How to Get More Viewers on Twitch in 2023 [13 Proven Methods]

You set up your streaming equipment and got ready to show off your flashy gaming skills, but you have no idea how to get more viewers on Twitch?

Well, we tell you all about getting Twitch viewers and keeping them entertained on your journey to becoming the next streaming phenomenon.

Light, camera, action!

How to Get More Twitch Viewers?

Getting more viewers on Twitch shouldn’t be that hard if you implement any of the methods detailed below, especially if you are just starting with your channel, in which case you should also go through our thorough guide on Twitch streaming.

1. Stream Popular Niche Games

When streaming popular titles like Apex Legends, Warzone, Valorant, or Minecraft, you compete against hundreds of streamers who attract your entire target audience since these live service games maintain their popularity.

However, you will also encounter difficulties on the other end of the spectrum, i.e., you attempt to stream older and/or obscure games with little to zero public interest.

Therefore, your best chance to get viewers on Twitch is to find niche games with a cult following or slightly older AAA titles that are no longer the priority of popular streaming channels, as they will have fewer streamers but sufficient viewership numbers.

So even though at first, the most anticipated games of 2022 might seem to you that they attract the most viewership, viewers will most likely choose established streamers over you.

For example, you can stream games such as Assasin’s Creed Odyssey and CoD: Black Ops Cold War—AAA games that are a couple of years old but still in demand.

If you can’t think of any such title, you can always find one via TwitchStrike, a very nifty site that works out what game to stream and when based on your viewer count.

2. Research Your Competition

If you’ve chosen the game you want to play and are ready to become one of the almost 9.5 million Twitch streamers, it’s time to learn from your competition.

The best way to do that is by navigating to the ‘Browse’ tab, found in the site’s top-left corner, and searching for your game under ‘Categories’.

Twitch will then populate the page with all the streamers playing that title, which you can filter based on the number of viewers from low to high and vice versa.

You will first notice the similarities among the channels with zero viewers as they are more or less the same without any graphics, interactions, or even host cameras.

After learning what not to do, reorder the results from high to low to take notes of everything the most popular streamers do—one of the best ways to get Twitch views.

3. Interact With Your Audience 

Even if you were to be one of the best gamers around, most Twitch fans expect you to entertain them and provide running commentary as you play. So it is extremely crucial for you to have a proper streaming microphone.

At the end of the day, to get views on Twitch, you have to respect your visitors and offer them a worthwhile experience to have them come back later on.

Twitch even added a threaded reply function to the chat, so your community members can even interact with eachother.

If you add a Chatbox to your overlay, you can even ask and answer any relevant questions about the stream or your and their personal preferences.

You can go a step further by personally welcoming your new and returning paid or Prime subscribers with a song or a simple shoutout, or even ask them to join you in-game.

Viewers will really appreaciate your effort to help them out if their viewing experience is interrupted by issues like buffering and stuttering.

That way, you will quickly form a community of followers eagerly waiting for your next sessions as they know they will spend quality time with you.

4. Create a Discord Server

The best digital space to hang out with and talk to your fans is Discord—the original gamer’s platform, as it comes with a plethora of interactive and communicative tools.

You can organize your server in several channels: one to update your streaming schedule, another to share art and memes, and yet another general talk channel.

Discord gives you a unique opportunity to talk to and interact with your fans via simple text and voice messages, GIFs, stickers, emojis, and even share files with each other.

And to manage all this, Discord has bots that can help you in different ways like moderating your server and notifying members when you go live.

5. Give Out Rewards

What better way to grow your Twitch audience than to reward your fans with channel points they collect with certain tasks and then redeem for various digital goodies?

As an example, visitors who watch your stream for a certain amount of time or join you on a Twitch raid may ultimately get prestige icons or whatever custom rewards you set up, such as making you dance on stream or choosing your channel’s music.

You can also customize your channel points with a unique name and/or icon. For instance, if you are playing sim racers, you can offer Tire points with the same icon.

Note: Channel points are only available for Twitch affiliates and partners, and you can read all about the requirements to join the Affiliate Program here.

6. Make Your Stream Stand Out

Those wondering how to get viewers on Twitch by customizing your channel should know that all it takes are a few stream overlays, panels, alerts, and emotes.

