There was a time when YouTube was first launched and was used to watch funny animal videos, interesting or amazing facts about different things. There was no competition then and so no one was worried to make their YouTube videos go viral.
The very first video on YouTube was in April 2005 in which the YouTube co- founder was seen with two elephants noting their trunks.
Fast forward 18 years later, now YouTube is the home of 2 billion active users which is growing each passing day, where every other channel wants to go viral or atleast achieve the 5 mins of fame.
By just uploading a video one cannot hope to make their channel go viral. A lot of effort, calculations, use of analytics and a bit of luck is required.
In going viral one can get more YouTube subscribers, visibility and also help their channel grow and reach new heights.
Keeping this in mind, we have prepared a guide or you can call it steps on How To Make Your YouTube Videos Go Viral. Read on to know more.
How To Create A Viral Video?
Nowadays many YouTubers believe that if they upload a content which is funny or a roasting video on a trending topic, the video is bound to go viral.
That is not the case. In order to make a viral video many factors need to be considered like the theme, the content, the costume and even the editing.
Before deciding anything, we first need to put ourselves in the shoes of the general audience and think about what they want to see or what unique video content will draw their attention.
Viewers attention are very fickle and the concept really needs to be unique in order to become a viral sensation overnight.
However one should always remember by putting misleading content or thumbnails or titles or description one might be able to draw in views.
But in the long run it might turn into wrath of the viewers and they might report your videos which will lead your channel to have a bad reputation.
Therefore, in order to make your YouTube videos go viral one needs to concentrate on the video part first as that will be the first thing drawing in your viewers.
A Mind Blowing Thought And A Good Content
Before starting anything else, the theme of your channel should be decided first.
If you want to go viral, the content of the video should be unique which the viewers have never come across. Because, unique contents get more views on YouTube.
The most recent example of viral content should be Khaby Lame who became a viral sensation due to his unique idea of judging complicated tasks which could be done in an easy way.
However if no idea comes to mind, one can always ask help from friends and family who can give an idea of trendy topics or you can do a market research on the trendy topics and craft your content idea through the topics.
Shooting The Video
After deciding the theme or the content of the video, the next part comes the shooting part.
Thankfully we have come to an era where we do not need expensive cameras, costumes or a dedicated location. A mobile phone with a good camera is all that is needed. But, shooting the videos properly helps you to promote your YouTube channel.
Viewers these days prefer raw footage instead of glamour or heavy costumes. The content and idea is what matters to the viewers along with a decent good shot video.
Going with the same example above Khaby Lame had shot his videos in his apartment sitting on his dining table with his mobile phone and also the costume which he wore were his normal wear clothes.
Editing The Video
After deciding the theme and finishing shooting your video comes a very important part which is editing. A good editing skills that is required is one of the secret things to make your videos go viral.
It’s the editing work that makes your viewers stay till the end. However unique a concept is if the editing is poor viewers will not gain interest and your videos will never gain views.
How To Optimize Your Video?
Now that we have covered the audience part we need to concentrate on the technical part as well.
Just by creating a video one’s work does not finish, the main hard work lies in optimizing your video, creating attractive thumbnails, making the video appropriate for search engine results.
1. Video Title
If you want to make your YouTube videos go viral, the video title is the most important part. Keyword Optimization on the video title makes the video have better search results and climb in search engine rankings.
In order to find the correct keyword first look into keywords that are connected to the video. Do a keyword search and find out about the latest trending keywords related to your content.
You can use the help of Google analytics to discover new keywords or to find high trending keywords.
Keyword research can also be done if you look into the related videos uploaded by the channels of your niche. This can help in analysis of the keywords your competitors are using and use them to your benefits.
Always remember the main component of your video is the keyword. Keywords must be appealing to the viewers so that they can click as soon as YouTube recommends to them. This is a great way to increase traffic to your videos.
Lastly, in order to create an appealing title, mix the keywords in such a way that the most common type phrases are related to your keywords and your video.
2. Video Tags
After keywords, comes another important task that is video tags. Video tags are tags that you join into your videos to fit the words you use most frequently.
Whenever you are going to transfer your videos always remember to tag them in such a way that your video gets noticed.
One can put however tags as possible but add tags which are of high volume. Do add tags which are related to your video. One must not add tags which are non related to the video as it will confuse the YouTube algorithm.
3. Video Description
The Description Box under the video is one of the best ways to describe what your video is about. This box is also a perfect place for SEO and use of keywords.
All the keywords which you had found and were not able to use in the video can be used in the description box.
Description box also adds as a place to put in all your social media links or the links to your other videos. One can also add the buy link for viewers to subscribe to your channel.
4. Watch Time
A web user’s attention is very difficult to figure out. Each day different users have different attention spans. Therefore one needs to catch the attention of the user within the first half of the video. Watch time plays an important role in your channel’s growth.
Since it’s the era of short videos use this chance to show snippets or teasers of the video in the short videos and provide links which lead them to your main video.
Remember to keep the short teaser concepts very interesting, catch or unique as this will draw the attention of the user and which will lead to your main video.
5. Sharing Links
Sharing Links will play a major factor in making your YouTube videos go viral. Share the link of your video on all social media platforms.
Do not limit sharing your link only to your concerned niche but to everyone as you will never know who will suddenly like the idea of your video.
In order to make your video go viral it’s better to share with third parties as you can get a detailed review or analysis if your video has the potential to become viral or a areas in which it needs improvement.
6. Use Community Tab
The YouTube community tab is the perfect place to engage and content with your fans.
Community Tab can be used to ask questions, surveys or polls. This way you will constantly engage with your fans.
You can also use the community tabs to hold giveaways or prizes. Live stream event details can also be posted here. This helps your viewers know about the different events you planned for them.
As a result, this will help you to reach the milestone of 1000 subscribers on YouTube.
Conclusion
YouTube is a very cut throat entertainment where everyone wants to become viral. By following these tips one cannot guarantee of becoming viral but you might inch towards the first step of making a viral content.
“Failures are the stepping stones for success”. So even if one video fails, continue uploading and experimenting as you might never know that one video might be the way to viral success.