The best way to get more views on YouTube is to optimize your videos so they show up in search and recommendations
— and keep viewers engaged once they click. That means mastering clickable thumbnails, compelling titles, and content that delivers on its promise.


With 10+ billion views tracked through coaching and tools, vidIQ provides data-backed insights into what drives video discovery.


In this section, we will break down strategies, examples, and case studies so you can consistently grow your views.

More Views

How To Get More Views on YouTube

The fastest way to get more YouTube subscribers is to publish videos that keep viewers watching and make it easy for them to subscribe.
That means using strong titles and thumbnails, clear calls to action, and building content around topics people are already searching for.


At vidIQ, we analyze millions of channels to see what actually drives subscriber growth, from doubling down on high-retention videos
to packaging content in ways that hook new audiences. Explore our guides and case studies to learn proven tactics that will
help you grow your subscribers faster.

Get Subscribers

How to Get More YouTube Subscribers

To make money on YouTube, creators start by qualifying for the YouTube Partner Program and enabling ads, but that’s just the beginning. Real income comes from combining multiple streams: sponsorships, channel memberships, affiliate marketing, and selling your own products or services. 

At vidIQ, we’ve studied how creators unlock monetization
milestones and scale beyond ad revenue. Here you will learn practical strategies to diversify income and build
a sustainable business from your YouTube channel.

Make Money

How To Make Money on YouTube

YouTube Analytics reveal which videos are working and why, but not all metrics matter equally. Watch time, retention, CTR, and revenue are the numbers that drive real growth. 

At vidIQ, we break down these metrics with examples so you can spot trends, identify weak points, and make smarter decisions for your channel. Here you’ll learn how to use analytics as a growth engine, not just a dashboard.

Data Insights

YouTube Analytics Explained: Metrics That Matter

Watch Time is arguably THE most important metric on YouTube right now, and creators won’t be able to monetize their content without 4000 hours of it. But what is it and how can creators increase the amount of Watch Time their videos attract? We keep you updated on the best practices around Watch Time, and how you can increase how much your video content generates.

Watch Time

YouTube Watch Time

YouTube Shorts are one of the fastest ways to reach new viewers and grow your channel.


With millions of Shorts analyzed, vidIQ has tracked the formats and strategies that help creators break through. Here you’ll learn how to make Shorts that stand out, and how to use them to boost your long-form videos.

YouTube Shorts

YouTube Shorts: Tips and Strategies

The best YouTube tips save time and make your videos perform better. From thumbnail tweaks to hidden features in YouTube Studio, small changes can drive big results. 

At vidIQ, we’ve tested countless tactics across millions of videos to see what really works. Here you’ll find quick wins and practical shortcuts you can use right now to grow faster and work smarter.

Quick Tips

YouTube Tips for Creators

The fastest way to grow on YouTube is to create content around trending topics while viewers are searching for them. 

With vidIQ’s data, we track the keywords, niches, and formats that are taking off across millions of channels. Here you’ll find insights into what’s working now, including creator case studies and examples, so you can publish videos that ride the wave of demand and stay ahead of competitors.

Trending Now

YouTube Trends and Insights

Your In-Depth Guide to Building a Successful YouTube Channel

 has one primary goal: to get their videos recommended to more people. They want YouTube to (finally) notice their content, identify the subject matter, and suggest it to thousands of like-minded viewers.

Your best plan of action, especially as a small creator, is to understand how YouTube recommends videos. You'll want to figure out why the algorithm promotes some content and, well...basically ignores others.

In truth, it's not that the algorithm doesn't favor you or is biased against your channel. 

YouTube doesn't hate small creators. It just doesn't know whom to recommend you to yet. 

In this blog, we'll learn how to fix that.

YouTube Recommendations Are Based on Viewer Behavior

Here's the first mindshift you need to make:

Every single video you upload is treated as a new test. 

YouTube doesn't care if you have 5 subscribers or 5 million. What it cares about is whether people are clicking on your video, sticking around to watch it, and coming back for more.

