5 Hacks to Boost Your Engagement Rate on YouTube
Nothing hurts more than creating a terrific video, gathering thousands of views on YouTube, but receiving no engagement. Getting people to engage with your YouTube content goes beyond creating just a video and requires some additional steps. When you take initiatives to boost your engagement rate, you can see an actual increase in your comments, likes, and clicks.
We have formulated some easy ways that can help you boost your engagement rate in the shortest time possible with minimal efforts. Here are our top hacks to boost your engagement rate on YouTube:
Add a Card to Your YouTube Video
It’s strange but common for new YouTube users to miss adding a card to their YouTube video. YouTube cards are THE solution to drive actionable results from your YouTube video. With YouTube cards, you can induce your YouTube viewers to click on another video, link, or YouTube channel.
Types of YouTube cards:
Video or playlist to promote your video or playlist.
Channel to promote another channel.
Poll to encourage viewers to take a poll.
Link to add an approved site link to your YouTube video.
You can add a YouTube card by simply editing your YouTube video, clicking on cards, and selecting a card type. Just keep in mind that to add links to your YouTube cards, you need to join the YouTube partner program and then a link to the approved websites.
Add a Click-worthy YouTube Thumbnail
According to research by QuickSprout, a YouTube thumbnail may increase your engagement by 154%. More people tend to click on a video if they find its thumbnail relevant or intriguing. Even the YouTube creator academy says that 90% of the best performing videos have a custom thumbnail.
You can add a custom thumbnail to your YouTube video only after your YouTube account is verified. So, make sure to get your YouTube account verified to set a custom thumbnail. Account verification is a simple process that you can complete within a few minutes.
Spend Time Promoting your Video
The best way to keep boosting your engagement on YouTube is to keep bringing more and more viewers to your video. More eyes = more engagement. With so many social media platforms and forums, attracting attention to your YouTube video should not be a tricky part.
Here are some of the ways that can help you promote your YouTube video:
Embed your YouTube videos to your blog-olds and a website. Your website viewers can then visit your YouTube channel and access more content.
Create Pinterest images for your YouTube videos and link your Pinterest posts to your videos. Pinterest users will be directed to your YouTube video when they click on the URL.
Create your video previews and share them on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also create stories and share them on social media.
Collaborate with social media influencers to promote your YouTube videos. They can add your videos to their sites and social media pages.
Promote your post on forums relevant to your topic. Make sure not to spam the forums as that may result in your account suspension.
Ask Them to Take an Action
As a YouTube creator, you have the power to influence your audience to take action. So, why not ask them to do it? Whether your goal is to increase your likes, video shares, or clicks, it’s important that you state it.
When you create your video, take care of the following elements to improve your engagement rate:
Ask Questions: Add questions to your video that can make your viewers comment on the video.
Create a Poll: You can add a YouTube poll card to know your audience demographics, behavior, thoughts, etc.
Ask them to share: Make sure that when you end the video, you ask your viewers to share the video. This is a must if you want your videos to reach the masses and gain popularity on YouTube.
Add Keyword-Optimized Tags to your YouTube Video
When you upload your video on YouTube, you have a tag section to add tags to your video. These tags act as metadata for your video and help in improving your content discovery for search results and suggestions.
To add tags to your video:
Use YouTube auto-suggest to get ideas on popular keywords for your topic.
Search for relevant keywords that people are using on Google using Google keyword planner. As Google’s algorithm displays matching YouTube videos at the top of their search results, it’s important to find the best SEO keywords.
Use your company’s or channel’s name in the tag so that your other video is shown as a suggestion when the first one ends.
Final Words
The above listed are some of the best ways to boost your engagement rate on YouTube. Focusing on your content, keeping the video short and concise are some other points to remember while working on your video. If you have any questions regarding the article, let us know in the comments below.