By establishing uniform esthetics that correspond to your thumbnail and streaming setup, you project a sense of professionalism and dedication to your craft.

Even if you are not tech savvy to create your own design, countless services can help you with that, such as OWN3D’s Emote Maker and the Streamlabs overlays library.

7. Let Your Personality Shine Through

Customizing your stream is not the only way to show off your personality since you can also stand out through your outfits and outwards appearance.

Streamers who dress and present themselves confidently have much better chances of getting more Twitch viewers than quiet, casually dressed gamers.

For instance, you can take your cue from Ninja as he is immediately recognizable by his colorful hoodies and hairstyles, or you can dress up as your favorite fictional character or even mask your entire face and voice if you want to create a unique persona.

8. Nurture Your Brand

If you’ve gotten a few followers and are now asking yourself how to get popular on Twitch, the answer is to keep working on your brand until you are widely recognized for your style and the value you provide to the gaming community.

This approach expands on the previous two methods of customizing your stream and your appearance in accordance with your personality, as it helps you foster and radiate a unique perception among gamers everywhere.

One of the most important things is your name, so make sure to pick out a memorable name that will catch people's attention, and you even have the option to change it down the line when you come up with a better one.

9. Stream Often and at Regular Times

Since you have to put in the time to be successful at anything, you should stream several times per week, especially during off-work and off-school hours.

Moreover, to ensure you successfully grow a regular Twitch audience, you should pick the same time slots each week since people love routines.

That way, your fans will arrange their schedules and log in at the right time to watch your stream, which will help you build trust with them.

Through the Twitch ‘Creator Dashboard’, you can even set a clickable schedule that lets your visitors know when and what you will be streaming.

Note: Most broadcasting apps also allow you to put up a timer widget that will count down to the moment your live stream starts.

10. Avoid Streaming at Peak Hours

When setting up your schedule, you should also consider choosing less popular streaming hours so you can avoid the more popular streamers.

For instance, if you stream Fall Guys or Minecraft at the same time as AuronPlay, who is one of the most popular content creators in that niche (14 million followers), chances are all Twitch streamers interested in those games will flock to his channel.

So the answer to the question: “How to get noticed on Twitch with all that competition?” is to schedule your stream around those of the famous creators.

After all, even if you face the least competition late at night or early in the morning, your viewer count will be boosted by visitors from other regions.

11. Use Twitch Tags

To ensure you get more views on Twitch, you should always use tags as they describe your content beyond the games you are broadcasting.

Note that you can apply any tag you like via the ‘Stream Manager’ tab under your Creator Dashboard, after which it will pop up below the video and stream title.

Twitch users will then be able to find your stream when using your tags to filter their search results in either the Categories or Live Channels directory.

Twitch introduced over 350 tags to make it easier for creators to accomodate and foster a community of likeminded people, so be sure to make use of it.

12. Expand to YouTube and TikTok

An advanced yet very effective strategy for getting more viewers on Twitch is cross-pollinating your channel with your other social media accounts.

By using your other platforms for promoting your Twitch stream, you may draw the attention of new viewers who do not regularly visit game streaming sites.

Towards that purpose, you should start clipping your best stream moments and post funny, instructional, or boastful gaming clips with various captions, a streaming schedule, and a link to your Twitch channel, so viewers can get to your stream if they like to see more of your content.

And until you reach the Twitch Affiliate Program, you can even simultaneously stream on YouTube with hopes to bring in more viewers.

13. Play in Tournaments

The fact that most Twitch stars are also some of the best gamers in the world, with several esports accolades, is not a coincidence since regular gamers and Twitch viewers want to watch and learn from the best of the best.

If you feel confident you can do well even semi-professionaly, sign up for any kind of tournament you can find. Even if you drop out, your name will be out there, which will help you network with other gamers and boost your stream’s exposure.

Ready to Become a Twitch Legend?

While you can successfully grow your Twitch audience by applying any or all of the strategies above, the best ways to get viewers on Twitch will ultimately vary depending on your specific needs, goals, and circumstances.

In any case, you should first try out those methods that take the least effort to see if they work for you or not before proceeding further. Just remember: it takes time and dedication to see your channel thriving. Good luck streaming!

With many popular streamers leaving Twitch for YouTube, you might even have a chance.