YouTube, the internet’s largest video content platform, can help your business reach many new customers.
However, keeping people interested in your YouTube videos can take time and effort. You must stand out with over 500 hours of video content uploaded every minute.
It is why we’ve compiled a list of the best ways to increase your YouTube viewing time. These tried-and-true hacks will ensure that your viewers continue to watch your content.
This article contains eight awesome hacks showing you how to get more YouTube watch hours. That way, you can easily get started with monetization.
What’s the best part? These are extremely simple to implement and have been shown to produce results.
Let’s get started!
1. Publish engaging videos regularly.
Post engaging videos if you want your YouTube content to be more engaging.
It implies that your YouTube videos must contain at least one of the following three elements: information, entertainment, or interest.
To begin, ask yourself these questions before creating new YouTube videos.
- What is the topic of your video?
First, you must have a clear and specific idea for your video.
Picking something familiar is a good place to start. Furthermore, this video should be relevant to your brand.
- Who is this video aimed at?
Before creating new videos, you should also determine your target audience.
- What is unique about your video that people cannot discover anywhere else?
Your videos provide a factor distinctive to your viewers.
You can do this by watching YouTube videos from your competitors and seeing how you can improve their content. You can also look for topics they must cover and focus your videos on them.
After you’ve completed all of this, you can begin posting your video content regularly. After all, channels that post at least one video per week perform better.
You can embed engaging videos on your website if you want even more people to see them.
As a result, your website visitors can watch your videos and increase your watch time. These people will likely be interested in your content because they are on your site.
With this plugin, you can easily post YouTube video feeds to your website with a few clicks — no coding required.
Single videos, multiple videos, playlists, YouTube search results, and channels can be embedded.
Furthermore, for all feeds created with Feeds for YouTube, All 25-year-olds and 60-year-olds will most likely have disparate interests.
Remember your target audience when creating YouTube videos for the best results. You can create appropriate content for their age, gender, occupation, location, and other factors.Â
2. SEO-optimize your videos
Improving the SEO for your videos is another great way to increase your YouTube watch time.
Your videos will rank higher in search engine results if you improve your SEO. As a result, when people search on YouTube, they can easily find your videos.
Optimizing your videos for YouTube SEO can be a breeze. Start by following this step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Locate the Primary Keyword
First, decide which search term your video should rank for and which will be your primary keyword.
If your video is a WordPress tutorial for newcomers, you could use the phrase “WordPress guide for beginners” as your keyword.
People looking for that term can find and watch your video.
Step 2: Incorporate your keyword into the video.
The next step is to include that keyword in your YouTube video.
As a result, YouTube can detect the keyword while processing your video. And because YouTube’s algorithm recognizes that your content is relevant to the keyword, it will rank your video higher.
Step 3: Incorporate the Keyword into the video title
You can also add that keyword to the title of your YouTube video when you upload it.
So, for example, if your keyword is “WordPress tutorial for beginners,” your title could be “WordPress Tutorial for Beginners (No Coding Required).”
Step 4: Incorporate the keyword into the video description and tags.
You can add different keyword variations to the video’s description and tags.
Consequently, YouTube will notice that the video targets that keyword and will help you rank higher.Â
Furthermore, by ranking higher, more people can find your content.
You now understand how to increase your YouTube watch hours by optimizing your videos.
3. Integrate your YouTube channel into your website
Do you want an easy way to increase people’s time watching your videos? Your YouTube channel and videos can be embedded on your website.
After that, anyone who visits your website can watch your YouTube videos. As a result, you can convert site visitors into viewers and subscribers.
With this plugin, you can quickly embed all of the content from your YouTube channel. You won’t even need to compose just one line of code!
This plugin will add new YouTube videos to your website whenever you add a new video to your channel.
4. Make playlists of your videos
YouTube playlists can be a quick and easy way to boost your viewing time.
People visiting your YouTube channel can view all your videos in one place. If they’re looking for a specific type of video, they might need help finding it here.
People can easily find what they’re looking for with YouTube playlists. Assume you have a YouTube channel with tutorials on website management. You can then organize your tutorials into various YouTube playlists.
When an individual comes to the channel for information about your landing pages, they can find that playlist and start watching immediately.
In addition, instead of just one video, they can now view all your videos on that topic.
Furthermore, you can embed your playlists on your website to increase video views.
As a result, you can easily add relevant video content to your website with a few clicks. It is a great way to increase your watch hours and engagement on your site.
5. Include interesting and relevant thumbnails
Did you know that a personalized thumbnail can increase your click rate by up to 40%?
And as more people click on your videos, you will receive more views. Furthermore, YouTube will rank them higher in search results, allowing even more people to see your videos.
All you have to do is include an appealing thumbnail corresponding to your YouTube video’s content.
Here are a few ideas for using this thumbnail in your videos:
- Colours that stand out and attract attention
- The font size is easily readable.
- Text that clarifies the video’s topic
- Visible logo, so viewers can tell it’s your video
With these straightforward instructions, you can have YouTube thumbnails that immediately get you more watch time.
6. Plan live streams
Organizing live streams is one of the most effective ways to increase YouTube watch hours.
Livestreams, unlike different YouTube videos, allow for real-time interactions with viewers and are much longer. So you can increase your watch hours while building a relationship with your viewers.
And as you get to know your viewers better, you’ll be able to figure out what kinds of videos they want from you.
Furthermore, live streams are simple to organize. To get started, consider the following:
- Question and answer sessions
- Notices and breaking news
- Demonstrations of products
- Webinars and instructional videos
- Behind-the-scenes footage
Try live streaming to keep people watching your content for much longer.
People on your website can join your streams when you go live. You can also embed previous live streams to get more views even after they have ended.
7. Track your progress using YouTube Analytics
You’ll have a much easier time getting more YouTube watch hours if you use YouTube Analytics.
This excellent analytics tool can assist you in viewing various useful YouTube metrics and stats, including your watch time.
So, whenever you experiment with a new strategy to increase your watch hours, you can see how successful it is here.
Assume you began hosting weekly live streams on your YouTube channel. You can see how much your watch hours have increased by using live streams in YouTube Analytics.
You can also find a lot of other information about your channel here, such as data about your viewers. Then you can get to know them better and start creating content for them.
Assume you began hosting weekly live streams on your YouTube channel. You can see how much your watch hours have increased by using live streams in YouTube Analytics.
You can also find a lot of other information about your channel here, such as data about your viewers. Then you can get to know them better and start creating content for them.
8. Include teasers at the start
Include a short teaser for your main content at the beginning of your YouTube video to keep people watching.
As a teaser, show interesting clips from later in the video. That way, you can draw people in after they open your video and keep them watching.
If you include a teaser, people will immediately comprehend what your video is about. You’re also making a good first impression with your video content.
You can also share these teasers on other social media sites with a link to your full YouTube video. People will then taste your YouTube content and watch your video to learn more.
You can also embed social media posts with these teasers on your website to increase interest in your videos.
9. Get involved in your community
You can build connections with your YouTube community by interacting with them.
And that relationship can help you convert them into loyal YouTube viewers. As a result, they’ll watch more of your video content, and you’ll get many YouTube watch hours.
Ask questions in your YouTube videos to get more comments. Then you can interact with people and participate in discussions by liking, pinning, or responding to their comments.
You may utilize the YouTube community part to post channel updates, polls, and other interactions with your audience.
With these interactions, you’ll easily attract loyal viewers and brand ambassadors to your YouTube channel.
That’s all there is to it!
That was the guide to increasing your YouTube watch hours. These hacks have been shown to produce results, so you can start promoting your brand on YouTube immediately.