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How to Get More Likes on YouTube (15 Proven Tips)

How to Get More Likes on YouTube (15 Proven Tips)

Written By: author image Stacey Corrin
author image Stacey Corrin
Stacey has been writing about WordPress and digital marketing for over 10 years and on other topics for much longer. Alongside this, she's fascinated with web design, user experience, and SEO.
     Reviewed By: John Turner
reviewer image John Turner
John Turner is the co-founder of RafflePress. He has over 20+ years of business and development experience and his plugins have been downloaded over 25 million times.

Are you looking for easy tips to increase your YouTube likes?

As the world’s largest online video platform, YouTube can help you reach your ideal audience and educate them about your business. But like many social networks, getting more likes, views, and comments can be overwhelming.

That’s why in this article, we’ll show you how to increase your likes on YouTube so you can successfully grow your business.

But first, what are the benefits of boosting your YouTube likes?

Benefits of Increasing Your YouTube Likes

There are many benefits of having more YouTube likes. The key advantage is that more video likes can help you attract more viewers.

Many video viewers think that videos with the most likes have the best content. So if your videos have a ton of likes, people will naturally flock to watch them.

Moreover, a channel with lots of likes gives potential customers a sense of security. In their minds, more likes equal greater trust. And it’s this that can help them decide to purchase your products or services.

In addition, there are several other advantages to growing your YouTube likes, such as:

  • Boost your authority: The more YouTube likes you have, the more likely people will see you as an authority on your topic. This can help you rise above your competitors.
  • Improve search engine rankings: Quality content that fulfills users’ needs helps your videos show in search results. Therefore, growing your video likes can indicate that your content is high quality and valuable to search engines.
  • More website traffic: Since videos with more likes attract more video views, they can also help to drive traffic to your business website, generating potential leads for your company.
  • Grow your YouTube subscribers: With more likes and views, there’s a strong chance that people will enjoy what they see and subscribe to your channel.

Now that you know some of the benefits of growing your YouTube video likes, let’s look at some proven tips to help you achieve your goals.

Increasing YouTube Likes from Your Website

Let’s kick things off by looking at how to get more likes on YouTube by optimizing your WordPress website.

If you don’t have a business website yet, you can follow this step-by-step guide on making a WordPress website. Then you can follow the tips below to make your website do much of the hard work for you.

1. Run a Viral YouTube Contest

One of the easiest ways to increase likes on YouTube is by creating an online contest. People love winning things for free, and more often than not, they spread the news to their friends.

By running a YouTube giveaway from your WordPress website, you can not only increase your video likes but also:

  • Get more channel subscribers
  • Skyrocket your views on YouTube
  • Improve your website traffic
  • Promote other social media profiles
  • Grow your email list
  • Help collect user-generated content
  • And more

And with RafflePress, the best WordPress giveaway plugin, you can easily create viral YouTube giveaways in just a few minutes — no coding required!

RafflePress is the best WordPress giveaway plugin for lead generation

With its drag-and-drop builder, RafflePress lets you create and publish engaging YouTube giveaway campaigns in WordPress, even if you’re not tech-savvy. 

Since the campaigns you make with RafflePress are 100% responsive, every giveaway looks great on both desktop and mobile automatically. As a result, you don’t even need to hire a developer to help you.

Even better, RafflePress fully complies with YouTube’s contest policies and guidelines, which state:

“You and any third party may not manipulate metrics on the YouTube service to misrepresent genuine viewer engagement with the YouTube service. These metrics include numbers of views, likes, dislikes or subscribers.

Our ready-made giveaway entry actions don’t require users to like or subscribe to your YouTube channel.

youtube giveaway actions

Instead, they invite users to either watch videos on YouTube or visit your channel to enter for a chance to win. That way, liking your video or channel is optional. And in our experience, if people enjoy your content, they’ll like the video anyway.

For the best practices on using RafflePress to make successful YouTube giveaways, read this post on how to do a giveaway on YouTube so you can get started today.

2. Embed YouTube Videos on Your Website

If your brand has an official website with consistent monthly traffic, it makes sense that you can market your YouTube channel to tons of website visitors. After all, if your visitors are familiar with your website content, chances are they’ll check out your video content too.

One way to do this is to embed your YouTube feed right on your WordPress site. And with Smash Balloon’s suite of social media feed plugins, you can create, customize and display YouTube feeds in WordPress without hiring a developer.

smash balloon youtube feed pro plugin

This means your visitors can watch your YouTube videos, like them, and subscribe to your channel right on your website.

Plus, with a few clicks, you can customize your YouTube feed to match your website’s design. That way, your feeds look consistent with your brand’s identity.

youtube feed example smash balloon

Want to start adding YouTube feeds to your website to grow your YouTube likes? Check out this helpful tutorial on how to add a YouTube channel to WordPress.

