Over the years, I’ve started several YouTube channels, and there was one thing in common with all of them: they all started and grew slowly.
Very rarely have I found a YouTube channel that’s grown exponentially in the first 12 months. Typically, it takes about 6 to 9 months for a YouTube channel that regularly uploads content to reach monetization levels.
If you’re like me, you’re probably constantly looking for new, exciting, and fast ways to grow your YouTube channel. One of those ways is buying YouTube views for your videos. But is it a good idea to buy YouTube views?
No, buying YouTube views isn’t a good idea. Some of the reasons are that YouTube might think you’re trying to manipulate its algorithm, you could quickly get banned, you could neglect to create videos, overlook organic reach, and end up wasting your money.
I firmly believe that buying YouTube views is a bad idea.
Conversely, I just as firmly believe that you should spend your time creating awesome content that targets high-volume low-competition keywords.
I’ve written many articles about creating videos for high-volume, low-competition keywords, and I’m one hundred percent convinced that this is the best way to grow a YouTube channel of any size.
However, I wanted to approach the argument for buying specifically 4000 watch hours and 1000 subscribers with an open mind.
That’s why I open the article by looking at why you should consider buying YouTube views. I’ll then swiftly look at the main reasons why you should definitely not buy YouTube videos. I’ll then briefly address whether you need to buy YouTube views to grow your channel. Finally, I look at where you can actually buy YouTube views, indirectly and legitimately.
Let’s get started.
Why you should consider buying YouTube views
Before I go into why you should definitely not buy YouTube views, I thought it was essential to balance out the article by looking at why someone such as yourself might consider buying YouTube views.
After all, it’s tempting to rocket your channel’s growth by fueling up on views.
Below are some of the top reasons you might consider buying YouTube views.
Improves the ranking of your videos
One of the main benefits of buying YouTube views is that they improve the ranking of your videos. But how does purchased views achieve that?
Well, views are one of the most essential metrics for YouTube to determine the quality of your videos. For example, imagine you’ve two identical videos. One video has 10 views, and the other video has 10,000 views. Which video do you think provides the most value?
I bet you’d say, just like YouTube and me, that the video with the 10,000 views offers the most value and is worth watching. And you’d have been right.
This is precisely why buying views can be so impactful. They’re a sign of quality not only for YouTube but also for people. YouTube’s algorithm recognizes these extra views and thinks that the video is higher quality and should be ranked higher. Besides, the higher number of views will convince people that the video is higher quality and worth watching.
Faster growth
Buying YouTube video views also accelerates the growth of your channel.
As I mentioned earlier, a video with more views becomes more attractive to people and the YouTube algorithm, which means your video will rank higher.
However, buying views has many other benefits that help your channel grow faster. For example, the more views you’ve got, the greater the chance you’ll get engagement for your video.
Engagement essentially means that people have interacted with your video. This could be a like button click, a subscribe button click, a comment, or a click on a link in the description. The more views your video has, the higher the likelihood of these events happening.
Engagement is one of the most important clues of quality YouTube’s algorithm can pick up on.
More control overgrowth
When it comes to growing your YouTube channel, a lot of the growth is luck. Yes, you can make data-driven decisions. Yes, you can choose keywords for which your videos can rank in first place. But you’re still at the mercy of the YouTube algorithm. You’re still at the mercy of people’s opinions.
By spending a little money to buy YouTube views, you’ve seized back control of your YouTube channel’s growth, if only in a small way.
By spending money on views, you’re directly and measurably contributing to the success of your video. And depending on the outcome, you can take more specific and measurable actions. For example, if you buy 1000 views for one of your latest videos, you can measure the effect those 1000 views have on your video.
Finally, most large companies worldwide don’t just sit back passively and let their business grow. They invest in marketing. Buying views is no different than buying advertising. You’re investing in promoting your business.
Reaching monetization levels faster
Buying views helps your channel reach the threshold of monetization faster. To make money on YouTube, you need 1000 subscribers and 4000 viewing hours in the last 365 days. You can imagine that buying YouTube views for your videos will help you get 4000 hours of viewing far faster than letting organic growth do its thing.
Video views can be part of a larger organic strategy
Buying video views can be part of a much larger marketing strategy to grow your YouTube channel. In fact, I’d say that the absolute best strategy for buying views, subscribers, or likes is to combine it with organic marketing and growth. At least 95% of your marketing strategy should be based on an organic outreach strategy.
By organic outreach, I mean creating videos for popular keywords, creating remarkable content that ranks high naturally, and repurposing your video content on social channels and other sites.
If you rely solely on views you’ve bought, your channel will fail. That’s why it’s crucial to have a diversified marketing strategy.
Why you shouldn’t buy YouTube video views
Unfortunately, YouTube takes a dim view of people who try to abuse the YouTube system. And when I say abuse, I actually mean cheat.
Unfortunately, buying views, subscriptions, likes, and comments falls into a murky area of YouTube’s rules. If you’re buying YouTube video views, you should do so slowly and sparingly.
Your purchased views should do nothing more than supplement the views you’ve already received because you’ve created valuable content.
If you rely solely on bought views, there’s a danger that YouTube will spot the odd behavior in your videos and ban your channel without warning.
Below, I’ve listed some of the major risks associated with buying views on YouTube.
YouTube might think you’re trying to manipulate its algorithm
As mentioned earlier, YouTube might think you’re gaming its algorithm to your advantage when you buy views. What do I mean by gaming?
