How to Grow a YouTube Gaming Channel

While streaming can be a very rewarding career, you need to have a solid strategy for building your audience. Over 90 percent of streamers typically stream to less than 3 people, but there are ways that you can get yourself past the initial grind to see successful channel growth.

This blog post will cover many ways that YouTube Gaming streamers can take steps to improve their video views and average viewer count on streams. You do need to accept that the work of building an entertaining channel will fall on your shoulders.

While most people find it easier to be discovered on YouTube than Twitch as a streamer, gaming videos, and content are still a saturated market, and you will need to step up your game and track down your first viewers yourself.

How to Get More Viewers While Streaming on YouTube Gaming

Even with better discovery, it is still difficult to discover your YouTube channel by the rest of the gaming community. There are thousands upon thousands of YouTube gamers who are actively creating quality gaming content to attract more subscribers.

To compete with other YouTubers, you need to have a strong understanding of what people watch so that you can create a content strategy for your new YouTube Channel. Beyond that, you must find ways to attract more video subscribers.

1. 1. Create YouTube Shorts

   One of the most powerful ways you can grow your YouTube channel is by frequently uploading YouTube Shorts. These can be clips of the video game you are playing on stream, a special event that occurred, or even short tutorials relating to your content.

   As you grow a video library of shorts, frequently check your statistics to see which gets the most views on YouTube. You can also use a YouTube SEO tool to help you create short popular videos that will go viral.

   That platform will encourage viewers to watch your long-form content after interacting with your shorts after a while.

2. 2. Create Traditional YouTube Videos

   One of the greatest benefits of choosing YouTube Gaming as your streaming platform is its seamless integration with the rest of YouTube. You can produce traditional YouTube videos on the same account you stream, meaning you can pick up subscribers in two different ways.

   Once you have some momentum, you can hit your early milestones and generate enough hype to build toward future ones. 

   Make YouTube Videos of Your Game Content

   While YouTube is also very competitive, it is also a search engine, meaning that with keyword research, editing, strong YouTube gaming thumbnails, and click-worthy titles, you can potentially start to grow an audience.

   While you can create compilation videos of your stream, most won’t do well until you have an audience. Instead, focus on creating educational or entertaining content that will likely appear in search results. 

   Look for topics that people search for on the platform. For instance, if you stream Stardew Valley, enter the game’s title into YouTube’s search feature to see what others have searched. Two of the top searches happen to be about marriage within the game. 

   

   At this point, research what others have done for inspiration. Two of the top 4 results I received when typing “Stardew Valley how to marry” were titled the exact same way and were published 4 years ago. One has been viewed 10 times more than the other. While this can be due to various factors, researching both to see why one outperformed the other would be a good first step. 

   

   Don’t copy another’s idea; try to do something original with a catchy title. The top-viewed video in this search has a well-designed thumbnail and a catchy title. Find ways to create YouTube content that relates to your target keywords but will have a unique spin. 

   The more videos you make that will show up in YouTube results after a search, the better you’ll perform overall with YouTube’s algorithm in that specific niche. Ensure your entire video titles include the game’s name to generate those clicks.

   Use TubeBuddy to Grow Your YouTube Channel

   One of the best tools on the market for new and growing YouTube channels is TubeBuddy. TubeBuddy helps budding creators generate video ideas through keyword research that is a little more advanced than the method I described above. 

   The platform will also help you create eye-capturing thumbnails and has a tool that will help you improve your titles to be more searchable and more likely to earn you a click. The platform has a free browser extension and app that will help you manage your channel, but its premium features will help you reach the next tier at a greater speed. 

   Using a tool like TubeBuddy to help you grow your YouTube channel can also help you develop content ideas for short and longer videos. Creating these high-quality videos makes you more likely to improve your overall watch time as you have given your viewers what they want to see.

   Study your YouTube Analytics

   Study your YouTube analytics to determine the video content your subscribers enjoy most. Not only will this help you decide on which other videos you should create for your YouTube channel, but it will also help you strengthen your live-streaming strategies.

