How to Create the Perfect YouTube Comment

Crafting the perfect YouTube comment is an exceptionally powerful way to gain a foothold on YouTube and other social media platforms. 

Comments get handed around so readily that many are lost in a sea of endless emojis and low-value quips. A planned, well thought-out comment can provide insight into your authority on the subject, a curiosity into your own work, and offers a glimpse into the value that you can provide.

Here is an example of what I think about when writing a comment on someone else’s video or social media post and why it is important:

The Quantity of YouTube Comments Matter

No, you do NOT need to go out and spam every single video you watch, but you need to put some effort into your commenting. One comment per month is not going to do you much good. Like fishing, the more bait you can put in the water, the more chances you stand of catching a fish. 

Timing is the Key!

Many viewers really do take the time to read YouTube comments, so remember you aren’t just speaking to the creator of the video but to the others who are going into the comments section. 

Here’s my tip – pick the ten bigger creators in your niche and turn on the notifications for their channels. Be conscious of their upload schedule and make an attempt to comment on their videos as soon as they get published. Again, you want to provide good, knowledgeable information because; just posting ‘Hey, nice video’ provides absolutely no value to anybody. By being one of the first to comment, you put your words in front of every single person who comes to comment later.

Provide Real Value With Every Comment You Post

OK, you are committed to being the first to comment on videos for the top ten creators in your niche…now what do you write? I typically have a phrase in mind each morning that I tend to reuse for multiple comments (‘re-use,’ not copy and paste or spam). Something to the effect of referencing current events, or maybe I’ll stick to a keyword like ‘man, this is insightful’ or ‘my day is a little brighter because of your work.’ Something nice. 

This will be just a small part of what you are writing; it helps to kickstart your comment but absolutely should not be the meat of what you are trying to say. For this, you need to watch their video and refer to something they did or said, preferably something that stands out. This will help to catch the attention of others who saw that same thing in the video and then came down to read the comments. If you fake it, you are going to get called out for it, or worse, you’ll be ignored. Also, it ALWAYS helps if you can provide some sort of insight, hot-take, or opinion on the events of the video. This is a great example of that which was left on this TubeBuddy video:

Respectfully Redirect

After commenting about something in the video and providing your own insight it is important to steer traffic in your direction. But BE RESPECTFUL. The last thing you want to do is say something like, ‘Hey, come check out my channel.’ That’s lame; it will likely get you thrown into the blocked comments category, and the second you say anything that is even remotely spammy for your channel, you are going to be ignored. I prefer to offer direction in the form of insight. For example, if someone posts a video about catching and cooking sheepshead I will say something like this:

“Oh, man, I LOVE me some sheepshead! One of my all-time favorite eating fish! We just caught about twenty of these guys for a recent video on our channel, and MAN, am I stoked to try this recipe you just showed me!”

BAM!!! Do you see what I did there?! I took their video and made it the focal point of the conversation. At the same time, everybody who reads that YouTube comment (including the person who made the video) sees that I run a fishing channel, and I catch sheepshead too. It isn’t pertinent to the comment at all, but it is a simple, subtle redirect that maybe the person who wrote this is worth checking out. Now to be fair, I only do this one in maybe ten comments on any given channel. It will get picked up on, so don’t overdo it. 

Don’t forget, as a creator, you can also use your own comment section to redirect viewers to similar or helpful content:

Ideal YouTube Comment Length and Structure

Finally, there is one last thing to consider when writing the perfect YouTube comment. It always helps to write longer copy. YouTube educator Nick Nimmin has spoken many times about how it is important to answer the comments in your own videos because viewers crave that engagement. As a writer of comments, you can reverse engineer this.

When someone takes the time to write a long, thorough comment it shows that they are passionate about what they are talking about. Not every comment needs to be a novel, but it is a good practice to write long comments from time to time if the subject matter warrants it because these comments stand out and only further reflect the knowledge and value you can provide.

Writing valuable comments gives you access to people who view and appreciate what you do. It is an opportunity to reach out to people whom you otherwise would likely have little access to, and it is a chance for you to give a positive impression of your work before someone has a chance to see it firsthand. Done correctly and with the right mix of focus, insight, appreciation, and direction, a simple comment can very easily lead to a helpful increase in your own audience, and it makes for an easy means of spreading your own value.