A few weeks ago, YouTube released a creators guide for musicians who use YouTube—detailing best practices and techniques for musicians using the service. The 40 page guide holds much common knowledge but a few gems of wisdom stuck out to me. Below I rounded up a few key points they made, that you shouldn’t miss.

1. Put Popular Searched Items In Your Title – If you have famous guests or keywords users will search, be sure to find a way to add them to your title.
2. Tag As Much As Possible – Tag as many terms that relevant to your video as possible. If you can find real relevance in these tags to the content in your video, there is no penalty for using as many as possible.
3. Thumbnails Should Invite Curiosity – While you think it’s a good idea to post the picture where your singer looks cute, it’s a better idea to use a thumbnail of a picture where the viewer wants to know what is going on in your video. Seeing a 100 people throwing pies at once is much more compelling than just another pretty face.
4. Capitalise On Timeliness – Viewers often search for time-relevant items. Making a playlist of all the bands on an upcoming show or festival and adding your music near the top of some bigger acts can really help get you some exposure and concertgoers.
5. Add Annotations That Direct Fans To Watch Another Video From You – Whenever you put up a new video add an annotation to your old ones directing fans to your latest masterpiece. As well you should guide viewers to another video of yours when you put up a new one, allowing them to get to know you better.
6. Dedicate One Day A Week Or Month To Interacting With Fans On YouTube – Whether you host a hangout or take questions in your video comments, you can allow fans to interact with you and gain YouTube views all at once.
7. Crowdsource – Ask fans what your song you should use as your next single  and what type of videos they want next from you.
8. You Should Have A Lyric AND Music Video For Every Song – A lyric video is a great way to build some hype for your song while you finish a music video for it. Having both so fans can get to know lyrics and have a visual aid allows fans to get deeper with your music and keep it in the news cycle for longer.
9. Encourage – Ask fans to remix, cover and create videos with your song involved that will help it to spread. While this tip is often utilized, the difference it can make is often underestimated.

Via Music Think Tank