How to get subscribers on YouTube the right way – in 10 easy steps

How to get subscribers on YouTube

You’ve looked at YouTube analytics, done keyword research into YouTube search trends and started creating engaging videos for your YouTube channel. But now, you want to get subscribers, grow your channel and start making money from YouTube. Well, you’ve come to the right place!

In this guide, we’ll help you get more subscribers on your YouTube channel the right way.  It’s time to hit your milestones and make money from your channel.

YouTube Subscriber Milestones

There are several YouTube subscriber milestones you can hit, leading you to receive rewards and monetization opportunities from YouTube.

  • 500 subscribers: You’ve hit the minimum number of subscribers required to apply for the YouTube Partner Program. Go on to hit 1,000 and start earning ad revenue from your channel’s videos. There are a few other requirements you’ll need to meet alongside this though.
  • 100,000 subscribers: This milestone will see you earn a Silver Creator Play Button.
  • 1 million subscribers: This milestone will see you earn a Gold Creator Play Button.
  • 10 million subscribers: This milestone will see you earn a Diamond Creator Play Button.

Earning these incredible subscriber numbers is not easy, but for those that make it, it truly is a fantastic achievement for your YouTube channel to receive a coveted YouTube Play Button.

Can you buy YouTube subscribers and SHOULD you buy YouTube subscribers?

Man holding up cash shows how to make money on YouTube

You can, but you shouldn’t buy YouTube subscribers for a number of reasons, that isn’t just down to integrity. For starters, even if you buy enough to reach the 500 subscribers needed to become part of the YouTube Partner Program, there are other criteria you need to meet to start earning money on your YouTube videos. These include having more than 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months, which if your subscribers are fake, they won’t be able to help you reach that number; therefore, you still won’t be able to monetise your content. Another thing to remember is that large brand deals, where a lot of YouTubers make their money, look for channels with high viewer and engagement rates, which if all of your subscribers are fake, won’t be possible.

There also isn’t such a thing as ‘free’ YouTube subscribers. YouTuber subscriber services usually work by getting you to subscribe to and like other channels to earn your ‘free’ subscribers. The service hopes that you get bored of all this endless clicking after a few days and decide to pay for YouTube subscribers instead. Either way, you have paid this company with your time or your money which could be spent on more worthwhile investments such as better equipment or claims-free chart music that won’t get you a copyright strike.

10 Tips on how to get subscribers on YouTube, the right way

If you’re just starting out your YouTube journey, perhaps just creating a YouTube channel for the first time, then you want to do it properly so you can start making money. After you are all set up, follow these tips to start getting more YouTube subscribers for your channel.

How to get subscribers on YouTube

We’ve put these tips together to help answer common questions like “How do you get 100 subscribers on YouTube in a day?” and “How do you get 1000 subscribers on YouTube?”. Implementing even just one or two of these tips should see you grow your YouTube audience and subscriber count in no time!

1. Ask your audience to subscribe

Most of the time, people will come across your content through YouTube search or recommended videos. They likely won’t be looking for your channel specifically, that is until you make it big! So, you have to make sure that in every video, you give the viewer a reason to subscribe. This could be by telling them more about yourself, showing that you have other content they might also be interested in, to make them want to watch more of you. Once you’ve done this, the best way to get someone to subscribe is to simply ask them!  It prompts the viewer to get the act done in the immediate future when they might not have thought to do this by themselves. It’s best to remind viewers to subscribe just after you have given helpful information or made your viewers laugh.

2. Promote other videos on the end screen

YouTube end screen gets more subscribers

 

Keep your audience engaged and get them to continue to watch your content by providing links to your popular videos. Use YouTube’s end screen editor to provide more videos for your audience to watch. This way, you keep them on your channel and show why you are worth subscribing to. A bonus of using an end screen is that you can add another subscribe button on the screen, it’ll be right in front of their nose as soon as they’ve finished watching. Try it out and see immediately if it increases your subscribers.

3. Publish long videos

Publishing long, quality video content to your channel will show your YouTube viewers you are an authority on the topic you have built your channel around and keep them engaged for longer. Longer videos also do better in YouTube SEO, meaning they will appear higher in the YouTube search results, making your content visible to more viewers.

4. Have a consistent upload schedule

Calendar showing consistent upload schedule to YouTube

 

People are more likely to engage with your content and channel with a consistent upload schedule. This is because people like to be able to come back to a channel over and over again as part of a daily routine. Upload videos in this way, and you increase your chances to get more subscribers. If you can become someone’s favorite creator, having consistent uploads means they will come to expect your videos and return to your channel time and time again. This equals more views and more loyalty from viewers that you can count on.

5. Promote your YouTube channel on other social media sites

You can quickly gain YouTube subscribers when you promote or embed videos on an alternative social media site like Instagram or Facebook. This type of video marketing will help you get more YouTube views and, hopefully, subscribers and help you appear in Google search results, which will give your videos more visibility.

6. Add a Branding Watermark

YouTube watermark gets you subscribers

 

A ‘Branding Watermark’ is a handy YouTube feature that allows video creators to add a branded image like a logo to all of their videos on their YouTube channel. The watermark enables viewers to subscribe to a channel from within the video itself when hovered over and clicked on. This will help you get more YouTube subscribers because viewers won’t even need to leave your videos to subscribe to your channel. To access this great feature, simply head over to YouTube Studio and add it in to your videos.

7. Build a community

Build yourself a community of loyal subscribers who will talk about and promote your channel for you to their friends. If you reply to every comment that YouTube users write on your videos, you encourage audience participation, leading to a larger fanbase. When you get bigger, you may not be able to reply to every comment anymore, but at least keep an eye out for loyal subscribers and commenters and make sure to reply to them. These people will likely become your superfans!

8. Have a compelling channel description

YouTube description to get more subscribers

 

Make your channel description exciting, inviting and explain a little about yourself so that anyone who clicks on your YouTube channel knows what to expect from your content, and if they like it, they will be more likely to subscribe. Having a detailed channel description will also help you with the YouTube algorithm, increasing your SEO potential to help you get found by new subscribers.

9. Create an exciting channel trailer

A channel trailer is a great feature YouTube has included in recent years. It allows you to create a video that sits on your main channel page and is usually the first YouTube video people will see when they click on your channel. A channel trailer is the best place to provide an overview of the content you create, a bit like a movie trailer, to encourage people to stay, watch more videos and subscribe for more content. 

10. Use captivating video thumbnails

Get those creative juices flowing and create video thumbnails that will excite your viewers and compel them to click on your videos. You could have created the best video in the world but if the thumbnail isn’t attractive, you’re underselling it and won’t get as many views. Sound harsh? Maybe, but it’s true. Don’t let great content down with a bad thumbnail. 

Make your YouTube videos stand out from the crowd with claims-free chart music from Lickd

Content creators and their viewers are getting bored of the same music tracks being used repeatedly in every video. That’s why at Lickd, we provide music licenses for YouTube from artists you’ll actually know and love as well as the freshest stock music. You can even use mainstream music on Facebook, Instagram and many other social platforms. Never worry about copyright claims again with our fully licensed chart-topping music catalog. The best thing is our pricing is made to grow with you! So if you’re just starting out, you won’t have to pay as much as those superstar YouTubers. Check it out today to help yourself get more YouTube subscribers with your engaging videos.

Content and SEO Marketing Manager

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