So even if your last 10 videos flopped, the next one still gets a shot. That's actually good news for small creators. But to pass the test, you've got to send YouTube the right signals about your content and your audience.

Graph showing typical video performance on YouTube

When someone watches your video and has a positive experience, YouTube starts looking for other people with similar viewing patterns and interests. The more positive signals you generate, the wider your reach becomes. This is why you'll sometimes see a small channel with 100 subscribers get a video that hits 50,000 views seemingly overnight.

YouTube’s 3-Tiered Recommendation System

Think of YouTube’s recommendation process like leveling up in a game. Every video is tested in a sequence of audiences:

Your subscribers and repeat viewers. This is your home base. If they enjoy the video, it moves to the next stage.

People in your niche who watch similar videos—maybe they follow your competitors or recently searched for the topic.

Complete strangers. If your video performs well in the first two groups, it “graduates” here and has a shot at virality.

The beauty of this system is that it rewards creators who truly serve their audience, not just those who game the algorithm. When you consistently deliver value to your core viewers, YouTube becomes more confident in recommending you to similar people.

Small creators often treat their channel like a digital diary. One day it's gaming, the next it's cooking, then it's a vlog with your dog. Creative freedom is great, but to the algorithm, it's pretty confusing.

Spoiler: If you make content for everyone, YouTube won't know who to recommend you to.

Think about it from YouTube's perspective. The platform serves billions of hours of content every day. Its job is to keep people watching by showing them exactly what they want to see. When your channel jumps between wildly different topics, YouTube can't build a 

clear picture of who your ideal viewer is.

This doesn't mean you can never evolve or try new things, but especially in your first 50-100 videos, consistency is your best friend.

Keep your thumbnails and titles visually consistent

Develop a recognizable content format or style

You're not just building videos. You're building a brand that YouTube can confidently recommend to the right people.

The biggest point of affirmation for the algorithm to determine whether your videos can be recommended or not is watch time. And the best way to do that is to improve the 

If someone watches your video and then watches another video (yours or someone else's), YouTube rewards you. If your video ends their session (they close the app or tab), that's a negative signal to YouTube recommendations. That's called 

5 Ways to Increase YouTube Watch Time on Any Video

Session time is arguably more important than individual video performance because it shows YouTube that your content fits into the broader viewing experience people want. 

When viewers stay on the platform after watching your video, you're contributing to YouTube's core business model. Here's how you can improve your session time:

Reference your other videos inside your current one

Use verbal handoffs: "Next, watch this…"

Create content series that naturally lead into each other

Use the "Hook – Hold – Handoff" Framework

This framework is used by some of the fastest-growing creators on YouTube. It's how you keep people watching—and signal to YouTube that your content is binge-worthy.

Grab attention in the first 5–10 seconds.

 "I cooked gourmet food for the most dangerous animals on Earth..."

The hook isn't just about being loud or shocking. It's about immediately communicating the value and intrigue of your video. Your hook should make viewers think: "I need to see how this plays out."

Progressive revelations, bigger stakes, deeper insights—whatever your video promises, you need to deliver it in a way that builds momentum rather than plateaus.

This is where pacing becomes crucial. Plan your content like a story with rising action. Each segment should feel more valuable or interesting than the last.

 "If you liked this one, just wait till you see what I did next…"

The result? Binge behavior. And binge behavior is the algorithm's rocket fuel.

A lot of small creators kill their videos with bad titles that are vague, boring, and generic. 

Your title is competing with hundreds of other videos for attention. Generic titles get ignored because they don't create any emotional investment. Specific titles with clear benefits cut through the noise.

Consider the psychology of your viewer when they're scrolling. They're asking themselves: "Is this worth my time?" Your title needs to answer that question with a clear "yes" and a compelling reason why.

In case of thumbnails, make sure to focus on clarity. If your thumbnails look like a chaotic Canva explosion... It's time to clean up. 

Expression that matches the video's emotion

You get 2 seconds on the homepage. Make them count. Your thumbnail needs to generate curiosity and be readable at the size of a postage stamp. If you can't tell what your thumbnail is about when it's tiny, neither can your potential viewers.

