My Youtube channel "Down The Track": Feedback Needed Please...

[Down The Track]

Hello there!

I started up a YouTube channel a few months ago, which features several railway enthusiast information videos. I spend a lot of time, care, effort, and more importantly, research into every single video, however my videos and channel still don't seem to grow - most videos only getting 20/30 views.

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtec_e837nOYASMCDqGOlAQ

I'd really appreciate it if those of you on the forum could take a look at some of my videos, and give me any pointers on what I'm doing wrong, how I could improve, any general feedback etc - it would really help!

Regards,

Adam
"Down The Track"

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Even without viewing any of your material I can give you a purely personal opinion. When I come across a potentially interesting YouTube channel I have a look at the list of videos as I have now done with yours. The fact that nearly all of them are rather short, ie less than 5 minutes in length, is a huge turn off. When I take the trouble to select a particular video to watch I like to have something with a bit of meat to it that makes my selection feel worthwhile. So somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes is much more appealing, though that doesn't rule out something longer and the very occasional shorter video can also work. Essentially YouTube is a nice alternative to watching tv: I often find I'm not in the mood for a tv programme which will be at least 30-60 minutes long so YouTube offers many "snack-sized" alternatives. But "bite-sized" is too small for me. Hope this is of some use even if not terribly constructive.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

I have now taken the time to watch some of your videos.

The videography is fine though there are situations where you could avoid the hand-held look by use of a tripod, or if that would be too invasive perhaps use a monopod.
The editing is reasonable though some of the short clips are perhaps a bit too short: in such situations any variations in the sound level are more noticeable and an overdubbed soundtrack would have been better. My previous post criticised your videos' length; you could have included much more shore based footage of the Woolwich Ferry vessels on the water or more detailed shots of the buildings at Hackney Wick station.

As for building your YT channel I am no YouTuber so have no expertise. Try a websearch for "how to be successful on youtube": I quickly found this article https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/key-ingredients-successful-youtube-channel/ but doubtless there are many other sources including from YouTubers themselves on their own channels.

One channel to which I'm subscribed took a long time to get going, just handfuls of subscribers in the first year but after nearly 7 years they have over 1.7 million! So look for useful advice and keep at it.

 

[Charles B]

Like your channel, my content is what I would call niche. Neither of us are shooting content that maybe appeals to followers of say well known locomotives and routes. I have found that as the number of published videos increases so will the views. Also longer running times are better as you can explore the subject more.
I get pleasure out of making the videos and put them on YouTube to share with others, so though it's nice to have lots of views and subscribers, it is not that important. My channel has been running 2 years and currently I have 26 videos, 62 subscribers, and 13800 views.
That said, I do like your content and have subscribed.
Charles Bennett Heritage Railways
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF2WRgI-aMHjOttp-7TdQBQ?