Whenever you’re trying to better your youtube content and grow your Youtube channel, you have to focus on these two things: the Watch-time (Video Retention) and the CTR (Click Through Rate).
You always have to ask yourself how you can get people to click on your video 1% more times and watch it 1% longer than your last video.
In this blog, we’ll give you the ultimate tips for more watch time and the perfect structure to use for your next Youtube videos.
The perfect title
This may sound obvious but do not clickbait viewers into watching your content when the title and video are completely unrelated. Yes click-baiting works, but do not use it unnecessarily. This will lead to a high early click off rate and lead to poor video retention.
Your title is part of your video’s SEO and may differ from the thumbnail title. On Youtube, people search “how to” do things themselves or an explaination to their problem. Make sure your title matches how your viewer searches.
The hook
Fro your hook, 10-15 seconds is the MAX! Unless you’re using multiple hooks, for example, if your video is an interview or a vlog, multiple hooks from engaging video segments are fine.
Ask yourself how this hook will make my viewer believe that they have come to the right place and this video is exactly what they’ve come to watch. Convince your viewer that this is the only video they need to watch on this subject, period.
Entice the viewer, seduce their entertainment or educational needs, be engaging, be convincing. Why will this video be the best video they can find on this subject? Why should the video bother watching the whole video, what’s in store for them?
Nail your introduction
Actually, avoid having an intro. Think about your audience. Is the viewer getting any value out of your intro if you have one already, or is it more for you? With an intro, you’re giving your viewer time to reflect and ask themselves if they really want to commit to watching any more of the video.
‘But I want to include my branding or use my intro as a way of positioning’ – Do this in other ways, create engaging pop-up animations claiming who you are, your brand, your mission statement… without having to explain it in every video. Because at the end of the day no one cares. The only time you should be talking about yourself or your business is once you’re ⅔ of your 7iiway through the content, then if people decided to click off because they do not resonate with you, at least they watched 75% of your video first.
Get straight into the valuable content! Drop value bombs straight away, no fluff! You might find that what you’re saying is valuable but in post-production, edit anything you think is, in theory, unnecessary for the viewer to really know.
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The video structure for more watch time
Again, value, value, value… This is vital for viewer retention, be brutal in your editing, try and jam pack as much value in the shortest time possible. This is unnecessary however if you’re recording conversational based interviews or podcasts. With these you want to do the opposite, make them as long as possible, but obviously, still, try and provide as much value as you possibly can, but this time in the longest time possible. This won’t necessarily be great for your viewer retention percentage but will give you a high average view duration and a high CPM.
Once you reach ⅔ of the way through the video, you can now start talking about yourself. Include a relatable story or how this relates to what you do etc.
Try not to be overly salesy and make sure you’re not ruining the flow of the entire video or the value you’re giving just to talk about yourself. This is when you can promote a course, free ebook, etc. But please, please, please don’t spend ages on this, because at the end of the day, no one wants to be sold to, just make people aware of yourself and what you offer.
End video with bonus tips, or extra value. Award your viewer for making it to the end of the video! Say thank you, appreciate the viewers time.
Want to learn how to keep someone’s attention? Our CEO, Michael Humblet, is explaining how to give effective sales presentations (or videos):
Call to actions
Be sneaky with your call to actions. Don’t even tell your viewer to like + subscribe, unless it comes up in conversation. For example, you could talk about a video you will be making in the future, end this by telling the viewer to subscribe and turn on their notification bell so they don’t miss it. Emphasize this with an animation pop-up.
When it comes to your end screen, keep the video running. Don’t make a separate segment for your end screen. The reason for this is the majority of people click off when this shows because they know its the end of the video. Your end screen could be running on for a further 20 seconds. This is 20 seconds of the video the viewer hasn’t watched and this will affect your watch-time percentage, resulting in de-ranking your youtube video and fewer people seeing your content.
For 2 new ways to approach your end screen strategy watch this video:
Bonus tips
- Always remember you’re making content for the viewer and not for yourself.
- Yes, you need to enjoy what you’re putting out because the viewer can tell when you’re forcing out content you are not enthusiastic about.
- Always be over-enthusiastic, people will click off if you’re not energetic and bubbly.
Some goals to blow up your channel
- Aim for 50% viewer video competition on all videos.
- Aim for 80-90% of viewers still watching your video after 30 seconds.
- Aim for 5-8% CTR (Depending on your channel size)