How To Create Scroll-Stopping YouTube Thumbnails Faster with AI

Here's a fatal mistake a lot of creators make: You have an awesome title and a killer thumbnail… but your video intro is a snooze fest.

"Hey guys, welcome back to the channel! So glad you're here…"

…you've already lost half your audience. Instead, do this:

Reinforce the promise of the video immediately

If the title is "How YouTube Deleted My Channel," say it right away in the video: "Three days ago, YouTube deleted my channel, and here's exactly what happened…"

The first 15 seconds of your video are crucial for YouTube recommendations. This is where the algorithm decides whether your content is engaging enough to show to more people. A slow start signals that viewers might click away, which hurts your recommendation potential.

This one's sneaky. YouTube transcribes your entire video. Every word.

So, if your video is about YouTube recommendations but you never actually say "YouTube recommendations," the algorithm may not be confident in what your video is about.

Say your main keyword early and naturally

 ("YouTube algorithm," "getting recommended," etc.)

YouTube's automatic captions and transcription feed directly into their understanding of your content. This semantic understanding helps the algorithm match your video with relevant searches and recommend it alongside similar content.

Don't stuff keywords awkwardly, but make sure you're naturally using the language your audience uses when searching for your type of content.

YouTube favors videos that are relevant right now. This is called 

. Your chances of getting recommended skyrocket if you time your video with:

A phone showing the youtube logo next to the youtube homepage on a desktop computer

How does the YouTube algorithm work — specifically, the recommendation engine that promotes videos to billions of viewers? Keep reading to find out and grow your channel!

YouTube's 'Suggested Videos' Algorithm: How to Crack It

After setting up your YouTube channel and publishing your initial videos, it’s essential to leverage real‑time analytics and free optimization tools to pinpoint your strengths and identify opportunities for improvement. Now it's time to unleash your secret weapon.

 This post highlights vidIQ – the free Chrome extension designed to empower YouTube creators with intelligent tools and actionable data. So, if you haven't got it already, stop reading and download the free 

 to download it and install it on your computer. We know that you are just starting on your YouTube journey, so we're not trying to cash in on you as soon as possible. We want to give you that kickstart to help grow your channel and build an audience. Hey, it’s what we do.

Let’s start with some YouTube numbers. With the 

, you get a snapshot of how your individual videos are performing. But what if you could get an overview of how your entire channel is performing? Well, that's exactly what the vidIQ real-time stats bar can help you with! With vidIQ’s real‑time stats, you can effortlessly monitor key metrics over intervals such as the last 60 minutes, 48 hours, and seven days – including detailed watch time and subscriber counts – ensuring you stay on top of your channel’s performance.

Of course, you can access Channel stats via YouTube Analytics, but vidIQ’s real-time stats bar allows you to see the data whether you are on the search page, on a watch page, or on a YouTube home page. We always show you the real-time analytics, and for someone like me who's got an analytics obsessive compulsive disorder, I always want to check those numbers, and I can see them wherever I am on YouTube. It’s a much-loved feature on the vidIQ Chrome extension - and it’s 

. But we're not quite done there because if you like graphs as much as you like numbers, well, all you need to do is mouse over the real-time stats bar, and you get a breakdown of just how well your videos have been performing and your channel over the last seven days.

Also, for YouTube channels that haven’t yet reached the monetization requirements of 4,000 hours, we’ve also added an additional metric in the real-time stats bar, which tracks your Watch Time over the last 12 months. Once you've reached those requirements, this metric automatically disappears. So if you wanted this tool for no other reason than to find out just how close you are to monetization, this is why you should download vidIQ.

Maximizing Video Performance with Like/Dislike Ratios

When you install the vidIQ Chrome extension, you gain instant access to performance percentages for each video, allowing you to see quickly which content is resonating with your audience. This is essentially the likes-to-dislikes ratio on any video on YouTube. This data is invaluable for optimizing content, revealing which videos capture attention, and driving improvements in your channel strategy.

You can find out whether an individual video is resonating with your audience or not

You can determine how your videos are performing at the Channel level

For your Channel, this VidIQ feature will show when the likes ratio falls below 90%, and when the ratio falls below 70%.

