17 Ways to Get More YouTube Subscribers (2024)
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17 Ways to Get More YouTube Subscribers

Brian Dean

Written by Brian Dean

17 Ways to Get More YouTube Subscribers

In this post, youโ€™re going to learn how to get more YouTube subscribers in 2024.

In fact:

These are the exact strategies I used to grow my channel from zero to 451K subscribers:

Backlinko – YouTube subscribers

And today Iโ€™m going to show you how I did it…

…and how you can do the same thing.

1. Use โ€œPower Playlistsโ€

โ€œPower Playlistsโ€ are like regular playlists… but better.

Hereโ€™s exactly how they work:

You see, most playlists are organized by topic.

Power playlists

But Power Playlists are organized by outcomes.

Hereโ€™s an example from my channel:

Backlinko – Power playlists

As you can see, the title of that playlist is an outcome:

Power playlist – Name as an outcome

Which makes people MUCH more likely to watch my playlist… and subscribe.

2. Publish Long Videos

A while back we did the largest YouTube ranking factors study ever.

Backlinko – YouTube ranking factors

In that study, we analyzed 11 factors that might help video rank in YouTubeโ€™s search engine.

And we found something surprising:

Longer videos rank better in YouTubeโ€™s search results.

Longer videos tend to rank better in YouTube

For example, some time ago I published this video.

As you can see, my video is almost 13 minutes long:

SEO for beginners – Video duration

And thatโ€™s one of the main reasons that it ranks in the top spot in YouTube for the keyword: โ€œSEOโ€:

YouTube SERP – SEO

3. Promote Videos In Your End Screen

Hereโ€™s the deal:

The more of your videos someone watches, the more likely they are to subscribe.

The question is:

How do you get people to watch 2, 5 or even 10 of your videos?

Promote another video in your End Screen.

Hereโ€™s an example from my channel:

Backlinko end screen – Next video

This simple โ€œNext Videoโ€ has led LOTS more views and subscribers:

YouTube analytics – End screen video clicks

Hereโ€™s how you can do the same thing:

First, include 10 seconds of time at the end of your videos specifically for your End Screen.

Hereโ€™s what mine looks like in the raw video file:

Backlinko – End Screen template

Then, use YouTubeโ€™s End Screen editor to add a link to a related video:

Backlinko – End Screen editor

Thatโ€™s all there is to it ๐Ÿ™‚

4. Use a Brand Watermark

You probably know that you can add a Branding Watermark to your videos.

Branding Watermark

This watermark lets viewers subscribe to your channel inside of your video.

Backlinko YouTube watermark

Unfortunately, most Branding Watermarks are completely ignored.

For example…

I once added this watermark to all of my videos:

Backlinko – First watermark

And it didn’t work.

So I decided to try something new.

Instead of a watermark that looked cool…

…I used one that looked like a normal YouTube subscribe button.

Backlinko – Latest watermark

And my new watermark generated 70% more subscribers than my old one.

Backlinko – New watermark success

Pretty cool.

5. Focus On Video Quality

When I first started my YouTube channel, I read the same advice over and over again:

โ€œIf you want to grow your channel, you need to upload videos on a regular basisโ€.

Unfortunately, simply publishing a bunch of videos usually doesn’t work.

Iโ€™ll explain:

When I first started my channel I published videos on a consistent schedule…

…but no one watched them.

Backlinko – Low YouTube view rate

And the few people that watched my videos didnโ€™t even bother to subscribe.

Backlinko YouTube channel – Low subscriber conversion

So I decided to change my approach.

Instead of quantity, I decided to focus 100% on quality.

And this โ€œquality over quantityโ€ approach to my YouTube videos worked super well.

Flash forward to today and my channel generates over 189k views per month from only 39 total videos:

Backlinko YouTube – Monthly views

And because I make sure every video is high-quality, over 4k people subscribe to my channel every month:

Backlinko YouTube – Subscribers

6. Reply To Every Comment

This is one of the easiest ways to get more subscribers.

In fact, YouTubeโ€™s internal data has found a clear correlation between replying to comments and subscribers:

“When creators take the time to interact with their loyal community, it can encourage audience participation and ultimately result in a larger fanbase.”

Why does this help?

Well, most YouTubers never reply to comments.

Which means you instantly stand out when you do.

Brian reply to YouTube comment

Thatโ€™s why I do my best to reply to as many comments as I can.

(Especially right after I publish a new video.)