   You can find your analytics on YouTube studio. On this page, you’ll find the stats of your YouTube channel, such as the number of views, watch time, and subscriber count. To access this page, open YouTube on your browser, click your profile icon, and tap YouTube Studio.

   To help increase your watch time, learn to sell the upcoming content in your video intros. Next to strong video titles and thumbnails, make sure that all your gaming content highlights the video’s topic and gives your viewers a better understanding of what they can expect.

   Create High-Quality Videos

   Take your time to create quality content that will set your YouTube channel apart from other gaming channels. While you may want to start with short videos, continue working on your editing skills to create exactly what people watch.

   When you upload the video, make sure you do enough keyword research so that you can write a video title that will show up in search results, allowing you to compete properly with other creators.

   If you are unsure about the video content, you should create several new videos using slightly different methods to find your style.

   You can also share each final video with your friends or other YouTube gamers to get their feedback on anything you can improve.

   Each of these steps may increase the time people spend watching your YouTube gaming videos, which will improve your relationship with YouTube’s algorithm.

3. 3. Grow Other Social Media Accounts

   Try to grow other social accounts as well as your YouTube channel. You can interact in gaming communities and as you make friends and grow in popularity on other systems, you may find that a few of them will start following your stream.

   Here are a few ideas for the different platforms you can use:

   Use Instagram to Grow Your IRL Channels

   Whether you run a travel stream, create art on camera, or want to grow a channel based on your personality, Instagram is a good social network to help you find an audience. Post sharable content that will be meaningful to your target audience to build followers that you can eventually funnel into YouTube organically. 

   You can also easily share your Instagram posts with Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr making it easier to reach a larger audience and grow all your platforms overall. 

   Use Twitter to Network with Gamers, Streamers, and Brands

   Create a branded Twitter account to interact with other gamers, streamers, and brands. Don’t self-promote on others’ feeds. Instead, use the social platform to write thought-through comments on their posts, retweet posts that you like, and post memes or other content to your own feed. 

   You can also congratulate them for meeting milestones or thank them for good uploaded videos.

   Frequently post updates on what you are working on or funny things that happened throughout your day. As you become more interesting and engaging, more people will be attracted to your personality and more likely to check you out on YouTube Gaming.

   Use Reddit to Find Your Potential Audience

   When researching how to stream on Twitch, one of our site’s features streamers, Eljayem_ created a post on the XCom subreddit with a catchy title and a well-worded call to arms. In it, he told people that he was starting a new mission, and he asked for people to submit character ideas to him. His response was overwhelming. 

   As he started to stream, he would craft detailed stories about the game and post them to keep everyone updated. He would let people know what happened to the characters they created without overly emphasizing that he was streaming it on Twitch. People were drawn to him organically, and when a few did pop on to his channel to check it out, he had a few “real life” friends in his chat to greet them and invite them to the channel. 

   Through this method, he quickly grew his channel, reached Affiliate status in less than a month, and had an average of more than 20 concurrent viewers at the end of his second month on Twitch. With creativity and a little strategy, you may be able to attract an audience in a similar way. 

   While the above story is about Twitch (not YouTube Gaming), the same principles can still apply. In fact, it may be easier to find your YouTube audience than it was for Eljayem_ as there is more discoverability on YouTube. The point is that you need to think outside the box and use creativity to find and attract your target audience.

4. 4. Use a Webcam

   Using a webcam helps your viewers connect with you better and will improve retention rates overall. In past polls, we have discovered that between ⅓ and ½ of the stream, viewers won’t click on a stream that doesn’t have a visible webcam on the thumbnail. While you can still grow a gaming YouTube channel with those who will, growing with a webcam will be substantially easier. 

   You can broadcast with or without showing your background. Use a green screen on your stream to remove your background or replace it with something interesting. Creating a visually unique background with a green screen can be a great talking point for people who find your gaming channel or interest people enough to earn that click. 

