Can you make a YouTube video go viral on purpose?
You cannot guarantee a viral video, but you can raise your odds with a clear strategy, because so many creators compete for the same viewers.
Would you like to know how to make a video go viral? Would you like to know how experienced internet marketers improve the odds that a video goes viral on YouTube or Facebook?
The dream of every blogger and vlogger is to create a sensational video that goes viral, so they can become a YouTube superstar. It’s imperative to point out that the competition is pretty stiff these days.
There are millions of content creators on YouTube today, so you need to take measures that help your videos stand out.
FACTS:
- YouTube says it has billions of monthly logged-in users (2026).
- YouTube also says over 20 million videos are uploaded every day, on average.
What is a Viral Video?
There’s no clear cut definition for a viral video, so it’s reasonable to say that it can be any video that gains a tremendous amount of popularity within several days or several weeks. A video can go viral with the help of YouTube algorithms, authority websites, and popular social media platforms.
Some marketers use a set number of views in the first week as the bar for going viral, but there is no official number, and the size of your niche plays a huge part in your video’s success. In most instances, it will be easy for you to notice when your video begins to garner attention from millions of people around the globe.
In this article, we will take a close look at some tips on how to make a YouTube video go viral. It’s critical to point out that uploading a video does not mean that it will become the topic of the town. If you keep this point in mind, you will not get frustrated when some of your videos fail to get millions of views.
What types of videos go viral on YouTube?
Celebrity, funny pet, children’s, music, accident, and shocking videos are the types that most often go viral on YouTube.
If you take a close look at the most popular videos on YouTube, you should be able to recognize a pattern. Certain types of videos have a better chance of going viral.
Here are some videos that typically gain traction on YouTube:
- Celebrity Videos – Many people are fascinated with celebrities. We’ve noticed that dull celebrity videos are getting tons of views. In some cases, celebrity gossip videos seem to do well on YouTube.
- Funny Pet Videos – People enjoy getting a good laugh these days. This is the main reason why videos with adorable animals seem to do pretty well.
- Videos Featuring Children – This may be hard to believe, but child videos have become a huge hit. These videos show children being active in games, watching cartoons, etc.
- Music Videos – You will not have any trouble with finding millions of music videos on YouTube. Music fans turn to YouTube every day to see their favorite music videos.
- Accidents – It may sound weird, but some people enjoy seeing videos that show mishaps and accidents.
- Inappropriate Videos – YouTube is pretty good at banning videos that have inappropriate content, but this does not mean that people don’t enjoy watching them.
How do you make a video go viral on YouTube?
To give a video its best shot at going viral, pair a strong story with a clickable thumbnail and title, searchable keywords, and active promotion.
It’s now time for us to go over the strategies that will help your video become a big hit on YouTube. As we stated earlier, some of your videos will not do well.
Does lady luck play a role in your video’s popularity? A little luck will help, but the strategies listed below can help your video get maximum exposure.
1. Study Your Niche
As an online marketer, it’s your responsibility to satisfy the needs of your targeted audience. This will put your video in place to get their attention. Creating videos on non-relevant topics will make it extremely difficult for you to succeed.
It’s important for you to study your niche. This will help you uncover the popular subjects in your niche.
2. Study Your Competition
There’s an old saying in business, “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel of success.” What does this mean? You can emulate the success of other YouTubers in your niche. What type of videos are they creating? What are they doing to make their videos go viral?
If you follow their path, you are bound to hit pay dirt. Create similar videos, but put a spin on them. This will help you avoid getting penalized by YouTube.
You can get marketing software to spy on your competitors. This will improve your chances of creating a video that will become a huge hit with your targeted audience.
3. Tell a Compelling Story
A compelling story is vital for videos these days. Studies show that people are drawn to compelling stories.
Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. This will make it easier for you to create a solid story that’s surrounded by intrigue.
How to create a compelling story? You must come up with a good idea, and then you should concentrate on developing your story.
Once you have your story, you simply need to create an exceptional video to highlight it. This will increase your chances of getting a solid connection with your viewers.
Are you familiar with the AIDA formula? This is the abbreviation for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. This formula will draw more viewers to your videos, and it will also keep their interest alive while they’re watching your video.