7. Write a Compelling Channel Description

Sadly, most Channel Descriptions look something like this:

Bad YouTube Channel Description

Imagine that youโ€™re about to subscribe to that channel.

Is that description going to make you lunge for the subscribe button?

Probably not.

Contrast that weak description with this one:

Pat Flynn about section

See the difference?

This about page works because it:

  • Tells you what the channel is all about
  • Gives you important information on the channel (like the upload schedule)
  • Includes a strong call to action to subscribe

Hereโ€™s a template that you can use to write your own Channel Description:

YouTube description template

Pro Tip: Sprinkle in a handful of keywords in your description. This can help your channel rank better in YouTube search.

For example, I used a few different relevant keywords that people on YouTube would search for…

…like โ€œSEOโ€, โ€œlink buildingโ€ and โ€œcontent marketingโ€.

Keywords in about section

8. Funnel People to โ€œSubscriber Magnetsโ€

Hereโ€™s the step-by-step process:

First, head over to your YouTube Analytics.

And click โ€œSubscribersโ€ โ†’ โ€œSee Moreโ€.

YouTube analytics – Subscribers – See more

Next, identify the video that brought you the most subs last month:

YouTube analytics – Subscribers – Top video

(This video is your โ€œSubscriber Magnetโ€.)

In my case, this ONE Subscriber Magnet from my channel brings in as many subscribers as 13 other videos from my channel… combined.

Subscriber magnets

Why is this important?

Your Subscriber Magnet video is already proven to generate subscribers.

And if you can get these video in front of more people, youโ€™ll get more subscribers

Here are 3 ways to get more eyeballs on your Subscriber Magnet.

First, feature that video in your End Screen.

Second, make a playlist that starts off with that video.

Finally, promote that video in a card.

You can even make your Subscriber Magnet your channel trailer.

For example, Evan Carmichael uses his popular Matthew McConaughey video as his channel trailer:

Evan Carmichael – Channel trailer

That way, Evanโ€™s high-converting video gets in front of everyone that visits his channel page.

9. Use an Awesome Channel Icon

Your Channel Icon shows up pretty much everywhere on YouTube.

YouTube channel icon

In fact, your channel icon is like a custom thumbnail… for your entire channel.

Thatโ€™s why itโ€™s really important to use the right one.

So if youโ€™re a personal brand, use a high-res headshot:

Marie Forleo channel icon

If you’re a company channel, use a version of your logo designed for YouTube.

For example, ESPN rounded their logo so it works perfectly as a Channel Icon:

ESPN channel icon

10. Create a Channel Tagline

In the early days of my channel I completely ignored the positioning of my channel.

Backlinko – Old YouTube channel

And it was one of the main reasons that I struggled.

Once I started to strategically position my channel, my monthly views and total subscriber count shot up significantly.

Views and subscribers after update

Fortunately, you donโ€™t need an MBA to position and brand your channel.

In fact, all you need to do is create a simple tagline.

Hereโ€™s the 3-step process:

First, identify ONE thing that makes your channel unique or different.

Maybe youโ€™re a busy mom that can deadlift 500 pounds.

Maybe your channel teaches SaaS companies how to increase their MRR.

The exact โ€œthingโ€ doesnโ€™t matter.

As long as itโ€™s different than the other channels in your niche, youโ€™re set.

For example:

My videos teach people marketing strategies they can use to grow their business.

Backlinko videos

But if I made my tagline โ€œI teach marketing strategiesโ€ or โ€œI help you grow your businessโ€, Iโ€™d blend in with thousands of other channels on YouTube.

So I decided to focus on the ONE thing that my channel focuses on:

Higher rankings and more traffic.

Second, put that tagline in big font on your Channel Art.

Hereโ€™s mine:

Tagline in channel art

Finally, say your tagline in your Channel Trailer.

Say tagline in channel trailer

11. Try “Hearting” Comments

Creator Hearts make it easy to highlight awesome comments from your community:

Backlinko- Creator heart

Now for the interesting part…

When you heart a comment, that person gets a notification (and sometimes even an email):

Creator heart – Email notification

And according to YouTubeโ€™s own data:

“Weโ€™ve found that viewers who have received a heart on their comment are three times more likely to click on the notification (than with other types of notifications), potentially leading more viewers back to your channel.”

Thatโ€™s right:

Heart notifications get 300% more clicks than average.

