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I had success with 3 Youtube videos - here is what I learned

This year, 2020, I really started to take Youtube seriously and experiment with various different types of videos.

Last year (2019), I "officially" started Youtube, but only made 2 videos throughout the entire year (great success) 😅

This year, I already published 16 videos and 3 of them stood out.

I am here to share those lessons with you.

Fitbod Video

The first realization came when I noticed that my Fitbod video is taking off.

At the time of writing, this is one of my most viewed videos to date, with over 5,000 views and as you can see from the image above – realtime activity is not slowing down.

By the end of the year, this video will probably hit 10,000 views.

In case you are wondering, here is the video I am talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pcfRrjG8KA

Lessons

  1. Youtube search (SEO) is THE WAY to grow your channel. The selection of the right keywords will either “make or break” the video.

  2. People apparently like to see “app reviews” and me just showing my phone, instead of myself.

Spotify Video

As Fitbod app review was a great success by my standards, I thought that maybe app reviews is going to be my channels niche.

I actually made a post on IH asking if this would even be a thing and to my surprise, got a lot of positive feedback.

So, I decided to put this to the test.

I chose Spotify app, as this is one of my most used apps, I love it and figured it would make a great video, not to mention Spotify keyword is highly popular.

Here is the final video 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ark_WasDDsQ

And it worked!! 🥳

First, I did improve the video quality a lot. I had a new microphone, I bought another light and actually once and for all figured out a cool set-up.

This is how it looks behind the scenes 👇

Youtube set-up

Second, I was actually proud of this video – it turned out really great!

Third, once I made the thumbnail, I thought that can be my “signature” and if you check out my Youtube videos after that, you can see the pattern repeating.

My Youtube thumbnails

Besides all of that, analytics also showed some really promising results.

People were watching and enjoying the video according to my Youtube analytics.

The video is ranking high for few keywords and brining in around 40 views per 48 hours – this video will soon hit 1,000 and it seems it’s only accelerating.

Lessons

  1. Production quality matters for keeping the viewers watching.

  2. Choosing the right keyword AND making the thumbnail that stands out for that specific keyword is crucial. Example: if all videos for the keyword "X" have a black background, maybe you can try to stand out with an orange background.

Revolut Video

This video taught me one more lesson 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YZFuaH4pN4

People love when everything is straight to the point – no BS, just pure information!

In Youtube, there is a metric called “relative audience retention”

Here is a full explanation:

“It shows your video’s ability to retain viewers during playback by comparing it to all YouTube videos of similar length.”

From what I heard, this is one of the most important metrics to look out for. If your video is doing better than other videos, there is a higher chance you will rank higher on Youtube, your videos will be recommended more, etc.

Basically – all the good stuff will come.

And if you look at the graph of the Revolut video – it’s the best one I have seen so far 👇

Revolut video analytics

I have also included timestamps (this is a new feature on Youtube), which I think also helped, as the video is quite long, but people were able to click on the information they actually want to see.

Lessons

  1. Cut the BS, make shorter videos if necessary – only present what’s the most important. CUT, CUT, CUT!

  2. A great structure of the video is important to keep them watching.


The full and original post is on my blog, so if you want more details or screenshots, you can check out the Big Youtube Journey post.

  1. 3

    i think you can get to 1k subs in 2020. go for it.

    1. 2

      Really hope so 😁

  2. 2

    Thanks for sharing Benas! Great to hear Youtube is working for you.

    Quick question: I know it's probably too early to ask, but what are your objectives with building such an audience? Monetizing it through paid content/products/etc? Building connections? Gaining money through Youtube Adsense/affiliates on your reviews?

    Keep it up man, already subscribed ;)

    1. 2

      At the moment, I don’t have a specific plan, however, I do see a vague direction.

      Of course. Adsense would be the primary monetisation, at least at the start. Then sponsors and probably a little affiliate revenue.

      After that, it’s a wild west for me, so not sure where my journey takes me :)

      P.S. thanks for subscribing 😁

  3. 1

    These are some really awesome tips and things to think about! I've only just started my own Youtube journey, so this came at the exact right time.
    Quick question: You say that keywords are everything. (And that's definitely conclusion I've found as well, in my own research.) But! Any tips on how to find the best keywords? Do you just make sure they are super tailored to the video? Or are you doing more keyword research than that?
    Thanks! Really inspirational post! :D

    1. 2

      Thanks, Amalie!

      I think the are no "best keywords" as for example, I am not planning to make a video about building construction, so no matter how good the keyword can be, it still needs to be about something you are interested in.

      For me, at least for now, it was easy to choose keywords as I just did a video about apps. And I checked that these are quite big and searchable keywords, so that made sense to you.

      So, unfortunately, don't have exact tips on how to choose keywords, as I am still figuring this out myself :)

      1. 1

        That makes perfect sense, that just staying concise and to the point is the best way to go. Thanks! : )

  4. 1

    Great to hear that app reviews are working for you! Definitely a super-interesting niche.

    I saw some larger YouTubers (e.g. Ali Abdaal) were also looking to enter the app review space.

    1. 1

      Yeah, I saw him doing that as well after I started it 😅

  5. 1

    This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

    1. 2

      Hey, John! It’s a pretty simple workflow, but sure - feel free to email me

      1. 1

        This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

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