Well, basically, gaming, in this context, is a form of cheating. You’re trying to use YouTube’s system of ranking videos to your advantage by using methods that don’t directly add value to the system and/or manipulate weaknesses in the system.
For example, you could create a series of very low-quality videos and then pay for views, subscriptions, likes, and comments to make the system think your videos are more popular than they actually are.
However, YouTube is very good at detecting such practices and deletes accounts that do this.
You could get banned
One of the most significant risks associated with buying views on YouTube is the fact that you could get your channel banned. I know that sounds a bit extreme. But YouTube places a lot of importance on the quality and integrity of content published on its site.
YouTube’s mission is to deliver fantastic video content that meets and exceeds the exact needs of its viewers.
If YouTube simply allowed every channel to manipulate the system in their favor by buying views, no one on the site would be able to tell which videos are valuable and which have no value.
So if you go overboard with buying views, there’s a good chance YouTube will suspend your channel or even your entire account.
Buying views could lead to you neglecting the quality of your videos
The most important thing you can do to grow your YouTube channel is to create fantastic, high-quality content full of information and value.
The biggest fear I have about buying views or subscribers isn’t that I’ll get banned but that I’ll become complacent.
If you buy many views and have a bit of success, you may start spending less time and effort on making awesome videos and more effort on buying views.
I can’t stress enough how important it is not to fall into this trap. You should, at all times, focus on quality content first. Quality content is like cream: it’ll always rise to the top. Have faith in YouTube. The YouTube algorithm’s job is to make sure good content gets seen. Because good content makes people stay on YouTube longer, they watch more ads, which makes YouTube more money.
Buying views could lead you to neglect your organic promotion
After creating great videos and doing thorough keyword research, organic promotion is the most important task.
Organic promotion is anything you can do to naturally increase awareness of your channel and its videos.
This can include sharing your videos on social media or turning your video into a blog post. These activities will grow your channel naturally and sustainably without you having to pay for advertising or views. The concern I have is that if you start buying views and succeed with it, you’ll rely too much on buying views, and you’ll get caught out by the Youtube Algorithm.
Also, you’ll think your channel is growing. But in reality, as soon as you stop paying for views, your channel will fall back to the level it was before you started buying views.
So make sure you don’t neglect your organic promotion. Reuse your videos and your content in as many different places as possible. Collaborate with other YouTubers. Build a blog outside of YouTube and an email list. Don’t neglect the normal marketing activities you should be doing.
You could be wasting your money on views that don’t add value
One of the biggest problems with buying views is that you’re wasting your money. You may spend $100 to buy 5000 views for five different videos, but since those views aren’t real organic views, they have little to no effect on growing your channel. They offer no value, and you’ve effectively burnt your $100.
You could’ve spent that hundred dollars on something that would have had a greater effect on your channel’s growth in the short, medium, and long term, such as buying a better microphone.
Overall, I think the disadvantages of buying YouTube video views outweigh the potential benefits.
Therefore, I’d recommend that you don’t buy YouTube views directly. Later in this article, I’ll show you an alternative to buying YouTube views that’s much more reputable and allows you to attract the attention of real people who’ve got the potential to watch your video, subscribe to your channel, and become a fan of you.
Do you need to buy views to grow a YouTube channel?
No, you absolutely do not have to buy views to grow a YouTube channel. You can focus solely on creating awesome, high-quality content that will rank well on YouTube, get views, and grow your channel organically.
Yes, buying a small number of views can accelerate your YouTube business. But that acceleration will be nowhere near as fast as if you focus on creating great videos for high-volume, low-competition keywords.
Where can you buy YouTube views?
You came to this article hoping that I’d show you how to buy your way to the top of YouTube. That, there are websites that will get you tens of thousands of views and subscribers for a few hundred dollars. Unfortunately, that silver bullet for YouTube success doesn’t exist. The likes and subscribers you get on these sites are extremely low quality. And they increase the likelihood that your channel will be deleted and your videos removed.
Personally, I’m not willing to take that risk. And nor should you.
However, there’s a legitimate way to spend money to buy potential views and subscribers. You can advertise your channel.
By using an ad network like Google Ads, you can create ads for your channel and promote your YouTube channel on various websites, YouTube, or Google Search. The great thing about Google Ads is that you get exposure to millions of potential fans, yet you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
This means that you only spend money when someone is really interested in your channel’s content.
Ads can massively accelerate the growth of your channel. After all, there is a reason why big companies worldwide spend billions on advertising: it works. To get started with Google Ads, take a look at this guide at HootSuite. This in-depth article tells you everything you need to know to start advertising your channel on Google Ads.
Summary
You know that buying YouTube views, unless using ads, isn’t a good idea. Buying YouTube views can get your channel, or even your entire YouTube account, banned. Therefore, I’d like to briefly reiterate the main points from this article, so you are fully aware of the potential consequences of buying video views. So let’s take a look at the most important points from the article:
- You should consider buying YouTube views because:
- You can improve the ranking of your videos.
- You can accelerate the growth of your channel.
- You’ve got a little more control over how you grow your channel.
- You can achieve monetization faster.
- Buying views can be part of a larger advertising strategy.
- Why you shouldn’t buy YouTube views.
- You might think you’re manipulating the Youtube algorithm.
- Your channel could be banned.
- Your Youtube account could be deleted.
- You might neglect the quality of your video.
- People can tell that you bought views and are cheating.
- You could neglect your organic reach.
- You could waste or even lose your money
- You don’t have to buy views to grow your channel
- If you really want to buy views, you can:
- Advertise your YouTube channel/video in Google ads.