The big gaming trend on YouTube at the moment is Fortnite, but what is the next game on the horizon? A lot of gaming creators are gravitating towards a game called Apex, or Apex Legends, and we know that to have a better gaming performance, you want to increase your frames per second, or FPS. So, let’s search for ‘Apex Legends increase FPS’ and see what the vidIQ extension can do with that.

The first awesome feature is the ‘subscriber count’ next to different Channels. This is hugely important as it can help identify windows of opportunity. Just having that little bit of information can let you know whether it’s worth producing content on as a gamer interested in Apex Legends. Another feature, ‘Search Companion’ will give you further data such as the average number of subscribers for the Channels that appear on these search rankings, and the average age of the videos. Both are very useful for finding current trending topics.

Then we have vidIQ’s legendary ‘YouTube

’. This gives you a general indication of competition versus volume or supply versus demand. If there are a lot of people searching for a term and not that many videos being supplied, again, this tells us that we should be making videos on that topic. For in‑depth keyword analysis, take advantage of the ‘Enable Inline Keywords’ tool, which reveals the tags used by successful creators, giving you a solid foundation for your content research and optimization.

As a creator, you can use this feature to determine whether you still think there is value in this keyword, whether this game is going to become more popular, and if you can establish content in that search term before it gets more popular. That kind of insight is incredibly helpful in creating evergreen content. If you like the keywords you find, you can simply mouse over the keywords, click on the paperclip to the right, go to your video, and paste them in. Or you can use the keywords as a springboard for your idea generation.

Optimizing Your Video Metadata for Better SEO

Effective metadata is the backbone of YouTube SEO, and optimizing it can significantly boost your channel’s discoverability. In this section, we dive into strategies for enhancing your video titles, descriptions, and tags to improve search rankings. Start by conducting thorough keyword research to uncover terms that align with your content and audience interests. Incorporate these keywords naturally into your title and description to signal relevance to YouTube’s algorithm. Additionally, leverage tags to cover broader topics and related terms, ensuring they accurately reflect the video content. Don’t forget to update your metadata periodically based on performance analytics and emerging trends. By refining your metadata, you not only improve search engine visibility but also enhance viewer engagement, leading to higher watch times and more robust channel growth. This comprehensive approach to SEO empowers you to stay ahead of the competition and continually attract new audiences.

Using Data to Drive Your Channel’s Success

In today’s fast-paced digital world, data is more than just numbers—it’s your guide to creating content that truly resonates. This section is all about tapping into your channel’s analytics to understand what works best and where there’s room for improvement. By tracking key metrics like view duration, click-through rates, and audience demographics, you gain real insight into your viewers' habits and preferences. With these insights in hand, you can fine-tune your video titles, tags, and descriptions to better align with your audience’s interests. We share practical tips drawn from successful YouTube creators, demonstrating how a keen eye on data can uncover new content opportunities and refine your overall strategy. Whether you’re identifying content gaps or tweaking your keyword strategy, using real-time data can help you create videos that not only attract clicks but also keep viewers engaged for longer periods.

Using vidIQ Tools for Detailed Channel Audit

The vidIQ video scorecard gives you all the information you need about every single video on YouTube. As well as data on social engagements, you can take a deep dive into the search engine optimization generated around the video, such as tags, titles, and descriptions. There’s also a video optimization checklist so you can see if the creator has missed any important steps. If you look at your own videos through this video scorecard, you can see even more information.

Did you know the vidIQ tool can help you with editing and uploading? Straight off the bat, we've got character limit features. Did you know that you can only have a hundred characters in your title? Also, it’s good to know you can have five thousand characters in your description and five hundred characters in your tags. Why YouTube doesn't alert you that you’ve gone over your limit by default is beyond me, but we're helping you out there. Oh, and we also help you add emojis to your title (but If you are going to do this, just make sure that you add them towards the end of your titles so that it doesn't mess up the keyword indexing from YouTube). You can also use vidIQ to create a tag template or organize your tags.

vidIQ can also help you evaluate whether your tags, titles, and descriptions are effective for your video. It’s called the ‘SEO’ score and marks your video out of 50. and the higher you can get to 50, the more potential your video has to reach an audience. The tool will also prompt you in terms of ensuring you’ve added cards, end screens, and closed captions. Ensuring that every element of your video is optimized before publication can significantly enhance its visibility and performance on YouTube.