So whenever someone leaves a solid comment, hook them up with a heart:

Brian hearting a comment

As you just saw, this will bring them back to your video… and make them VERY likely to subscribe.

12. Make a Channel Trailer

You probably know that a channel trailer can help you get more YouTube subscribers.

Here are 3 tactics for making a channel trailer that works:

Kick things off with your tagline

Start your trailer off with your channelโ€™s tagline.

(Donโ€™t have a tagline. Check out technique #10 from this post.)

For example, I say my tagline (โ€œHigher Rankings and More Trafficโ€) within the first 3 seconds of my trailer:

Stick to 60 seconds (or less)

YouTube themselves say that shorter trailers convert best:

Shorter trailers convert best

Thatโ€™s why I made my trailer about a minute long:

Backlinko's trailer is about one minute long

Show off your best stuff

Your trailer is a GREAT opportunity to promote your best content.

Thatโ€™s why the middle of your trailer should be a 20-30 second highlight reel.

For example, my trailer includes LOTS of clips from my other videos:

That way, viewers can quickly get a feel for the type of content that I publish.

13. Optimize For Watch Time

Yup, Watch Time is a massively important YouTube SEO ranking factor.

And not just for YouTube SEO.

Videos with high Watch Time numbers get promoted more often on the YouTube homepage:

YouTube watch time promoted

And in the Suggested Video sidebar:

YouTube watch time sidebar

Thatโ€™s why YouTube states that:

“The longer you can keep people watching on YouTube because of your content, the more your content may get surfaced.”

Question is:

How do you maximize Watch Time?

Use lots of Pattern Interrupts.

PI

Pattern Interrupt

noun

Definition

An event that changes a person's thought patterns.

Pattern Interrupts make your videos more dynamic…

…which keeps people watching.

Thatโ€™s why I use TONS of Pattern Interrupts in every video.

Including graphics:

Jump cuts:

And corny jokes:

Remember:

Pattern Interrupts donโ€™t need to be fancy or complicated.

For example, check out this video from Safiya Nygaard:

Safiya uses lots of super simple Pattern Interrupts (like camera angle changes and simple graphics) to keep things fresh.

Safiya pattern interrupts

14. Embed YouTube Videos In Blog Posts

Your blog is a HUGE untapped source of views and subscribers.

Why?

Well, if someoneโ€™s reading your text content, they clearly like your stuff.

Which means theyโ€™re primed to subscribe.

Thatโ€™s why I embed lots of videos in my blog posts.

Sometimes the video makes up an entire step or tip:

Video as an entire step

But I also embed videos as a way for people to learn more about something from the post:

Embed videos to impart extra information

Either way, these embeds get my videos in front of more people.

And not just random people.

Iโ€™m showing my video content to people that are very likely to subscribe to my channel.

15. End Videos With a Strong CTA

When someone gets to the end of your video, they think:

โ€œWhatโ€™s next?โ€

And unless you give them something to do, theyโ€™re going to click over to another video from another channel.

User clicking on another channel's video

Whatโ€™s the solution? Tell them to subscribe to your channel.

And donโ€™t be afraid to tell people exactly what to do.

For example, hereโ€™s how I end all of my videos:

Video ending captions

I literally tell people to click on the subscribe button below the video.

That way, thereโ€™s no guesswork or thinking involved.

And thatโ€™s one of the main reasons that so many people subscribe right after watching one of my videos:

People subscribe after watching Brian's videos

16. Promote Your Channel

The next time you create a blog post, podcast episode or Instagram Story, ask yourself:

โ€œHow can I funnel people from this content to my channel?โ€

For example, I include a link to my channel in every lead magnet:

Link to channel in lead magnet

I even promote my channel in podcast interviews:

Brian promotes the Backlinko YouTube channel in podcast interviews

17. Optimize Your Channel Page

When someone lands on your channel page, two things can happen:

  1. They leave right away
  2. They watch more of your videos and subscribe

And I can tell you from experience that an optimized channel page can increase your subscribers by 2-5x.

For example, my channel used to look bland and unprofessional:

Old Backlinko YouTube channel – Unprofessional

Needless to say, very few people that landed on my page decided to subscribe.

Thatโ€™s when I decided to put some time and effort into my channel page.

Specifically, I hired a pro designer to design some new Channel Art:

Backlinko YouTube channel art

And I organized my videos so that my best content appeared at the top:

Playlists on channel page

That said:

Thereโ€™s no โ€œperfectโ€ way to organize your Channel Page.

