This “SEO Guru” Helped Me Gain 1,000 YouTube Subscribers In 5 Months

Back in 2017, when I and my friend started our YouTube channel, we knew nothing about SEO. For us, SEO was like the school syllabus that everyone forgets after few days.

YouTube algorithm is a lot different from Google’s algorithm. It requires different strategies to skyrocket your channel’s subscribers and views.

We struggled in our initial days to get 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours, a limit set by YouTube to monetize your channel.

In 2020, when we finally got serious about our channel, we started looking for SEO tips that would help us to achieve that feat. And undoubtedly, we came across several videos and blogs, using clickbait images and telling how to get subscribers in a week.

I knew such elements exist who keep on attracting viewership with fake data and unsuccessful tips. I was looking for a more reliable option that would genuinely help our YouTube channel grow.

That said, I stumbled into this “SEO Guru" who claimed himself to be an expert in this field. I watched his videos, studied his blog to find out if that’s true for what he claimed. And surprisingly, he was a genius.

Many of you might know him if I tell you his name. That SEO guru is Brian Dean, founder of Backlinko. In case you don’t know who he is, I need you to check him out as soon as possible.

His SEO tips are far better than any other self-claimed SEO expert. The way he analyses and shows data and facts, I think he might be the guy behind Google’s algorithm.

Here are the tips as told by Brian Dean that helped me climb up the ladder.

Your description is equally important as your title and tags

Many of us know the importance of adding targeted keywords in tags and titles we want to rank for. But we often ignore the description that holds equal importance.

Even I did the same thing. Writing descriptions without thinking about keywords. It was the wrong strategy.

Brian says when you have found your targeted keyword which you want to rank for, add that keyword within 25 words in your description. That helps YouTube and Google to understand the context of your video.

Make your description at least 250 words long and include your keywords 2–4 times.

Tags are also important but no so much. Most of us have this misconception that stuffing tags with keywords will help us rank higher. However, tags only help you to get seen in suggested videos of the related niche.

The best practice is to first add your targeted keywords and then related ones. You can also copy your competitor’s tags and use them in your videos. For this, you can use VidIQ.

When you use your competitor’s tags, your videos appear in your competitor’s suggestion feed that can help you earn more views.

Regarding titles, one tip that works great is to add your keyword at the first position of your title. That will push your video higher. You don’t have to do it every time if it doesn’t make sense. However, you can try to implement this strategy as much as possible.

For example, say your video is about the 7 best ways to earn money online. Your target keyword is: earn money online. Here’s how you can write it down:

Title: Earn Money Online: 7 Best Ways You Can Do So

Description: Today, I am going to show you how you can earn money online. For the past 2 years, I am making enough money to pay my bills. Here are my 7 best ways to earn money online……….

Tags: Earn money online, online earning,……..

See how I have added my main keyword 2 times in the description and in the first of my title and tags. When I implemented this exact strategy to my videos, they ranked higher in YouTube search.

Pay attention to your audience engagement

There are several signals YouTube looks for while deciding if your video is eligible to get more views or not.

One of these signs is how engaging your video is to the audience. If your video is was watched for over 50%, received lots of comments, likes and shares, it means your video deserves to be at the top. On the contrary, if it was watched below 10%, with no comments, likes, and shares, it means your video is awful.

Depending on the audience engagement, YouTube either distributes your video or tanks it down.

Looking over my stats, I found that my videos weren’t engaging because they didn’t have any comments, likes, and audience retention. That’s why I didn’t receive any views.

To change that, I immediately applied what Brian suggested — make your video highly engaging. Let your audience feel that your video is valuable to their time. They can find what they are looking for. Once you are able to hold your audience’s retention, you can expect your video to get viral.

An attractive thumbnail is the sign of a growing channel

What is the first thing people see when they search for anything on YouTube?

Thumbnail.

Aware of this famous line: The first impression is the last impression.

It matters.

What if your thumbnail is not clickable, i.e., not good enough to hold people’s attention? No one’s gonna click on it. That means no views. No views mean no subscribers. No subscribers mean no growth.

Just look at my previous thumbnails when I was starting out with YouTube. They were shit. No one’s gonna click on it. Not even me.

After I learned to hold people’s attention, here’s how my thumbnail changed:

There’s a lot of difference. I can feel that difference in my stats. As we know, a picture speaks louder than words. With my thumbnails improved, my click-through rate (CTR) shoot up high that pushed my videos in the search rankings.

Best way to use keywords in your video

Have you ever paid attention to your words you use in your video?

Maybe not.

Here’s what Brian has to say on this,

When you repeat those keywords you want to rank for, in your videos, you increase your chance of getting picked up by the YouTube algorithm. Because YouTube can hear what you say. If you are saying those keywords in your videos, that helps it to understand your content even better. But don’t stuff it in your videos. It’s spam.

I don’t think there can be a better way to use your targeted keywords than this. Just like you add your keywords in your blog to let Google read. That’s the same thing with YouTube.

Phew! I am glad I stumbled into Brian Dean. My friend, who is also my partner, loved his suggestions that drastically improved our stats. His easy-to-implement tricks helped us gain 1,000 subscribers and complete our 4,000 watch hours in 5 months. You can also follow me for more SEO tips.

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