If you want more people to be interested in your YouTube channel, you’re in the right place! This article will show you ten ways that work to increase your YouTube engagement. These strategies have been proven to be effective and can help you connect with your audience in meaningful ways. Whether you’re new to YouTube or have been making videos for a while, these easy tips will give you practical ways to get more people engaged with your channel.
From improving your video titles to encouraging viewers to interact, we’ll cover different approaches that can make a big difference to your channel’s success. So let’s get started and find out how to increase your YouTube engagement!
What is YouTube engagement?
YouTube engagement means how much people interact with your channel and videos. This includes views, shares, likes, comments, and new subscribers.
YouTube tells you how engaged your audience is. You can use this information to get more engagement. For example, see:
- Which videos keep people watching?
- Where do most views come from (like YouTube search or suggested videos)?
- Which videos get the most new subscribers?
- Which videos are watched the longest?
- Which videos get the most comments or likes?
Analyzing YouTube analytics helps you make your content more appealing to your target audience. Here’s how the platform looks at viewer and engagement data for each video:
You can see engagement information for both individual videos and your entire channel. Keep track of your best-performing content on your YouTube Studio dashboard.
You can dig deeper into specific videos with metrics like “Reach,” “Engagement,” and “Audience.”
This data shows you which videos are popular and which ones aren’t, helping you understand what your audience likes.
What factors impact your YouTube engagement rate?
Just like on other social media sites, YouTube decides how popular videos are based on different things. One big thing is how much people like and interact with a video. If a video gets a lot of likes and comments, it’s more likely to be seen by more people.
Some things can help a video get more likes and comments. Here are a few:
- How much do you use your account? This means how often you post videos, reply to comments, and talk to other people on YouTube. Also, if your video gets views from search engines or other social media sites, it helps.
- How long are your videos? Usually, longer videos (like 8–10 minutes or more) get more likes and comments because people spend more time watching them. But sometimes, shorter videos can be popular too.
- The title, description, and style of your video. These tell YouTube what your video is about. They also help YouTube recommend your video to people who like similar videos.
- The topics you talk about and who watches your videos. This depends on what your video is about and who’s watching it. For example, if your video is about a specific hobby or interest, it might not get as many views as something more general. But if you make videos about things your viewers like, you’ll probably get more likes and comments.
These things aren’t the only things that matter for YouTube. The way people use YouTube changes all the time, so what’s popular now might not be popular later. But for now, these are things that most people can control when they make videos.
How to calculate your YouTube engagement rate
Here’s a simple way to see how engaged your viewers are:
Total interactions / total impressions x 100 = engagement rate percentage
- Count all the times people interact with your video (like views, shares, likes, dislikes, comments, new subscribers, and lost subscribers).
- Divide that number by how many times your video thumbnail has been shown.
- Multiply the result by 100 to get your engagement rate percentage.
10 tips to improve your YouTube engagement rate
1. Prioritize platform and community engagement
People often argue that YouTube is a social network.
But with its Community features, YouTube is becoming more “social.”
Just like on other social apps, interacting with others is key to getting your videos seen and liked. This means:
- Answering comments
- Talking with other channels and users by commenting and liking
- Asking your viewers questions in your videos or descriptions
YouTube highlights recent comments in your analytics, encouraging quick responses. And in YouTube Studio, you can reply to comments without leaving the page.
Using the Community tab to post updates makes sure more people see your videos. It’s a good way to remind your subscribers about your new uploads.
2. Promote your YouTube content across multiple channels
Sharing your content is popular right now.
And that makes sense, because making a YouTube video takes a lot of work.
Sharing and promoting your YouTube videos in different places is a smart idea. You might be surprised which places get more people watching your videos.
Here are some ways to get more people watching your YouTube videos:
- Put your videos on your website, like on your homepage or blog.
- Put a link to your YouTube channel in your social media bios.
- Share your YouTube links on other websites like Reddit, LinkedIn, or Pinterest.
YouTube even shows you where your viewers are coming from in the “External sites or apps” report. It’s like a simpler version of Google Analytics.
This report can show ways to boost YouTube engagement on other platforms. Plus, you can check if your YouTube SEO is working well (but we’ll talk more about that later).
3. Create more YouTube Shorts content
Amazingly, YouTube Shorts gets so many views every day.
This is a good reason to try making short videos yourself. Shorts are YouTube’s way of competing with TikTok, where people scroll through videos one after the other.
Additionally, Shorts can also help you organize your channel. You can keep your longer videos on your main channel and put shorter clips in another place.
Using Shorts doesn’t automatically mean more people will watch your videos. But it does give you more chances to show up in people’s feeds. YouTube seems to like Shorts right now.
If you’re new to Shorts, here are some things you can try:
- Cut your long videos into shorter ones.
- Share vertical videos, like TikToks or Instagram Reels, on Shorts.
- Try making videos using just your smartphone.
And that brings us to our next tip.
4. Experiment with new video ideas
You won’t know what makes people like your videos on YouTube until you try.
There are lots of ideas for videos you can try. If you’re stuck or your videos aren’t doing well, try something new. For example:
Comparing things, like products or ways to do something. Showing how to do things. Reviews and reaction videos. These kinds of videos work well and let you be creative. Plus, YouTube and Google like them.
5. Create a consistent publishing schedule
Channels rarely grow when they post randomly.
To keep the YouTube algorithm happy, you need a consistent content plan. But it’s not about making lots of content quickly. YouTube suggests making Shorts because they’re quicker to make and can reach more people.
6. Hook viewers with creative thumbnails
Did you know that 90% of the most popular videos on YouTube have custom thumbnails?
When creating a thumbnail, it’s important to consider your content and who your audience is. YouTube itself recommends a few helpful tips:
Use eye-catching colors to grab viewers’ attention.
Make sure the text on your thumbnail is easy to read on different devices.
Include real people in your thumbnails to connect with viewers emotionally.
Think of your thumbnail as part of your video’s hook. Random screenshots won’t excite viewers, especially those who haven’t seen your content before.
7. Be strategic with YouTube ads
Here’s a straightforward tip that may or may not make sense depending on what you want to achieve.
However, running YouTube ads can be an eye-opener for quickly gathering data about your audience. For instance, you can experiment with various ad formats, messages, and keywords to determine what resonates the most. Consequently, this approach allows you to collect valuable audience data at a much faster rate, as opposed to passively waiting for insights to emerge naturally. Moreover, by leveraging these insights, you can refine your content strategy and enhance viewer engagement, ultimately leading to a more successful YouTube presence.