But hereโ€™s a template that I notice a lot of top YouTubers use:

Top YouTube users template

Bonus #1: โ€œThe Social Media Previewโ€

I used to share my videos on social media like this:

Brian – Old style of social media video sharing

And my posts got buried.

Why?

Because Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media sites want to keep people on their platform.

This means they donโ€™t like posts that send people to YouTube.

Well, I recently discovered a way around this problem:

โ€œThe Social Media Previewโ€.

And this simple strategy has helped me get lots of views on social media (many of which head over to YouTube).

Social media preview – High number of views

In fact, one of my Social Media Previews got over 31,076 views on LinkedIn:

LinkedIn – 30,000 views

Hereโ€™s how to do it:

First, grab a 30-90 second clip from a recent YouTube video.

This clip should be a single technique, idea or point.

Next, upload that clip as native video content.

Upload clip as native content

This is key.

Like I mentioned earlier, social networks (like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit) want to promote native content on their platform.

And thereโ€™s data to back this up.

Native video Facebook posts can get up to 10x more shares than posts that linked to YouTube.

Native Facebook video posts get 10x more views than LinkedIn / YouTube videos

Finally, include a link to your video as the first comment on the post.

Include link to video as first comment on post

That way, if someone wants to see more, they can easily watch the full video on YouTube.

And youโ€™re set.

Bonus #2: Include a Subscribe Link in Your Channel Art

You probably know that you can link to external sites in your Channel Art.

But what you may not know is that you can sneak in an extra subscribe button there.

Hereโ€™s an example:

Subscribe button in channel art

All you need to do is create a YouTube subscribe link:

YouTube subscribe link

Then, add that link as one of your Channel Art links:

Add a "Subscribe" button as a Channel Art link

Make sure to give your link a compelling title:

Give your link a compelling title

And when someone clicks on that link, theyโ€™ll see this high-converting prompt:

"Confirm channel subscription" prompt

Nice.

Now Itโ€™s Your Turn

So I hope this post helped show you how to get more subscribers on YouTube.

And now Iโ€™d like to hear from you:

Which strategy from todayโ€™s post are you excited to try first?

Or maybe you have a question about something you read.

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

200 Comments

  1. Kaushal Soni Avatar Kaushal Sonisays:

    Like always, awesome stuff๐Ÿ‘

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Kaushal.

      1. Bryan Avatar Bryansays:

        But Tifoโ€™s videos are below 10 minutes and he gets a lot of subscribers.

  2. Hey Brian,

    I will definitely implement all the tips which you mentioned in this article.

    But your power playlist tip is awesome.

    Thanks for sharing in-depth article on it.

    Best Regards,
    Sumit Sao

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Sumit. Glad you learned some new stuff

  3. Thank you, Brian, for your actionable tips!

    Similarly to email list subscribers, the key to attracting video subscribers apparently boils down to promotion. Right?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Dmytro. That’s true. Promotion is key on YouTube too!

  4. Just a query. At the end of the day, where does all of this effort take you/me? Lists and lists and lists. Whereโ€™s the money for all this work? Am I missing something? If you work for nothing youโ€™ll never be idle!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Not sure what you mean…

      1. I think Carmel is curious to your business model. How can you earn money when you’re giving everything away for free.

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          Ah OK. Backlinko is an SEO training company.

  5. Interesting article, thank you as always ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, David. Glad you liked it.

  6. Great information, as always, Brian! Can’t wait to dissect this and learn as much as possible. Keep up the good work & thank you for all your hard work!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Darshana. Let me know what you think after you have a chance to dig into the strategies.

  7. Dan Avatar Dansays:

    Great piece Brian and i so much enjoyed your pieces because they are filled with so many actionable tips and of course, your page is so beautiful….By the way, what tools do you use for those screenshots and all that?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Dan. I actually work with a designer that takes normal screenshots (using Greenshot) and adds design elements that make them easier to understand (and look cool!). I think he uses Photoshop.

  8. I like the social media preview with Twitter, but I find I get way more watch time by posting the entire video on both FaceBook and YouTube. If the goal is just audience development, platform matters less. Monetize later, when you’ve got a base coming back. My $0.02.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Charles. Good points there. My #1 platform (besides Google, which is another story) is YouTube. So I don’t mind pushing people from FB to YouTube… even if it hurts that video’s total watch time across different platforms.

