You get to the point, better audio quality,
knowing this number is going to be game-changing for when you create your content.
[inaudible]
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to my channel, the best place for new coaches, content, creators, and
entrepreneurs. Today, we're going to talk about YouTube mistakes that are costing you subscribers
now, sorry, if that little click hurt your ears for those of you that are wearing headphones,
but this video is very long overdue. It's been a while on my channel since I posted a video about
YouTube. And so I'm coming at you with some of the things that you must be aware of when you are
growing your channel that you should not do, or that you shouldn't do that could either hurt your
subscribers or help you gain more subscribers. And so if you're interested in getting my tips,
tricks, strategies, mistakes, lessons, all those things about YouTube, then keep on watching and
especially watch until the end of the video, because the tips just get better and better.
The very first tip that I have for you is probably something that you don't think about often,
but I want it to put it as the first tip because not a lot of content creators talk about this,
and that is making the rookie mistake of investing in a better camera versus investing in better
audio. I made this mistake too. When I started guys,
I thought that it was the camera quality. That was the most important in terms of retaining audience
engagement on YouTube. But now that I'm a little bit wiser, I have over a hundred videos under
my belt. I now realize that camera great. That's cool. But technically you could get away with
using your iPhone. And especially now in this day and age, an iPhone has way better capabilities
than what YouTube has had ages ago, but what you are missing mostly is better audio quality.
I know for me, in my previous videos, I would upgrade my cameras, but I would really simp out
and you know, cheap out on upgrading audio. And I'll give you an example of my old videos and the
differences in audio quality. You are the one that's going to be successful. If you choose
to be, and you need to be able to take that ownership on yourself to become successful,
no one is going to do it for you. And that's what separates the losers from the winners.
Now you can see, I mean, the quality in terms of camera pretty much are the same. Yes,
nowadays my footage is a lot nicer and a lot better, but the audio difference
truly is night and day. And so my biggest tip for content creators. When you have the budget,
I actually would prioritize getting better audio than getting a better camera.
At the end of the day, if people can't get through a video, listening to you,
they're likely going to hop off. And if they hop off, they're likely not going to finish the video.
And if they don't finish the video, then they don't know how awesome you are and therefore they
won't subscribe to your channel. So if I had only $200 to spend, and it was between a better camera
or a better audio system, I would definitely choose better audio every single time. Now,
oftentimes I get a lot of questions from you guys of what audio do you use? What equipment
do you use? Very simple, just visit www dot Vanessa, loud.co Ford slash tools. And you're
going to see all of the equipment that I use currently on my channel.
If you need more tips, definitely check out my friend, Sean Cannell, over at think media.
He is more of the tech guy and he'll definitely have so many recommendations depending on your
budget, on what audio, what camera's would work for you, but definitely don't cheap out on audio,
whether you are a YouTuber or a podcast, or especially if you're a podcast or audio is super,
super important. You want it to be crisp. You want it to be clear and you don't want people
to hop off in a video just because you have bad audio. Now moving onto the second mistake,
that's costing you subscribers, whether you know it or not. And that is not,
front-loading the most important things, whether it's within your optimization for your videos
or within the content. Now there are three areas that's going to be very important for
you to front load on. And if you don't know what front load means, I'll explain that in a moment.
The first thing is you want to make sure that your titles, the important keywords are front-loaded.
The second portion is that you want to make sure your cards are also front-loaded when you're
optimizing your video. And lastly, you want to make sure that the most important call to actions
or content pieces are also front-loaded in the content of your actual video. Now, with that out
of the way of those three key things that you want to focus on, what exactly is front-loading? Well,
front-loading basically means that you're putting things right at the front. So
let's take titles for an example, a mistake that I see a lot of newer YouTubers make,
or even more experienced you tubers where they're making this mistake,
but they don't realize it's actually going to cost them subscribers and cost them views is the fact
that they don't put the most important keywords of their video at the beginning of their title.
