How to Get More Subscribers to Your Small YouTube Channel

How to get more subscribers to your small YouTube channel? That's the questions of the year for newer YouTube channels and I speak to this very personally right now as I am in the process of building my new business channel - The Creator Launchpad.

Growing a small YouTube channel can feel like shouting into the void—but with the right approach, your subscriber count can skyrocket. Below, you'll find five actionable tactics to get more subscribers to your small YouTube channel.

1. Start with Valuable Video Content

Before doing anything else, make sure your videos deliver real value:

  • Focus on solving specific problems or teaching useful skills. Think of what someone might type into the search bar and deliver an amazing answer.

  • Keep videos sharp and well‑structured to hold attention. We never want videos to be longer than they need to be.

  • Incorporate clear thumbnails and curiousity provoking titles to get clicks. No one will watch your content if they do not click on the content in the first place.

Pro Tip: Check the performance of similar channels and standout videos in your niche. Understand what works and put your own spin on it. You can even copy the titles of successful videos or alter them slightly.

Learn How I Built A Multiple 6-figure business Leveraging The Power Of YouTube

2. Use Effective Calls to Action (CTAs)

Don't leave subscribers to chance—ask for them:

  • I don't like to interupt my content to ask people to subscribe. Instead, my team edits in a little graphic the pops up on screen as a reminder. It's non-invasive and most people these days know that if they like something, they should hit the subscribe button.

  • Add a subscribe link with ?sub_confirmation=1 in your description or pin it in a comment—it will prompt people to immediately subscribe or not. You can do this on your website as well.

     

3. Optimize Your Channel Branding & Metadata

Make your channel discoverable and appealing:

  • Use keyword-rich titles, detailed descriptions, and relevant tags (e.g. “how to get more subscribers to your small youtube channel”).

     

  • Ensure your channel banner, trailer, and logo clearly communicate your niche and value. It's also good to mark a 60s-90s channel trailer to tell new visitors what your channel is all about and why they should subscribe.

4. Engage, Organize, and Encourage Viewing

Boost viewer connection and watch time:

  • Reply to comments, ask follow-up questions, and pin thoughtful responses to foster community. To this day, my team and I still respond to every comment on my channel.

  • Build playlists around themes or series to encourage binge-watching—higher session durations signal YouTube to promote your channel. Think of the Top 10 questions your audience has and put them into a Top 10 playlist.

  • Ask viewers what to cover next—polls and community posts not only engage but guide your content pipeline. You might be surprised what you learn about your audience and the content they want to see.

     

5. Promote Across Platforms & Leverage Shorts

Expand your reach beyond YouTube:

  • I am not a huge fan of being omnipresent. I would recommend picking one other platform to post and promote on. My main platforms are YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

  • Start a mailing list and email subscribers when you release new content. If YouTube sees a lot of traffic going to your video when it firsts comes out, it can help to expand it's reach. Even if it's an extra 10-20 views, every view helps.
  • Share to Reddit and Pintrest. Surprisingly, when I first started my guitar YouTube channel, I got a lot of early traffic from posting on Pintrest and Reddit. YouTube makes this easy via it's share button so it's not super time consuming either.

Take Action Now:

If you are a small YouTube channel and looking to grow your subscribership, these five strategies provide a strong foundation. They’re easy to implement, scalable, and tailored to help your channel rise from obscurity. Start small with one or two tactics, track results, and evolve your strategy based on performance data.

  1. Audit your latest video—did you have a subscribe pop-up in your video?

  2. Update descriptions with sub confirmation link.

  3. Build a themed playlist and promote it in your community tab.

  4. Pick a top-performing video and turn it into a Short.

  5. Check and update channel branding and SEO tags.

With persistence, you'll begin to see steady growth in your subscriber base. It took me 2-3 years to really get the ball rolling on my guitar channel. My business channel looks like it's going to take about that long too. Maybe even longer.

Ultimately, it's not about how many subscribers we have, it's about the amount of money we can make off those subscribers. I know YouTubers with under 10k subscribers making 6-figures plus a year.

While we do want to grow our subscribership, remember, we can't pay our bills in subs.