7 Most Common Streamer Mistakes You Must Avoid!

Streaming is a fun hobby – you get to play your favorite games and share the gameplay with thousands of people of the same fandom.

Often, this hobby turns into a job, but for some, it is a more stressful job than it is for others. Why?

Well, as a new streamer, you probably tend to make some of the common mistakes, such as:

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So, to see which mistakes are the most common, a few streamers were questioned – what things did they do wrong in the beginning, and to what deserves your attention the most?

Let’s find out!

7 Mistakes New Streamers Make

If your channel isn’t growing as fast as it should, the number of views is low, interaction with the audience is bad, and you haven’t featured any affiliate links so far, you are probably doing something wrong – your content is probably fun, but there are other things that you should pay close attention to as well.

Here are the things to avoid doing when starting a stream channel.

1. Muted microphone during the stream

People go to Twitch to watch others play their favorite games – in this way they get to discover new tricks on how to pass that hard level and collect a few cheats as well.

So, the game you play is one of the most important things on your channel.

However, even though the gameplay is the center of the stream, viewers like interaction.

If you are only recording the gameplay and not much else is going on, viewers will probably switch to another channel.

Next time you start the stream, connect your microphone as well. Before going live, test it out, to make sure that it is working properly and audio from the microphone is added to the stream.

At first, talking will be weird and you might not have a lot to say. So, start with welcoming everybody and maybe say a few words about the game. Then during the gameplay, you can just comment on the things that have caught your eye.

The stream will be much more entertaining and probably draw more attention, so you will slowly see the number of viewers raising.

Don’t worry if you don’t talk a lot during the first stream – slowly you will progress, and figure out what draws the attention of the viewers the most, and talking won’t be as weird.

Related: Best Streaming Mic Under 100$

2. No interaction with the audience

Recording your voice while streaming is one of the ways to interact with the audience, but there are also others.

You’ve probably implemented Twitch Chat into your streams, and you should know that Twitch chat is not only for the audience.

The most popular streamers gained their followers by interacting with them – they use the chat as a communication tool with the audience. It wasn’t just a place for viewers to write down comments and questions nobody will ever answer.

Successful streamers use ChatBot to answer the frequently asked questions, but when it comes to greeting the viewers, they do it on their own.

Saw someone new writing something in the Chat? Give them a shout-out! They will love the attention and the chances of them coming back to watch other streams are increased.

Also, in the beginning, I wouldn’t recommend adding Chat Bot at all.

The number of questions you get during the stream won’t be high, so you can easily answer them throughout the stream.

Whenever you don’t know what to talk about, just check for new questions.

Related: 30+ Best Twitch Emotes

3. Private Twitch chat

Many streamers keep their chat private and available only to followers because they believe that is the right way to earn more followers faster.

However, it is never the case.

Viewers don’t want to be forced to watch something or interact with someone. Give everyone that stumbles across your channel a chance to interact with you and enjoy your content.

Also, even though they might subscribe to watch that one stream, doesn’t mean they will stay on your channel.

By keeping the chat private, many people can click that follow button, but just as quickly click the unfollow button.

So, you will the number of followers rising and then suddenly dropping.

Just because they were forced to follow, nobody is forcing them to stay, and once they see the content, they can easily unsubscribe and find another streamer to follow.

If you are keeping the Chat private because of trolls, then it could be useful to add a chatbot.

The bot will deal with anybody who is there just to spam, and the real followers can enjoy the content.

Related: Twitch Chat Rules

4. Lack of stream quality

When I say work on the quality of the stream, I don’t mean just choose the right settings on your streaming software.

Well, this is quite important, but once the settings are tweaked, and everything is running smoothly, check a few other things.

The biggest mistake of new streamers is that they don’t pay attention to lighting, audio, or image/video quality.

Turning the camera or microphone on isn’t enough.

When it comes to video quality, here are the things you should check:

• FPS – is it too low?
• Resolution – can your viewers see you?
• Cluttered overlay – Twitch chat, alerts, and camera are all important, but is the position of each the best?

So, when you want to start the stream and after connecting your camera, perform a short recording as a test.

Then re-watch the video – are there any lags, can viewers see your face clearly, is anything in the background too distracting?

The easiest way to fix the lighting issue is by using another light source – it could be either a light ring placed in front of the camera or a regular lamp that will brighten up space.

If there are too many things going on in the background, add a green screen. Each stream you can play with different backgrounds, and viewers will love it.

Speaking of audio, pay attention to these problems:

• Audio that is too low or high
• Sound of the game overpowering your voice
• Background noise
• Audio not in sync.

Again, when doing the test recording, check the sound. If the gameplay is way louder than your voice, then turn the desktop audio down a bit.

