How Long Does It Take to Get Noticed on YouTube?

Oct 15, 2020

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Over the years, I've been asked the same question a significant number of times. The question is: How long does it take to get noticed on YouTube? I suppose this is a normal question for a YouTube content creator to have. After all, nobody wants to wait forever to achieve some form of success. But what is the true answer to this question?

Getting noticed on YouTube can take a long time. Many factors contribute to the speed at which your videos and channel might get discovered. It's important to recognize that YouTube is a long-term game. You can get noticed quickly on YouTube. However, in most cases, you must be prepared to spend months creating videos for a few people to see them.

I see a lot of people create YouTube videos in hopes of getting noticed quickly. Anybody who creates videos in hopes of becoming an overnight success is setting themselves up for failure. Look at any large YouTube channel and take a look at how long they've been uploading videos. Are you prepared to upload videos for as long as they have?

Getting Noticed on YouTube

getting-noticed-on-youtube

Getting noticed on YouTube can take a long time. Many factors impact the speed at which a channel gets noticed. Luckily enough, these factors can be evaluated and improved so a channel can get noticed faster. If your YouTube channel is taking a long time to get noticed, ask yourself the following:

  • How many videos have I published?
  • Am I promoting my videos off-site?
  • Am I following best practices?
  • Could I be more patient?

Let's discuss each of these factors in more detail.

How Many Videos Have Been Published

A tell-tale sign of how long it will take a content creator to get noticed is the number of videos they have published. If a content creator has only published 3 videos, then odds are they will struggle to get their videos seen by viewers. If a creator has only uploaded 6 videos in the past year, they will also struggle to get their videos and channels noticed.

Upload frequency has a huge impact on the time it takes for a channel to get noticed. The more videos a content creator publishes, the greater chance they have of getting noticed. It's important to remember, however, that uploading 100 low-quality videos in 10 days won't do the job. Videos need to be high-quality and best practices must be followed.

If you upload a significant number of high-quality videos, and you follow YouTube marketing best practices, you'll have a good chance of getting noticed. If you barely publish any videos and you don't follow best practices, however, then it will most likely take you a significant amount of time to get noticed.

Is Any Off-Site Promotion Being Done

I always preach the importance of YouTube SEO. However, YouTube SEO is not designed to make your channel explode. When you optimize your videos following video SEO best practices, you are positioning them to gain views over time- not overnight. Some things can be done, like off-site promotion, that will can to quicker views.

Doing off-site promotion properly can be tricky. Whether you're promoting your videos on social media or forums, there are different skills that you will need to learn to be successful. Again, this further explains why YouTube is a long-term game. There are skills that you will need to learn not only concerning creating videos, but also promoting videos.

Typically, channels that effectively promote their videos get noticed quicker. Supplementing YouTube SEO with off-site promotional efforts can speed up the rate that a channel grows. Again, it all comes down to a content creators' ability to put in the work required to achieve success. More effort will lead to more success if the effort is being utilized properly.

Are You Following Best Practices

There are certain things that a content creator can do to position themselves to achieve more success. For example, following YouTube best practices. By optimizing your videos in a search-friendly manner and by using click-friendly thumbnails, you can increase the odds of your videos getting seen.

It takes time to learn best practices. Finding keywords and optimizing video metadata isn't something that will come naturally to you. Using software and designing thumbnails won't be as easy as it seems. Learning the skills required for following YouTube marketing best practices will take time and practice, meaning you'll need to be patient.

Here's the thing: You must follow best practices if you want to get your videos and channel noticed. There is no way to avoid following best practices. Knowing this, be prepared to take the time necessary to learn the required skills. Recognize that it will take time and practice for you to be able to follow best practices have them make a significant impact.

Are You Being Impatient

You're probably getting tired of reading this, but YouTube is a long-term game. You must be prepared to stick things out in the long run if you want to achieve success. The problem with most content creators is that they aren't willing to stick things out. Most creators want to get noticed quickly. 99% of the time, this doesn't happen, and this leads to a lot of quitting.

It's difficult to determine a specific amount of time it will take for you to achieve success. There are so many contributors to YouTube success that it would be improper of me to even suggest how long it might take you to achieve success. You see, almost all guesses of how long it takes to grow a channel are almost always false.

I will say this: Give things 1 year. If you are not prepared to stick things out for at least a year, then you need to re-evaluate what you're doing. You could grow a massive channel is 6 months, but odds are it will take you a year to accumulate any sizeable audience. Use this number and temper your expectations if need be.

Conclusion

For many content creators on YouTube, it takes a significant amount of time to get noticed. Heck, some content creators never get noticed. There is no guarantee of success. If, however, you do things correctly and put in the effort, you will have a good chance of achieving success on YouTube. How long does it take to get noticed on YouTube? It takes as long as it takes.

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