Suggestions for Developing FFXIV Music Video Channel

[LilithStormchaser]

Hello folks. Lilith Stormchaser here from Faerie/Aether on FFXIV.

I dusted off my YouTube channel for music videos recently and started making them again. I seem to be doing something wrong though, in getting views. It isn’t a big channel by any means, but I have seen some channels with 50 or fewer subscribers and very limited numbers of created videos get tens of thousands of views in less than a year.

My latest video has been up for about a week and has 200 views. My oldest video has been up two years and has 697. I honestly do not think my content is bad. I think my latest effort is pretty decent in comparison to other FF14 music video content I have seen. Though perhaps I am entirely wrong. Footage is recorded on a PS4 Pro and uploaded to Twitter (better resolution than a direct YouTube upload). Clips are then edited together to create a full video using KineMaster.

https://youtu.be/NcqLVcSXE1k

That is my latest music video. I would appreciate suggestions and comments that might help me improve and possibly grow the channel. I’m not doing this to be some sort of FF14 Big Deal, but the videos can take 20 hours to make and so it would be nice to have them viewed, and hopefully enjoyed.

Thank you for your time and attention.

[Jeeqbit]

It's not about whether your content is good or not, it's about whether the title, description and tags cause it to come up in searches that people do, or have similar keywords that cause it to come up in the related videos section. After that the title needs to be interesting enough to make someone click it.

So for example, put "The Twinning" in one of these places and maybe it will come up in people's youtube.

[MilkieTea]

Your thumbnails arent really eye catching, try to make them stand out more is my suggestion.

[LianaThorne]

You actually have to put in work to get views outside of just making and posting a video. Get into social media, network with other creators, get into live streaming, learn how tags work, take a graphic design course or pay someone to make your thumbnails, take a video editing course to learn how to make your videos pop more.

It's not just: hi here's video, gib views.

[TeraRamis]

It's not about whether your content is good or not, it's about whether the title, description and tags cause it to come up in searches that people do, or have similar keywords that cause it to come up in the related videos section. After that the title needs to be interesting enough to make someone click it.

So for example, put "The Twinning" in one of these places and maybe it will come up in people's youtube.

Yep. YouTube's algorithms are just cruel and unpredictable things. One of my favorite channels, Orchestral Fantasy, does ASTOUNDING work and has never gotten much over a few thousand likes for any video.

https://youtu.be/pcuBk202yyc

Honestly, YouTube is just terrible.

[LilithStormchaser]

Thanks for the ideas thus far. I updated all Thumbnails by at least adding text. Some pictures were also replaced. I also added a significant number of content-appropriate tags to each video.

I subscribed to Orchestral Fantasy. That’s some good stuff.

A video editing course is not really in the cards at this time, nor is hiring professional staff. I do this for fun, and for free. I will continue to see what others do and seek to learn from their examples. I will also continue to consult our community for advice.

[MilkieTea]

I did a mockup of what it might be like if you further expanded upon your thumbnail editing. As it is, my eyes kind of just... glaze over them?

If you keep a consistent theme, consistent in either font, coloration, etc, it would really make a difference and help all of your videos pop out more and seem more professional!

Even just the one video thumbnail makes a difference - I want to click on it and I'm intrigued.

[LilithStormchaser]

That is really neat. I may just play around with that a bit more, MilkieTea. Thank you!

[MilkieTea]

Something I forgot to mention is to take a peek at other channels that do similar things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIVCO2ps1VE

This is a video from FluffStuff, a content creator who creates music videos for FFXIV. Take note that everything is consistent and that she remembers to put "FFXIV" in the title of every video and her thumbnails are clear and easy to read on small screens like phones. I'd also like to mention that she uses GShade to give her videos some more polish (with things like bokeh depth of field, vibrancy to enhance the default color palette of the game, and better antialiasing to prevent jagged lines)

[Breakbeat]

Honestly, YouTube is just terrible.

Well, sort of.

In the sense that they are akin to "mainstream music companies," or mainstream FM or satellite radio, I agree. There are but three major record labels (Sony, Universal, Warner) and they decide what to promote, what commercials and music videos to shove in front of your face or into your ears, etc. Underground music doesn't get promotion, though there are gems underground that shine brighter than anyone on stage accepting an award. YouTube is exactly like this; if you want underground or less popular music, you must search it out proactively.

However, in the sense that it is a repository for most of the video and audio that humankind creates (or has created), it is amazing. Will they promote local, underground artists to me? Nah, probably not. However, I can find that local, underground artist on YouTube, if I search for them. That, in and of itself, is awesome.

On topic, I agree with most of what's been said above. Unfortunately, you need YT views / comments / likes to get YT views / comments / likes, so lots of times networking outside of YouTube will be productive for your channel.