5 ADVANCED YouTube Algorithm Secrets To Get More Views

Summary

The video script discusses YouTube's algorithm and its impact on new channels, highlighting the 'new channel boost' that gives initial videos more visibility. It emphasizes the importance of creating content for a specific niche and the peak-end rule for viewer satisfaction. The script also explores the limitations of average view duration analytics and advocates for focusing on watch hours as a key metric. Finally, it stresses the significance of packaging, including titles and thumbnails, in attracting views, suggesting that a strong click-through rate isn't always indicative of success.

Takeaways

• 🚀 YouTube's 'New Channel Boost' unofficially helps new channels gain more views on their initial videos, potentially encouraging new creators to continue posting content.
• 📈 The success of a channel's early videos can be attributed to this boost, but it's essential to maintain quality to keep the momentum going.
• 🎯 YouTube's algorithm starts by promoting videos to various audiences, eventually narrowing down to the most receptive niche based on viewer engagement.
• 🕵️‍♂️ Understanding the algorithm's process can help creators optimize their content for better visibility and growth.
• 🎮 Specialization is key; creating content for a specific niche helps the algorithm learn and promote your videos to the right audience.
• 🚫 Diversifying content too much can confuse the algorithm, leading to a never-ending learning cycle and potentially lower views.
• 📊 The 'Peak-End Rule' suggests that how viewers feel about a video is determined by its most engaging moment and its conclusion, impacting satisfaction and future recommendations.
• 🎬 Ending a video on a high note can leave a positive impression, increasing the likelihood of favorable viewer feedback and higher watch hours.
• 🔄 Average view duration analytics can be misleading; it's crucial to consider the context and audience interest when evaluating video performance.
• 👀 Watch hours are a significant metric that reflects a combination of appeal, engagement, and satisfaction, and should be a primary focus for content creators.
• 🖼️ The importance of packaging (title and thumbnail) cannot be overstated; it often has a more significant impact on initial views than video quality alone.
• 🔄 The 'Appeal Equation' emphasizes the need for clickable content; focusing on creating enticing titles and thumbnails can significantly boost view counts.

Q & A

What is the 'new channel boost' mentioned in the script?

The 'new channel boost' refers to an unofficial strategy observed by YouTube, where the platform appears to give extra impressions and views to new channels in their initial stages. This is similar to TikTok's approach to encourage new creators to continue posting content.

How does the YouTube algorithm initially promote a new video?

The YouTube algorithm promotes a new video by testing it with various audiences, even those who may not be interested in the video's content. It starts with small segments of different audiences and gradually moves to the target audience if the video begins to resonate positively.

Why is it important for a channel to focus on a specific niche?

Focusing on a specific niche helps the algorithm build a clear profile of the channel's audience, which in turn allows the algorithm to promote the content more effectively to viewers who are likely to be interested in it. This strategy helps creators grow their channels faster and more consistently.

What is the 'peak-end rule' and how does it apply to YouTube videos?

The 'peak-end rule' suggests that people's overall satisfaction with an experience, such as watching a video, is largely influenced by the peak (the most engaging or emotion-inducing moment) and the end of the experience. YouTube creators should aim to end their videos on a high note to leave a positive lasting impression on viewers, which can lead to better viewer retention and higher satisfaction ratings.

How can a creator potentially increase their watch hours on YouTube?

A creator can increase watch hours by producing longer videos that maintain viewer interest without adding unnecessary filler content. This strategy can lead to more viewer engagement and a higher contribution to the total watch hours, which is a metric YouTube emphasizes in its platform.

What is the significance of average view duration in YouTube analytics?

Average view duration is significant because it provides insight into how long viewers are watching a video, which is an important factor for the algorithm to determine the video's quality and audience engagement. However, it's crucial to consider the context, as a video with high audience retention might only be attracting a specific group of viewers who are already interested in the content.

What is the appeal equation mentioned in the script, and why is it important?

