Everyone who uploads a video to YouTube is always looking to gradually increase his or her views. This is mainly because, more views usually means more audience which translates into more visibility hence more opportunities to monetize. Although views are very important, YouTube is lately paying close attention to audience retention. This simply means that minutes watched is now as important and in the future might be important than actual views.

Regardless of what it is that is more important, whether it is views or retention of audience, bottom line is, we would still want people to watch our video posts for the longest time possible. One of the best ways to increase YouTube views is to produce and post great content coupled by link building and most importantly optimization. This therefore calls for strategy, planning and also setting of goals.

To help make the whole process easier, below is an overview of some of the ways to increase your views and also retain your audience:-

1. Engage your target audience off the Bat

First off, it is very important to understand the fact that the first 15 seconds of any video is usually very important. This is because it is during this time span that most audiences consider abandoning watching a video. This means you should pay closest attention to the first few seconds of the pre production of the video in order to be able to increase your views and get to decrease abandonment. Simply put, regardless of what you are producing, it is strongly advised that you make those first few minutes pop! Use catchy music of the introduction and most importantly focus on highlighting the benefits of the video since if it doesn’t describe the benefits it is less likely to retain.

2. Taking advantage of YouTube Analytics engagement reports

The analytics engagement report is a rich source of great information for your channel. Unfortunately, if you are new to YouTube, there won’t be a lot of information to interpret.  Assuming you have some data, the engagement reports section of YouTube analytics will offer you a peek into the psyche of your target audience including all the key sections such as the likes, dislikes, favorites, sharing and comments all of which collectively will make it easier for you to increase your YouTube views.

3. Taking advantage of the Adwords Keyword Tool

Quality content is yet another very important factor to take into consideration in your quest to increase your YouTube audience. The Adwords Keyword tool will help you produce much more relevant and valuable content for your target audiences.

4. Building links from the bottom up

Ask for collaborations with other people (fellow YouTube), the best thing to do is to approach those you tubers with slightly more influence than you if not the same, such people are always willing and very easy to work with.  In short, all this is just about incremental growth from the bottom to the top through accessible channels.

In addition to the above, consider producing videos from your posts and also work on page video SEO and working on content circles. all of the above is mainly aimed at setting up an eco system in which the user does not necessarily have to make a lot of effort just to watch you.