thumbnail. When visitors see an image of something that interests them, they’re more likely to watch the video to see what it’s truly about.

Provide great content

Ultimately, the way you’re going to increase your views is if your viewers decide to share your video with others. In order for them to share your piece, you need to provide the best possible content. Make sure that your video is entertaining or provides your audience with useful information. If they don’t get anything out of your video, they’re not going to share it. If they don’t share, then your video will be a flop.

Get people to comment

Another great way to increase your views is to get people to comment on your video. In order to earn comments, make sure you ask a question at the end of your video. Your viewers can then use the comment section to share their answers. Comments help you earn more views because comments increase the strength of your video for search. Search engines scan all content, and the more comments you earn, the more content your site has, which means the more keywords you have available.

Creating videos and placing them on YouTube is a great way to promote your business and your expertise, but if you don’t have the pageviews, you’re not going to find success in your video endeavors. But earning the viewers is not as hard as you think as long as you implement these tactics. Earn comments, make it visible, and the rest will fall into place.

Marcy Smith writes for Actin Video Production. A well established multimedia group based out of Chicago.

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