Today I´m going to talk about how you can start a singing YouTube channel on your own and get discovered as a new rising star on the platform.

Although nowadays it´s becoming harder than ever to get noticeability on YouTube you´ll see that these specific tips will give increase the chances of growing your fanbase as fast as possible.

So, let´s start!

1. Take Advantage Of Search Traffic

If you want to get to the level of being recognized within the platform with ease and get to new fans each and every day then you NEED to start taking advantage of search traffic.

That pretty much means positioning on the first page of the videos that come up whenever someone searches something that you want to be found for.

Here´s how to do it:

Create educational content around your niche!

By teaching tutorials and begin to position your videos as a great resource for those who want to learn more about singing techniques, how to play a certain song on the ukulele, or maybe how to warm up the voice, you´ll be seen as an expert in the field and your videos will start to rank higher on the platform.

You´ll be able to reach a broader audience and get people interested in what you have to say as well as your art.

In fact.

THIS is how many other YouTubers started out, as it is an effective approach you can use in order to target specific keywords that you can easily rank for as a newer content creator, instead of trying to do the same cover that 10.000 people more are doing.

Long-tail Keyword Targeting

What you should do is aim at long-tail keywords, which are specific queries that are underserved and where you can easily rank first on the search results whenever someone types it on the search bar.

For example, instead of going for shorter and harder keywords that many people have already done a great job at making videos about like “how to sing better” you should niche down.

By making your videos more specific and targeted you´ll increase the chances of higher rankings and discoverability.

Here´s an example of this:

You find the right keyword by doing a quick search and letting YouTube itself suggest possible keyword ideas you can aim at.

And sure enough, you´ll get a few good examples of what other people typed, I´m going to pick the longest and most specific keyword I´ve found.

Then, let´s check out at the competition…

Although these are great videos they DON´T answer the query that´s being typed by the users, they come up first because they are the best possible answer to that question against other videos, as simple as that.

So, if you take the time to make something that specifically answers what the viewer is searching for then your chances of ranking will dramatically increase.

2. Get More Views With SVO

You must have heard of SEO but in case you didn´t, it stands for Search Engine Optimization, which means optimizing content to rank on search engines, like Google or YouTube.

Now, on the other hand, you have SVO, which stands for Search Video Optimization, and refers to practices done to improve the way your video ranks on search engines.

Therefore, if you apply SVO correctly you could end up getting tons of views organically by ranking videos on YouTube whenever you find an opportunity you can take advantage of.

This is a different approach to the one that I´ve talked about before, now you´ll be trying to figure out what are the MOST popular keywords people tend to love and that YouTube highly promotes.

So, how do you do that?

Simple! You will search for the “most popular” videos of your favorites channels and steal their best-performing ideas.

Go to one of your favorite channels now and click on the videos tab.

Then, once you are in the videos section of the channel you´ll simply click on most popular and you´ll get the best performing content of that particular channel.

Now you just have to choose a couple of more channel and list out their most popular keywords and select a few that you want to target, after that it is just about making something better!

3. Make Clever Thumbnails

The third step you must in order to get better results when you start your singing YouTube channel is to work on your thumbnails.

As you may know, thumbnails are a deal-breaker, they can make the difference between you being found on a daily basis by new fans or sinking down to the bottom of the search results.

The way they work is quite simple, the more clicks your video gets the higher the ranking and how much YouTube will promote your content.

Now, to accomplish that, you HAVE TO make clever thumbnails.

What are those?

Let me show you…

But, what is this a clever thumbnail you may ask, right?

Well, it is quite simple, clever thumbnails, as I like to call them, rely on three effective factors:

1. They have non-Youtube colors, instead of using red, white, or black on their designs they tend to use purple, blue, yellow, green, and orange, in order to command attention and get more people clicking as a result.
2. Secondly, clever thumbnails use big bold and clear titles that let everyone know what the video is about and, from time to time, get people curious.
3. Finally, they show a human face, whether that is your face or not it doesn´t really matter as long as it´s a human face. According to research, people are attracted to those videos that show another fellow human on the thumbnail. 😕

4. Stand Out With Branding

In order for you to stand out from the crowd, you MUST start working on your personal brand.

