In this article by Daniels hustle, we’ll be giving you a full guide on how to grow your gaming channel. Starting and growing a gaming channel on YouTube is no easy feat.
However, it isn’t impossible either and this is because playing video games is an activity millions of people enjoy, it is only natural to expect that the competition is stiff.
In mid-2015, YouTube broke the internet by releasing YouTube Gaming. This seems odd to many video creators, especially since YouTube Gaming is quite similar to YouTube and how it works.
However, YouTube Gaming was launched for a very good reason. This is because gaming content is one of the most popular contents on YouTube, and with huge streaming services like Twitch, gaming content is bigger than it’s ever been on the Internet.
So what makes a channel a gaming channel?
A YouTube Gaming channel is any channel that covers everything about games on YouTube.
YouTube gaming channels do all kinds of different things, such as creating gaming-inspired comedic skits, others focus on in-game commentaries, while some dive in deep with criticism and analysis, others speculate and theorize about a game’s lore, and others serve as tutorials.
It’s a fairly wide spectrum. Most YouTube gaming channels can fit into one of the following categories:
How to Grow Your Gaming Channel
I’m going to give you real practical ways on how to grow your gaming channel.
1. Find your preferred game niche
When we talk about niches, there are quite a few definitions, but the one that’s most relevant in the context of gaming channels is one referring to products and services which are being sold to a particular group of people.
In gaming terms, what this means is that you are focusing on a particular kind of content or a particular genre/series of games. Don’t just focus on general gaming content.
If you really want to grow, you have to focus on a game, but if you really want to grow fast, then you have to focus on whether the game is relevant.
A lot of people will say you can grow by just focusing on one game, but the truth is that if no one is searching for that game or enjoying that game anymore, you won’t get discovered.
It will be tempting to play every game you possess when you first start your YouTube channel. Because of the game’s enormous popularity in 2021, you might be able to post some Among Us videos.
However, you need to take note of what I have said. Choose one game to play on YouTube if you want to develop your gaming channel.
YouTube easily promotes your films to viewers of a like-mind if it knows you’re a game developer creating movies on Zelda: Breath of the Wild, for example.
It’s more than just appeasing the YouTube algorithm when you play one game. Maintaining a solid concentration and avoiding the temptation to pursue all of your interests at the same time is also very important.
2. Work With Other YouTubers In Your Niche
Another tip to help you grow your YouTube gaming channel is that you work with other YouTubers in your niche.
I mean, what would be the use of our list of tips helping you grow your YouTube gaming channel, if we didn’t encourage you to work with other YouTube gaming channels in the same line of games as you!
All the biggest channels on YouTube take advantage of collaboration, and gaming channels are no exception. Some particular channels are simply hubs that people from all over gaming YouTube work together on to promote their own channels!
3. Upload videos on YouTube weekly
On YouTube, consistency is key. While consistency is important on YouTube, there’s no need to upload gaming content as a new creator daily. Instead, aim to post at least one video each week to YouTube.
YouTube is very effective at providing the appropriate material to the right people. Be it four videos per month or one per day you publish, YouTube will continue to promote your material to users.
Don’t get burned out by trying to keep up with seasoned producers’ publishing schedules. This is particularly for those who are just starting.
Take it one after the other. That way, you’ll be able to see how YouTube fits into your life.
4. Search Video Keywords
When it comes to growing your YouTube Gaming channel, making some video keyword research is beyond super important.
The way it works is quite straightforward. If you choose the right keywords? Your videos rocket to the top of YouTube. And if you choose the wrong keywords? Your videos get buried in the search results.
So, how then do you go about finding the right keywords for YouTube, seeing how important they are to your video’s ranking. Here’s how to go about this keyword search below:
Create a list of seed keywords
Seed Keywords are terms that describe super broad topics. For example, if you were in the social media marketing space, your Seed Keywords would be things like:
- Social Media
- Facebook Page
- Content Marketing
See? That’s how seed keywords work. However, these seed keywords are broad topics that you can create your videos about.
Turn them into YouTube search
Now, to be clear, you’re not going to optimize your videos around any of these terms because they would surely be too competitive, but having the list of Seed Keywords is helpful for the next step.
The next step is to turn your list of seed keywords into dozens of long-tail keywords, where you get to decide if they are the right keywords or the wrong keywords for your video.