Let me give you a clear example. For instance, with this video, I strategically named this video
YouTube mistakes that are costing you subscribers the most important keyword that I want to make
sure people see right front and center is YouTube mistakes. Because what you have to realize is
over on your channel page, most of the title is going to get cut out. If you head over to mobile,
a lot of the title is going to get cut out. And depending on where people are finding your videos,
rest assured that not the full title will show up. And so that's why it's important for you to
convey what the video is about by front-loading the most important keywords of that video, right
in the front of the title versus at the end, for instance, if I named this title,
something like why you're losing subscribers on YouTube and mistakes that you're making well,
there's a chance that people will only see the first four words.
And if that person's really looking for YouTube advice and the keyword YouTube isn't in the front,
then they might not click on the video. So that's why it's important that when you're creating your
titles, that you're, front-loading the most important keywords. Now, of course, sometimes
maybe you're not able to do that for some reason. I don't know why you wouldn't be able to,
but it is the case where the most important keywords aren't in the front of your title,
then that's where your thumbnail really needs to make up for it. So if let's say
your video title is something that is a little bit less descriptive, for instance,
let's say one of the videos that I had in the past was 10 new year habits for entrepreneurs. Well,
because I want people to know that this video is specifically for entrepreneurs,
but in the title, I know that entrepreneurs might get cut out.
Well then in the thumbnail, I'll actually put in the word entrepreneur that people have more
context about the video. So just know that your thumbnails can also really help people have more
context, but just remember that within the title itself, it's probably in your favor to front-load
the most important keywords right? Front and center of your title. The next thing that's
going to be wise for you to front load things is your cards. Now what cards are is basically
the top right corner. Sometimes you'll see videos that pop out or titles that pop out that
the YouTuber may recommend for you to watch. Well, all you have to do is go into your creator studio
at the cards. And now a mistake that I see a lot of people make is sometimes they'll put the cards
way at the end of the video, or they'll scatter it throughout the video.
Now this is okay. And having cards is a great best practice because you want people to be
aware of the other videos on your channel and hopefully increase the chances of them watching
those videos. But here's the kicker. You really need to understand your average view duration here
on YouTube and how you find that is by going into your analytics, looking at your audience
engagement and seeing on average, how long does someone realistically stick around in your videos?
In my case, majority of my audience only watches about five minutes of my videos because I have
this information. It's going to be important for me that when I'm deciding where to put my cards,
I should probably put it in the first five minutes of the video, because I know after five minutes,
majority of my audience is going to drop off. And before that happens, I want to suggest a bunch
of videos through the cards that they can watch instead, so that they'll stay here on my channel.
You really want to get their attention and encourage them to binge watch on your videos.
Even if they leave before your average view duration. Now, obviously minus five minutes,
yours could be two minutes. Yours could be 10 minutes depending on your channel,
which is why it's going to be very important for you to leverage your analytics on YouTube,
understand that and optimize your videos accordingly. Because if you don't do that,
and let's say you put your cards way at the end. Well, not a lot of people are going to see it,
and that's going to risk you getting more subscribers because Hey, maybe this video
isn't the right fit for you, but maybe another video on my channel would be the right fit for you
and would actually prompt you to subscribe. But if you don't see that video, or if you're not aware
that that video even exists, then I'll definitely lose the opportunity to have you as a subscriber.
Now, speaking of average, view duration, knowing this number is going to be game changing for
when you create your content. And when you're filming your videos, for instance,
when you know your average view duration, and let's use my example again, minus five minutes
and 30 seconds or something. Well, because I know this, the third thing that I want to make sure
I front load is going to be my call to actions or important content pieces. So in my case,
let's say I have five tips and maybe three out of the five tips are the strongest tips that I have.
Well, I'm likely going to put those tips earlier on in the video rather than later,
because some people are not going to make it until the end. And if I put my two weaker tips upfront,
then they might think that the rest of the video also has weaker tips.
Now, obviously weak tips is subjective. It's relative and people have different definitions
of it. So just trust judgment on this. For me, what I try to do is I'll try to put maybe some
of my jucier tips in the front of the video, or maybe I'll sprinkle some of them at the end too.
So the video is balanced, but I definitely don't leave my best tips until the end,
because I know majority of the people are going to drop off the same goes for call
to actions. And this is going to be really important if you're more entrepreneurial
and business minded and you do YouTube for business. Now, if you have any lead magnets,
if you have any business opportunities, if you are selling something, if you have a newsletter
that you want people to sign up for, or you have an announcement or anything like that,
you also want to make sure that you say those things before your average view duration.
