Why Are My YouTube Videos Not Getting Views?

Are you wondering why your YouTube videos are not getting views? Don’t worry; you are not alone.

Many creators, even those with established channels and audiences, ask this question.

I will guide you through everything you’ve done wrong in this article. You may not have realized how you were messing up until now, but that’s precisely what we shall cover and get right to why your videos are not getting views and how to fix it ASAP.

Why Your YouTube Videos Are Not Getting Views

I’m not going to be holding back now. Sometimes you need to hear what hurts to improve, so don’t get offended or upset if I say something you’re doing sucks.

This just means that you now know what to improve.

I’ve analyzed and helped hundreds of channels (in the comments of this article alone), and these are the common problems most have. When evaluating if you fall into any of these categories, you need to be honest with yourself.

1. Your YouTube Video Thumbnails suck

The first thing a potential viewer sees when your video appears in their home feed, on the sidebar, or in search results is your video thumbnail.

If your thumbnail doesn’t catch their attention with an accurate image or graphic showing what your video is about, that person will skip right past it.

It doesn’t matter how amazing your video may be or how well you’ve titled it; if your thumbnail doesn’t match that quality, it won’t be interesting for anybody.

And some more common mistakes I’ve made are using low-quality and low-resolution images or just using a bland picture taken as a screenshot from the actual video.

An image with good contrasts almost consistently outperforms similar flat designs because people just don’t notice the flat thumbnails.

So, if your video thumbnails suck, no one will give it a second thought, and you won’t get any views.

Solution:

Create relevant, contrasting, and exciting thumbnails.

You should use custom thumbnails (meaning don’t simply pick a screenshot from the video), and don’t be afraid to oversaturate and turn the contrast up a notch.

While it may look slightly over-processed in a larger format, it won’t look that way when viewed as a regular thumbnail on a smartphone, pc, or tablet.

2. You Have No Consistency

By not showing any consistency on YouTube, your viewers and subscribers have no idea when you’re going to post future videos, what your videos are going to be about, or what your channel is even about, so why would anyone subscribe?

This can also damage your video’s ability to rank on YouTube.

The algorithm places a lot of value on consistency, and by providing consistent value, your channel and view count will grow.

And consistency isn’t just about uploading a certain number of videos per month or week; it’s also about creating videos that have a similar topic, are visually recognizable, and have a similar message, like reviews, DIY tutorials, etc.

Consistency is the key to converting viewers into subscribers, and you can often see this when a video goes viral through social sharing.

The creator often just posted the video for the sake of sharing and doesn’t have much other similar content on their channel, and the millions of viewers they receive may translate to only a fraction of the actual view count.

Which is just a massive opportunity wasted.

Solution:

Be clear with what and when you’re going to post. Create a realistic upload schedule and try to stick to it.

Stay relatively within your niche and establish what type of videos you want to create, whether that’s tutorials, commentary, entertainment, information, etc.

Also, remember, by being consistent on YouTube, you’re giving the YouTube algorithm more information about your channel to suggest it to the right people interested in your videos.

And by creating videos consistently, each of those new videos increases your chances of the algorithm picking up your channel.

3. Not Making Content For Your Viewers

This tip is sort of tied to consistency but has more to do with what your audience wants.

A YouTube channel only grows when people visit that channel to watch videos that they are interested in.

And once you start uploading videos, you will start to build an audience, even if that audience is only 5 or 15 people at first, you need to start somewhere, and if those 5 to 15 people watch your new videos consistently, your channel’s videos will be shown to more people with similar interests.

Now, if you are not making videos for your audience, viewers and subscribers won’t be interested in watching more of your videos as nothing catered to them.

Practically, this could mean you have a channel reviewing laptops, but you also have an interest in Formula 1 races and review the driver’s performances.

Both are reviews that you’re interested in, but the viewers interested in laptops may not be interested in Formula 1 (especially since 2014), and vice versa.

This then results in no clicks on your videos, which therefore underperforms.

Solution:

Look at what your viewers want to see and what topics are the most exciting and watchable within your YouTube niche.

If you’re going for entertainment and humor, try incorporating some popular YouTube challenges into your content.

Or, if you’re in the tech niche, look at what viewers want to see in tech reviews and deliver it.

Check out your YouTube analytics to see which videos are performing the best for you, and you can then use these known topics of interest to create more relevant videos for your audience.

Also, look at the duration of the videos your audience is interested in; perhaps you can find the right viewers by using Shorts. YouTube Shorts can also be difficult to get views on, but you need to find a good way to align your content with your viewers.

