There’s no short cut to it. If you want to make more money on YouTube you need more watch time. There’s a lot involved in getting more watch time, however. You can’t just make a 1-hour long video about how to tie your shoelaces and expect the watch hours to come pouring in. For those of you that are still trying to figure out what I mean, I’ll make it even simpler. Before you can even apply to make money on YouTube, you need a total watch time of 4000 hours. If that sounds like a lot that’s because it is! This is the first hurdle most creators hoping to go full-time on YouTube have to cross. So what are some of the things to do to boost your watch time on YouTube? Let’s look at a few.

You need more than one video. Obviously.

As mentioned earlier, you can’t just put down a 1hour long video and wait for 4000 people to view it. As a new content creator, quantity is your friend. Put out as many videos as you can. The more content you can put out, the better. Even if you aren’t producing cinema-quality footage, the quantity will get you more attention early on. Also, it gives YouTube more to recommend.

Make use of Playlists.

If you do it right, playlists can bag you loads of extra watch time. If your videos are interesting enough to hold your viewer’s attention to the end, a playlist will funnel that viewer directly into another one of your videos. Hold your viewer’s attention properly, and you’ll have them watch more and more of your videos.

Say no to clickbait.

Really. Deceptive titles and thumbnails do way more harm than good. Viewers that click on your video will most likely stop watching the moment they realize that they aren’t seeing what they were expecting. Also, viewers who would be interested in the content actually contained in your video won’t be able to find it. Put these together and you might end up with a lot of video clicks, but very little watch time.

Use cards.

No, not playing cards. Video cards! You can use them to direct a viewer to another video. It doesn’t always have to be a follow up of the video they just completed; it just has to be your video. Figure out where viewers are most likely to drop off your video, and place a card just before then, and presto! You’ve given your viewer something else to watch.

Use Keywords.

Keywords are what will help viewers who are actively looking for your content find you. Use extra keywords in your title to make it more specific. This will create a wider net so to speak, and your video will show up in more searches. You can also make use of hashtags. These serve the same purpose; widening your reach even further.

Conclusion

If you can put your content in front of those who need it most, your watch time will increase exponentially.