  9. Peter Avatar Petersays:

    Great tips!! Very straight forward and easy to follow! Love your work, Brian!!!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Peter. Glad you liked it!

  10. Monster post, my man. TY for writing this up! Bookmarked…gonna read a few times lol.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Sounds good, Darren. Let me know what you think after you have a chance to try some of the strategies.

  11. Mitja Avatar Mitjasays:

    Practical, in-depth, and simple to understand as always. Thank you, Brian!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Mitja ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘

  12. Thanks Brian

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Angel. Glad you liked it.

  13. Andrea Bindi Avatar Andrea Bindisays:

    Definitely highly educative. high Five for you !!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Andrea โœ‹โœ‹โœ‹

  14. Utpal Shuvro Avatar Utpal Shuvrosays:

    Thanks for your awesome tips.
    Though I already applied a few of these.
    However, Your tips are extremely helpful.
    Keep it up Good work man!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Utpal

  15. Siva Avatar Sivasays:

    Great info i have ever read before,i regularly following you thanks brian dean

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      No problem

  16. Thank you for this fab list of how to get YouTube subscribers!

    As ever, all actionable and proven to work techniques.

    I started my YT channel a while ago, but haven’t uploaded many videos as yet.
    Not sure if I should wait until I have more resources to publish visually really great quality videos, or are the screen-shot review videos ok too (to start with at least)?

    In any case, thanks again and looking forward to your next article!
    Best,
    Alenka

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Alenka, in my experience I’d wait to publish really great videos.

  17. Thank you so much brian. I want to do youtube as my full time carrier. Again your tips give me some new ideas for my channel and about its growth.
    i will apply them on my channel and definitely share the result.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Divesh

  18. Awesome article Brian! I gotta say the two things that stick out to me here are 1) that you found in your research the fact that tags really didn’t seem that important in ranking, and 2) the tip for adding the subscribe button (very visibly) in lieu of a watermark; amazing advice!

    My one question is about longer video content: sure, longer content ranks higher, but does it do it’s job at converting better (whether the CTA is to subscribe, sign up for a service, etc., learn a skill, etc.) than shorter videos? Of course, if the intention is purely to get better rankings (which is a huge part) than that’s cool. To give you a better idea why I’m asking this: I recently replaced the air flow sensor in my car. The first video I found first (highest ranked one) was about 14 minutes long and, after waiting, then trying to find the part where he actually gets to installing the sensor, I left and went searching for a shorter video. Not that this exact scenario happens all the time, but I was turned off by the fact that I went looking for something (instructions on how to install the sensor) and the longer content may have had it, but wasn’t worth my time to dig it out.

    Thanks sharing this info!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Jay.

      Great question. I should have probably phrased that tip: “You CAN create longer videos”. Because you’re absolutely right: there’s no point in creating a long video if it doesn’t help the viewer. Actually, if people click away (like you did with the 14 minute air flow sensor video), that video’s SEO is going to suffer. So there’s really no upside to cranking out long videos just for the sake of doing it.

      But I emphasize video length because 1) we found a strong correlation between longer videos and rankings and 2) lots of people are afraid to publish long videos. In some cases, a short video makes sense. But for certain topics, longer videos actually provide MORE value because you get all your answers in one place.

  19. This was perfect information at the perfect time. I’m about to meet with a client to discuss their YouTube strategy.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Nice! This should definitely help, James

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Aaron. Happy to help

  20. As always awesome content Brian! This is the best thing about you. You always write practically proven tips and state them clearly. Keep sharing such content!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Hassan

  21. Nowadays, a Youtube channel needs 1000 subs and 4000 hours of watching time in order to be eligible for monetization.

    I think you tips not only will help to get more subscribers but to increase the watching time.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      That’s true. Watch Time is a big part of getting views (and down the line, subscribers).

  22. Thomas Avatar Thomassays:

    Really inspired to take my business to next level. Great post!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Thomas!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Sounds good, Natanael. Let me know how it goes!

  23. Thanks Brian Dean

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      No worries, Sam.

  24. Great Tips Brian!

    Will implement your tips and get back to you with the results.

    Thanks

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Sounds good, Susan. I look forward to hearing how these strategies work out for you.

