Promoting Your YouTube Channel

Many people create a lot of video content that they post on YouTube and then find that they do not get a following.  If this is what you are experiencing, here are some tips on how to promote your channel.  The first question you should ask yourself is whether your videos are good or are following any of the current trends.  If you do not have content that people are interested in watching, then it is going to be difficult to get views.  However, if you have gotten some positive feedback from friends or a few random viewers, then your problem may simply be that people are not aware of you and your channel.  The answer to this is to promote your channel in order to generate views and develop a following.  Here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Promote yourself on other social media sites. There is no shame in using your Facebook friends and twitter followers as a springboard.  Use these sites to promote yourself and announce any new content that you post.  Don’t underestimate the power of social media sites.  You may be surprised at how much they can help you as your friends begin to share your videos with their friends and so on.  Also you can look up forums that complement your niche (ex. if you make gaming videos, go to gaming forums) and tell them to check out your channel.
2. Create an attractive channel.  YouTube has a relatively easy setup for customizing channels.  If your channel looks interesting and catches viewers’ attention, then they will be more likely to stick around and check it out.  Be sure to keep your channel organized.  It is a good idea to create playlists that you can organize similar videos into to help your viewers find a video easier.   Also, I would recommend setting up your channel so that a video will automatically play when someone visits your channel.  If you don’t know how to customize your channel, there are quite a few videos and articles that can help you.  Here is one article that I think is helpful for simple customizing.
3. Make your videos searchable.  Make your title compelling, but not so abstract that views don’t know what it is about.  Use keywords that will help draw in viewers who are using the search engines.  Once you have a good strong title that will catch a viewer’s interest, create a good description that will reel them in.
4. Annotate your channel.  Annotation is the ability that YouTube has provided to add links
   
   in your videos.  If you are promoting a product, you can add a link to the product’s site or to a store website.  You can also promote your own videos in this way.  You can encourage viewers to check out older videos etc.  Here is an article that guide you through this process.
   
   
   
   
5. Call your viewers to action.  Enable comments on your channel and videos (you can always delete comments or block users).  Ask your viewers for feedback and ideas.  Also ask them to like, subscribe, and share.  

Following these tips will get you started down the right path to promoting your channel and generating views.  There are other tips available from other bloggers and YouTube itself that you may be interested in checking out.  So, now that you know how to promote yourself, get out there and keep creating content. Have fun!