Please take this with a grain of salt, this is just a 'viewers' opinion, I'm not an expert by any means.
Though I think I've come across enough gaming channels to be able to tell what sets the more successful ones apart from the others.
Because viewers like unique styles, not brands.
Imagine you're chillin' on one side of a couch with a complete stranger, who's on the other side of the couch, and you're watching him play a game.
15 minutes went by and he didn't say a word the entire game play, doesn't sound like too much fun huh?
The same could be applied to videos.
So if you do commentary, you already have a better chance at gaining viewers/subscribers than those who just upload plain game play footage, because you can be yourself, and that's what's going to draw in the viewers, your personal style.
It's totally okay to be a little silly in your videos, don't take yourself too seriously, being weird is nice actually, embrace it, I don't know why people train themselves to not be weird, that's like the worst thing ever.
So learn to laugh at yourself, being genuine will increase your chances even more at finding a following that actually wants to support you.
But don't 'force positivity' even on the days you aren't feeling so great/enthused, it's totally okay to show that side of you too, as long as you don't complain too much, otherwise, the video might leave your viewers with a feeling of dread.
(I think the formula goes: Commentary 100% Gameplay 60% Music 50%)
Keep in mind that you want to capture your viewers attention within the first 8 seconds of a video, as that's the average attention span of most humans, you can achieve this by inserting a "highlight/ sneak peek" clip in the beginning, or just sounding enthused/like you're having so much fun, also, if you have an intro, I suggest you keep it 8 seconds max.
If you do any 'lets plays' it's okay to remove the unnecessary/boring parts, or speed them up (like running from 'door "a" to door "b"' in a hallway) ^-^ just little things like that.
Background music also helps a lot for stimulating moods in a video, so if you feel there are any boring bits, just slap in some 'feel good' music for a bit. Even better if it's fun music for exciting parts!
You want to make your titles semi-clickbaity but not so much that they're misleading.
Just make them a bit interesting, and make sure they sort of scream what the video is about.
As a small channel, do not try to compete with large channels, especially when it comes to oversaturated games, for common search terms. Instead target specialized search terms with your SEO. It is better to get a good chunk of the traffic from an infrequently-searched term than no traffic from a commonly-searched term.
For example:
AwesomeVideoGame | Gameplay #23 Where is she hiding?
Vs.
She disappeared!! Did "Badass GameBoss Name" kill her!?? | AwesomeVideoGame #23
Which one would you be more likely to click on?
Thumbnails need to be visually interesting, so people will click on them.
Most of youtubes views stem from mobile sources, so if you have any particular features (text/ images) you want noticed in your thumbnail, it's good to make them a minimum of 20-25% of the image, and make sure they contrast the background enough (Lights Vs. Darks) so that they stand out.
Also, be sure that the thumbnail background isn't more 'visually interesting' than the forground/ other parts you want noticed. You can achieve this by slightly blurring the background, or dulling the background color a bit.
That's basically all the tips I can provide for now, I spent all of my brain-thinkys for today xD (aka decision-fatigue) I hope this helps you, and if you have any more tips to add, please do!
Though I think I've come across enough gaming channels to be able to tell what sets the more successful ones apart from the others.
- P E R S O N A L I T Y
Because viewers like unique styles, not brands.
Imagine you're chillin' on one side of a couch with a complete stranger, who's on the other side of the couch, and you're watching him play a game.
15 minutes went by and he didn't say a word the entire game play, doesn't sound like too much fun huh?
The same could be applied to videos.
So if you do commentary, you already have a better chance at gaining viewers/subscribers than those who just upload plain game play footage, because you can be yourself, and that's what's going to draw in the viewers, your personal style.
It's totally okay to be a little silly in your videos, don't take yourself too seriously, being weird is nice actually, embrace it, I don't know why people train themselves to not be weird, that's like the worst thing ever.
So learn to laugh at yourself, being genuine will increase your chances even more at finding a following that actually wants to support you.
But don't 'force positivity' even on the days you aren't feeling so great/enthused, it's totally okay to show that side of you too, as long as you don't complain too much, otherwise, the video might leave your viewers with a feeling of dread.
- Q U A L I T Y
(I think the formula goes: Commentary 100% Gameplay 60% Music 50%)
Keep in mind that you want to capture your viewers attention within the first 8 seconds of a video, as that's the average attention span of most humans, you can achieve this by inserting a "highlight/ sneak peek" clip in the beginning, or just sounding enthused/like you're having so much fun, also, if you have an intro, I suggest you keep it 8 seconds max.
If you do any 'lets plays' it's okay to remove the unnecessary/boring parts, or speed them up (like running from 'door "a" to door "b"' in a hallway) ^-^ just little things like that.
Background music also helps a lot for stimulating moods in a video, so if you feel there are any boring bits, just slap in some 'feel good' music for a bit. Even better if it's fun music for exciting parts!
- S E A R C H --E N G I N E --O P T I M I Z A T I O N
You want to make your titles semi-clickbaity but not so much that they're misleading.
Just make them a bit interesting, and make sure they sort of scream what the video is about.
As a small channel, do not try to compete with large channels, especially when it comes to oversaturated games, for common search terms. Instead target specialized search terms with your SEO. It is better to get a good chunk of the traffic from an infrequently-searched term than no traffic from a commonly-searched term.
For example:
AwesomeVideoGame | Gameplay #23 Where is she hiding?
Vs.
She disappeared!! Did "Badass GameBoss Name" kill her!?? | AwesomeVideoGame #23
Which one would you be more likely to click on?
- T H U M B N A I L S
Thumbnails need to be visually interesting, so people will click on them.
Most of youtubes views stem from mobile sources, so if you have any particular features (text/ images) you want noticed in your thumbnail, it's good to make them a minimum of 20-25% of the image, and make sure they contrast the background enough (Lights Vs. Darks) so that they stand out.
Also, be sure that the thumbnail background isn't more 'visually interesting' than the forground/ other parts you want noticed. You can achieve this by slightly blurring the background, or dulling the background color a bit.
That's basically all the tips I can provide for now, I spent all of my brain-thinkys for today xD (aka decision-fatigue) I hope this helps you, and if you have any more tips to add, please do!
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