  25. I think YouTubers advised the length to be more than 10 minutes, though. I think itโ€™s related to monetization and algorithm manipulation. YouTube SEO is still young but itโ€™s start to catch on and many SEOs are now trying to figure out how does the algorithm works.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      That’s true, Igre. YouTube SEO is still super early

  26. Thanks Brian for these tips. I’m planning on using The โ€œSocial Media Previewโ€ for LinkedIn and Facebook. I would love for you to one day create a blog post or video over your content research process and everything you do before you post your content.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Xavier. I’m actually working on a post that covers a lot of my content research process. Stay tuned!

  27. Karlene Avatar Karlenesays:

    I’ve been doing this a long time! Your layout and detail of each step to a topic is superb. Absolutely fantastic. Easy to read and understand immediately. 9 out of 10 informational videos, emails, or ebooks AND websites regarding technology, seo, etc today are written for someone who is not human or they simply don’t say enough. Great job, happy I subscribed. Keep up good work.
    KP

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Karlene. I appreciate that

  28. Matt Avatar Mattsays:

    Hey Brian,

    Great stuff, as always. I’d like to see what video of mine earns the most subscribers, but I don’t see an option called Subscribers in the YouTube analytics area. Just a bunch of charts and graphs.

    I’d also like to change my watermark image to the subscribe button you mentioned, but I don’t see an option for that either.

    So if you could give more specific instructions on where I can find these, I’d appreciate it.

    Lastly, I think it’s important to note that YouTube only provides the word(s) you enter for the first link. Other links just display an icon. So for me, I added a subscribe link at the end. It only shows the YouTube button, which probably isn’t helpful.

    Matt

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Matt. I have some screenshots in the post to show you how to find the subscribers report. Maybe you’re in the new YouTube Studio? The new YT Studio doesn’t make this report easy to find yet.

      In terms of the watermark, here are detailed instructions: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6147757?hl=en

      1. Matt Avatar Mattsays:

        Yes, I was in the new studio. For some reason, my report doesn’t contain any data on which videos earned subscribers. There’s a chart showing when people subscribed, but nothing listed below it.

        The help page you referenced is about adding a custom watermark image. I want to add the subscribe button you show above. Now my custom watermark is gone. ๐Ÿ™

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          Yeah, the new studio is still in beta so doesn’t have all the features.

          A custom watermark can be any image. So when you add a subscribe icon, that becomes your branding watermark.

  29. ajay Avatar ajaysays:

    I am 100% sure that this post is most probably on first page of google

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      I hope so Ajay!

  30. Jeff Austria Avatar Jeff Austriasays:

    Hi Brian, great tips as always, but I’m just wondering why you didn’t use your bonus tip which is include subscribe link on the channel art.

    I checked your youtube channel and I didn’t see that.

    Anyway, thank you for sharing this tips and keep the awesome work!

    Cheers,

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Jeff. Right now I’m testing a few things to drive more people on YT to Backlinko. The Channel Art link is one of them. Always be testing!

  31. Philip Avatar Philipsays:

    Hi Brian,

    honestly, you are one of the few people that consistently deliver valuable content in this niche. I appreciate your efforts mate! Your quality over quantity approach is impressive and I’m trying to emulate it myself for my educational science channel.

    The only thing I need to mention is that I think your diagram on video length to youtube ranking seems off. Maybe I don’t understand it, but when I look at the graph what I’m reading is that video length has no impact on YT rank because the red line is more or less flat (between 12-15 min). If there was a positive correlation between the duration of a video and YT rank the red line would need to go from the top left to the bottom right. As of now the chart only shows a flat line with no data points for ANY video below 10 minutes, so how can there be a correlation.

    Please let me know if I misunderstood. But I am curious about the actual data on this.

    So thanks again Brain, love your work!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Philip, thanks man! I appreciate that.

      To answer your question: we found a small but significant relationship between video length and rankings in that study (Spearman correlation of 0.036). Because it wasn’t a REALLY strong correlation, the line in the graph isn’t moving down and to the right.

      Plus, the average video length was 18 minutes, which is longer than most videos on YT.

      1. Philip Avatar Philipsays:

        Thanks Brian.

        That clarifies the graph. So it was a significant correlation (I’m assuming p<0.05) but the effect size was super small. Spearman r of 0.036 is practically non-existent.

        Would be interesting to see some data with video lengths ranging from 1 min to 20 min.

        Thanks again, mate.
        Cheers,
        Philip

  32. Great read Brian ๐Ÿ™‚ !

    I’ve run into an issue regarding youtube videos both ranking it on youtube but also using it on a landingpage for that higher dwell time, woop woop.

