Five tactics to grow a YouTube channel from zero to 110,000 subscribers

Executive overview

Most new YouTubers follow generic advice and see no results. Brian Dean ran experiments on his own channel and grew it from zero to 110,000 subscribers and 150,000 views per month.

The framework covers five areas: channel page optimisation, quality over quantity, suggested video placement, production fundamentals, and embeds.

Consistent quality in a handful of videos drives almost half of all channel views.

Optimise your channel page

• Power playlists organise videos by outcome, not category — e.g. "grow a business", not "business videos"
• One-sentence channel branding tells new visitors what makes you different
• A detailed About section converts first-time visitors who aren't yet ready to subscribe

Focus on quality, not publish frequency

• Publishing every four to six weeks outperforms churning out three videos a week
• 43% of Noah Kagan's 1.2 million views came from just 10 of his 122 videos
• Viewers don't reward frequency — they reward content that's worth watching

Get into the suggested video sidebar

• Suggested video accounts for 40–50% of views on fast-growing channels
• Search competitive keywords (high result count), not low-competition ones
• YouTube surfaces suggested videos whose titles, descriptions, and tags closely match the video currently being watched
• Create the best video on that competitive topic, then optimise metadata around the exact keyword

Avoid rookie production mistakes

• The first 15–20 seconds determine whether viewers stay — skip long intros
• Open by stating exactly what the viewer will learn, not why the topic matters
• Audio quality matters more than video quality — invest in soundproofing and a decent mic
• Longer videos consistently outrank short ones; average first-page video is ~15 minutes

Increase views with video embeds

• Top-ranked YouTube videos have 78% more embeds than average
• Embed your own videos inside relevant blog posts on your site
• Embed videos in guest posts on third-party sites
• Embeds are a primary driver of ranking for competitive search terms

Bonus: use GOBY thumbnails

• YouTube's interface uses red, black, and white — thumbnails in those colours blend in
• GOBY colours (green, orange, blue, yellow) stand out against the site's palette
• Higher thumbnail contrast leads to more clicks and more views