HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL and VIDEOS — HOW TO BECOME A YOUTUBER (EP 05) // YouTube Promotion, or advertising your channel and video to help it grow i very important. There are a few things you need to consider when thinking of how to grow your channel — including your niche, branding and your audience demographic.
How To Grow On YouTube 2018–5 Long Term Growth Hacks // Tips to grow your youtube channel for the long term. Evergeen content, video seo, drilling into a niche can help establish you in the YouTube algorithm and help youtube channel growth for the fast short term and long term future.
Their content has be hugely influential in my own YouTube career and I wanted to share the love and share the educational gold mine that are their channels and videos.
We can grow together, We can learn together… Start Creating!
► THANKS FOR WATCHING PLEASE REMEMBER TO LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE — https://goo.gl/oeZvZr ◄
Note — Some of my links will be affiliate marketing links. These links do not affect the price of the products or services referred to but may offer commissions that are used to help me to fund the free YouTube video tutorials on this channel — thank you for your support.
YouTube Growth Hacks — Secrets To Growing A YouTube Channel // Growing on YouTube need dedication and practice but there are a few YouTube Tips that can help you improve engagement and growth in your channel in a matter of minutes. Today I share with you my 5 YouTube Hacks to Grow Your YouTube Channel Fast.
We can grow together, We can learn together… Start Creating!
► THANKS FOR WATCHING PLEASE REMEMBER TO LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE — https://goo.gl/oeZvZr ◄
Note — Some of my links will be affiliate marketing links. These links do not affect the price of the products or services referred to but may offer commissions that are used to help me to fund the free YouTube video tutorials on this channel — thank you for your support.
How To Snowball Growth On YouTube — YouTube Snowball Effect // The YouTube Snowball Effect that offers rapid YouTube channel growth fast is something that you can use to trigger growth on YouTube. To grow on YouTube you have to be consistent and willing to experiment with your content until something sticks, then you replicate that video and make relevant, related content.
We can grow together, We can learn together… Start Creating!
► THANKS FOR WATCHING PLEASE REMEMBER TO LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE — https://goo.gl/oeZvZr ◄
Note — Some of my links will be affiliate marketing links. These links do not affect the price of the products or services referred to but may offer commissions that are used to help me to fund the free YouTube video tutorials on this channel — thank you for your support.
Grow On YouTube — STOP Pushing Viewers OFF YouTube #RANT // How To Grow A YouTube Channel Fast and How To Sell Products on YouTube can be 2 topics that intertwine for small YouTubers. If You want to grow on YouTube you need to keep them ON YouTube so that you start and extend session watch time and build channel authority.
I understand that you might be trying to sell products on YouTube but for you to sell to an engage audience that trusts you, you have to BUILD the audience first!
We can grow together, We can learn together… Start Creating!
► THANKS FOR WATCHING PLEASE REMEMBER TO LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE — https://goo.gl/oeZvZr ◄
Note — Some of my links will be affiliate marketing links. These links do not affect the price of the products or services referred to but may offer commissions that are used to help me to fund the free YouTube video tutorials on this channel — thank you for your support.
Why YOU Are Not Growing On YouTube // Why My Channel Isnt Growing on YouTube? YouTuber Mistakes that make small youtubers ask How To Grow Your Channel On YouTube. “My channel isnt growing on youtube” — Are you doing the basics properly? Are you looking at your audio, your video quality? Are you engaging with your viewers and do you have eye catching thumbnails?
Alan Spicer YouTube Tips Channel — YouTube Tricks, YouTube Tips & YouTube Hacks to Help Grow Your YouTube Channel. I make YouTube Training Tutorials based on my personal experience on How To Increase YouTube Views, How To Gain YouTube Subscribers and How To Grow A YouTube Brand Online.
I have been on YouTube since 2013 helping people grow their youtube channels. Within that time I have made many mistakes but have also learnt many YouTube Hacks that I want to share with you to help you Rank Your YouTube Videos On YouTube, Grow Your YouTube Channel and Get Your Brand Noticed On YouTube.
I also have a background in Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, and Web Design & Development.
We can grow together, We can learn together… Start Creating!
► THANKS FOR WATCHING PLEASE REMEMBER TO LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE — https://goo.gl/oeZvZr ◄
Note — Some of my links will be affiliate marketing links. These links do not affect the price of the products or services referred to but may offer commissions that are used to help me to fund the free YouTube video tutorials on this channel — thank you for your support.
How To Grow A Gaming Channel on YouTube in 2018 // Growing a YouTube gaming channel and starting a new youtube channel for gaming content doesn’t have to be hard. I am asked about how to grow my channel so often that I thought I would tailor a video to each niche and today is How To Grow A Gaming YouTube Channel in 2018.
How To Start and Grow A Gaming Channel — YouTube Growth Strategies for Gaming Channels seem to be hidden away from the public at times. Growing ANY channel on YouTube is all down to consistency, search friendly titles and engagement.
Alan Spicer YouTube Tips Channel — YouTube Tricks, YouTube Tips & YouTube Hacks to Help Grow Your YouTube Channel. I make YouTube Training Tutorials based on my personal experience on How To Increase YouTube Views, How To Gain YouTube Subscribers and How To Grow A YouTube Brand Online.
I have been on YouTube since 2013 growing an Entertainment and News Channel, MrHairyBrit. Within that time I have made many mistakes but have also learnt many YouTube Hacks that I want to share with you to help you Rank Your YouTube Videos On YouTube, Grow Your YouTube Channel and Get Your Brand Noticed On YouTube.
I also have a background in Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, and Web Design & Development.
We can grow together, We can learn together… Start Creating!
► THANKS FOR WATCHING PLEASE REMEMBER TO LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE — https://goo.gl/oeZvZr ◄
Note — Some of my links will be affiliate marketing links. These links do not affect the price of the products or services referred to but may offer commissions that are used to help me to fund the free YouTube video tutorials on this channel — thank you for your support.
Subscribers don’t come from luck — they come from a strategy.
Gaining subscribers is harder than ever: there’s more competition, and viewers are pickier about who they follow. The good news is that the channels who grow all do the same handful of things well. This is the complete 2026 growth strategy — from giving people a reason to subscribe, to Shorts, promotion, collaboration and turning those subscribers into income.
▶️ Why your uploads aren’t converting viewers into subscribers
Why trust this? I’m Alan Spicer — a YouTube Certified Expert with two decades on the platform, six Silver Play Buttons and 500+ creators coached from zero to thriving subscriber bases.
⚡ QUICK ANSWER: How do I gain YouTube subscribers?
Give people a clear reason to subscribe by making content around a consistent theme, then help new viewers find you with strong titles, thumbnails and Shorts. Ask for the subscribe, promote your videos where your audience is, collaborate with other creators, stay consistent, and build a genuine community. Subscribers are the reward for being a channel worth following.
Why Everyone Needs a Growth Strategy
Gaining subscribers is getting harder as more creators enter the scene and viewers get pickier — nobody wants to be bombarded with content they’re not interested in. That’s exactly why a scattergun approach fails and a clear strategy wins. When you know who you’re for, what you offer, and how you’ll reach them, every upload pulls in the same direction. The tactics below aren’t a menu to pick one from; they work together as a system.
