Sometimes it’s hard to be a YouTube content creator. You have to come up with a new idea, figure out how to present it, then film it and edit it so that people won’t lose interest and stop watching. Not to mention coming up with a thumbnail and title that hopefully will interest people, without misrepresenting what the video is actually about (clickbait). But that’s not what this post is about.
Once all that hard work is done, and the video is uploaded, I’m at the mercy of YouTube to let people know about the video. For those of you who receive email notifications, the chances are reasonably good you’ll get notified of my new video.
But for everyone else, if YouTube doesn’t “recommend” it to them, there’s nothing I can do. If people don’t get a chance to see the thumbnail and title, the only way they’ll know about the video is if they’re searching for something specific.
So the big question is, how does YouTube decide which videos to recommend? Nobody outside of YouTube really knows the complete answer to that.
But we do know some things, and that’s where you guys come in.
Here’s how you can help
There’s very few things in life where your vote actually makes a difference. I’m not saying don’t vote in elections or anything like that. But how often do you have the chance to be the single swing vote?
We know that YouTube favors videos with certain statistics, and I’ll list a few of them in a moment. What we don’t know is, what’s the threshold? What specific value in the statistics will push a video over the top, and get YouTube to promote it?
Maybe there isn’t a single threshold, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is, your vote or action could easily be the one that causes the video to break out of the shadows, and be seen by others.
Your vote or action really counts!
Any and all of these things will help, but if you do nothing else, do the first two.
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Give the video a thumbs up.
There’s a reason creators beg for a thumbs up. I don’t beg, at least not in videos. But I can beg here. 😄
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Watch the video all the way through.
Even if you lose interest, keep it open in a browser window (or wherever) and let it play to the end. The more people watch a video all the way through, the better. When lots of people leave a video early, YouTube is NOT impressed.
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Share the video.
If you have a Facebook account or other social media site, share the video. YouTube really likes it when lots of people share a video, because that increases the chance that someone who isn’t currently watching YouTube might start watching it.
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Leave a comment.
I honestly don’t know how much this one matters, so if you’ve got nothing to say, that’s cool, don’t bother. But if you’re trying to decide whether to leave a comment or not, then by all means, do it. I read every single comment, and they mean a lot to me.
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Stay on YouTube just a little longer.
This is another one that I don’t know how it works, exactly. But videos that keep people on YouTube are more likely to be promoted.
So, if you want to, watch another YouTube video after mine. Even if you just start it and stop. But don’t worry too much if you can’t or don’t want to do this. The first two points are the most important.
I’m sure there’s dozens of other things that contribute to YouTube’s algorithm, but we just don’t know what they are. But we do know a few things, so if you want to, you can help.
Thanks!
Comments
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