Now, this doesn´t mean you have to wear flashy clothes or a weird pair of sunglasses whenever you shoot a new video, it just means being authentic and original in your own unique way.

Also, follow the time-tested principles for YouTube success I´ve talked to you about in some of my other posts.

Things like providing value first asking for something in return second, being consistent with your branding, and get inspiration from other people´s work.

The more you work on your brand the more you´ll differentiate yourself from others that are following a similar path to yours.

Now, for the sake of being concrete, keep in mind that although personal branding can be a huge topic that covers all sorts of things, the main objective of branding yourself is building up your reputation. That´s it.

Your online reputation IS your brand.

Keep that in mind next time you are about to shoot a video, the more your give and the more you care about your viewers the better your results will be.

5. Show Vulnerability

Coupled with the previous point showing vulnerability can be such a great way to connect with your viewers.

You shouldn´t try to be perfect at all times and give the feeling like you have everything in control, that doesn´t relate to anyone.

People want to get to know you, the actual YOU, the behind the scenes facet of your work and talent.

Show your true self, with all of the imperfections that come with it, people will relate to that and will be willing to engage with you on a deeper level, which will lead to them sharing, liking, and commenting your videos.

Think of (almost) any really successful influencer nowadays, they all show their day-to-day experiences in raw footage, making vlogs, and unedited clips from their big and small struggles and failures.

That´s what Adam Mishan did when he published his singing transformation video:

And it got him more than 3 million views!

You can see how on that video, especially for the first couple of minutes, he (literally) sucks as he began to learn more about singing.

People LOVE to see how you can show more of yourself without a filter.

Plus! it is the surest and fastest way to build trust.

6. Get Inspired By YouTube Stars

There are thousands of great singers out there but just a bunch of them get to the star level and you can too if you know how to get inspired by them in order to make your art part of the top content on YouTube.

YouTube singers do a few things right that get them some recognition and noticeability, and you can do the same if you know what to look for.

The singer I talked to you about, Adam Mishan, serves as a good example.

He´s done a terrific job at compiling is bad and good performances throughout the years in a single video showing his transformation and that video got him millions of views and exponential growth in the last year.

And you can do the EXACT same thing!

Of course, you can also make something similar or just take the idea of transformational video to show another a specific aspect of singing and how your vocal capacity has improved, etc.

The goal is to search for ideas and inspiration from other content creators that could get your creative juices flowing.

So, don´t wait or think anymore, get out there!

7. Get Leverage From Collabs

Last but not least, you NEED help if you want to succeed in the entertainment industry.

Although you could hit one or two viral videos if you do your homework or you have an incredible voice plus a thoughtful marketing strategy, most likely you will grow really slow, fan by fan, or not at all.

If you´ve been following some of the tips I´ve laid out for you then you are on your way to YouTube singing success.

That being said, getting some “extra” leverage from other content creators is one of the fastest ways you can grow on YouTube.

You can do several collabs throughout the year and see how your numbers grow as a result if you choose your partners right.

Here´s how:

• Creators Academy. YouTube itself encourages creators to make collaborations in order to get discovered. That´s why they´ve included a specific lesson about it on their Academy´s catalog. Check it out: Collab Tips.
• YouCollab. This is a great app that lets you find creators to do a collab with right from your phone by posting your own collab idea and sharing it online so that others can hit you up if they are interested. Also, it is FREE to join!
• Visit Forums. Yep, people still use forums, and they are actually a great way to meet and connect with other content creators that share a similar audience to yours. You can check out sites like YTtalk or Reddit.

In case you didn´t know it Playlists can also rank on search, and they are a great way to improve your YouTube metrics as they can easily increase watch time on your channel.

What you simply need to do is compile some of your best-performing videos, not more than 3 to 5 tend to work best, and give your playlist a name that could rank on YouTube.

You won´t have to do ANY extra work, you can use videos that you´ve already made!

Final Thoughts

I really hope these tips can help you start your singing career on YouTube, whether that means that you record a cover song at home or that you share your knowledge with others.

For any more information about this, you can check out some of my other posts.

Have a nice one!

Matt Porta.