Give People a Clear Reason to Subscribe
Here’s the single biggest reason viewers don’t subscribe: they can’t tell what they’re signing up for. Subscribing is a promise — “show me more like this” — so your channel needs a consistent theme that makes that promise obvious. If someone enjoys one video, they should be able to glance at your channel and instantly know they’ll get more of what they just liked.
This doesn’t mean making the same video over and over. It means every video ladders up to a clear identity, so your audience always knows what your channel stands for. Get this right and everything else below works far harder.
Brand Your Channel
First impressions decide whether a curious viewer sticks around. A polished channel signals “this is worth following.” Make the most of YouTube’s customisation options:
A tidy channel layout with sections and featured content, so visitors immediately see your best work.
Consistent visual identity across thumbnails so your videos are instantly recognisable in the feed.
Optimise for Discovery
You can’t gain subscribers who never find you. Getting discovered comes down to earning the click and being understood by YouTube’s search and suggestion systems:
Titles that promise a clear payoff — see writing titles.
Search optimisation so the right viewers find you — see my full YouTube SEO guide.
Use Shorts to Reach New Subscribers
This is the biggest change since channels first learned to grow: Shorts are now the fastest way to get in front of people who’ve never heard of you. The Shorts feed pushes your vertical videos to brand-new viewers regardless of your subscriber count, making it a powerful top-of-funnel. Post Shorts to get discovered, then convert that attention — point viewers to your long-form content and give them a reason to subscribe. My guide to YouTube Shorts covers how to use them well.
Ask for the Subscribe
It sounds obvious, but most creators either forget or do it badly: ask people to subscribe. The trick is timing and sincerity. Don’t beg in the first five seconds before you’ve earned it — deliver value first, then ask at a natural high point, briefly explaining what they’ll get by subscribing. Reinforce it with End Screens that prompt the subscribe as your video ends and viewers are most convinced.
Promote and Distribute Your Videos
Don’t just upload and hope. Getting your videos in front of people early builds the momentum YouTube rewards, and it puts you in front of potential subscribers beyond the platform:
Communities like Reddit, where relevant and done respectfully.
Social platforms like Twitter/X, meeting your audience where they already are.
Collaborate and Make Friends
One of the most effective growth tactics there is: collaborate. Working with a creator in your niche puts you in front of a warm, relevant audience already primed to like what you do — and it’s mutually beneficial. Be useful to their audience, make it a win for both channels, and treat it as building a real relationship, not a one-off transaction. My collaboration strategy guide shows you how to find, pitch and run collabs that convert.
Be Consistent — Everyone Loves a Regular Show
People subscribe to shows they can rely on. A sustainable upload schedule keeps your audience in the habit of watching and gives the algorithm more chances to promote you. Note “sustainable” — a rhythm you can hold for months beats a burst you burn out on in three weeks. Pick a cadence you can keep, and protect it.
Show Personality and Build Community
People subscribe to people. Your personality is what makes a viewer choose you over the dozen other channels covering your topic, so let it show. Then nurture the relationship: reply to comments, ask questions, and use the Community tab to stay connected between uploads. An engaged community watches longer, comes back sooner, and brings their friends — turning casual viewers into loyal subscribers.
Getting views but not subscribers?
On a free discovery call I’ll find exactly why viewers aren’t subscribing — and give you a plan to fix it.
▶️ Getting views but not subscribers? Here’s how to convert them
Run Giveaways (Carefully)
A well-run giveaway can give your subscriber count a burst and reward your community. The catch is quality: give away something relevant to your niche so you attract real potential fans, not freebie-hunters who unsubscribe the moment it ends. Offer a prize your ideal viewer wants, and you draw in the right people.
Play by the rules: YouTube has official contest policies, and you must follow them (plus local laws) when running a giveaway. Never make subscribing the only way to enter if it breaches those rules, and always disclose the terms clearly. Check YouTube’s current contest policies before you launch.
Turn Subscribers Into Milestones
Subscribers aren’t just a vanity number — they unlock real earning potential as you hit key thresholds:
500 subscribers — unlocks Fan Funding and Shopping features (with some watch time or Shorts activity).
1,000 subscribers — the gateway to the full YouTube Partner Program, alongside your watch hours.
Plus watch hours — 4,000 qualified hours until 31 January 2027, then 8,000 from 1 February 2027, for ad revenue.
Give people a clear reason to subscribe by making content around a consistent theme, then help new viewers find you with strong titles, thumbnails and Shorts. Ask for the subscribe at the right moment, promote your videos where your audience is, collaborate with other creators, stay consistent, and build a genuine community. Subscribers are the reward for being a channel worth following, not a single trick.
Why am I getting views but not subscribers?
Usually it’s because your videos don’t give viewers a clear reason to come back. If someone enjoys one video but can’t tell what your channel is about, they won’t subscribe. Sharpen your theme and promise, actually ask people to subscribe, add a channel trailer for new visitors, and make sure your next videos deliver on what brought them in.
How many subscribers do you need to make money on YouTube?
You can unlock Fan Funding and Shopping features at 500 subscribers, alongside some watch time or Shorts activity. For the full YouTube Partner Program with ad revenue you need 1,000 subscribers plus qualified watch hours — 4,000 until 31 January 2027, then 8,000 from 1 February 2027. Subscribers open the door; watch time and views unlock the ad revenue.
Do YouTube Shorts help you gain subscribers?
Yes. Shorts are shown to people who don’t follow you yet, making them one of the fastest ways to reach new potential subscribers. The key is to convert that reach — use Shorts to get discovered, then guide those viewers to your long-form content and give them a reason to subscribe.
How long does it take to grow YouTube subscribers?
It varies with your niche, consistency and how quickly you improve. Most channels see subscriber growth compound over months of steady uploading rather than overnight. Focus on making each video a little better and giving viewers a clear reason to subscribe, and judge your progress over months, not days.
Should I buy YouTube subscribers?
No. Bought subscribers are fake accounts that never watch, so they tank your engagement rate and tell the algorithm not to promote you. They also don’t count toward monetisation and can get your channel penalised. Always grow real subscribers who actually watch, engage and count toward your goals.
Putting Your Growth Strategy Together
Gaining subscribers isn’t about one clever hack — it’s about stacking the fundamentals: give people a clear reason to subscribe, brand your channel, get discovered through search and Shorts, ask for the subscribe, promote and collaborate, stay consistent, and build a community that feels like home. Do these together and your subscriber count climbs steadily and durably — and before long you’re hitting the milestones that turn a channel into a business. Start with the one you’re weakest at today, and build from there.
Watch time was always the secret to growth. From 2027, it’s also your ticket to getting paid.
YouTube is doubling the bar for new creators to 8,000 qualified watch hours from 1 February 2027. That makes audience retention the most valuable skill on the platform — it drives your reach and your monetisation. This supercharged guide shows you exactly how to build watch time in the new 8,000-hour world.
▶️ How to get 8,000 watch hours on YouTube — the 2027 update
Why trust this? I’m Alan Spicer — a YouTube Certified Expert with two decades on the platform, six Silver Play Buttons and 500+ creators coached to monetisation and beyond.
