How To Get More Views On YouTube Shorts

YouTube Shorts are one of the newest tools that you can use to interact with your audience.

Similar to TikTok videos and Instagram Reels, the main objective of Shorts is to give you the chance to provide bite-size content for viewers.

However, while other formats give you over a minute of video, Shorts are less than 60 seconds long.

Since being introduced in 2021 (worldwide), Shorts have become very popular.

However, despite their brief length and easy accessibility, some creators have trouble getting more views on their Shorts than others.

If you feel like this applies to you, then this article is going to help.

You can read these tips to discover how YouTube Shorts work, why they work better than short (standard) YouTube videos, and how you can get more views, boosting your visibility and reach online.

In no time at all, you’ll be connecting with your viewers and sharing your vision to a large number of people.

Do YouTube Shorts Give More Views than Normal Videos?

One of the biggest advantages of YouTube Shorts is that they are shorter than normal videos, so quicker to consume.

In the time that a viewer takes to watch one standard video, they can watch a large number of Shorts.

Even if you have a 30-second video and a 30-second Short, your audience will watch more Shorts due to the way the platform is built.

They can quickly scroll to the next video, whereas they need to look for the next thumbnail for normal videos.

Searching through thumbnails also gives viewers a chance to be distracted by another channel, taking attention away from yours.

YouTube Shorts also start replaying automatically, unlike standard videos.

If a viewer enjoyed your video and wants to watch it again, they don’t need to do anything.

This is very useful for certain types of videos. For example, if you use Shorts to explain recipes and cooking steps, your audience will probably watch your videos more than once so that they can be sure to thoroughly take in all the information.

There are plenty of reasons why YouTube Shorts are being viewed more than normal videos, but here’s the most important: YouTube wants them to be.

YouTube Shorts is the newest part of the company’s business and they want to make it grow as much as possible.

They want to compete with other platforms and also give viewers what they want: short, engaging content.

By leaning into YouTube’s framework for using Shorts, you can generate a higher number of views for your channel.

Tips for understanding how to do this are coming up soon, but first you should understand why your videos might not be getting many views.

Why Are My YouTube Shorts Not Getting Views?

When creating YouTube Shorts or any other form of content, you might feel that you’ve made something engaging.

But while you feel engaged, other viewers might not. Seeing as people have such varied likes and dislikes, this is completely normal.

The issue you may be having is with how viewers interact with Shorts rather than what their preferences are.

People nowadays are used to shorter content that is instantly engaging. So, you can ask yourself when creating a video “Is this appealing right from the start?”

You also need to be aware of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

The biggest YouTube hits have well-chosen titles, descriptions, hashtags, and more. If your videos aren’t easy to find, they won’t get as many views as they could.

Aside from these issues, there are plenty more that can affect your viewership. You can ask yourself these questions to figure out why your videos aren’t being engaged with:

• Are my videos too long? Are they too short?
• Am I using music that fits the video?
• Am I using the right format?
• Am I creating content often enough?

Once you have a better idea of why your videos aren’t getting more views, you can work towards perfecting them and growing your audience with good YouTube Shorts practices.

How To Get More Views On YouTube Shorts - 9-Step Framework

Understanding how the Shorts platform works and the reasons why some videos aren’t as popular as others can lead you to the best ways to use YouTube Shorts to grow your audience.

You can follow this 9-step framework for making the most out of your YouTube Shorts channel.

Be Engaging

Being engaging is probably the most important part of creating good Shorts and getting them viewed.

No one wants to watch a boring video, even if it is only 15 seconds long. Here are three types of videos that capture the attention of viewers:

• Entertaining: videos that are fun to watch.
• Emotional: content that evokes emotions like joy, awe, surprise, etc.
• Educational: Shorts that teach something new in less than a minute.

You don’t need to follow all three Es at the same time.

Maybe entertaining videos are your specialty, or you work best when imparting knowledge.

You don’t need to make a goofy or surprising educational video if you’re able to make it engaging in other ways.

Your videos should be engaging right from the start.

Even if you’re a storyteller and want to build up to a big reveal later in the video, you should find a way to hook people at the beginning so that they stick around until the end.