How do you go about this? You can do this through something called YouTube Suggest. This works just like Google. All you have to do is pop one of the Seed Keyword in your list into YouTube and check out the keywords that YouTube suggests to you.
YouTube Video Optimization
To help grow your YouTube Gaming channel, you have to ensure that you optimize your gaming videos on your channel. Now, here’s how to extract the most SEO value from your video that could help you grow your channel.
Say your target keyword
One way to optimize your YouTube gaming video is to say your target keyword in the video.
So if YouTube sees that you mention your target keyword in your video, they’ll “hear” it, and because you’re actually saying the keyword that your video will be optimized.
Video Title
Your YouTube gaming video title is quite important. The title of your video should be at least 5 words long. That way, you can include your full keyword without spamming.
Video Description
Your video’s description is as important as your video title. In fact, it is super important. Your video description helps YouTube and Google understand the context of your video.
I mean, Google and YouTube are going to help grow your YouTube gaming channel, they have to know what it is about. And neither YouTube nor Google can watch your videos.
Here are the basic guidelines for optimizing your videos’ description below:
- Include your keyword in the first 25 words
- Make the description at least 250 words
- Include your keyword 2-4 times
Tags
Well, tags may not be as important as the other factors when it comes to optimizing your video, however, they aren’t insignificant in the picture.
Here’s how I use video tags for my videos:
- My first tag is my exact target keyword (Example: “Google SEO”).
- I also include a few variations of that word or phrase (Example: “Google search engine optimization”)
- Finally, I make a few of my tags other topics that my video covers (Example: “Link building”, “Content marketing”)
Don’t be afraid to use the same tags that your competitors use because they will cause you to be seen.
In fact, it’s a YouTube marketing best practice that has worked for many years. When your video’s tags match a video that someone’s watching, you have a good chance of showing up in the Suggested Video section.
Attract audience from other social media channels
Already, talking about games is enough to lure viewers to your YouTube channel, however, your competition is not going to sit around and watch you gather all the viewers to your page.
So, to ensure that you are on top of your game as a video creator, you should attract audiences from other social media channels, such as Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook—wherever you have an existing community of fans established is an effective way to attract subscribers.
This can be as simple as encouraging people to check out your YouTube Gaming channel in your Instagram or Twitter bio.
Or, posting a teaser of your latest video on your social media. This is another great way to draw people to your YouTube channel from other social accounts.
You could post the teaser of your gaming videos on your Instagram Stories because your Instagram stories are ideally suited for trailers or teasers which will in turn point viewers to the video by a simple Swipe Uplink.
If you could tease videos on a regular schedule, people will start to anticipate your content.
Once viewers start anticipating your work, be sure that they will be subscribed to your channel in no time.
Use playlists to organize videos
New YouTubers seem to always miss the playlist function. This will get you more viewing time. Several of them don’t use playlists enough.
Playlists are regularly ignored by new YouTubers. This results in missed possibilities for growth. They are useful for organization and boosting view time. Also, it helps the YouTube algorithm in recommending your channel.
Most commonly, playlists are used to organize the videos on your site. You can showcase your playlists on your YouTube homepage if you want to. Take advantage of this opportunity to show the sort of gaming material you provide on your channel.
Variety channels utilize these playlists to show off the many games that will be covered. Create a playlist for every game that you will be covering, as well as for each style of coverage.
For instance, you can make a playlist for your game lessons and also your lets plays/live streams. Make very precise playlists for niche channels that cover varying parts of the game you’re playing.
Arrange your playlists on your channel in the order of relevance. The most essential playlists should appear at the top of your homepage. Do this so that they will be the first that visitors when they visit.
Conclusion
Quite a number of individuals who start a gaming YouTube channel eventually abandoned it. Yes. It is a lot more tasking than it looks.
Unfortunately, most individuals lack the patience, persistence, and discipline to see it through.
You could work incredibly hard and follow all of these procedures on how to grow a gaming YouTube channel, and not get the results you desire.
Even if a video does very poorly in its first week, it can consequently grow in popularity and gather a large number of views and subscribers. Take all of this advice to heart if you want to grow a gaming YouTube channel.
Create catchy headers and thumbnails; get a clear emphasis for your channel, and keenly do topic research before you begin recording. It is a lot of work, but it will be worth it in the end.