So in my case, I try my best to talk about all the important things happening in my business or an
action that I want my subscribers to take earlier rather than later. Because again,
I know that most people hop off after five minutes. So that's why it's very important that
you front load your title, keywords, you front load your cards, and you also front load your
most important content or call to actions in your video because people's attention span on YouTube
is very, very small. Now that was a lot of tips just based off of front-loading. So let's move
onto the next tip that I have, and that is not being known for something it's very important. If
you want to grow a mass following on YouTube, that you are known for something that you are the go-to
of your industry or the go-to for a specific topic or the go-to for maybe a specific feeling, right?
So let's say Jenna marbles. I know that she's no longer on YouTube anymore, so sad, but even though
she does a lot of random videos, I know that at least for me, she's the go-to for like fun,
wholesome, funny content, right? So she's the go-to for that, or let's say for me,
I'm the go-to for social media strategy. I have established myself in this space, or let's say
your favorite fashion, vlogger, or favorite fashion guru. Maybe she's the go-to for luxury
handbags. You want to really niche down. And I talk about it in this video right here, where it
give my tips on how to start a successful YouTube channel. And I also talk about niching down and
being known for something. And a lot of my other videos, regardless if it's YouTube, Instagram,
podcasts, starting a business, whatever it is, there is power in being known for something,
because you don't want people to maybe watch a video of yours and then go to your channel.
But then all your videos are like, kind of all over the place. It's not clear to them why they
should follow you. And therefore you're not going to get the subscriber. It's really important that
you have consistency in certain topics on your channel, especially when you're starting. And
you're building up that reputation, because think about it. Why do you follow the people you follow?
You likely follow them for specific purposes and specific reasons. And so that's why you
want to make sure that you give people a reason to subscribe to your channel by being consistent,
by building up a personal brand. And by the way, I have this video right here about personal branding
and also by niching down now, moving onto the next mistake that I see a lot of YouTubers doing that
compromises their subscriber rate is the fact that they're not optimizing their channel homepage.
There are a lot of things that you can do with your channel homepage that can really increase
your subscriber rate. Let's start off with your cover banner. It's going to be very important that
your cover banner and this kind of links back to the previous tip about being known for something
your cover banner should clearly communicate the value that you're going to be providing to people
on your channel, the frequency of when you post and any relevant information on what your channel
mission is about. And if you have any questions about how to create an awesome and highly
converting cover banner, I highly recommend that you check out this video that I have right here,
because it definitely deserves its own tutorials. It's bookmark this and watch this after you
finish this video, the second thing that you might want to optimize that is game changing.
Is your playlist something that a lot of newer YouTubers aren't aware of is that
you can actually organize the layout of your channel. And by doing this, you can really
maximize the visibility of some videos that you know are going to help you convert subscribers.
When it comes to adding these playlists on your homepage, all you do is go to customize channel.
And once you go to customized channel, you're able to choose your channel trailer and featured
video for returning subscribers. And here you're going to be able to add different sections. Now,
for me, I add all of my single playlist. So all you do is add section, you click single playlists,
and then you pick the playlist that you've put together. And once you've done that, you're going
to be able to move things around. And however you move things, it's going to show up like this
on your home page, moving onto the next mistake that a lot of people make that could be hurting.
The way that you're getting subscribers is this. And it's something that I have made
and that I constantly make to be honest. And that is having too long of an intro. And let
me give you my personal experience. There was a time where we used to do subscriber shout outs
on this channel, massive congratulations to this week's YouTube channel and Instagram profile of
the week. Thank you for supporting this show. Well, however, what I noticed is that sometimes
it would take up about two minutes of the video. And because I know most people hop
off after five minutes. It means that a lot of people aren't actually going to get to the meat
of the video and they might be turned off by the fact that I'm having such a long introduction. And
so that's why, especially if you're starting out and you don't have a loyal following yet,
it's going to be really important that you get to the point because the attention span,
like I mentioned earlier on many times in this video is very short on YouTube.