Don’t forget that YouTube Shorts are a visual medium.

If you can capture someone’s curiosity with pictures over words, you’re on the right track to getting more views.

Choose a Video’s Length Wisely

YouTube gives you up to 60 seconds to get your message across using Shorts.

But that doesn’t mean you should use the full minute if you don’t need to. You should figure out how long you need to get your message across while keeping the viewer’s interest.

When making a Short, don’t remind yourself that you can use all 60 seconds; remind yourself to make the shortest video you can while still maintaining your goal.

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Create Valuable Content

Creating content that isn’t to-the-point will cost you future subscribers.

You should focus on your niche and offer valuable Shorts that people will enjoy and want to come back to.

If your channel seems too varied, viewers won’t engage as often because they won’t know what they’re signing up for.

That doesn’t mean that you should recreate the same video over and over.

Each Short should present something new to the viewer. For example, if your niche is Minecraft tips, make each one unique.

However, don’t stray too far from the game.

If you have 15 Minecraft clips and then you randomly post three videos about your love of sharks, your audience won’t feel as engaged with your style.

Understand the Format

Shorts are designed for smartphones. The videos fit the screen vertically and you can easily scroll from one to the next.

The most engaging Shorts are those that fully fit the screen.

So, the tip here is to make videos that engage the viewer over the whole screen, from top to bottom and from side to side.

Square videos don’t work as well, nor do ones that are cut off at the sides. And avoid content that makes the viewer need to turn the phone horizontally at all costs.

The best way to find the perfect format is by using the YouTube Shorts creator camera in the app.

Hold your camera up straight so that what you see as you record is what the audience will see later on.

Customize Your Thumbnails

Thumbnails for videos that you scroll through and which play automatically seem like a waste of time.

However, Shorts can be watched individually and are displayed as thumbnails on your channel.

To create a fantastic collection of videos, you should give focus to how they’re represented on your profile.

This will give you a better chance of viewers selecting a few of your videos to watch rather than opening your channel page and moving on to another. Thumnbails have always been known as one of the best ways to increase impressions on YouTube.

Carefully Word Your Titles

Just as thumbnails are a visual representation of your video, the title is the written representation.

You should also pick keywords that will optimize your video for YouTube search engine. This will make it engaging to the viewer and work best within YouTube’s algorithm.

Use the Right Tags

Tags have become important tools in the digital world for discovering and sharing content.

Using the right ones will instantly boost your video’s chance of being viewed. So make sure to add tags that are relevant to your Shorts.

Having said this, be sure not to add too many tags. YouTube actually suggest against this in their guidelines and will remove videos that have more than 60 tags.

Choose Your Soundtrack

Videos with music work better than ones without. And, just like a movie with a good soundtrack, a great Short should have a song that fits the vibe of the video.

For example, if your niche is fascinating stories, you can go for a song that is mysterious.

Having a dissonant song can work well too.

A children’s lullaby can fit with a video of a cute animal, but a hardcore metal track can add some bizarre humor to the mix.

Again, this should depend on your niche. Are you making animal videos that make people happy or are you looking for laughs?

Maintain Consistency

There are a few ways of being consistent when creating content for YouTube Shorts and other platforms. They are:

• Consistent themes
• Consistent schedule

Keeping your theme consistent is important so that your audience knows what to expect from your channel and will keep them coming back for more.

As you read above, you need to find your niche and perfect it instead of putting up random videos that don’t have a through-line.

You also need to post content regularly.

If your viewers know that every Monday and Thursday you’re going to have a new video out, they’ll be ready to check for it.

However, if you change days often or take long breaks, your audience won’t know what to expect and will lose interest.

Bottom Line

By reading this article, you’ve gotten a better idea of how the YouTube Shorts platform works and some of the reasons why your videos might not be doing as well as you’d hoped.

Don’t forget that you don’t need a full minute to interact with your audience. If you can create a Short that gives the viewer the feeling or knowledge they’re looking for in less time, then that’s what you should do.

And if you find the perfect song to fit your video, then you will have discovered a winning formula.

With these steps, you’re going to increase your views and subscribers in no time at all.

Are there any other tips that have helped you gather more views? Feel free to let us know in the comments.