The appeal equation refers to the process of creating clickable content, which primarily depends on the video's title and thumbnail. It's important because the packaging of a video plays a crucial role in attracting viewers and getting them to click on and watch the video, often even more so than the video content itself.

Why might a lower clickthrough rate sometimes result in more views?

A lower clickthrough rate might result in more views if the video is being promoted to a larger number of viewers, or if the viewers who do click on the video are more engaged and likely to watch for longer periods. The clickthrough rate is just one aspect of video performance; other factors like watch hours and viewer satisfaction also play significant roles.

What advice does the script give regarding the balance of effort spent on video creation vs. its packaging?

The script advises creators to allocate more effort towards crafting an enticing title and thumbnail, suggesting that 30-40% of the effort should be spent on this aspect of video packaging. This is because the packaging plays a significant role in initially attracting viewers and can greatly impact the video's performance.

How can creators optimize their YouTube thumbnails for better performance?

Creators can optimize their thumbnails by ensuring they are visually appealing, clearly represent the video content, and evoke curiosity or emotion. It's also important to test different thumbnail designs using YouTube's A/B testing tool to determine which performs best in terms of clickthrough rate and viewer engagement.

What is the relationship between viewer satisfaction and YouTube's recommendation system?

Viewer satisfaction is a key factor in YouTube's recommendation system. YouTube uses various signals, including viewer surveys, to determine the satisfaction levels of content. Higher satisfaction ratings can lead to the video being promoted more by the algorithm, resulting in increased visibility and watch hours.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 The New Channel Boost on YouTube

This paragraph discusses the 'new channel boost', a phenomenon where YouTube appears to be giving extra impressions and views to new channels, similar to TikTok's approach for new creators. The example of the channel 'Nate wealth' is used to illustrate this, where the initial videos received significantly more views than subsequent ones. The speaker suggests that this boost may wear off over time and advises creators struggling with older content to consider starting a new channel to take advantage of this boost.

05:01

🎯 Understanding YouTube's Algorithm and Audience

The speaker explains how YouTube's algorithm promotes videos to various audiences, starting with small segments and expanding based on viewer engagement. The algorithm tries different niches but ultimately focuses on the audience that shows the most interest. The speaker emphasizes the importance of creating content for a specific niche to help the algorithm build a clear profile and promote the videos effectively. They also introduce the concept of the 'collaborative filter' and how it simplifies the understanding of the algorithm's workings.

10:02

🤔 The Pitfalls of Diversifying Content Too Soon

The paragraph highlights the issue of small creators diversifying their content too soon, which can confuse the algorithm's understanding of the channel's niche. For instance, posting a 'Fortnite' video on a 'Minecraft' channel can lead to poor performance as the audience may not be interested. The speaker advises creators to stick to their niche to avoid this issue and to focus on creating content that appeals to the same audience across all videos.

15:02

📈 Maximizing Views with the Peak-End Rule and Average View Duration

The speaker discusses the 'peak-end rule', which suggests that viewer satisfaction is determined by the most engaging moment and the ending of a video. They emphasize the importance of creating a positive final impression to encourage favorable viewer feedback during satisfaction surveys. Additionally, the speaker addresses the limitations of average view duration analytics, cautioning creators not to draw conclusions without context. They advise focusing on overall views and watch hours, which combine appeal, engagement, and satisfaction, as these are key metrics that YouTube values.

📊 The Importance of Watch Time and Content Packaging

The speaker explains how watch time hours are a crucial metric for YouTube, combining aspects of appeal, engagement, and satisfaction. They note that longer videos can contribute more to watch time per viewer, which can lead to higher views. The speaker also stresses the significance of packaging, including titles and thumbnails, which can be more influential in attracting views than the video content itself. They suggest that creators should invest more effort into crafting compelling titles and thumbnails and provide a link for further information on understanding click-through rates and optimizing video packaging.