⚡ QUICK ANSWER: How do I increase my YouTube watch time? Hook viewers in the first 15-30 seconds, hold retention with tight editing and open loops, and deliver on your title’s promise so you attract the right people. Then bank more hours by making longer, bingeable content, chaining views with playlists, Cards and End Screens, and going live (archived streams count). Watch your retention graph to find and fix drop-offs. It’s how you win reach — and, from 2027, how you hit the 8,000 hours to monetise.
Why Watch Time Matters More Than Ever in 2027
Watch time — the total time people spend watching your videos — has always been YouTube’s favourite signal. The platform’s whole business is keeping people watching, so it promotes the videos that do exactly that. High retention tells YouTube “people love this, show it to more of them.” That part hasn’t changed.
What has changed is the stakes. From 1 February 2027, new creators need 8,000 qualified watch hours (over a rolling 365 days) to join the YouTube Partner Program for ad and Premium revenue — double the old 4,000-hour requirement. So watch time is no longer just a growth lever; it’s the gate to getting paid. Master it and you win twice. For the full rules, see my 2027 monetisation requirements and how to hit 1,000 subs and 8,000 watch hours.
What Counts as “Qualified” Watch Time
Before you start racking up hours, know which ones actually count. Not all watch time is equal in YouTube’s eyes:
Counts toward your 8,000 hours
Doesn’t count
Public long-form videos (incl. podcasts)
YouTube Shorts (separate 20M-views path)
Archived live streams
Private, unlisted or deleted videos
Real viewers watching your public content
Paid, ad or artificial/bot views
The big one to remember:Shorts do not count toward watch hours. Shorts feed the separate 20-million-views monetisation path. If you’re going for the 8,000-hour route, your effort belongs in long-form and live content. More on this in qualified watch hours and views.
What 8,000 Hours Actually Looks Like
Eight thousand hours sounds enormous — but it’s very achievable once you see the maths, and it reveals the single most important lever you have. 8,000 hours is 480,000 minutes of watch time. Here’s how many views that takes, depending on how long people actually watch:
Average view duration
Views needed (per rolling year)
3 minutes
~160,000
5 minutes
~96,000
8 minutes
~60,000
12 minutes
~40,000
20 minutes
~24,000
Look at the leverage: doubling your average view duration halves the number of views you need. That’s why everything below matters — every extra minute you keep someone watching brings the 8,000-hour goal dramatically closer.
Hook Them in the First 15-30 Seconds
Most viewers who leave, leave early. Your opening is where watch time is won or lost, so treat the first 15-30 seconds as the most important part of the whole video. Skip the long intros, the “hey guys, welcome back, don’t forget to subscribe” — get straight to the value or the promise. Tell people what they’re about to get and why it’s worth staying, then start delivering immediately. Win the opening and the rest of your retention curve starts from a much higher place.
Hold Retention Across the Whole Video
Getting them past the intro is step one; keeping them is the game. The techniques that work:
Cut every second of dead air. Tight editing is the highest-leverage retention tool there is.
Change the pace. Vary your shots, energy and visuals so the video never feels flat.
Use open loops. Tease something coming later (“in a moment I’ll show you the fix”) to pull viewers forward.
Signpost the value. Remind people why staying is worth it at natural drop-off points.
Here’s a subtle watch-time killer: attracting the wrong viewers. If your title and thumbnail promise one thing and the video delivers another, people bail within seconds and your retention tanks. Set accurate expectations, then over-deliver on them. The viewers you attract should be exactly the ones who want to watch to the end — that alignment is one of the most underrated watch-time levers there is.
Make Longer, Bingeable Content
Remember the maths: a longer video with strong retention banks far more hours per view. So once you can hold attention, lean into longer formats — but only if the content earns the length. Never pad; a bloated video just drops your retention and the algorithm punishes it. Better still, build series that people binge one after another, which stacks watch time across multiple videos in a single session. See my series strategy for bingeable content.
Chain Views With Playlists, Cards and End Screens
Watch time isn’t just about one video — it’s about keeping someone on your content across a whole session. Three tools do this:
Cards point viewers to a relevant next video at the right moment — see Cards strategy.
End Screens send finishers straight into another video — see the End Screen strategy.
Note: if you’re following older advice that mentions “annotations” for this, ignore it — YouTube removed annotations in 2019. Cards and End Screens replaced them, and unlike annotations they work on mobile.
Go Live — Archived Streams Count Toward Your Hours
Live streaming is one of the fastest ways to build watch time, and it’s badly underused. A single live session can keep viewers watching for a long stretch, banking big chunks of watch time at once — and crucially, archived live streams count toward your qualified watch hours. That makes going live a genuine shortcut toward the 8,000-hour goal.
▶️ Using live streaming to increase your channel watch time
Finally, stop guessing where you’re losing people — YouTube shows you exactly. Your audience retention graph reveals the precise moments viewers drop off: a slow intro, a boring stretch, a tangent that lost them. Find those dips, work out what caused them, and fix that pattern in your next video. Do this consistently and your retention — and your watch hours — climb steadily. See using YouTube Analytics for growth and, if your numbers are sliding, watch time dropping: proven fixes.
Want the fastest route to 8,000 hours?
On a free discovery call I’ll audit your retention and build you a watch-time plan aimed straight at monetisation.
Watch time is the single biggest signal YouTube uses to decide which videos to promote — if people watch a lot of your video, YouTube shows it to more people. From 2027 it matters even more, because monetisation requires 8,000 qualified watch hours. So watch time now drives both your reach and your ability to earn.
How many watch hours do you need to monetise on YouTube?
Until 31 January 2027 you need 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 qualified watch hours over 365 days (or 10 million Shorts views over 90 days). From 1 February 2027 the watch-hours requirement doubles to 8,000 qualified watch hours (or 20 million Shorts views), while the 1,000-subscriber mark stays the same.
Do YouTube Shorts count toward watch hours?
No. Shorts views are counted on a separate path — the 20 million qualified Shorts views option — not as watch hours. Qualified watch hours come from your public long-form videos and archived live streams. So if you’re chasing the 8,000-hour route, focus on long-form and live, not Shorts.
What counts as qualified watch time?
Qualified watch hours come from watch time on your public long-form videos, including podcasts, and your archived live streams, over a rolling 365 days. It excludes private, deleted, paid, ad and artificial activity. In short, real people watching your real public content is what counts.
How do I increase audience retention?
Hook viewers hard in the first few seconds, cut every second of dead air, and use pacing changes and open loops to keep them curious. Make sure your title and thumbnail set accurate expectations so you attract the right viewers, and study your retention graph to find and fix the moments where people leave.
Do longer videos get more watch time?
They can. A longer video that holds attention banks far more watch hours per view than a short one, so longer, well-retained content reaches the 8,000-hour goal faster. But length only helps if you keep people watching — never pad a video, or your retention drops and the algorithm notices.
Does live streaming increase watch time?
Yes, significantly. Live streams keep viewers watching for long stretches, adding big chunks of watch time in one session. And because archived live streams count toward qualified watch hours, going live is one of the fastest ways to build toward the 8,000-hour threshold.