4. YouTube Optimization Is An Afterthought

Too many people are just throwing videos out there and hoping for millions of views. And unfortunately, that just will not cut it as a feasible plan for getting views and growing on YouTube.

Not unless you already have a million+ subscribers and a community willing to share for you.

Which, let’s be real, you probably do not have, and even then, YouTube optimization can take those videos that extra step further.

So, if keywords, tagging, custom thumbnails, targeting, search volume, channel design, SEO, etc., all sound foreign to you and you’re not taking action in that direction, well, I have some good news.

You can get many more views by just implementing all of these things.

Most successful YouTubers still implement these things, even those with multimillion sub counts and billions of views. It’s that important.

And this isn’t only relevant for getting found in search results; optimizing videos also helps vlogs and more entertainment-based topics increase their reach.

You just need to focus on a few keywords/phrases for it to take its full effect.

Solution:

Implement YouTube video optimization.

That means incorporating YouTube SEO. Things like keywording should become second nature, tag fields should no longer be left empty, and you should spend more than just 2 minutes filling out a description.

This may sound quite intimidating at first, but thankfully, you can use some free tools to make this process easier.

TubeBuddy is one of my favorites, a great free browser extension that you can use to find the best keywords for your videos to improve your video optimization and a whole host of other optimization features.

5. Your Audience Retention Rate Is Low

Are viewers leaving your videos after only a few seconds, even though your videos are a couple of minutes long? Is watch time hard to come by, and viewers hardly stick around to the middle, let alone the end of your videos?

This means your audience retention rate is low, which hurts your channel for two reasons.

Firstly, YouTube’s algorithm favors watch time and channels that can hold the viewers’ attention for longer.

And secondly, if your viewers can’t sit through an entire video (or at least the main parts of it), they’re probably not going to be interested in subscribing or watching any of your other videos.

There are several reasons why your audience retention rate could be low; your intros are too long, your outro is too long, the audio is too loud, your voice is too monotone, too much pointless rambling, etc., etc., etc.

Solution:

First, we need to try and pinpoint the cause, and luckily, YouTube has a solution built right into the platform for this: YouTube analytics.

With YouTube Analytics, you can get a wide range of valuable information to help your channel grow.

Regarding retention rate, you can look at the average watch time of specific videos and when viewers most often leave your videos.

Allowing you to approximate the time that viewers are bouncing from your video, you can then look at what is happening and pinpoint the cause of your low retention rate.

Once you know what the problem is, correct it.

Protip: include cards at the times when people are leaving, linking to a relevant one of your videos. If you can’t keep people’s attention on a specific video, then the next best thing is to try and keep them at least on your channel.

6. You’re Only Active On YouTube

What other platforms are you currently also active on? Only YouTube?

With the variety of powerful online social networks, it’s a massive waste not to take advantage of the free resources at your disposal.

It may be challenging to get your YouTube channel rolling at first, but maybe you have a small following on Instagram already. Leverage that to get more views on your videos.

Even if you haven’t got an established following on any social networks or communities, your ideal audience may lurk within the walls of an enthusiastic subreddit or pinning away on Pinterest.

Facebook groups, Reddit, social networks, blogs, etc. YouTube may be the platform where you create your main content, but you can and should venture out into the wild. If your audience isn’t coming to you, go out to them.

Solution:

Be active and engage on platforms outside of YouTube. Promote your videos on other platforms, subreddits, Quora, share your YouTube videos on Facebook, etc. but do so mindfully and respectfully, respecting rules and being helpful first.

You can self-promote as much as you’d like on your platforms, but no one wants to see links plastered everywhere when engaging with communities.

Provide value, and by doing so, you’ll become a part of the community and offer your videos when appropriate.

Also, try sticking to a max of 3 platforms at first so that you don’t spread yourself out too thin, and don’t be shy to join forums or Q&A sites like Quora, as large platforms may be more challenging to get the ball rolling, but this can all be dependent on what type of videos you are making.

7. Your Videos Do Not Provide Value

Ask yourself this: Why should someone watch your video?

If you cannot answer that question, you’re probably not providing any value, and then why should someone spend their valuable time watching your videos?

Value is an integral part of being a YouTuber and is essential to recognize what you bring to the table in the viewer-YouTuber relationship.

You give them a reason to watch your videos, whether that’s entertainment, information, etc.; in return, they watch, like, subscribe, comment, share, and so on.

You cannot expect one without the other, and you may have to take a step back and look seriously at what you’ve been creating and ask yourself why someone would watch your videos.

Solution:

Take a step back, get the full perspective, and then create within context.