Keywords

💡YouTube Algorithm

The YouTube Algorithm refers to the set of rules and processes YouTube uses to recommend videos to its users. In the context of the video, it is suggested that YouTube has a 'new channel boost' to encourage new creators, and the algorithm also promotes videos to various audiences to determine their appeal, with the ultimate goal of increasing watch time and user satisfaction on the platform.

💡New Channel Boost

This term from the video refers to an unofficial strategy observed where YouTube seems to give extra impressions and views to new channels to motivate creators to continue posting content. The video provides the example of the channel 'Nate wealth' which experienced high view counts on initial uploads, suggesting that YouTube might be boosting new channels to compete with platforms like TikTok.

💡Audience Niche

An audience niche refers to a specific group of viewers who have particular interests. In the context of the video, it is emphasized that creators should focus on producing content that appeals to a specific niche to help the YouTube algorithm understand and promote their videos more effectively to the right audience.

💡Collaborative Filtering

Collaborative filtering is a technique used by YouTube (and other platforms) to make recommendations based on the behavior of other users with similar interests. The video explains that YouTube might show satisfaction surveys to a small segment of viewers, and then use their responses to represent the sentiment of other viewers with similar viewing habits, helping to determine which videos are most satisfying to watch.

💡Peak-End Rule

The Peak-End Rule mentioned in the video is a psychological principle stating that people's judgment of an experience is largely influenced by the most intense (peak) moment and the final moment (end) of that experience. In the context of video creation, the speaker suggests that ending videos on a high note can leave a positive impression, leading to better viewer retention and satisfaction.

💡Average View Duration

Average View Duration refers to the average length of time that viewers spend watching a video. The video script suggests that while high audience retention might indicate a good video, it's essential to consider the context, as a video with high retention might only be watched by a small, dedicated audience and not appeal to a broader viewership.

💡Watch Hours

Watch Hours is a metric that combines views, engagement, and satisfaction to measure the total amount of time viewers spend watching a creator's content. The video emphasizes that this metric is crucial as it reflects not only how many people are watching a video but also how long they are engaged with it, which is a key performance indicator YouTube uses to promote content.

💡Appeal Equation

The Appeal Equation, as discussed in the video, refers to the concept of creating clickable content. It underscores the importance of having an attractive title and thumbnail, as this 'packaging' of the video can significantly impact whether viewers click on and watch the video, even more so than the content itself in some cases.

💡Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Click-Through Rate (CTR) is the percentage of users who click on a video after seeing its listing or thumbnail on YouTube. While a higher CTR might seem desirable, the video explains that sometimes a lower CTR can result in more views if the video is being clicked on by a more engaged and relevant audience. Understanding and optimizing CTR is a key strategy for increasing a video's visibility on the platform.

💡Content Satisfaction

Content Satisfaction refers to the viewer's contentment with the video they have watched. The video highlights that YouTube uses various signals, including viewer surveys, to assess satisfaction levels. A satisfied viewer is more likely to continue watching content on YouTube, which in turn influences the algorithm to promote videos that contribute to a positive viewing experience.

💡Content Strategy

Content Strategy in the context of the video involves creating a consistent and appealing content plan that aligns with the target audience's interests. The speaker advises focusing on a specific niche and ensuring that each video added to the channel would appeal to the same audience, thus helping the algorithm understand the channel's content and promote it more effectively.

Highlights

YouTube's algorithm is trying to compete with TikTok by giving new channels a boost in views.

New channels can experience a significant increase in views on their initial videos due to YouTube's new channel boost.

The new channel boost is temporary and views may decrease after the initial videos.

YouTube's algorithm promotes videos to various audiences based on the content, starting with small segments and increasing if the video resonates positively.

Consistency in content niche is crucial for YouTube's algorithm to build a profile and effectively promote videos to the right audience.

Diversifying content can confuse the algorithm, leading to fewer views as it struggles to identify the target audience.

The 'peak-end rule' suggests that how viewers feel about a video is determined by its most engaging moment and how it ends.