The Bottom Line
Watch time has quietly become the most valuable thing on YouTube. It decides how far your videos travel and, from February 2027, whether you can monetise at all. The good news is that it’s entirely within your control: hook people fast, hold their attention, deliver exactly what you promised, make content worth bingeing, chain views across your channel, go live, and let your analytics guide every improvement. Focus here above everything else and you’ll build the 8,000 hours — and the audience — that turn a channel into a business.
A note on the figures: the 8,000 qualified watch hours requirement applies to new YouTube Partner Program applicants from 1 February 2027; the current 4,000-hour rule applies until 31 January 2027, and existing partners are grandfathered. View-count examples are illustrative maths (8,000 hours = 480,000 minutes). Always check current requirements in YouTube Studio.
Here’s the truth most tag guides won’t tell you: YouTube tags barely matter anymore.
Years ago, stuffing your tags with keywords could move a video up the rankings. Not now. YouTube itself says tags play a minimal role in discovery — so this guide gives you the honest, researched picture: what tags still do, how to use them in 30 seconds flat, and where your optimisation effort should actually go.
▶️ What actually helps you rank — far more than tags
Why trust this? I’m Alan Spicer — a YouTube Certified Expert with two decades on the platform, six Silver Play Buttons and 500+ creators coached. I’ve optimised for YouTube through every era, including when tags actually were king.
⚡ QUICK ANSWER: Do YouTube tags still matter?
Barely. YouTube’s own documentation states that tags play a minimal role in your video’s discovery, and that your title, thumbnail and description are far more important. Tags still have a small, supporting purpose — mainly catching misspellings and clarifying ambiguous terms — so add a handful of relevant ones in about 30 seconds, then put your real effort into packaging, content and retention.
What Are YouTube Tags?
YouTube tags are hidden, descriptive keywords you add to a video inside YouTube Studio to help the platform understand its topic. They live in the backend — under “Show more” on the upload page — and viewers never see them. You get up to 500 characters to work with across all your tags.
Crucially, tags are not the same as hashtags (more on that below), and they’re not the ranking powerhouse a lot of older advice — including the original version of this very post — made them out to be. To understand why, you need to know how much has changed.
Do YouTube Tags Still Matter in 2026?
Short version: not much. In YouTube’s early years, tags were one of the main ways the platform worked out what a video was about, which led to rampant tag-stuffing. Since then YouTube has invested heavily in artificial intelligence that effectively watches and listens to your video — reading your speech, recognising objects and scenes, and analysing viewer behaviour — so it no longer needs you to hand-label everything.
The result is stated plainly in YouTube’s own documentation: tags “play a minimal role in your video’s discovery”, with your title, thumbnail and description doing the heavy lifting. The data backs this up: an analysis of more than 100,000 videos by Briggsby found only about a third of top-ranking videos used the target keyword in their tags, versus around 90% that used it in the title. In other words, tags are near the bottom of the priority list — well beneath your title, thumbnail, description, transcript and watch time.
Tags vs Hashtags — Don’t Confuse Them
This trips up a lot of creators. They’re completely different things:
Tags
Hashtags
Hidden backend keywords in Studio
Visible, clickable links in title/description
Viewers never see them
Up to 3 appear above your title
Up to 500 characters total
Added with the # symbol
Minimal discovery impact
More useful — especially for Shorts
One warning on hashtags: a few relevant ones help, but pile on too many and YouTube ignores them all. For Shorts in particular, visible hashtags do more than hidden tags ever will.
What Tags Still Do (The Honest List)
“Minimal” isn’t “zero.” Tags keep a few genuine, if small, uses:
Catching misspellings. Their number-one remaining job — if your topic or name is commonly misspelled, a tag can catch those searches.
Clearing up ambiguity. A tag can signal whether your “Python” video is about the language or the snake.
Helping brand-new channels. With little viewing data, a fresh channel gets a small early signal from tags — but that fades fast once real viewing behaviour kicks in.
Light consistency. Using similar tags across related videos can nudge YouTube to suggest your own videos alongside each other, helping session time.
That’s the full list. Worth 30 seconds — not 30 minutes.
How to Use YouTube Tags Properly
Since they only play a supporting role, keep it quick and clean:
Lead with your focus keyword. Make your exact-match target phrase your first tag.
Add a few related terms. A handful of closely related and long-tail keywords — roughly 8 to 12 tags total is plenty.
Stay relevant. Never add popular-but-unrelated tags to chase trends — that’s metadata abuse, and it can get your video demoted or pulled from search.
Don’t blindly copy competitors. A tag that works for a huge channel won’t carry a small one. Use competitor tags as research, not a copy-paste.
Don’t fill the box for the sake of it. More tags don’t mean more views.
Tools like vidIQ and TubeBuddy can speed up tag and keyword research if you want a hand — just don’t let them turn a 30-second job into an hour.
What Actually Drives Discovery
Here’s where your optimisation time pays off — the elements YouTube really weighs:
Title — keyword-aware and click-worthy. See writing titles.
Thumbnail — half your click-through rate. See the thumbnail guide.
One idea from the old days that’s still true: when you publish, YouTube gives your video an initial test run, showing it to a small slice of likely viewers to see how they respond. If your click-through rate and retention are strong in that window, YouTube expands the audience; if they’re weak, distribution quietly stalls.
Notice what decides it — not your tags, but your packaging and performance. That’s exactly why a click-worthy title and thumbnail plus a strong opening hook matter so much: they’re what win the honeymoon test. Tags won’t save a video that people scroll past.
YouTube Tags: FAQ
Do YouTube tags still matter in 2026?
Only a little. YouTube’s own documentation says tags play a minimal role in your video’s discovery, and that your title, thumbnail and description are far more important. Tags are worth adding in 30 seconds, but they’re a minor supporting element, not the ranking lever they were years ago. Spend your real effort on packaging and content.
How many tags should I use on a YouTube video?
A handful of focused, relevant tags is plenty — roughly 8 to 12 for most videos. You have 500 characters to work with, but filling it isn’t better. Lead with your exact-match focus keyword, add a few closely related and long-tail terms, and stop there. More tags don’t mean more views.
What is the difference between YouTube tags and hashtags?
Tags are hidden backend keywords you add in YouTube Studio — viewers never see them. Hashtags are visible, clickable links you add with the # symbol in your title or description, and up to three can appear above your title. Hashtags matter more than hidden tags, especially for Shorts.
Can bad tags hurt my YouTube video?
Yes. Using irrelevant but popular tags to try to hijack trending traffic is metadata abuse, and YouTube’s systems can demote or even remove your video from search for it. When viewers click in expecting one thing and get another, the poor retention sends a strong negative signal too. Keep tags relevant or leave them out.
What actually helps a YouTube video rank?
The things YouTube weighs: a click-worthy title and thumbnail that earn the click, a clear keyword-aware description, an accurate transcript or captions, and strong watch time and retention. YouTube’s AI now watches and listens to your video to understand it, so your actual content and packaging matter far more than any tag.
Should I copy my competitors’ tags?