4. Create an Exceptional Thumbnail
Contrary to popular belief, thumbnails play a crucial role in videos. People will see your thumbnail before clicking on your video. If your thumbnail fails to strike their curiosity, they will move on.
Chances are you have seen thumbnails featuring content creators with a shocked expression on their face. They know this will entice people to click on their videos.
However, we’re not suggesting that you should use this tactic.
Make sure your thumbnail is convincing and attractive. This can increase your views. For example:
(Image Credit: Zero Dollar Tips)
Here are some simple pointers for developing stunning thumbnails:
- Use a unique title that make a bold statement
- Offer a simple solution in your thumbnails
- Point out the pain problem in the title for your thumbnails
- Make sure you use superior color combination photos
- Use attractive fonts and colors
- Don’t forget to add your face to your thumbnails
5. Search for the Right Keywords
How to make a dance video go viral? Before you upload a video of yourself dancing, you must add the right keywords to your title and description.
Take out the time to search for popular keywords in your niche. You can use the search browser in YouTube, or you can use a keyword search tool. Both will uncover popular keywords that could drive millions of people to your video. Here is an example of a keyword tool used for YouTube videos called keywordtool.io:
(Image Credit: Keyword Tool)
Using the words people search for in your title and description helps your video show up in YouTube search. YouTube says it ranks search results by relevance (how well your title, tags, description, and video match the search), engagement, and quality, so keywords help, but they do not guarantee a top spot.
6. Using a Great Title
Your title must stand out. So, use words that will create curiosity with people. A boring title will not serve your video well.
7. Create Exceptional Content
Taking heed to this tip will increase your chances of being the proud owner of a viral video. Yes, you can shoot your videos with a Smartphone, but you should go the extra mile. You should consider getting professional video shooting equipment.
Top-notch video shooting equipment includes the following: a professional camera that’s capable of capturing detailed video, a microphone, and good lighting equipment.
No one is interested in watching sketchy videos with poor audio. This is why you must make a tidy investment into your video production endeavors. It will pay big dividends in the long run.
8. Use the Correct Tags and Hashtags
Tags still have a use, but YouTube says tags play a minimal role in how people discover your video, and your title, thumbnail, and description matter more. Tags are most useful when the topic of your video is commonly misspelled.
YouTube gives you enough space to use up to 500 characters, so make certain you choose the best ones. We pointed out that it’s important for you to find the most popular keywords in your niche. You must put them in your tags. For instance:
(Image Credit: Colorado State University)
9. Consider Making Shorter Videos
How to make a YouTube video go viral like a professional YouTuber? You can do this by making shorter videos. We know this approach goes against popular belief, but it works extremely well.
We cannot dispute the fact that longer videos do well on YouTube. However, some people are not interested in watching long videos. They are only interested in watching videos that get straight to the point.
You should create videos that are about five to ten minutes in length. This gives you enough time to convey your message without frustrating your viewers.
10. Share Practical Tips
People enjoy watching videos that share practical tips. So, you should focus on creating videos that share awesome tips and hacks. In return, your viewership will increase. The image below shows a few examples of helpful videos:
With more views falling in, your video will gain more momentum on YouTube. This is how a video becomes viral.
11. Leverage Social Media Platforms
How to make a video go viral online free with ease? You must take advantage of social media platforms. They get millions of views daily. Marketing your video on these popular platforms will put it in place to get tons of views.
You should create a social media account on the following sites: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.
If your video appeals to people, they will share it with their family and friends. This is an easy way to help your video gain momentum. Here is an example of a YouTube video being shared on social media:
(Image Credit: Wandering Aimfully)
12. Explore Facebook
Yes, we touched on social media platforms in the tip above. However, we feel like it’s vital for us to discuss the possibilities that Facebook offers to vloggers and content creators.
Would you like to know how to make a video on Facebook go viral? Did you know you can create a Facebook group for your videos? Yes, you can create a group for your targeted audience. Once they join, you can upload the links to your videos.
Can you imagine how many views your videos will get if your group has thousands of members? This will be a huge game changer.
13. Get in Touch with Similar Brands
This may come as a surprise, but your video can take off when you reach out to similar brands with a huge following. Simply send them an email. You can also give them a phone call.
