How to Grow Your YouTube Gaming Channel (Easy Guide)

Gaming is one of the most popular niches on YouTube. Because of this, it’s led to millions of gamers heading to YouTube to start their own channels.

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The best part about this is that anyone can do it. You don’t have to be tech-savvy or a marketing expert – instead, you just need an idea, a love for gaming, and the right equipment.

So, whether you’re planning on starting a gaming channel or want to grow your existing one, this guide is here to tell you what to do. Let’s go through the steps.

Step 1: Invest in Equipment

The truth is this: you will find it really hard to be a success on YouTube without the right equipment – especially when you’re producing gaming content.

Therefore, it’s recommended that you invest in:

• A capture card (for your console or PC)
• A good headset with a microphone
• A high-quality video camera or webcam for recording yourself playing the games

Also, make sure that your controller is in excellent condition so that you can play to a high standard. If you’re on XBOX, you should get one of the Lizard Skins xbox controller grips. This way, your controller will look and feel better.  

Step 2: Choose a Brandable Channel Name

Your choice of channel name is incredibly important.

The key is to choose a short and brandable channel name. This will make your channel more attractive to viewers while enabling your content to perform more favorably in the algorithms.

Whatever you do, don’t choose a channel name that is long and complicated. This is bad for many reasons, but mainly because people will struggle to remember your name and might not be able to find your channel again after watching a video.

Step 3: Use Keywords in Your Video Titles

Keywords are essential to growing your gaming YouTube channel. Therefore, you need to sprinkle them throughout the titles of your videos.

For example, if you want to make FIFA content, you should use keywords and terms like ‘Best Tactics’ and ‘Meta Formations’. These are examples of keywords people search for on YouTube, meaning your content is more likely to be discovered.

Step 4: Follow Trends

The world of gaming is an exciting place. Every year, new trends emerge while others fade into irrelevance.

As a YouTube content creator, you should keep an eye on the latest trends. When you do this, you’ll be able to follow the trends and create content centered around them.

For example, Fortnite is a very popular game on YouTube, especially with younger demographics. People are constantly searching for Fortnite tips and advice, so you’ll get some large viewing figures if you can tap into this.

Step 5: Have a Short and Entertaining Introduction

Making the perfect YouTube introduction isn’t rocket science. The 2 keys are:

• Don’t make it too short
• Don’t make it too long

As a general rule of thumb, you should aim for a length of between 5 and 10 seconds.

Additionally, you should include some snappy and engaging music layered over the top to capture people’s attention.

Step 6: Make Your Thumbnails Attractive

Thumbnails are often the deal breakers when people decide whether to click a video or not.

Right now, the current trend is to make thumbnails colorful, fun, and eye-catching. If you include yourself in the thumbnails, even better – as this allows people to attach a human face to the channel.

Also, try to avoid clickbait thumbnails, as this will frustrate viewers and lead to them leaving angry comments below your videos!

Step 7: Express Your Personality

Most people commentate over their gameplay or record themselves on YouTube gaming channels. Whichever you decide to do, it’s important that you express your personality. If you don’t, you’ll struggle to grow your channel to the level you want.

When watching gaming content on YouTube, people want to be entertained. Remember, there are millions of content creators on YouTube. If people find you boring, they can switch to any other channel they like within seconds.

With this in mind, make sure to express your personality and create a ‘brand’ for yourself.

Step 8: Don’t Go Crazy with Ads

Ads are an important part of YouTube because they allow gamers to make money.

However, make sure you don’t go crazy with the number of ads you include (especially when your channel gets more popular). If you include too many ads, this can potentially lead to you losing subscribers.