3. Display Your YouTube Playlists on Your Site

In addition to adding YouTube videos to your website, you can show more targeted videos with playlists.

With Smash Balloon’s Feeds for YouTube Pro plugin, you can easily embed YouTube playlists on your website. This helps you illustrate your website topics by adding playlists, suggested videos, or even popular videos relevant to your content and audience.

smash balloon youtube playlist feed

Even better, viewers can like your videos and subscribe to your channel without leaving your website, keeping them engaged with your site for longer.

For a step-by-step guide, check out this post on how to embed YouTube playlists in WordPress.

4. Create a YouTube Video Popup

Another excellent way to get more likes on YouTube is to add a video popup to your website. 

With video popups, visitors can watch and like your videos right on your website. This is especially helpful for promoting newly uploaded videos.

If you’re wondering why this is important, think about how YouTube works.

YouTube’s algorithm tends to feature videos that are both new and popular. So promoting your videos in the first 48 hours after they go live can significantly impact their success.

Plus, when you use OptinMonster to create a popup featuring your new video, it’s a lot easier to encourage your visitors to watch it.

OptinMonster video popup

The more views your video gets in the first 48 hours, the higher your chances are to feature on YouTube’s homepage. Moreover, if your video features on the homepage, it can skyrocket your views, video likes, and subscribers.

Want to try video popups for your own website? Take a look at this easy tutorial on how to create a video popup to boost your likes today.

Getting More Likes on YouTube with SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is another important factor to consider when increasing likes on YouTube.

Like Google’s search algorithm, YouTube has algorithms to show the best and most relevant videos to its users. So it’s in your best interest to optimize your video title, description, and tags so they feature in YouTube’s top video rankings.

Here are some video optimization tips to get you started.

5. Create Keyword-Rich Video Titles

If you have a business website, you may already be familiar with keyword research. If not, keywords are words and phrases people use to search for relevant content.

By crafting content around target keywords, website owners can make it easier for the right target audience to find it in search engines.

The same is true for YouTube. People looking for new videos to watch use keywords to find them. So adding relevant keywords to your titles can help people find your videos more easily.

Optimize your video titles to get more likes on YouTube

To do keyword research for your videos, you can use typical SEO methods like a keyword planner or other keyword research tools.

Alternatively, you can head to YouTube, type your video topic into the search bar, and check the predicted search terms.

Use YouTube search predictions to find keywords for your videos

These are all terms people are looking for, meaning they are highly relevant words to use in your video titles.

6. Use Keywords in Video Descriptions

Just like your YouTube video titles, you should also ensure your video descriptions are fully optimized.

Your video description is where you can tell both search engines and users what your video is about. This can not only help increase your video click-through rate but also improve your views and likes.

Optimize your youtube video description

When writing YouTube descriptions, you should capture interest while still including important keywords. Entice users with an exciting description and optimize the text for YouTube’s search engine as you would with any other online content.

7. Tag Your YouTube Videos

YouTube video tags are an excellent way to categorize your content while helping the search algorithm understand what your video is about. Along with your video description and title, you should use tags to describe your video content accurately.

If you need help figuring out which tags to use, you can research your competitors to see which tags they use.

To view tags on any YouTube video, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the video using Chrome or Firefox.
  2. Right-click the page and select View Page Source.
  3. Hit Ctrl + F (for Windows) or Cmd + F (on Mac) and search for “keywords” in the source code.
  4. This takes you to a list of tags used on that video.

Here’s how the tags look for a photoshop editing video in the source code:

You can find youtube tags by looking in the webpage source code

Now you’ll have a better idea of which tags to target, leading to many more views and likes for your videos.

8. Optimize Your YouTube Thumbnail Image

Another fantastic way to get more likes on YouTube is to craft compelling video thumbnail images. Just like hero images on a website, thumbnails help your videos stand out on:

  • YouTube’s homepage
  • Search engine video results
  • YouTube suggested videos
  • Social media
  • And More

Plus, thumbnails entice more people to click and watch your video content.

Create high quality video thumbnails for more likes on YouTube

Use high-quality images that feature readable and engaging fonts. And if they feature in your video, use close-ups of people’s faces to evoke an emotional connection.

You should also ensure your thumbnails are highly relevant to your video content, title, and description. Otherwise, people may dislike the video for misleading them.

The recommended thumbnail size for YouTube videos is 1280×720 (with a minimum width of 640 pixels). They should also be under the 2MB file size limit.

9. Create Video Transcriptions

While there is much debate on whether video transcriptions can improve your video rankings, there’s no doubt that they make them more accessible.

Closed captions or transcriptions open your videos up to a large audience of YouTube viewers who speak different languages or have hearing impairments. As a result, you can reach a wider audience you may not have considered at first, ultimately leading to more views and likes.