    My issue is here:
    I’ve noticed that doing closed captions SRT instead of using the youtube’s own sub editor, that you can actually make your youtube more readable for Google/youtube. So if im scripting a nice setup for my youtube video, and thinking about which keywords i use when i talk both generic and exact keywords, and then making closed captions SRT into my youtube video, Google can read what the video is actually is about compared to if you only used your title and description for ranking.

    My question is:
    If i then put this video on my superawesome/landingpage, will that over optimize my keywords for that landingpage? Like if we say i have a piece of content 1000 words, i use exact keyword 3-6 times within the text, and do some generic and synonyms for my content. If i then use the exact keyword in the CC SRT file, would that mess up my ratio between my keyword use?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Mikael. Good question.

      If you use your exact keyword 3-6 times with a few variations in the post/transcript, that’s no big deal. As long as you’re not stuffing the keywords in there in a way that sounds and reads well, you should be OK.

      1. Mikael Sรธrensen Avatar Mikael Sรธrensensays:

        Okay thanks alot!, thats also what i ment by scripting a manuscript with variations.

  33. Ohh Man Brian! I read your Youtube SEO guide and I was like its super amazing. But it was not all. The subscriber magnet trick and Power Playlist option is completely mind-blowing.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      I’m glad you liked today’s post Cody!

  34. Very nice guide Brian! I can’t seem to put in the subscription link in Channel Art – I only get the possibility to change the picture. Do you have some sort of guide? Thanks in advance!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Jonas. Go to your channel while signed in and hit “Customize channel”. Then hit the little pencil icon in the top right corner of your channel art and click “edit links”.

  35. Harsha s Avatar Harsha ssays:

    Thank you, Brian, this article is complete to make us successful youtuber!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘

  36. Great stuff as always man, big thanks for sharing!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Luke. Happy to help

  37. Youtube is something where I have always struggled to get a success. I am a blogger and I am good at that but never become a good Youtuber.

    Recently, I have started a new channel for my website and started posting short but engaging videos.

    Got some amazing tips after reading your article, especially point number 2, 7, 12, and 15. Hope the tips will help me get some quick subscribers.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      I hope so too, Alex. Keep me posted on how things go.

      1. Sure, Brian, I will keep you posted the progress.
        Thanks for replying to my comment.

  38. High quality as before, appreciate your awesome share!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Alexa

  39. Hey Brian, i’m so much appreciated for this post. I always come to your site to read the seo and backlinks related articles. But, today i saw this article and got a huge in depth knowledge about how to increase youtube subscribers. This is such a great article. I am sure this article will give a guide to new youtubers to gain subscribers.
    Finally, this is a great work by you. Keep it up !!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘

  40. Farhan Sheikh Avatar Farhan Sheikhsays:

    Nice and helpful post as always Brian !

    By the by, i just saw one strategy you used to rank this post for “YouTube Subscribers” !

    Nice ๐Ÿ˜‰

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      ๐Ÿ™‚

  41. As always.. great content. You can add link/button/youtube logo at the beggining of the post because I scrolled like 3x searching for it. Want to subscribe but need CTA there ๐Ÿ˜›

    ps. nice stats at videos. Going to check them out in next few days ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Ariel

  42. Thanks so much for this major tip, “Heart notifications get 300% more clicks than average.” I had no idea. Will definitely use this gold nugget.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Awesome, Sherry!

  43. Timo Kiander Avatar Timo Kiandersays:

    Thank you Brian, very thorough as always ๐Ÿ™‚

    If you had to pick the top-3 strategies in this list that bring the biggest results, what would they be?

    Cheers,
    Timo

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Timo. It’s hard to say because it really depends on the channel.

  44. Youtube is certainly a very strong platform to promote a product. Do other video platforms are somewhat effective? Happy Thanksgiving.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Kirti, YouTube is where it’s at. The only other place to check out are platforms that use video, like Facebook and LinkedIn.

  45. This is good. But… the most important is to optimize the title, description and tags so that you show up in suggested videos.

    That’s where 90% of my views come from.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Very true, David.

  46. Used the tactics for my new Youtube channel. Looking forward to the results. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Greets from Germany!!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Awesome, Florian!

  47. Gavin Lane Avatar Gavin Lanesays:

    Thanks, Brian for sharing such wonderful information I will surely apply those tips on my youtube channel.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Sounds good, Gavin. Let me know how it goes.

  48. Hi, Brian
    Thanks For the information I really need this.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Jay

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