One of the most powerful tools we have here at vidIQ is the 

, we do a live stream every Tuesday where we audit people's channels, but as a creator, consider this feature your very own 24/7 YouTube channel audit expert, which tells you all sorts of information about your channel.

For example, it can identify the general health of your channel and the type of content to double down on if it’s consistently doing well for you. It will also give you information about Watch Time, audience retention, YouTube Playlists, top search terms, end screens, card clicks, and so on.

As for how badly your channel is doing, we give you that information as well. So, content that could use work, the ones with the average lowest view time, the ones with terrible likes to dislikes.

VidIQ YouTube Channel Management: Invaluable Features for Creators

As you start to upload content on your channel, people will start to perceive you as an expert and will want to ask you questions. If you're focusing on a particular topic, you may be asked the same question over and over again, and you kind of want to respond to that but not type out this response over and over again. Auto-generated responses can help you a lot.

For instance, responding promptly and personally to viewer comments not only builds community but also increases engagement – a key metric in YouTube’s algorithm. With the VidIQ comment template, we’ve created a long series of responses for all sorts of different questions we get here. One of the more popular comments is responding “You’re Welcome” and automatically adding the viewer’s username. Automated responses mean you can work through more comments more quickly, especially if you're getting hundreds of comments a day. I use this for at least one or two hours a day, responding to as many comments as possible. This one tool, which is free of cost, has saved me hundreds, if not thousands, of hours managing the vidIQ channel.

When managing your YouTube channel, be sure to utilize the versatile vidIQ utility button, available across multiple pages, to streamline common tasks such as copying cards, editing thumbnails, and optimizing end screens. It does many different things depending on where you are. For example, on the video manager page, for an individual video, if I click on the button, it allows me to do things like copy cards or end screens to then put them onto other videos, saving you time there. You can also use the thumbnail editor (if you're not yet proficient with professional programs such as Photoshop) to start you off with creating custom thumbnails.

 every Tuesday on YouTube at 11 a.m. PST, 7 p.m. GMT.

Man thinking beside red icon with white play button and text "Free Tools!" on blue background

Discover expert strategies on how to grow your YouTube channel fast and free. Learn data‑driven tips and use vidIQ free tools to boost views and subscribers.

How to Grow Your YouTube Channel Fast & Free

YouTube creators can sometimes have a lot working against them when it comes to 

. While the YouTube user interface is pretty solid, it’s not exactly distraction free. Fortunately, the visibility of engagement metrics—such as likes and dislikes–can be controlled by creators. This is why it’s valuable to know how to hide likes on YouTube videos.

But how do you hide likes on your YouTube videos? And should you even do it in the first place? These are some questions we’re going to tackle in this guide.

Can You Still Hide Likes and Dislikes on YouTube in 2025?

The short answer is “yes and no,” thanks to some important updates over the past few years.

Since late 2021, YouTube automatically hides the public dislike counts on all videos. Viewers can still click "Dislike," but only the creator can see the total number in 

The “likes” counter, however, remains public by default. If you want to hide it, you’ll need to disable the display of like counts through your video settings.

How to Hide Likes on a YouTube Video (Step-by-Step)

Here’s how you can hide likes on an individual YouTube video:

Find the video you want to edit and click the pencil icon (Details).

Under the "User Ratings" section, uncheck the box that says “Show how many viewers like this video.”

Keep in mind that hiding likes applies individually to each video. If you want all future uploads to automatically hide likes, you will need to adjust settings for each one or use upload defaults.


How to Hide Likes on All New Videos Automatically

If you want every video you upload to hide likes by default:


Go to YouTube Studio > Settings (bottom left corner).