You want to capture someone's attention right away. So that's why when you are doing your
intros, make sure you're not blabbering too long. Make sure you're not talking about yourself for
too long. I know, I know it sucks that you can't talk about yourself for that much,
but trust me on YouTube. A lot of people are very, very solution-oriented they're in a lot of pain.
That's why they're on YouTube. They're looking for entertainment or education and they want to
get the information handed to them fast. And so that's why it's gonna be very important
that you keep your intros concise and that you also lay out your videos in a way that's
somewhat structured. Especially if you do videos like me that are more educational
and less about entertainment, less about blogging. You want to make sure that everything concise
and you're not rambling all the time, because it is going to hurt your audience retention.
Now, a little tip that I have for you to really capture your audience right from the second that
they watched, the video is doing something called a cold open. This is something that I learned from
my video editor, Elena, over at create in the late. And what it is is basically take a very
juicy part of your video and put it right at the front, like a teaser. Now, Elena, in the next
slide, we're going to show you an example of what that looks like. How exactly do I manage my time?
Every single day, the five core functions of any business are the following. There are other things
that I do in my business that have significantly changed my productivity and the biggest one was
no onto the next mistake. That could be costing you subscribers. And that is
over editing your videos. I definitely made this mistake when I was editing videos on my own.
And it was very obvious that I made this mistake because in the comment section,
I would have a few people tell me, Oh my gosh, the sound effects that you're using are so annoying
or your video is so jumpy. I can't, you know, pay attention and therefore I couldn't finish
the video. So there are a few mistakes that I used to make. Number one, I used to over
edit every single mistake. So every time I said, um, or, uh, I would edit that out and
I'm going to show you in the next clip, the result of what my editing. Yeah. If
I can help someone through this. And I think it's worth posting structure of this video is
going to be more like a story. Another mistake that I also used to do is I used to use a lot
of sound effects in my videos specifically, I would always use this loop effect.
I used apps like preview plan early or later in order to plan the first 12 posts of my feet. And
a lot of people were turned off by that and on its own, it's a very cute sound effect,
but I literally did it for every single pop-up that showed up in the video and looking back, I
can totally understand why it was annoying. And so definitely understand that with editing sometimes
less is truly more. And when you over edit your video specifically with a lot of sound effects
happening in a high frequency in your video, it can really be annoying for other people,
especially headphone users who are very, very sensitive to the noise. So remember, especially
if you're doing like educational content, like me more is not always better and really do find
a fine balance. When it comes to editing your editing style, it can either hurt you or help you.
So make sure you have a fine balance with all of that. Now, of course, when it comes to editing,
like I mentioned, it can really help you with getting subscribers, actually. Especially if you
do talking head videos like me, if I just sat here and talked all day every day, no sound effects,
no graphics, no B roll, no nothing. Then yeah. My audience retention would probably be super low and
also people probably wouldn't be enticed enough or engaged enough to subscribe to my channel. And
that's why a lot of my videos will do something like B roll. We'll add sound effects like this, or
effects like this in order to keep you guys. Now, of course, if you have any questions about hiring
your very first video editor, because for me, I no longer edit my videos anymore. And to be honest,
since hiring a video editor who edits videos better than me has really helped my channel.
You definitely want to check out this resource that I have right here. Why walk through some
tips on how to hire your first video editor here on YouTube? Anyways, guys, so far in this video,
I shared some key mistakes slash tips, I guess, on how you can really get more
subscribers and things to avoid that could hurt your potential to get subscribers.
There are of course, so many other things that I could say. So like this video, if you want more
videos about YouTube and my suggestions for you on how to optimize your channel better. I also have
this playlist right here where I talk a lot about YouTube too. And there's a lot of previous videos
that I've done here on my channel that can help you with your channel to definitely check out this
playlist as well, comment below. And let me know if you have your tips or what you found helpful.
I'd love to hear it. I post a lot of videos about social media, marketing and entrepreneurship. So
definitely check out these two videos that I have right here as well. And by the way,
this is also a best practice. Make sure you have your end cards because then people can binge
watch your videos. But anyways, I have these two videos as well. So definitely check them out while
you wait for next week's video as always guys, I appreciate you. I hope you guys have a great day,
a great week and a great life, and I will see you in the next video. Bye guys.