Getting verified on YouTube is an important milestone for any creator looking to grow their channel and audience. The coveted verification checkmark lets viewers know your channel is authentic and helps give you more credibility. While there’s no one guaranteed way to get verified, hitting 100,000 subscribers is a good start.
Why is getting verified important for YouTube creators?
The YouTube verification badge is an important status symbol and shows viewers your channel is legitimate. Getting verified can help:
- Build trust and credibility with your audience
- Appear higher in search results and suggestions
- Gain access to YouTube Partner Program features like Super Chat
- Stand out to potential brand partnerships and sponsors
- Motivate you to keep creating quality content
The verification checkmark gives you a sense of achievement and shows you’ve built an engaged community on YouTube.
YouTube’s verification requirements
YouTube has specific requirements channels need to meet before they’ll be verified:
- 100,000 subscribers or more
- Channel icon and channel art
- Active uploads and engagement with the community
- Complete channel metadata like channel description
- No Community Guidelines strikes
Meeting these requirements is the first step to getting verified, but doesn’t guarantee your channel will get approved. YouTube verifies channels at their discretion.
Tips to get 100k subscribers
Hitting the 100k subscriber milestone is difficult, but possible with persistence. Here are some tips:
Provide value to viewers
Focus on creating videos that provide value, help or entertain your target audience. Useful tutorials, engaging vlogs, and funny compilation videos are examples. Understanding your niche helps create content people want.
Optimize your content for discovery
Use strong titles, descriptions, tags and thumbnails that make it clear to viewers what your video is about. This helps the YouTube algorithm recommend your content.
Promote collaborations
Collaborate with other creators in your niche to tap into their audiences. Having guest stars on your channel or doing cross-promotions helps grow faster.
Engage with your community
Build relationships with viewers by replying to comments, asking questions in videos and hosting live streams. A strong connection keeps people coming back.
Post consistently
Create and upload videos on a predictable schedule, like weekly or twice a week. Consistency helps the algorithm recommend your channel.
Analyze your performance
Use YouTube Analytics to see which videos perform best and what content gets the most response. Double down on what works.
Promote outside of YouTube
Leverage social media and other websites to promote your YouTube channel. Collaborate with influencers in your niche to reach their followers.
How long does it take to get 100k subscribers?
There’s no definitive timeline, as growth depends on many factors like your niche, content quality and promotion strategy. However, many creators report it taking about 1-2 years to reach 100k subscribers. Patience and persistence are key.
Some general benchmarks reported by creators:
- 1,000 subscribers: 2-6 months
- 10,000 subscribers: 6-12 months
- 50,000 subscribers: 12-18 months
- 100,000 subscribers: 1-2 years
You may grow faster or slower depending on how optimized your channel strategy is.
How do I increase my view count?
Views and subscribers go hand in hand, so getting more eyes on your videos will help reach the 100k milestone. Some strategies to boost views include:
- Using attractive thumbnails and titles
- Promoting your videos on social media
- Joining relevant online communities and forums
- Embedding videos on websites and blogs
- Running video ads on YouTube and other platforms
- Optimizing your videos for search by including keywords
- Participating in YouTube trends and challenges
- Encouraging viewers to like, share and comment on your videos
- Analyzing your best-performing content and doubling down on similar videos
How do I get more subscribers on YouTube?
Growing your subscriber count takes time and effort. Some tips to gain more subscribers include:
- Encouraging viewers to “subscribe” at the end of each video
- Offering a “call to action” like asking questions to encourage comments
- Engaging with commenters and building community
- Being consistent – stick to an upload schedule
- Promoting your channel on social media regularly
- Getting shoutouts from larger creators in your niche
- Joining forces with other channels for collaborations
- Analyzing your audience insights to optimize your content
- Providing extra value with Playlists, bonus videos, etc.
- Staying on top of YouTube algorithm changes
How do I increase watch time on YouTube?
Watch time is one of the most important metrics YouTube looks at. You can increase watch time by:
- Creating engaging video titles and thumbnails that grab attention
- Hooking viewers in the first 10-20 seconds before they click away
- Structuring videos thoughtfully to emphasize the most valuable content
- Pacing videos well with clean cuts and good flow between points
- Including interactive elements like on-screen graphics and viewer polls
- Making videos the ideal length for your niche – usually over 2 minutes
- Using end screens with clickable elements to cue up more videos
- Analyzing audience retention reports to optimize based on drop-off points
How do YouTube accounts get verified?
There are a few steps in the YouTube verification process:
- Meet the eligibility requirements like 100k subscribers.
- Ensure your channel icon, art and metadata are complete.
- Submit a verification request through YouTube Studio.
- YouTube reviews your request against their criteria.
- If approved, the verification badge will appear by your channel name.
Meeting the requirements does not guarantee verification. YouTube verifies channels at their own discretion.
Can you get verified on YouTube without 100k subscribers?
It’s rare, but possible to get verified before 100,000 subscribers in certain exceptional circumstances. Some ways include:
- Official brand channels – Companies or products with an official branded channel
- Notable public figures – Politicians, celebrities, or influential people
- YouTube partner managers – YouTube employees may verify select creators manually
However, for most independent creators looking to get their channel verified, hitting the 100k milestone is mandatory.
Does getting verified on YouTube help you get more views?
Verification can potentially help increase views, but does not guarantee more views by itself. Some ways being verified may help include:
- Added credibility that makes viewers more likely to click and watch
- Higher search ranking when people look up verified channels
- Access to Super Chat which incentivizes live streaming
- Ability to license Official Artists Channels to monetize music
- Partnership opportunities since brands prefer verified channels
However, the badge alone won’t grow your channel without good content. Success ultimately depends on consistently creating great videos that engage your audience.
Should I get verified on YouTube?
Here are some pros and cons to weigh when deciding if getting verified is right for your channel:
Pros
- Increased credibility and authority for your brand
- Helps attract more viewers and subscribers
- Can give your earnings a boost through Super Chats
- Makes it easier to stand out from competitors
- Rewards your hard work reaching 100k subs
Cons
- Doesn’t guarantee more views or income by itself
- The 100k sub minimum is difficult to achieve
- Verification depends on meeting YouTube’s criteria
- Your channel can lose verification status if inactive
- Time consuming process maintaining community guidelines
Weigh the benefits against the effort to decide if getting verified is a good move for your YouTube aspirations.
Conclusion
Getting verified on YouTube is a sign of growth and success as a creator. While reaching 100,000 subscribers is challenging, it’s possible with a strategic approach. Focus on understanding your audience, optimizing your discoverability, engaging with your community and consistently producing high quality videos. Stay persistent, analyze your channel performance, and collaborating with others in your niche. With time and dedication, that coveted blue verification badge could be yours!
