- Say you're, a gaming channel
and you're working towards your first 1000 subscribers.
How can creating simple gameplay videos help you get there?
- vidIQ
- vidIQ.com
(bright upbeat music)
- Hello, I'm Dan and this is vidIQ,
the YouTube at tool Academy and channel
that helps to educate you
along your YouTube journey.
Let's start a bit of a competition in the comments,
who makes the best "Let's Plays" videos
other than yourselves?
And I understand that is a question for somebody who knows
what a "Let's Plays" even is in the first place.
So what is it?
Basically a "Let's Play" is a simple gameplay video
where somebody sits down or perhaps a group of people
sit down and just have fun playing a game.
These videos serve no other purpose
than to entertain both the creator and the audience.
Because "Let's Play" videos inspired me
to start my own YouTube journey.
I decided to ask the vidIQ audience,
what types of gaming videos in your free time
do you find yourself watching on YouTube?
As I suspected, "Let's Plays" won in a landslide with 53%
of the vote, montages coming in second at 23%.
So if you're anything like me
and you've built your channel
around doing perhaps "Let's Plays" or gaming montages,
you might be noticing that you're not
quite seeing the growth you would hoped.
However, that doesn't mean you should
never make videos like this.
There are actually really good times to sit down,
hit record, and just play your favorite game
with your audience.
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If you've seen any of my videos here at vidIQ,
you've likely heard me say at least once
that you need to make videos like how to's
and reviews and listicles
in order to get discovered on YouTube
and thus grow your channels.
What's interesting though,
is that a lot of you are telling us how to's and reviews
aren't what you're searching for on YouTube.
You like watching "Let's Plays".
And so it's fair to think that
everybody in your niche also likes watching "Let's Plays".
This is certainly how I felt when I got started
but let's break down this whole thought process.
At the start of this video,
I asked everybody who makes the best "Let's Plays".
Well, take a second to scroll down
and see how people responded.
Did anybody mention a name that looks familiar?
Because when I asked this question,
I saw the same names popping up over and over again.
And these were all massive channels, leaders in this space
and like it or not, your competition.
Take, for example, a search for Roblox "Let's Play" videos
vidIQ tells us that people are searching for this term.
However, the competition is stacked. In fact,
an entire channel with "Let's Play" in their name
is sitting at the very top of the search results.
Below them are just a few creators
with tons of subscribers who post regular Roblox content.
An additional search for Roblox gameplay
has some very dominant videos
and it appears they're actually kind of old now.
These types of popular evergreen content
that are sitting at the top of search
are going to make it extremely difficult
for somebody new to come along with a title like
Roblox gameplay episode one, and then get discovered.
My point is that if you're a small to medium sized channel
in the grand scheme of things,
you're just getting started in this space
and you're competing against people
who are well established.
Some of them have probably entire teams
helping them do their research,
create clickable thumbnails, and make amazing content.
This is why we're always going on
about creating high value videos.
Videos that take some extra keyword research.
Videos that teach you how to do something
or review a new product.
How to's and listicles may not be the content
that you're looking for, but don't forget
this content isn't for you, it's for your audience.
Let's take a step back and think of it this way.
Let's say people get done watching Jelly
after he does a "Let's Play" about a new Minecraft mod.
As you can see, Jelly does a lot of different things
with Minecraft. So perhaps he didn't go as in depth
with this mod, as he could have.
This curiosity amongst Jelly's viewers,
gives you an opportunity to stand out a little bit
and deliver some answers because now Jelly's viewers
are going out and searching for things like
Minecraft, rocket boots.
And it looks like we're onto something here
because all of these Minecraft rocket boots, videos
look like they can use an update
when you put them alongside Jelly's
and if enough people stumble upon your video,
when looking for more about rocket boots in Minecraft,
there's a very good chance that you get recommended
next to these larger creators making similar content.
And Hey, this gives you an excellent excuse
to continue watching more "Let's Plays" content
from your favorite creators
instead now, you take notes. For example,
a really popular Roblox channel
showing off all of the cool clothing
that they just purchased.
Perhaps you can make a follow up video
where you teach people how to actually make
their own clothing in Roblox.
Will you be the first person to ever do this?
No, probably never, but it gives you a chance to stand out.
And when you post your video, at least for a time,
it's going to be the most up to date.
So in this case, I would research
how to make Roblox shirts?
Look at the first several results here,
pay attention to these titles, thumbnails,
the length of the videos.
Watch a couple of these take notes on what you liked
and what you didn't like and how you can improve
when you make your video.
Speaking of comparing your thumbnails, by the way,
we actually have a tool
that's going to be really helpful to you.
Say, you want to rank for the search term,
start a Roblox channel,
you'll click preview and search results.
Your thumbnail will now come up alongside
all the other videos currently ranking for that term.
This isn't where your video ranks on YouTube,
but just what it looks like alongside
some of these other videos
that rank for this term currently.
From here you can decide,
does your thumbnail stand out compared to these other ones?
Or do you want to perhaps make some changes?
Another cool trick is hitting Home screen
and now you can see what your video looks like
on the YouTube home screen,
where just some other thumbnails might be
if you're a user who's
getting recommended all kinds of videos.
And you can even see this in other formats
such as, desktop tablet or mobile.
Thumbnails are perhaps the most important part
of the video creation process
and this tool should be a huge help to you.
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Yes, everything we just went over
does take more time
than sitting down and hitting record
to create a simple gameplay video,
but that's only one part of the strategy.
If on your Minecraft channel,
you make a whole bunch of how to videos
and Redstone tutorials
and a bunch of people subscribe for that.
A great way to continue engaging those subscribers
is every so often to put out a "Let's Play".
What I'm saying is I want "Let's Play" content
gameplay content to be part of your YouTube gaming strategy.
And as you build more authority as a Minecraft expert,
more people will come to watch these "Lets plays".
And you may find even these videos
start to bring a new audience.
Of course, if you're just starting out on YouTube,
"Let's Plays" are a great way to just
learn about the whole video making process.
"Let's Plays" can be great
for sitting down alone in a room and
learning how to get really comfortable and confident
in front of a microphone.
They're also great for learning
how to use your new editing software you just got.
Most importantly,
they're just a ton of fun to make,
even if you're not getting the views you would hope for.
I do hope you found this video helpful.
If you did, don't forget to subscribe
for more videos like this here at vidIQ
all the time, happy gaming.