No. A tag that works for a channel with 500,000 subscribers won’t do the same for a channel with 500, and blindly copying tags adds irrelevant terms that can do more harm than good. Use competitor tags as light research to spot topics and phrasing, then choose your own relevant ones.
The Bottom Line
YouTube tags aren’t dead, but they’re a shadow of what they once were. YouTube says so itself: they play a minimal role, mostly catching misspellings and clarifying the occasional ambiguous term. So give them 30 honest seconds — a focus keyword and a few relevant terms — then forget about them and pour your energy into the things that move views: a click-worthy title and thumbnail, a clear description, an accurate transcript, and content that keeps people watching. That’s where ranking is won in 2026.
Sources: YouTube’s position on tags is drawn from YouTube’s own creator documentation, as reported by Ahrefs, which also cites the Briggsby analysis of 100,000+ videos. Figures reflect the position as of August 2026 and may change as YouTube updates its systems.
Short answer: no — don’t buy YouTube views or subscribers. It’s worse than a waste of money.
When you’re staring at single-digit numbers, buying a quick boost is tempting. But bought views and subscribers break YouTube’s rules, sabotage the very algorithm you’re trying to win over, and — in 2026 — can’t even count toward monetisation. Here’s exactly why it backfires, and what actually works instead.
▶️ The ugly truth about sub bots and buying subscribers
Why trust this? I’m Alan Spicer — a YouTube Certified Expert with two decades on the platform, six Silver Play Buttons and 500+ creators coached. I’ve seen exactly what happens to channels that try to buy their way up — and it isn’t pretty.
⚡ QUICK ANSWER: Should you buy YouTube views and subscribers?
No. It breaks YouTube’s Terms of Service, the fake accounts never watch your content so your engagement rate collapses, YouTube regularly removes bought views and subscribers, and it can get your channel penalised or terminated. It also can’t count toward monetisation, since qualified watch hours exclude fake activity. It’s the fastest way to stall a channel — invest in real growth instead.
Is It Safe to Buy YouTube Views and Subscribers?
It’s a natural temptation. A higher view count and subscriber number look impressive, and social proof is real — people are more likely to watch a video that already has plenty of views. So creators buy them hoping to look established and leap ahead. The problem is that the numbers are hollow, and the risks are anything but. Buying views and subscribers is not safe, and in almost every way that matters it leaves you worse off than doing nothing.
It Breaks YouTube’s Terms of Service
Start with the basics: buying views and subscribers is a direct violation of YouTube’s Terms of Service. YouTube’s rules explicitly prohibit artificially inflating metrics through automated or fake means. Break them and you’re exposed to consequences ranging from having the fake numbers stripped out, to community strikes, to losing monetisation, to outright channel termination. You’d be risking a channel you care about to inflate a number that means nothing.
The Real Damage It Does to Your Channel
Even setting the rules aside, buying engagement is self-sabotage. Here’s what actually happens:
Your engagement rate collapses. Fake accounts never watch, like or comment — so 10,000 subscribers who do nothing look far worse to the algorithm than 100 who are active.
The algorithm stops promoting you. YouTube reads that low engagement as “people don’t like this,” and shows your videos to fewer real people.
You waste money. When the fake numbers get purged — and they do — you’re left with nothing but a lighter wallet.
You risk your channel. Strikes, demonetisation and termination are all on the table.
In other words, you pay money to make your channel harder to grow. For the deeper dive, see fake views on YouTube.
It Can’t Even Help You Monetise
Here’s the 2026 nail in the coffin. Many people buy views hoping to hit the YouTube Partner Program thresholds faster. It doesn’t work — because monetisation is based on qualified watch hours and qualified views, which specifically exclude fake, paid, artificial and bot activity.
So bought views and subscribers contribute nothing toward the 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 watch hours you need today — or the higher 8,000 qualified watch hours (or 20 million Shorts views) required from 1 February 2027. Worse, artificial activity linked to your channel can put your monetisation eligibility at risk entirely. Read more on qualified watch hours and views and the 2027 monetisation requirements.
How YouTube Detects Bought Views and Subscribers
People assume they’ll get away with it. They don’t. YouTube continuously audits views and subscribers for signs of automation and fraud — sudden unnatural spikes, accounts with no real activity, engagement that doesn’t match the view count — and purges what it finds. That’s why creators who buy subscribers so often watch their numbers climb and then quietly fall again a few days later. Detection has only become more sophisticated over the years, so assume you’ll be caught. For more, see can YouTube detect fake views.
What to Do Instead
The money and effort you’d spend buying fake numbers will go so much further on real growth:
Earn the click. Strong titles and thumbnails bring real viewers.
Hold attention. A great hook and retention tell YouTube to promote you — for real.
Get discovered with Shorts. The fastest legitimate way to reach new people — see Shorts explained.
Be consistent and engage. Show up regularly and reply to comments to build a real community.
No. It breaks YouTube’s Terms of Service, the fake accounts never watch your content so your engagement rate collapses, YouTube regularly removes bought views and subscribers, and it can get your channel penalised or terminated. It’s the fastest way to stall a channel, not grow one, and it wastes money you could invest in real growth.
Is it safe to buy YouTube subscribers?
No. Beyond breaking the rules, you risk community strikes, demonetisation and even channel termination if YouTube links the activity to you. At best the fake subscribers get purged and you’ve wasted your money; at worst you damage a channel you’ve worked hard to build. There’s no safe way to buy your way up.
Can YouTube detect bought views and subscribers?
Yes. YouTube continually audits views and subscribers for fake and automated activity and removes anything that doesn’t hold up, which is why people who buy subscribers often watch their counts drop again days later. Detection has only got more sophisticated over the years, so assume you will be caught.
Do bought views count toward YouTube monetisation?
No. Monetisation is based on qualified watch hours and qualified views, which specifically exclude fake, paid, artificial and bot activity. So bought views and subscribers can’t help you reach the Partner Program thresholds — including the higher 8,000 watch hours coming in 2027 — and pursuing them can actively put your monetisation at risk.
Will buying subscribers help my channel grow?
No — it does the opposite. Fake subscribers never watch, like or comment, so your engagement rate plummets. That tells YouTube’s algorithm your videos aren’t worth showing to real people, so your genuine reach shrinks. You end up with a big vanity number and a channel that grows more slowly than if you’d done nothing.
What should I do instead of buying views?
Invest that time and money in real growth: strong titles and thumbnails to earn clicks, a great hook to hold retention, Shorts to get discovered, consistency, and engaging with your community. Real viewers are the only ones who count toward your growth, your monetisation and your income — so they’re the only ones worth chasing.
The Bottom Line
Buying YouTube views and subscribers is a trap dressed up as a shortcut. It breaks the rules, guts your engagement, gets detected and purged, can’t count toward a penny of monetisation, and quietly makes your channel harder to grow. Every pound and every hour you’d spend on fake numbers will go infinitely further on real content and real viewers. Skip the shortcut, build something genuine, and you’ll end up with the one thing bought numbers can never give you: a channel that actually works.
YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine — and YouTube SEO is how you get found on it.