5. 5. Improve Your Production Value

   Frequently add or update your equipment to improve your production value. Think about the content creator you want to be and strive to produce that level of content. Professional streamers don’t broadcast in dimly lit rooms. While you may not be able to afford equipment at first, create savings goals to get what you need to improve your stream over time. 

   Try out different lighting methods until you get the right look. While professional lighting for your stream is always a bonus, you can achieve improved results with well-positioned desk lamps. Experiment with colored lighting in your background to give you a better effect. 

   Do not rely on your headset’s in-built microphone for your audio quality. While your webcam and your lighting are important, your audio value is imperative. If you are experiencing issues with your mic, you cannot keep viewers on your channel. While you don’t need to spend several hundred dollars on a new microphone, you want to get one with decent quality and set it up correctly. 

   Take Your Time to Choose a Good Video Title

   Choosing a good video title is important whether you are uploading a short video to YouTube or you are live-streaming to a community of 500 people. They can draw in new members for your community or excite your current subs about checking out what you have to show them that day.

   Keep track of the titles you use so that you can learn from them. You can also jot down ideas for future titles when you brainstorm content ideas for your YouTube Gaming channel.

6. 6. Improve Stream Graphics

   Graphics for your stream will make your channel more aesthetically pleasing and professional. Good graphics and transitions shouldn’t detract from your content or be overly distracting. Professionally designed graphics will help you stand apart from your competition and build quality content on your stream.  

   • VISIT OWN3D

     Free and Premium Graphics

   There are several places online where you can purchase or commission graphics for your stream. Here are three of our favorites:

   • OWN3D – this platform has a vast library of overlays, alerts, and emotes. They are all professionally created to a high quality and easily integrate with your favorite broadcasting software. 
   • Fiverr – if you want something completely unique and custom-made, you can hire a freelance designer on Fiverr. You will be able to search their database to find an artist who matches your taste. 
   • Nerd or Die – Nerd or Die’s graphics appeal to many audiences. They have stunning transitions and scenes that will help you keep your audience’s attention. 

   If you are also uploading a new video to YouTube, as many other content creators who stream live video on the platform do, make sure that you use similar graphics for your thumbnails.

   Keeping things consistent will help you establish yourself as a brand, letting people easily find your gaming channel when they are lined up with similar channels.

   You can also use the same overlays and transitions in your stream when creating new YouTube videos. Not only will this give it a better visual appeal, but it will help you keep things looking professional. You can create this content through a program like OBS or Streamlabs rather than a basic screen capture software.

7. 7. Use Catchy Music 

   Play royalty-free music for YouTube Gaming on your stream. YouTube is very strict about not playing copyrighted music on their platforms as it is against DMCA regulations.

   Purchasing a song on iTunes or leasing one on Spotify for personal use does not give you the required permission to play it on your YouTube stream, and you are likely to get a strike on your account and potentially be banned. 

   The good news is that there is a lot of royalty-free music that is affordable and easily accessible which will allow you to stay within YouTube’s music guidelines.

   Several artists on the platform, each with their own YouTube channel, have created music that they are happy to share if you give them credit. Several services source music in many genres to help you make playlists that will appeal to your audience. 

   

   My favorite platform for royalty-free music is Epidemic Sound. They have over 30,000 sourced songs in a wide variety of popular genres, including music created specifically for the gaming community, and they add new tracks every week. The best part is you can try out their music on your stream with their free 30-day trial. 

   • Epidemic Sound – 30 Day Free Trial

     Test drive over 30,000 tracks on your stream for free!

   Their affordable personal plan allows you to use their Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram music. You can easily select a portion of a song to use in an intro or another portion of your stream. The platform also has several categories of sound alerts that you can use under the same plan. 

