- We get asked probably all the dang time,
how do I grow my gaming channel?
And, how do I do it for free?
The secret, yeah, there's few.
- [Announcer] VidIQ. - [Woman] VidIQ.
- [Man] VidIQ.com.
- Hello everybody, I'm Dan
and welcome back to vidIQ.
We are the YouTube tool academy and channel
that help to educate you along your YouTube journey.
And, as with education,
we wouldn't be very good instructors
if we didn't have you self-reflect
every now and again.
So, in the comments tell me this,
out of everything you do to make a video,
where do you think you struggle the most?
Where's the most room for improvement?
And, some answers my include thumbnails,
maybe the way you do your titles,
or how you engage with your audience.
It can be difficult sometimes
to reflect and look at your channel
from an outsider perspective
and try and determine where is the area
you could use the most improvement,
especially if you feel like
you're already doing everything right,
you're just simply not growing
because YouTube just probably hates you.
And, now would probably be a great time to subscribe
because my hope for you is at the end of this video
you understand that there are ways
to grow your YouTube channel.
YouTube doesn't hate you,
and you can start right now.
Now, when we talk about growth
there are some prerequisites here.
And, I'm going to assume you're already
doing the following things.
For one, you've niched down your channel,
whatever that means to you.
Whether it means playing just one video
or covering a genre of video game,
you've already niched down into a category
that makes sense for you.
I'm going to assume that you've already
gone out of your way
to improve your audio and visual quality
to the best of your ability right now.
I'm not saying you need to spend hundreds of dollars
if you haven't done so yet.
But, there's a lot of things you can do
and we've offered a lot of tips already here at vidIQ
as to what you could be doing to improve those things
for a relatively low cost.
And third, I'm going to assume
you're already making custom thumbnails.
Maybe they're not getting the click through
but you're trying.
And, you're trying to do your best
to make a nice cover image for every single video.
Yes, I'm doing all of those things
and I'm still not growing, what's going on.
Now, I said there were secrets.
And, I'm about to spill, so take notes.
When it comes to video games
there's two sides to this coin
both revolving around the popularity
of the game you've chosen.
You've niched down to that one game
but are people searching for it.
And, that's the first big secret I have for you.
The bigger the game, the tougher the start.
Let's quickly take a look at the vidIQ search panel,
Fortnite, Roblox, Apex Legends, Minecraft.
All of these games have something in common
and that's a high search volume,
a lot of people looking for this content,
but also a high competition score
which means a lot of people
are already delivering on this content.
But hey, your game is your game.
And, you know your work is good.
But, what can you do to stand out.
And, that's my next secret for you, research.
Your videos need to provide value
to the audience you're trying to serve.
The big YouTubers with millions of subscribers
can already pick up this game
and simply play it with their friends
and get hundreds of thousands of views.
That market is already being served.
The content that these folks make is fantastic, it's awesome
but if they don't research the questions
people are asking, this leaves a gap.
This leaves an opportunity for you to do that for them.
New people are coming to these games all the time
and they're doing their research,
they're asking questions,
they're tryna figure things out.
They're looking for tips and tricks
on how to be the best at that game,
or solve a particular puzzle or issue
that they're having in the game.
They might be looking for mods, or maps,
or just different games modes
and different ways to enjoy that game.
And, that's where you come in.
Playing these popular games and answering questions
that people might be asking about them.
Questions that aren't being answered by these channels
with millions of subscribers.
Using your videos to ask questions and answer them
is key to growth.
We did it on this video.
How do you grow your gaming channel for free?
That was the question that we've seen people ask us.
So, that became the title of our video.
Continue providing value in every video
whenever you can and you'll go a long way.
Listen, I don't play popular mainstream games.
I'm always on the cutting edge
playing the latest greatest thing.
Remember when I said a little while ago
that the gaming coin has two sides,
both revolving around popularity.
As a game gets older, of course,
the popularity does die down.
So, I would always tell you
to make sure the game you're playing
is something that people are searching for.
If it is an older game,
does it have a loyal community
that's still looking for new content?
A lot could be said though
for playing a game that's brand new, maybe an indie game
that nobody's really found yet.
Sticking of course to your niche, your genre
that your audience is used to you playing,
try and find these indie games
that you feel have a lot of potential.
Do reviews, walk people through
any new updates that come out.
Give them tips and tricks, and tutorials
that they would otherwise search for
as the game grows, and as it gets more popular.
You might even have to get creative
and answer question that nobody's asking yet
but perhaps you asked yourself when you were learning.
This method can require a lot of patience
because sometimes a game developer
takes their time publishing their game
and marketing their game,
and getting it in front of a lot of faces.
But, I've had it happen to me
where if I stick a game long enough
one day I check YouTube
and I have a spike in viewers.
And, it turns out that that game
made it to the front page of Steam
and a bunch of people are asking the question,
should I buy this game?
Video game review.
People love the game I'm playing,
it even appears at the top of search every single time,
but nobody is clicking on my video,
what is going on?
All right, let's talk thumbnails.
Your title and your thumbnail
are by far the most important aspects
to getting your video discovered and clicked on.
And, until recently it's been really tough
to decide what a good thumbnail might be
when you compare it to all the other thumbnails
you might be competing with.
But, we have something to show you.
We have a new tool here at vidIQ
that will allow you to see your video
before it even goes live, against other videos.
This tool is available now
but we are making some changes to it.
However, you can try it out for yourself.
Once you've set up your video with a thumbnail,
a title, a description,
all you need to do is type in your keyword,
the search term you feel people will use
to find your video.
Let's try, Discord tutorial 2020.
If we hit preview in search results,
you see our video title and our thumbnail
against all the other videos
that would normally pop up for the search term.
We can also what this looks like on a tablet,
or on a mobile device.
Assuming your video has been titled and tagged properly,
and it shows up among these other videos
related to say, a Discord guide,
this is what your thumbnail will look like.
This is a chance for you to see how
it stands out against
all the other competition making videos on this subject.
Despite being told over and over again growing up,
never judge a book by its cover,
we as humans are visual creatures.
And, your thumbnail is your video's cover.
And, people will absolutely judge it by that cover.
I feel as though I'm doing all of these things.
And yet, I'm still not growing.
We here at vidIQ give you a lot of free advice
and free tools to help grow your YouTube channels.
But, even if you are paying for our tools
your growth still depends on the decisions that you make.
And hey, even you spend money on advertising your videos
within YouTube itself,
nobody's going to click on that advertisement
and engage with it,
unless that first five-second clip is really compelling.
Our job at the end of the day
is to help give you everything you need
to be successful.
But, it's also up to you to take that advise
and apply it the best you can.
Speaking of free advice,
we have more all the time.
So, don't forget to subscribe.
I hope you found this helpful
and let us know in the comments where you feel
you could use the most improvement on YouTube.
Thank you for watching and we'll see you in the next one.