Under Comments, uncheck “Show how many viewers like this video.”

automatically hide likes in published videos in YouTube Studio

Once this is set, every new video you upload will have likes automatically hidden.

Should You Hide Likes on Your YouTube Videos?

So, that’s how you do it. Now let’s answer the question of whether you actually 

From a viewer’s perspective, if they cannot see the likes on a video, there’s one burning question that’s going to be in their head: Why?

At the very least, it raises curiosity because most people will find it a little suspicious. This may lead viewers to conclude that the video’s creator has hidden the public stats because they don’t want anyone to see how few likes the video has received.

This often falls into the same question as why 

YouTube creators hide their subscriber count

. By default, both subscriber counts and likes are shown publicly.

With that in mind, hiding likes can still be a smart strategic move, but it depends on your channel goals.

Launching a new channel: Avoid discouraging early viewers if engagement is low at the start.

Publishing polarizing content: Sensitive topics may attract unfair negativity.

Reducing pressure: Smaller creators often feel anxiety when public numbers are low.

Testing different video formats: Hiding likes temporarily during experiments may be helpful.

Some situations where you might want to keep likes visible may include:

Building social proof: High like counts can build credibility with new audiences.

Boosting discoverability: Engagement signals (such as likes) may encourage viewers to watch.

Transparency expectations: Some audiences expect to see engagement metrics to gauge content quality.

Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. YouTube creators have more flexibility than ever to control how their content is received. Whether you choose to show or hide likes, the most important thing is to stay focused on creating amazing, authentic content that connects with your audience.

Gray thumbs up with YouTube logo and green arrow above black box next to word "WHY?"

Did you know that you can hide the likes and dislikes count on any of your YouTube videos? We show you how in this easy guide.

How to Hide Likes & Dislikes on YouTube Videos

Congratulations, you've hit the requirements on YouTube to monetize your content - 1,000 subscribers, and 

. It was hard work but you’ve applied for monetization, but then you got stuck in review for weeks, even months. It's frustrating to be stuck in this limbo with no information about when it's going to be resolved and no real way to 

. Until now, because we got an awesome comment from one of the members of our vidIQ community telling us their channel had been in review for three months, and after trying this strategy they got their channel approved in two days. And we wanna share that with you right now.

Asking YouTube for Feedback on Monetization Review

First off, click on your channel logo, and then click on Creator Studio. When you reach your dashboard, click on Channel and then Monetization to get to the monetization screen. SIf your YouTube Channel has been under review for some time then click on ‘Help and Feedback.’ This will bring up a small popup with a range of options, and you want to click ‘Send feedback’. This brings up the Send feedback tool in the middle of the screen, and it takes a screenshot of what's currently on your desktop. In other words, your monetization requirements, which you've met, and allows you to type in a message to YouTube. To give you a little bit of help with what to write, I asked the community member, My Name Is Andong, what he posted to YouTube, and this is what he wrote.

"Hi, YouTube team. "I've been under review for monetization since whenever. "I am well over the required watch time "and subscriber counts. "Please let me know if everything is okay "or who I can get in touch with "to move my application forward."

Now, I don't know about you, but that seems like a very reasonable request to me. Once you've typed it out, you can click on the Send button. Fingers crossed, let's see what happens. Now, a quick disclaimer here, we're not guaranteeing that YouTube are going to respond to your feedback. However, we do know that there's thousands of you out there who are desperately trying to resolve your in-review situation. And it is very hard to contact YouTube, so any opportunity to give them a bit of a nudge is worth a try. Good luck with your monetization requests.

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level then make sure to download vidIQ. It will help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

Man thinking with approved YouTube monetization dollar sign icon and vidIQ logo.

So your YouTube Channel meets the monetization requirements of 1,000 subscribers & 4,000 hours of Watch Time, but it's still under review and it has been for a considerable length of time. What can you do about it? We show you!

How to Speed Up the 'YouTube Channel in Review' Monetization Process

 has reached an incredible arsenal of (at time of writing) 304,131 subscribers! What did we learn from the journey? This is not going to be a perfect list of how-to tips and tricks to get to 300,000+ subscribers. These are my personal views and opinions from a genuine YouTube enthusiast.

