Music Think Tank

We’ve been focusing a lot lately on online promotion and SEO for videos. Through this process we have been doing a lot of tests to see what works and what doesn’t and we’ve only been getting better results. There are so many scams and companies out there that offer fake numbers. This is never a good option – the whole reason to release and promote anything online is to either entertain your current fans and/or gain new fans. It’s easy to release a music video for the benefit of your current fans and it’s important to do things to show your appreciation for them. What we have been focusing on instead is how to increase your fan base and get views from people who have never heard of you before.

The strategy of uploading a video to YouTube and then posting it on your Website, Facebook page and tweeting about it isn’t enough and you wont be gaining new viewers using this method.

Here are a few tips on increasing your YouTube views:

Make sure the video is tagged properly. Think about what keywords people search that relate to your video.
The description is important and needs to include keywords that will increase interest. Also, make sure to include all the credits for the song and video.
The thumbnail needs to be eye catching. Don’t settle for one of the three automatic thumbnails that YouTube sets for you. Choose a photo that will stand out and encourage people to watch your video while also remaining true to the video content. Don’t upload a thumbnail that has nothing to do with the video as this could get your video removed.
Make sure you and your current fans watch the video all the way through. YouTube takes your watch-time into account when deciding how important your video is, so don’t just click on your video to see how many views you’re at – you need to watch the whole video.
Once you launch your video it’s important to get the views as high as possible as quickly as possible. YouTube is more likely to take an interest in your video if it starts out strong. Get your video embedded in as many different websites as possible right away and make sure you watch the video from each of these sites in the embedded window and then and click on the video from that site to open it in YouTube and watch it again.
Through social media don’t just encourage fans/friends and family to watch your video – ask them to watch it, like it, favorite it, and comment on YouTube and Subscribe to your channel from that video watch page. The goal is to get YouTube to see your video as being interesting and important, this will increase your chance of getting on recommended lists and on the front page.
Look at your YouTube analytics and see what worked and what didn’t. Keep trying new tags, new thumbnails and new descriptions to see if you can keep increasing your views. Although the first 24 hours after you launch a new video is key, it’s also important to know that you can keep increasing your numbers by testing new things.

There’s no easy way to increase your views on YouTube, but following these steps will start to lead you in the right direction. It can take time to learn what works and what doesn’t. Remember that when your starting out you’re just trying to establish and build a community of supports and this can take time.

Liz Uhl is the Marketing & Promotions Coordinator at AMP Records. This article was originally posted on www.amprecordsco.com