If there is any background noise, use headphones!

In this way, this background noise will be canceled, and viewers will hear you. Check out our guide on how to improve Twitch stream quality.

Related: How to Grow on Twitch

5. Playing only the popular games

Fornite, along with League of Legends, is one of the most streamed games on Twitch. However, this doesn’t have many views and followers for your channel if you decide to stream Fortnite.

The majority of the viewer base for Fortnite and LoL belongs to the most popular streamers, and no matter how much time you put in your content, you won’t quite stand out among other streamers, since there are so many of them.

So, when you are starting, it is best to stick to one of the less popular games.

Browse and see which other games get a lot of views and see how many streamers are playing them – if there aren’t many, then you will easily get recognized.

Then as your channel starts to grow, you can switch to another game. Just make sure it is similar to the one that you are already playing, so you don’t lose your audience.

Who knows, at one point, you can even switch to playing LoL!

Related: Best Games to Stream

6. Switching between different platforms

Growing the audience by using only one platform is hard, so Twitch shouldn’t be the only platform you are present on.

YouTube is also great for streaming, and you won’t even have to alter many settings to adjust the software for YouTube gaming.

However, make sure that you aren’t jumping between these platforms too much.

Before you start streaming on multiple platforms, make sure that you have built a fan base on one – then you can announce that next week you are trying out Facebook or YouTube gaming, and most likely, these people will go to these websites to watch you play.

7. Expecting sponsorships

You can earn money from streaming, but it won’t come so easily.

Even if you are streaming multiple times every week, for long hours, this doesn’t guarantee any cash.

There could be a few donations, but streamers earn the most money through affiliate links.

Once you see that no affiliate links or sponsorships have been offered to you after hours of streaming that week, you could feel discouraged.

Well, no need to be!

Continue working on the channel – the biggest mistake is to give up just because in the first two weeks you didn’t earn a penny.

Visit other channels, ask for collaborations, share the account for donations, and promote the channel and streams often.

Put in the work and be patient. Slowly, you will see that more people are donating and that affiliate link will probably come soon as well. Check out this guide on how to get your first sponsorship!

Related: How to Set Up Donations on Twitch

Few Tips for New Streamers

1. Set a streaming schedule

If you are streaming at random days and hours of the week, you cannot expect many views.

People that follow you, probably expect some sort of schedule – like streaming every Wednesday at 8 pm, so they know when to log in.

So, after one stream is over, announce the next one! Or remind people that if they like your content, they can enjoy it every Sunday or any other day you pick.

Also, don’t be afraid to take longer breaks – you don’t have to stream every day to keep the audience.

Even if you don’t stream for two or three weeks, you won’t lose followers.

There are multiple ways to remind people that your channel is on Twitch, and you are one of the content creators, without starting a live stream.

Here is what you can do:

Alerts

So, you plan on taking a break for 10 days? Good, use alerts to notify the followers.

Put in the date of your return and briefly explain why you need to pause streaming.

Also, use Alerts to announce any of the future streams, so your audience doesn’t forget to tune in.

Display the schedule

Your viewers are probably following you on Twitter and other social media.

So in the bio, it would be best to add the streaming schedule – whenever they visit your profile, they will know when they can watch another stream.

Post even while you are away

Again, social media plays a big role. While you are on a break, you don’t have to stream, but you can still interact with followers.

Update them about the things you are doing – if you are working on your brand, channel, post small teasers, so they have something to look forward to.

2. Check out other channels

Twitch has a large community, and many new streamers need the support of other small channels.

So, take the time to view other streams, discover new streamers, and possibly find someone willing to cooperate.

While you are watching someone’s stream, make sure to post a few comments.

They shouldn’t be about you, but about the content you are watching, so praise them for their work.

By browsing, you will stumble upon the same style, theme, and content as yours, and after supporting their work, you can openly ask to collaborate.

In this way, the audience will get to know about your channel and vice versa. It is a win-win situation for both content creators!

3. Promoting!

You will have to promote your Twitch channel outside the Twitch.

So, when you are creating Twitch, create Twitter, and Facebook too.

Then before the stream, post on social media to promote it.

Only be careful to not overpromote it.

If you are streaming on Friday, there is no need to promote the stream multiple times every day since Monday – people will get tired of these posts, and most likely, they will just mute the profile.

Add a few posts about the stream a few hours before the actual stream.

4. Never stop learning

Streaming is a great hobby and an even better job – you get to choose your working hours and play the games you enjoy.

If you want your channel to grow, you have to put in the work.

There are many articles written about streaming, especially Twitch streaming, and there are always new tricks you can implement to boost views, attract new people, or create better content.

So, I would recommend spending a few hours every week reading blog posts and articles about streaming.