8. 8. Talk to Every Viewer Who Chats to You During Your Stream

   Most viewers who visit your YouTube Gaming channel are there to interact with you and with other viewers in your chat. Otherwise, they would watch YouTube compilations. Bringing them into the conversation and welcoming them will likely keep them as a part of your community. Here are a few ideas on how to celebrate interaction on your channel:

   • Question – Have a question that you can ask each new viewer or follower. Make it simple and not too personal, such as their favorite game, favorite color, or country. You can take this step a bit further by tracking the answers in some way. For instance, you can keep track of a long-term poll of every person’s favorite color or have your mods keep track by using a bot command. You could also keep a map in your background and add pins to it as new people tell you about their country. 
   • Song, limerick, or haiku – If you play a game that is slow enough, find a way to celebrate new subscribers to your channel. Write a song to sing to them (such as ArryBo’s catch “ArryBros” song, which gets stuck in his viewer’s heads), or write a limerick or haiku on the spot using their username. Not only does this create entertaining content for the whole stream, but it is an added incentive for new viewers. 
   • Remember them – Try to remember your viewers after they have visited your stream. Read your chat logs, write down the names of those who were active, or use memory association tactics to remember who they are if they return. This will likely surprise them a bit, make them feel special, and be a part of your community. 

   Note: Some lurkers don’t want to engage either because they have the stream going on in the background or because they want to observe. Lurkers tend to be split on whether or not they will leave if they are called out in chat.

   Some are truly introverted and don’t want attention put on them, but they still want to be part of a group. In other words, letting them be is typically a good idea unless they speak up in chat. 

9. 9. Network With Other Streamers

   Network with other streamers who manage smaller channels about the same size as yours. Look for YouTube gamers who you find entertaining, are within your same niche, and whom you believe your audience will love. Support their channels frequently when you get the chance and grow a relationship with them over socials and Discord.

   As you foster these relationships, you can raid people at the end of your broadcasts, set up co-streams, and work together to build each other’s channels.

   While you can find streamers by watching and interacting on other channels, you can also network with people through Facebook groups, the YouTube Gaming subreddit, Discord servers created for streamers, and Twitter. 

10. 10. Improve Your Content

    Continually work to improve your content overall. Listen to feedback from your viewers and try to take your channel to the next level. Here are a few general ideas on how many streamers can create better content:

    • New content – If you seem burned out, try a new game. Talk to your audience before you transition and explain that you will play both, but you need to try something new. Doing something new periodically can breathe new life into your stream. You should also occasionally try out new hyped games in your favorite niche. The gaming industry is always producing new products and people will often seek out a live video on a gaming channel to ask questions about the game before purchasing it.
    • Run special events – Consider doing a charity stream, hosting a giveaway, or a marathon stream for 24 hours. If you also release videos to your YouTube channel, you can announce these events during each video intro to generate additional hype.
    • Create unique backgrounds – If you use a green screen for your webcam, create a unique webcam background for your channel. Eljayem_ has created an office and a pub scene he regularly visits on his stream. His audience loves it. 
    • Special content – Spend a few hours per week thinking of talking points, new things you can do for your stream, and ways to keep your viewers entertained. Always think ahead and plan. 

    Your effort to improve your channel will make it more likely that people who stumble on it will stay and join your community. 

11. 11. Bring Your Special Sauce

    If you have unique talents or traits, celebrate them on your gaming channel. Take whatever makes you weird and figure out how to market it in addition to playing video games.

    Innovate new ways to keep things interesting every time you live-stream or produce a new YouTube video so that people will keep tuning in to see what you do next. 

    Everyone has special combinations that set them apart from the crowd. Whether it is your unique video editing or your ability to play Grand Theft Auto while simultaneously eating hot peppers, these quirks attract people. They will influence them to join your community long-term. 

Conclusion

While growing your YouTube Gaming channel isn’t an exact science, there are many things you can do to take your channel to the next level to attract new viewers. Don’t be afraid to ask people you trust for feedback. Many people can give you insight that you have overlooked and encourage you to make things better. 

Numerous YouTube Gaming channels are indeed all streaming live video and hoping for the lion’s share of YouTube views. As with any other YouTube channel in any niche, you must continually increase your gain and improve your quality to attract more subscribers.

It isn’t easy to grow a gaming channel that masters the YouTube algorithm, but as your channel grows, you are likely to find more success with each stream and with each YouTube video you produce.