But the rules have changed a lot. Tag-stuffing and tricks that worked years ago barely move the needle now. This is the modern 2026 guide to ranking #1 on YouTube: the factors that actually matter today, the outdated advice to ignore, and exactly how to optimise a video from title to captions.
▶️ A simple video SEO hack to help you rank and get discovered
Why trust this? I’m Alan Spicer — a YouTube Certified Expert with two decades on the platform, six Silver Play Buttons and 500+ creators coached. I’ve optimised for YouTube search since long before most of today’s “SEO hacks” existed.
⚡ QUICK ANSWER: How do I rank #1 on YouTube?
Target a specific keyword with real demand, then give the video a click-worthy, keyword-aware title and a strong thumbnail so people click. Keep them watching with a great hook and high retention, add a clear description, chapters and captions so YouTube understands the video, and satisfy the viewer’s intent better than your competitors. Ranking is earned by being the most clicked and most watched result for that search.
What Is YouTube SEO?
YouTube SEO is the practice of optimising your videos so YouTube understands what they’re about and ranks them — both in search results and in suggested videos. It has two halves that work together: giving YouTube clear information about your video (titles, descriptions, captions, keywords), and giving it strong signals that viewers love your content (clicks, watch time, engagement). Nail both and the right people find your videos — for free, for years.
The Ranking Factors That Actually Matter in 2026
Forget the folklore. These are the things YouTube weighs today:
Factor
Why it matters
Click-through rate
If nobody clicks, nothing else counts — driven by title + thumbnail
Watch time & retention
The single biggest signal that a video is worth promoting
Relevance / metadata
Titles, descriptions and captions tell YouTube what you’re about
Engagement
Likes, comments and shares confirm the video resonates
Viewer satisfaction
Surveys and return visits — did the video actually deliver?
Notice what’s not on that list: tags, filenames and keyword tricks. The modern game is being the result that best satisfies the search.
Start With Keyword Research
Ranking begins before you film. Find a specific search term real people are typing in, with enough demand to be worth it and little enough competition that you can realistically rank. Then build the video around that intent. A great video on a topic nobody searches for stays invisible; a solid video answering a real query gets found for years.
For the how-to, see my YouTube keyword research guide and the best keyword research tools. Tools like vidIQ make finding low-competition keywords far quicker.
Titles — Keyword Meets Click
Your title has two jobs: tell YouTube what the video is about, and make a human want to click. Get your target keyword in naturally, keep it clear, and lead with the payoff. A title that’s optimised for search but nobody clicks will still sink — so write for the human first, the algorithm second. Full detail in how to write a YouTube title.
Thumbnails — The Other Half of the Click
Here’s something the old SEO playbooks ignored entirely: your thumbnail is half your click-through rate, and click-through rate is a top ranking signal. You can have perfect keywords and still get no views if your thumbnail doesn’t earn the click. Make it bold, clear and readable on a small phone screen, and test different versions. My thumbnail guide covers exactly how.
Descriptions and Chapters
Your description gives YouTube valuable context. Write a genuine, useful summary with your keyword and related terms in the first couple of lines, then add timestamped chapters — they improve navigation, can appear in search, and help YouTube understand your video’s structure. See writing descriptions, my full metadata optimisation guide, and adding chapters.
Captions, Subtitles and Transcripts
Captions are an underused SEO win. Uploading accurate closed captions gives YouTube a full, crawlable transcript of your video, makes your content accessible to far more people, and can help you surface for more searches. Don’t rely solely on the automatic captions — they make mistakes. See closed captions as a hidden SEO advantage and how to add captions.
Cards and End Screens (Not Annotations)
Keeping viewers on your content longer boosts session time, which YouTube rewards. The tools for this are Cards and End Screens — use them to point viewers to your next relevant video or playlist.
Ignore any guide that mentions “annotations.” YouTube discontinued annotations in 2019 — they no longer exist. Cards and End Screens replaced them entirely, and they work on mobile (annotations never did).
Watch Time and Retention — The Real Ranking Engine
If there’s one thing to obsess over, it’s this. YouTube’s goal is to keep people on YouTube, so it promotes videos that hold attention. A strong hook in the first few seconds, a clear reason to keep watching, and tight editing that removes dead air will do more for your rankings than any metadata tweak. All the SEO in the world can’t save a video people click away from. See my watch time and retention guide.
Want your videos ranking, not buried?
On a free discovery call I’ll audit your SEO and show you exactly what’s holding your rankings back.
YouTube SEO is littered with zombie tips that refuse to die. If a guide (including older versions of this one) tells you to do these, move on:
Stuffing dozens of tags.YouTube has all but killed video tags as a ranking factor. A few relevant ones are fine; obsessing over them is wasted effort.
Renaming your video file with keywords. Filename has negligible impact today — don’t sweat it.
Using annotations. They were removed in 2019. Use Cards and End Screens.
Keyword-stuffing your description. Write for humans; a natural, useful description beats a wall of keywords.
Modern YouTube SEO rewards clarity and viewer satisfaction, not tricks.
YouTube SEO: FAQ
What is YouTube SEO?
YouTube SEO is the practice of optimising your videos so YouTube understands what they’re about and ranks them in search results and suggested videos. It combines clear metadata — titles, descriptions, captions and keywords — with the signals that show viewers love your content, like click-through rate and watch time. Done well, it helps the right people find your videos.
How do I rank #1 on YouTube?
Target a specific keyword with real demand, then give the video a keyword-aware, click-worthy title and a strong thumbnail so people click. Keep them watching with a great hook and high retention, add a clear description, chapters and captions so YouTube understands the video, and satisfy the viewer’s intent better than the videos you’re competing with. Ranking is earned by being the most clicked and most watched result for that search.
Do tags still matter for YouTube SEO?
Barely. YouTube has moved away from video tags as a ranking factor, and they now have very little impact. A few relevant tags won’t hurt, but the old advice to stuff dozens of them is outdated. Your title, thumbnail, description, captions and how well your content holds attention matter far more.
Do YouTube annotations help SEO?
No — YouTube discontinued annotations back in 2019, so they no longer exist. If you’re following older advice that mentions them, ignore it. Use End Screens and Cards instead to guide viewers to more of your content, which boosts session time and engagement.
What is the most important YouTube ranking factor?
There’s no single switch, but the biggest signals are click-through rate and watch time. If people click your video and then watch a lot of it, YouTube reads that as a satisfying result and shows it to more people. Everything else — keywords, descriptions, captions — supports those two by helping the right viewers find and stay with your video.
Do closed captions help YouTube SEO?
Yes. Accurate captions and subtitles give YouTube crawlable text that describes your video, make your content accessible to more viewers, and can help it surface for more searches. Upload your own accurate captions rather than relying solely on the automatic ones, which can contain errors.
Putting It All Together
Ranking #1 on YouTube in 2026 isn’t about gaming the system — it’s about being the result that best serves the search. Do your keyword research, package the video with a click-worthy title and thumbnail, help YouTube understand it with a clear description, chapters and captions, then keep people watching. Drop the dead tactics — tag-stuffing, filenames, annotations — and put that energy into the things that move rankings. Do it consistently and YouTube search becomes a steady, compounding source of views for years.
Increasing your views isn’t a mystery — it’s a system.
Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a seasoned creator stuck on a plateau, more views come from getting a handful of fundamentals right — and most creators are quietly getting two or three of them wrong. This is the modern 2026 playbook, from the click all the way through to the analytics that tell you what to fix next.
▶️ YouTube tips and tricks to grow your views
Why trust this? I’m Alan Spicer — a YouTube Certified Expert with two decades on the platform, six Silver Play Buttons and 500+ creators coached one-to-one. Helping channels increase their views is what I do.
⚡ QUICK ANSWER: How do I increase my YouTube views?
Make content worth watching, then get the fundamentals right: click-worthy titles and thumbnails (this decides whether anyone clicks), strong retention (this decides how far YouTube pushes it), search optimisation, a consistent schedule, Shorts for discovery, active promotion, and engagement. Then let your analytics show you what to improve. Views follow when these line up.
Make Videos Worth Watching (Quality Over Quantity)
Every technique below amplifies your content — but it can’t rescue a video nobody wants to watch. So this comes first. In 2026, the single most important thing is retention: how long people actually stay. A strong hook in the first few seconds, a clear reason to keep watching, and tight editing that cuts the dead air will do more for your views than any hack.
Treat every upload as a chance to be a little better than your last. YouTube notices when people watch your videos all the way through, and it rewards you by showing them to more people. If your watch time is slipping, my guides to watch time and retention and fixing dropping watch time are the place to start. Clean audio matters more than you’d think, too — here’s how.
Nail Your Titles and Thumbnails
Here’s the hard truth: the best video in the world gets no views if nobody clicks it. Your title and thumbnail decide your click-through rate, and click-through rate decides whether YouTube keeps showing your video at all. This is where most creators leave views on the table.
Titles should promise a clear, specific payoff and, where natural, include what people search for — see how to write a YouTube title.
Thumbnails should be bold, clear and readable on a phone — my thumbnail guide breaks it down.
Test them. YouTube lets you A/B test thumbnails — a small lift compounds across every impression, so split-test them.
Improving your click-through rate is often the single fastest way to more views.
Optimise for Search and Discovery
YouTube is the world’s second-biggest search engine, so help it understand your video. Write a clear, keyword-aware title and a useful description that describes the content — see writing descriptions and my full metadata optimisation guide.
Outdated advice alert: old guides (including my own from years back) told you to stuff dozens of tags. That’s no longer true — YouTube has all but killed video tags as a ranking factor. A few relevant tags won’t hurt, but your title, thumbnail, description and content do the heavy lifting now. Don’t waste time here.
Be Consistent With Your Uploads
Consistency compounds. A steady, sustainable upload schedule gives the algorithm more chances to learn who to show your videos to, and it keeps your audience in the habit of watching. Note the word sustainable — three videos a week you can’t maintain is worse than one a week you can. Pick a rhythm you can hold for months, and protect it.
Use Shorts to Get Discovered
If you want to reach people who’ve never heard of you, Shorts are the fastest route there. The Shorts Feed pushes vertical videos to brand-new viewers regardless of your subscriber count, making it a powerful top-of-funnel for a channel of any size. Post Shorts to get discovered, then funnel those viewers to your long-form videos where the deeper watch time and revenue live. My guide to YouTube Shorts covers the how and why.
Promote Your Videos
Don’t upload and pray. A little promotion early gives a video the initial momentum YouTube looks for. Share where your audience already spends time:
Build evergreen content too — videos that keep earning views for years, not days.
Collaborate and Cross-Promote
One of the oldest growth tactics still works beautifully: team up. Collaborating with a creator in your niche puts you in front of a warm, relevant audience that’s primed to like what you do — and it’s mutually beneficial. Start small, be useful to their audience, and make it a win for both channels. My collaboration strategy guide shows you how to find, pitch and run collabs that actually move the needle.
Engage Your Audience
Views come from people, and people come back for creators who show up for them. Reply to comments — especially early in a video’s life, when engagement signals help it spread. Ask questions, pin a great comment, and build the sense of a community rather than a broadcast. An engaged audience watches longer, comes back sooner, and shares more — all of which feeds directly back into your views.
Let Your Analytics Guide You
Finally, stop guessing. Your YouTube Analytics tell you exactly where views are leaking — a low click-through rate points to titles and thumbnails; a sharp early drop-off points to your hook; strong traffic from search means lean into that topic. Let the data pick your next move, and you’ll improve far faster than working on instinct alone.
Want an expert to find your views leak?
That’s exactly what my consultancy does. On a free discovery call I’ll pinpoint what’s capping your views and give you a clear plan to fix it.
Make watchable content that holds attention, then give every video a strong title and thumbnail so people click. Optimise your titles and descriptions for search, publish consistently, use Shorts to get discovered, promote your videos where your audience already is, and engage with your community. Finally, study your analytics and do more of what works. Views are the reward for getting these fundamentals right, not a single trick.
Why are my YouTube videos not getting views?
Usually it’s one of two things: a weak title and thumbnail, so few people click (low click-through rate), or low retention, so people leave early. YouTube won’t push a video that people don’t click or don’t finish. Fix your packaging and your hook first, and check your analytics to see which one is holding you back.
Do tags help increase YouTube views?
Barely, these days. YouTube has moved away from video tags as a ranking factor — they now have very little impact on views. Your titles, thumbnails, descriptions and, above all, how well your content holds attention matter far more. Spend your energy there rather than stuffing tags.
Do YouTube Shorts increase your views?
Yes, especially for discovery. Shorts are shown to people who don’t yet follow you, making them one of the fastest ways to reach new viewers. The trick is to convert that reach — use Shorts to bring people in, then funnel them to your long-form videos and subscribe button.
How long does it take to get more views on YouTube?
It varies with your niche, consistency and how quickly you improve. Most channels see growth compound over months of steady uploading rather than overnight. Focus on making each video a little better than the last, and judge progress over months, not days.
Can a YouTube consultant help increase my views?
Yes. An experienced consultant can audit your channel and pinpoint exactly what’s capping your views — whether that’s click-through rate, retention, packaging, search optimisation or consistency — and give you a clear plan to fix it. A fresh expert eye often spots in an hour what would take months to work out alone.
Putting It All Together
More views isn’t about one magic trick — it’s about stacking the fundamentals: make something worth watching, package it so people click, help YouTube understand it, stay consistent, use Shorts and promotion to get discovered, collaborate, engage, and let your analytics steer you. Get those working together and your views climb — not overnight, but steadily and durably. Start with the one you’re weakest at today, and build from there.
So you want to start a YouTube channel — and actually grow it. Good. Let’s do it properly.
Hundreds of hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and most of it is barely seen. This is your beginner’s roadmap to being one of the channels that does get watched: how to pick a niche and a name, sort your branding and gear, make content people want, and earn real subscribers and views — the honest way.
▶️ Six free ways to get your first 100 subscribers
Why trust this? I’m Alan Spicer — a YouTube Certified Expert with two decades on the platform, six Silver Play Buttons and 500+ creators coached from zero to thriving channels.
⚡ QUICK ANSWER: How do I start and grow a YouTube channel?