Custom Thumbnails are KEY to Success on YouTube

I have made a lot of YouTube videos. I think around about 1,500 at this point. But for a very long time there is something I always neglected because I wanted to make the video and just get it out there onto YouTube. What I didn't spend much time on was thumbnails. A lot of channels have questionable thumbnails, which doesn't do their YouTube brand any favours, but since vidIQ began focusing on the very best thumbnails for our YouTube videos, our click-through rates have increased from 2.5% to 5% in just one year. That's much more views for effectively the same amount of work, just doing it better. Just as readers judge books by their covers, viewers judge videos by their thumbnails. If you can improve your thumbnails that can have a massive and positive impact on the entirety of your channel.

Improve Something by 1% on EVERY YouTube Video You Create

Something I am a strong advocate for, is striving to improve with every video that you make. Whether it is thumbnails, lighting, camera presence, voice narration or editing, you should always be looking for that 1% where you can get better. Trying to improve 100% every single video is going to drive you insane. But if you can come away from every single video thinking, I like that new thing that I tried there. Or that was some really tight editing, or I like the way I presented at that particular point in the video then that is one more step in the right direction.

Experiment With Your Content as Often as Possible

This next tip may fly in the face of YouTube experts and indeed myself recommend. And that is to experiment as often as possible. Now the reason I say this is because it comes from a foundation of consistency. If you are a regular visitor to vidIQ, you should have a general sense of the type of content that we create. We want to help educate you on your YouTube journey. Get more views, more subscribers, grow your channel, ultimately and potentially earn an income from it. I've been doing that for a couple years now here at vidIQ. Showing you how to use all of our tools and general tips about getting more views and subscribers.

But we decided to do last year was to follow YouTube news stories a little more closely and report on them if we found them interesting to our audience. It's why we jumped on ‘

’ as soon as they came out and the reason we rank number one for that search term now.

Going Viral: PewDiePie vs T Series on YouTube

. This started out as an experimentation in fame hacking. Seeing if we could latch on to a trending topic and add our own unique analytical spin on things. We didn't realize it at the time but we'd stumbled on some viral content. Now while we we're experimenting, we also practice what we preach. When those videos started to do really well, what else could we do but double down on them and make more content on the already successful stuff on our channel.

YouTube Watch Time: How we Increased Our Numbers

Now people may say that it's all down to PewDiePie versus T-Series stuff. And while I agree it has helped a lot, it's not what we are banking our channel on. These are the baseline numbers I'm more interested in. The day-to-day watch time hours that have increased around 75% in the last nine months. Outside of the viral hits, this is our bedrock. Our subscribers, our fans, the people who are watching this video and are invested in a channel at a much deeper level than anything our PewDiePie versus T-Series content could ever achieve.

Now as is always the case, when you start to create alternative content to what your community is used to, you will get push back. And we have here at vidIQ. But here's the ironic thing, we haven't produced less content than what we normally would do, in fact we're doing more content. On our 

Want to know how to grow your YouTube Channel to over 300K subscribers? Take a look at what vidIQ did to reach that goal and what you can do to build up your subscriber base right now.

Your In-Depth Guide to Building a Successful YouTube Channel

YouTube's 'Suggested Videos' Algorithm: How to Crack It

How to Grow Your YouTube Channel Fast & Free

How to Hide Likes & Dislikes on YouTube Videos

How to Speed Up the 'YouTube Channel in Review' Monetization Process

How to Generate 300,000 Subscribers for Your YouTube Channel

YouTube Hashtags: What Are They and How to Use Them!

How to Delete (or Hide) a YouTube Channel

How to Download a YouTube Video: New Method

Did PewDiePie Really Try to Hack YouTube to Beat T Series?

PewDiePie Vs T Series: Why Can't T Series Maintain the Lead?

PewDiePie vs T Series: Where Do the Subscribers Come From?

PewDiePie vs T Series- How Much Longer Can PewDiePie Hold T Series Off For Good?

How to Create a Playlist On YouTube