YouTube video with closed captions

You can create video captions yourself or use YouTube’s automatic captioning, which uses speech recognition to generate captions automatically.

Boosting YouTube Likes with Your Video Content

You can do a lot to improve your likes on YouTube with SEO and your business website. But your videos won’t succeed if your content isn’t up to scratch.

Check out the tips below to get more likes on YouTube by improving your video content.

10. Create Educational or Entertaining Content

When people watch YouTube, they either want to learn something, be entertained, or a combination of both. With this in mind, the content of your videos should focus on offering the best possible value to your audience without compromising on quality.

To do this, first, learn what your audience wants to watch. You can get a good idea of this by performing keyword research, as we mentioned earlier. Or, you could simply ask your existing audience in an online survey or poll.

Some of the most searched-for YouTube topics include:

  • Entertainment
  • Food
  • Gaming
  • Beauty and Fashion
  • Music
  • Sports
  • Science and Technology
  • Travel

You’ll also need to consider the format or type of video you make to ensure it resonates with your audience’s tastes.

For example, WPBeginner has found that tutorial videos perform particularly well for their audience, so they focus mainly on that video type.

WPBeginner youtube video tutorials

Some other video types could be:

  • Product reviews
  • How-to
  • Unboxing
  • Top 10
  • Timelapse
  • Product haul
  • Q&A
  • Product launch

Just make sure the video content is relevant to your audience; otherwise, they won’t part with those coveted video likes.

Another way to increase likes on YouTube is to create content around topics that are already trending. If something goes viral, people naturally want to learn all about it, including by watching videos.

A good example is the many videos created around challenges, such as the Ice Bucket Challenge. Or you could create reaction videos around newsworthy events that your audience will find interesting.

Create YouTube challenge videos to get more likes on YouTube

It’s not always easy to tie your videos in with trends. But if you can find a clever way to do it, you can boost your likes on YouTube with the help of people hungry for more contextual content.

12. Collaborate with Other YouTubers 

Just like guest posting for blog content, collaborating with other YouTubers and industry influencers can have a significant impact on your YouTube channel.

Relevant YouTubers already have an established audience, so inviting them to appear in your videos can entice that audience to check out your channel, too, simply because their favorite YouTuber is in it.

Collaborate with other youtubers to increase video likes

Moreover, guest YouTubers can offer a different perspective on the topics you cover while giving more authority to your channel.

When searching for collaborations, you can offer to link to a full video of their choosing in your description. As a result, you can form mutually beneficial relationships that boost likes on both of your channels.

13. Add YouTube Cards to Your Videos

YouTube cards are an excellent way to get viewers to watch more of your videos, enabling you to promote your other content right inside a video.

Add cards to videos to get more youtube likes

For example, you can create YouTube cards to:

You can also use cards to promote underperforming content with fewer likes and views. Use your YouTube analytics to see when people stop watching your video and add a card before to ensure people see it.

14. Create Video End Screens

Like cards, end screens can help you call your video users to action by telling them what you want them to do next. It’s here that you can tell people more about your channel and encourage them to click and learn more.

For instance, you can ask users to like your video if they enjoyed it, suggest which video they should watch next, and ask them to subscribe to your channel.

To add end screens on YouTube videos, go to your channel content within your YouTube studio and click the pencil icon to view the video details.

View your youtube video details

From there, click on the End Screen option.

Edit youtube video end screen

Next, click the blue plus icon to choose the type of end screen you want to add.

Choose video end screen options

Now click Save, and your end screens are good to go.

End screens can help you get more YouTube likes

15. Cross-Promote Your Videos on Other Social Media Networks

Last but not least, to increase likes on YouTube, you should also promote your YouTube videos on other online platforms.

Video content performs insanely well on social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. So utilize those channels to cross-promote your videos and earn more likes, views, and channel subscribers.

For instance, you can use Instagram stories to share teasers of new YouTube videos and ask people to visit the link in your bio to watch it. Alternatively, you can use social media tools to schedule new video posts on other social media profiles.

Cross promote videos on other social networks to increase likes on YouTube

By cross-promoting your videos, you’re showing your audience that you have an active community on YouTube. And as a result, they’ll likely check out your channel and watch and like your videos.

Bonus Tip: Use RafflePress’s viral refer a friend giveaway action to spread the word about your channel on other social media networks.

There you have it!

We hope this article helped you learn how to get more likes on YouTube.

While you’re here, you might also like this guide on how to increase YouTube views with a giveaway.

Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to follow us on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook for more great tips to grow your business.

author avatar
Stacey Corrin Writer
Stacey has been writing about WordPress and digital marketing for over 10 years and on other topics for much longer. Alongside this, she's fascinated with web design, user experience, and SEO.

Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. We only recommend products that we believe will add value to our readers.

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