Pick a clear niche, choose a simple name and set up your branding, then start creating with the gear you already have (a phone and good audio is plenty). Make consistent, valuable content for a specific audience, give every video a strong title and thumbnail, use Shorts to get discovered, and study your analytics to do more of what works. Growth is the reward for consistency — not a single hack.
Start With a Niche and a Focus
The 2017 advice was to jump straight into naming your channel. The modern reality is that the single best decision you’ll make comes first: your niche. A focused channel — one that’s clearly about something — is far easier for viewers to follow and for YouTube to recommend to the right people.
You don’t need to niche down to one tiny topic forever, but you do need a clear answer to “what is this channel about, and who is it for?” Pick something you can keep making videos about without running dry, ideally where your interest and what people search for overlap. Get this right and everything else gets easier. If you’re weighing options, my breakdown of the highest-paid niches on YouTube is a useful starting point.
Pick a Name for Your Channel
Your channel name should be simple, memorable and easy to spell. Avoid random numbers, awkward punctuation or anything people will mishear in a “check out my channel” conversation. A few pointers:
Keep it short and sayable — if it’s hard to repeat out loud, it’s hard to share.
Leave room to grow. “Sarah’s Sausage Dog Vlog” boxes you in; a slightly broader name lets your channel evolve.
Check it’s available as a handle across YouTube and other platforms so your branding stays consistent.
Your own name is often a safe, flexible choice — it’s what I did, and it never dates.
Branding and Channel Design
Once you’ve a name, dress the channel to match. Strong branding makes a new channel look established and trustworthy, and it’s easier than ever with free tools:
A clean banner and logo that say what the channel is about at a glance — see banner ideas and the correct channel art size.
Consistent thumbnails — a recognisable style across your videos builds a visual identity people spot in their feed.
A channel trailer and tidy layout so first-time visitors instantly get what you do.
Here’s the truth that saves beginners a fortune: you need far less gear than you think. A modern smartphone shoots excellent video, so don’t let “I don’t have a good camera” hold you back for another day.
Spend on audio first. Viewers forgive so-so video, but they click away from bad sound instantly. A basic microphone and a decent room do more for your channel than an expensive camera ever will. Here’s how to record clean audio.
Consistency is only useful if you don’t run out of ideas — so build a system for them rather than relying on inspiration. The best video ideas sit where what you can talk about meets what people are searching for. Research the questions your target audience actually types into YouTube, and answer them better than anyone else.
Never short of ideas beats occasionally brilliant. If you’re stuck, try my content ideation framework, these ways to find unlimited video ideas in minutes, or ideas for videos without speaking on camera.
How to Get Subscribers and Views
This is what everyone really wants to know. There’s no magic button — but there is a reliable formula, and it’s all about what the algorithm actually rewards:
Nail your titles and thumbnails. They decide whether anyone clicks in the first place — see writing titles and the thumbnail guide.
Hold attention. Watch time and retention are the biggest growth levers — a strong hook and tight editing keep people watching.
Use Shorts for discovery. Vertical Shorts reach brand-new viewers fast; funnel them to your longer videos — see Shorts explained.
Ask, and engage. Invite people to subscribe, and reply to every comment early on — community compounds.
Study your analytics. Let the data tell you what’s working — here’s how.
▶️ Why your uploads aren’t converting viewers into subscribers
Every new creator has one big early goal in sight: joining the YouTube Partner Program so your channel starts to earn. It’s worth knowing the target — and an important change landing in 2027.
Until 31 January 2027: 1,000 subscribers + either 4,000 qualified watch hours (past 365 days) or 10 million Shorts views (past 90 days).
From 1 February 2027: the viewing bar doubles to 8,000 qualified watch hours or 20 million Shorts views. The 1,000-subscriber mark stays the same.
Here’s the insider tip: if you’re close, push to 4,000 watch hours before 1 February 2027 — get accepted under the old rule and you’re grandfathered in permanently. Already a partner? You keep your status; just accept the updated terms in YouTube Studio before the deadline. For the full breakdown, see my 2027 monetisation requirements guide, how to get monetised in 2027, and how to hit 1,000 subs and 8,000 watch hours.
Should You Buy Subscribers or Views?
In a word: no. It’s tempting when you’re staring at single-digit numbers, but buying subscribers or views is the fastest way to stall a channel, not grow it. Here’s why:
They’re fake accounts that never watch. That tanks your engagement rate and tells YouTube your videos aren’t worth recommending.
It can break your monetisation eligibility and even get your channel penalised or terminated.
It fools no one — least of all the algorithm. Real growth comes from real humans choosing to watch.
Put that money toward better audio, a course, or coaching instead. For the full picture, read fake views on YouTube.
Want to skip years of trial and error?
On a free discovery call I’ll give you a clear, personal plan to start and grow your channel the right way.
Choose a clear niche, pick a simple name and set up your branding, sort out basic gear (a phone and good audio is plenty to start), then make consistent, valuable content aimed at a specific audience. Optimise your titles and thumbnails, use Shorts to get discovered, engage with viewers, and study your analytics to make more of what works. Growth comes from consistency over time, not a single trick.
How do I get my first YouTube subscribers?
Make content for a specific audience, give each video a strong title and thumbnail so people click, and use Shorts to reach new viewers. Ask viewers to subscribe, reply to every comment early on, and stay consistent. Your first subscribers come from being useful or entertaining to a clear group of people.
What equipment do I need to start a YouTube channel?
Far less than you think. A modern smartphone shoots great video, so your first priority is good audio, then decent lighting (even a window works). You can upgrade your camera later once the channel is established. Don’t let gear be the reason you delay starting.
Should I buy YouTube subscribers or views?
No. Bought subscribers and views are fake accounts that never watch your content, which wrecks your engagement rate and tells the algorithm your videos aren’t worth showing. It can also break your monetisation eligibility and get your channel penalised. It’s the fastest way to stall a channel, not grow one.
How long does it take to grow a YouTube channel?
It varies enormously and depends on your niche, consistency and how quickly you improve. Most successful channels take many months of steady uploading before they gain real traction. Focus on making each video a little better than the last, and judge progress over months, not days.
Do I need to pick a niche?
It helps a great deal. A focused channel is easier for viewers to understand and follow, and easier for YouTube to recommend to the right people. You can broaden out later, but starting with a clear topic gives you the fastest route to your first loyal audience.
How many subscribers and watch hours do you need to make money on YouTube?
To join the YouTube Partner Program you need 1,000 subscribers, plus watch time. Until 31 January 2027 that’s 4,000 qualified watch hours over 365 days, or 10 million Shorts views over 90 days. From 1 February 2027 the viewing bar doubles to 8,000 qualified watch hours or 20 million Shorts views, while the 1,000-subscriber requirement stays the same. Existing partners are grandfathered in and keep their current thresholds.
Content First, Always
Strip away every tip and one truth remains: content comes first. Branding, gear and tactics all matter, but they only amplify videos that are worth watching. So start before you feel ready, make each video a little better than the last, stay consistent, and give real people a reason to hit subscribe. Do that for long enough and the growth takes care of itself — I’ve watched it happen for hundreds of creators, and there’s no reason you can’t be next.
