This is the highlight of the TubeSpanner livestream of YouTube Growth Q&As to get your burning questions answered and learn the exact strategies to grow your channel!
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It's great that you've got SEO down, but that's not all there is to it. SEO shouldn't be the final or only step.
Everything on YouTube works in tandem.
Good SEO, if done right, doesn't guarantee you views. It just guarantees placement in search.
It is up to the packaging (the title, the thumbnail, etc.) to come together to decide if an audience is interested in the conversation you're willing to have with them in search.
The SEO gets them to the shop window. Then it's up to your video to get them into the door.
Take a look at your video's analytics and go into the Reach tab.
There, you'll see your impressions and CTR.
The average CTR on YouTube is 2% - 10%. If you're on the far end of the average or below, then it means it's time to rework the thumbnail and maybe even the title.
If you're not getting impressions, this is an issue with your title, description, etc.
It's the era of 4K thumbnails. You can now upload up to 50MB for YouTube thumbnails on PC. Try it out as you make a new thumbnail for your A/B test! If you're not sure on what editor to use, consider TubeSpanner's Thumbnail Editor.
To know how you're improving, you'll first need to set up a baseline. Where are you at currently?
Example technical baseline: Is your mic having an issue with picking up noises? If you're able to make the noises around your mic quieter by a smidge, that's an improvement.
Example analytical baseline: If you started off YouTube with no experience in how to read the analytics, and you begin to learn what impressions and CTR are, that's an improvement.
You can improve in both ways, technical or analytical.
As you improve your technical side (mic, lighting, camera, etc.), you'll start to notice the improvements can plateau once you've got everything locked in. On the other hand, your analytical quality can always go up.
There will be a time when you need to increase your baseline.
Think of it like the gym. If you show up every week and lift the same weight, you'll stop seeing results. Not because you're doing it wrong, but because you stopped challenging yourself.
The same goes for your channel. Master the fundamentals, then raise your baseline. Keep pushing the analytical side forward. That's where the long-term growth lives.
Not all growth points you in the right direction.
Let's start with an example: You're a racing channel that's focused on Forza Horizon 6, but the series that's really kicking off your channel is your WWE playthrough. You weren't expecting it to blow up, and now it's bringing people who are more interested in WWE than Forza.
Depending your answer, this could be interpreted as a good or bad growth. Are you willing to pivot? Are you willing to dive into WWE, or at least dip your toes and test the waters?
If yes, then this can be a potential good growth as you move away from being a racing channel.
If no, then this is bad growth. Like mold. And when mold grows, you must remove it for you health and longevity.
Sudden virality can hurt too.
Going viral sounds like a dream until you're not ready for it. If a thousand people showed up at your house tomorrow and said, "cook us food," you wouldn't be thrilled. You'd be overwhelmed, confused, and wondering how they found you in the first place.
If you're not prepped for the follow up, it can be a lot. A lot of times, people can't deal with that overnight level of fame.
As creatives, we tend to focus so much on not growing, we don't plan for when we do. Have a plan for both scenarios. Know what you'd do if a video took off tomorrow.
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Yes, but stay loose.
A schedule builds discipline. When you map out your content in advance and follow through, you stop relying on how you feel and start relying on the system you built. That consistency is what keeps your channel alive through the slow weeks, the burnout stretches, and the days you'd rather do anything else.
But don't get married to the plan. Your schedule is a guide, not a rulebook. If something is blowing up in your niche right now, that matters more than what you had scheduled for November. Move it up. A good content plan is a framework you can rearrange when the right opportunity shows up.
Once your content is planned, the next step is getting it out consistently across every platform. TubeSpanner's Social Media Planner lets you schedule and share content without rebuilding your posts from zero every time. All without leaving YouTube.
