17 Ways to Get More YouTube Subscribers (2021)

In this post you’re going to learn how to get more YouTube subscribers in 2021.

In fact:

These are the exact strategies I used to grow my channel from zero to 391K subscribers:

And today I’m going to show you how I did it…

…and how you can do the same thing.

1. Use “Power Playlists”

“Power Playlists” are like regular playlists… but better.

Here’s exactly how they work:

You see, most playlists are organized by topic.

But Power Playlists are different.

Instead of topics, Power Playlists are organized by outcomes.

Here’s an example from my channel:

"Higher Google Rankings" YouTube playlist

As you can see, the title of that playlist is an outcome:

Backlinko's Power Playlist title gives an outcome

Which makes people MUCH more likely to watch my playlist… and subscribe.

And that leads us to…

2. Publish LONG Videos (10+ Minutes)

Yup, this goes against conventional wisdom.

But stay with me.

A while back we did the largest YouTube ranking factors study ever.

Backlinko – YouTube ranking factors study

In that study we analyzed 11 factors that might help video rank in YouTube’s search engine.

And we found something surprising:

Longer videos rank better in YouTube’s search results.

Longer videos tend to rank better in YouTube

For example, last year I published this video.

As you can see, my video is almost 13 minutes long:

And that’s one of the main reasons that it ranks in the #1 spot in YouTube for the keyword: “seo”:

3. Promote Videos In Your End Screen

Here’s the deal:

The more of your videos someone watches, the more likely they are to subscribe.

The question is:

How do you get people to watch 2, 5 or even 10 of your videos?

Promote another video in your End Screen.

Here’s an example from my channel:

This simple “Next Video” has led LOTS more views and subscribers:

Backlinko – End Screen – Extra views and subscribers

Here’s how you can do the same thing:

First, include 10 seconds of time at the end of your videos specifically for your End Screen.

Here’s what mine looks like in the raw video file:

Then, use YouTube’s End Screen editor to add a link to a related video:

That’s all there is to it 🙂

4. Branding Watermark = Subscribe Button

This is the ultimate YouTube subscriber hack.

You probably know that you can add a Branding Watermark to your videos.

This watermark lets viewers subscribe to your channel inside of your video.

Unfortunately, most Branding Watermarks are completely ignored.

For example…

I once added this watermark to all of my videos:

And it did absolutely nothing.

So I decided to try something new.

Instead of a watermark that looked cool…

…I used one that looked like a normal YouTube subscribe button.

And it worked!

My new watermark generated 70% more subscribers than my old one.

Pretty cool.

5. Focus On Quality… Not Quantity

When I first started my YouTube channel, I read the same advice over and over again:

“If you want to grow your channel, you need to upload videos on a regular basis”

As it turns out, this is HORRIBLE advice.

I’ll explain.

When I first started my channel I published videos on a consistent schedule…

…but no one watched them.

And the few people that watched my videos didn’t even bother to subscribe.

Backlinko YouTube channel – Low subscriber conversion

It was REALLY frustrating.

So I decided to change things up.

Instead of quantity, I decided to focus 100% on quality.

And this “quality over quantity” video marketing approach worked like magic.

Flash forward to today and my channel generates over 228k views per month from only 39 total videos:

And because I pour my heart and soul into every video, over 6k people subscribe to my channel every month:

6. Reply To EVERY Comment

This is one of the EASIEST ways to get more subscribers.

In fact, YouTube’s internal data has found a clear correlation between replying to comments and subscribers:

“When creators take the time to interact with their loyal community, it can encourage audience participation and ultimately result in a larger fanbase.”

Why does this help?

Well, most YouTubers never reply to comments.

Which means you instantly stand out when you do.

That’s why I do my best to reply to as many comments as I can.

(Especially right after I publish a new video)

7. Write a Compelling Channel Description

Your YouTube Channel Description is HUGE.

(Especially when it comes to video SEO)

Sadly, most Channel Descriptions look something like this:

Imagine that you’re about to subscribe to that channel.

Is that description going to make you lunge for the subscribe button?

Probably not.

Contrast that weak description with this one:

See the difference?

This about page works because it:

Tells you what the channel is all about
Gives you important information on the channel (like the upload schedule)
Includes a strong call to action to subscribe

Here’s a template that you can use to write your own Channel Description:

Pro Tip: Sprinkle in a handful of keywords in your description. This can help your channel rank better in YouTube search.

For example, I used a few different relevant keywords that people on YouTube would search for…

…like “SEO”, “link building” and “content marketing”.

8. Funnel People to “Subscriber Magnets”

This is working GREAT for me right now.

Here’s the step-by-step process:

First, head over to the YouTube Analytics report.

And click “Subscribers” → “See More”.

Next, identify the video that brought you the most subs last month:

(This video is your “Subscriber Magnet”)

In my case, this ONE Subscriber Magnet from my channel brings in as many subscribers as 13 other videos from my channel… combined.

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