You need to be honest with yourself because there’s no point in wasting your own time. And when I say create within context, you need to understand the value you can provide.

We all have some type of value that can be shared because there will always be people that lack your knowledge; even if you’re not an expert in the field, they can still learn from you.

People will always share similar humor or just find you relatable.

Then look at what value your audience wants, what you can provide them with, and what is the most trending, searchable, and relatable topics within your niche. Then, start creating videos that answer questions, provide entertainment, and are what your audience wants to watch.

This also goes back to the previous point about making YouTube videos for your audience.

8. Horrible Audio Quality

When it comes to making quality YouTube videos, audio is often the most overlooked.

It can be hard to comprehend how important audio is when you’re starting, but just think of how many times you’ve watched a video with horrible audio.

Did you subscribe to that channel, or did you just bounce straight away as it became unbearable?

Audio quality is as important, if not more important, than your video quality.

A lot of times, people may be able to overlook a video shot on a potato camera as long as the audio is clear, crisp, and of good quality.

The same cannot be said of a great-looking video with audio recorded on a cassette player from the ’80s.

Solution:

First, realize that you should improve your audio before considering your video quality. The investment will represent a far better value if you can afford a high-quality microphone than a camera upgrade. You can, after all, get a great microphone for a fraction of the cost of a mirrorless camera.

The Rode NT-USB is a great high-quality USB condenser microphone with a pop filter and table stand included in the delivery.

Alternatively, a lavalier mic can represent excellent value for money at a much more affordable price.

Once you have a quality mic, the next step is removing unnecessary noise while filming.

Do not record into the wind if you’re vlogging (or use a dead cat/windscreen), and speak clearly.

If you find some interference in the audio, try turning on airplane mode on your mobile devices, as this can often solve the problem.

Lastly, and possibly most importantly, do not put loud music in your video when you’re talking/narrating/etc.

It may seem like an obvious tip, but I can’t tell you how often I still run into videos where I can’t understand a word the creator is saying, as their background music is just blaring away.

Pay attention to your audio.

9. You’re Not Engaging With Your Audience

Do people comment on your videos, and you just don’t respond to them?

Engaging with your audience creates a connection, and your channel becomes more important for the people you reply to and for the viewers who just see the interaction and can get a better sense of who you are.

By commenting, you’re showcasing more of your personality, which in return means it’s more likely that they will watch more of your videos favorably.

This means they’ll ask more questions, leave more comments, like your videos, and maybe even subscribe.

Engagement shouldn’t stop on your videos, though.

There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of channels that will cross topics with your content that could have viewers interested in what you create.

Solution:

Be active in your community, whether on your channel, other YouTubers’ channels, social networks, blogs, face-to-face, and so on.

Be an active and valuable community member, and watch how that community will support you.

Also, reply to your comments and make sure to add value.

At the very least, use a personalized response to show that you’ve read the comment.

10. Lack Of Patience

So, it’s been two weeks since you started your YouTube channel, and you still haven’t gotten a million views. You might as well pack it up and move on then, right?

This is what I feel like shouting at people when they say they do not see any results when they’ve just started implementing these best practices and tips and just started taking their YouTube channel seriously.

What results can you expect to see in such a short space of time? If things could happen that fast, as the cliché goes, everyone would be doing it.

This is also one of the biggest differences between those that just started YouTube and those that are successful on YouTube; the ones that have the determination and patience are the ones that can reap the rewards.

Be patient.

Even those that seem to have skyrocketed to fame have required time to grow.

On the positive side, the growth scale on YouTube is exponential. You may only get a couple of subs a day at first, but as your channel grows, that couple will turn into dozens, which will turn into hundreds, then thousands, and then who knows, the sky is the limit.

Solution:

Allow at least four weeks before making judgments on changes you’ve implemented. Both for judging successes and failures on your videos and channel.

Give yourself and your videos enough time to reap the benefits of your work and look at improvements over a longer period than 24 hours.

Things may look like it’s starting to stagnate when you look at minor changes every 24 hours, whereas viewing your analytics and results every couple of weeks can present an entirely different picture.

A positive one if you’ve implemented these tips.

Final Thoughts On Why Your Videos Are Not Getting Views

As you can see, if you focus on what your target audience wants to see and create good content catered to them, you will get more views on YouTube.

This is often the main reason you have no views on YouTube.

Remember that patience is crucial to growth, but don’t be afraid to communicate with your audience to see what they may be interested in, which can speed things up.

Let me know what you’re struggling with in the comments below.

And if you want to scale up your channel faster, let’s work together.