Making cold calls may be intimidating for some people, but you will get better over time. In some instances, a phone call may produce a better response.
These brands will be open to sharing your video with their audience if it contains relevant content. Some brands have millions of followers. If you manage to work with one of them, your video is bound to become a huge hit.
14. Working with Other YouTubers
How to make a video go viral online for free like a pro? This may come as a shock, but setting up a joint venture with other YouTubers can help your videos get more exposure.
Unfortunately, some content creators fail to think of this. They view other content creators on YouTube as their competition. This may be true, but working with others in your niche is not a bad idea.
Let’s say you see someone in your niche that’s getting hundreds of thousands of views. If your approach is right, you may be able to convince them to tell their subscribers about your video. This is an easy way to get traffic to your video.
15. Make Videos on Trending Topics
Trending topics will give your videos more exposure. Your targeted audience will always make an earnest effort to keep abreast of the latest news. They want to know more about the subjects and topics that interest them.
As a content creator, your main focus should be on creating videos on the latest trends taking place in your niche or business vertical.
How can you find trending topics? Let’s go over three simple steps that can help you stay on top of the latest trends.
Step One – Go to YouTube and Look for Your Targeted Terms
How to make a video go viral online free within several days? You can start by searching for a broad topic, and dig down deep into your niche. Let’s say you decide to create videos on dieting. You can type the word “Diet” into the YouTube search browser. For example:
Step Two – Click on the Filte
Now it’s time for you to click on the filter. Select the upload date to this week or this particular month. For instance:
Step Three – Check out the Videos
You will now see some great videos that will give you some ideas on creating a video that stands a great chance of going viral.
16. Get Backlinks
Search engine optimization continues to grow in popularity as time progresses. You cannot afford to overlook the power of SEO. This powerful digital marketing strategy can propel your video to the first page of YouTube.
Getting links is the key to having success with search engine optimization. More links will help your video get more views. This is not rocket science!
If you are not familiar with search engine optimization strategies, you should work with an experienced SEO specialist. They know how to secure valuable backlinks for your video.
17. Reach out to Influencers
Reaching out to influencers is another effective strategy for putting your video in place to go viral. Influencers have thousands of loyal readers. Some have millions of loyal readers.
You can find influencers everywhere. In our case, we are interested in building relationships with influencers with a large virtual following.
Where can you find them? You can find them on Instagram. We’ve had tremendous success with working with influencers on this popular social media platform. You should follow suit.
diib: You Could Be the Next Viral YouTube Sensation!
Creating a viral video can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. The strategies in this article can improve your odds of creating videos that get a lot of views. diib can help you build a firm SEO foundation, so your website is ready for more visitors if one of those videos takes off. Here are some of the features of our User Dashboard you’ll love:
- Social media integration and performance
- Platform specific audience demographics
- Keyword, backlink, and indexing monitoring and tracking tools
- User experience and mobile speed optimization
- Technical SEO monitoring
Call today at 800-303-3510 to speak with one of our Professional Growth Experts or click here for your free 60 second site scan.
Frequently asked questions
How many views does a YouTube video need to be considered viral?
There is no official number. A video is usually called viral when it spreads far beyond its creator's normal audience in a short time, often hundreds of thousands or millions of views within days. For a small niche channel, a video that performs many times better than usual can feel viral.
Is it illegal to buy YouTube views?
Buying views breaks YouTube's fake engagement policy, and YouTube can remove the views, the video or the channel. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission's 2024 rule also bars businesses from buying fake indicators of social media influence, such as views, to misrepresent their popularity. Fake views also skew your analytics.
How can I get more views on my YouTube videos?
Create a thumbnail and title that clearly promise what viewers will get, and hook viewers in the first few seconds. Use keywords people actually search for in your title and description, and keep viewers watching with tight editing. Share videos on your other channels and collaborate with creators in your niche.
Do shorter videos get more views on YouTube?
Not always. YouTube favors videos that keep viewers watching and satisfied, whatever their length. Shorts can reach new audiences quickly, while longer videos can build loyal viewers and more watch time. Match the length to the topic: cut filler, but do not rush content people want explained in depth.