YouTube uses viewer surveys to assess satisfaction with videos, which contributes to the algorithm's predictive models for promoting content.

Average view duration can be misleading; it's important to consider the context when analyzing this metric.

Watch hours are a key metric that combines appeal, engagement, and satisfaction, and are emphasized by YouTube.

Creating longer videos without compromising quality can increase watch hours and potentially lead to more views.

Packaging, including titles and thumbnails, plays a significant role in attracting views and should not be overlooked.

The appeal equation emphasizes the importance of making clickable content, which is more about packaging than the video quality itself.

Click-through rate is not always indicative of video performance; sometimes lower click-through rates can result in more views.

Creators should focus on optimizing their video packaging (title and thumbnail) to increase the chances of attracting and retaining viewers.

Understanding and leveraging the YouTube algorithm's secrets can significantly improve a channel's growth and view counts.

Transcripts

so the First YouTube algorithm secret I

call it the new channel boost

essentially unofficially YouTube is

trying to compete with Tik Tok now

something Tik Tok do very well

especially in the beginning in the

beginning when a new account is created

and posts a bunch of videos Tik Tok

makes sure to give those videos an extra

amount of Impressions and Views to

inspire that new Creator to continue

posting content and as of this year me

and a lot of my YouTuber mates have been

noticing YouTube doing a similar thing

for example this channel Nate wealth if

we come back and look at his first

couple of uploads 200,000 views on his

first video 89,000 views on his second

video but then fourth video 150,000

views fifth video 360,000 views sixth

video 140 then 130 then 150 that's

pretty good pretty insane results

especially considering a lot of the

topics Nate was covering especially in

these two videos were like how to record

voiceovers for YouTube videos which

typically in my experience aren't Super

Hot Topics in the YouTube education in

space now not to take anything away from

Nate's success his videos were very good

but this channel was started right at

the peak of this YouTube new channel

boost thing that's been happening cuz

for example if we come up and look at

some of the newer videos on the channel

very few of them have got anywhere close

to where his original videos are in fact

he's only had two videos get over

100,000 views out of his last 14 videos

and I don't think this is necessarily

his fault his videos are just as good if

not better quality than some of his

earlier ones it's just that his channel

boost is kind of worn off and I've seen

this happen on so so many channels now

so if you've been grinding away on your

channel for a couple of years you've

been struggling your older content isn't

very good but the new content you're

starting to put out is something you

could try would be creating a new

channel and just posting your new good

content on that and see if you can

trigger this new channel boost thing

YouTube's doing but if you don't take

advantage of this in the right way like

most people you're not going to get many

views so the next algorithm secret I

want to share with you is going to help

you do that so I've jumped over to my

trusty digital whiteboard here this is

where the fun begins that will sort of

help to illustrate a thing called

collaborative f in so let's say that you

post a YouTube video and let's say this

is your Minecraft YouTube video right

now these circles around here these are

different audiences so we have viewers

of Apex videos viewers of Counter-Strike

videos etc etc and what YouTube's going

to do right off the bat when you post a

video especially if your channel doesn't

have very much data is going to try

promoting it to a bunch of different

audiences that it thinks might like your

video so for example it might test

promoting it out to a small segment of

the Apex viewers Niche but because these

people are Apex viewers not Minecraft

viewers they're not going to be

interested in this video and so they're

not going to click on it or watch it the

algorithm might do the same thing to

csgo viewers promote to a small portion

of them but again Counterstrike Global

Offensive is very different to Minecraft

and so dedicated viewers of csgo videos

probably aren't going to watch your

Minecraft video and it's going to do the

same thing to all of these other niches

and they're not going to work out

because they're not Minecraft viewers

until it promotes your Minecraft video

to a small segment of the Minecraft

viewers Niche now I do want to say that

this is a very oversimplified

metaphorical way of understanding how

the algorithm works but if you act as if

this is exactly how the algorithm works

it's going to help you get a lot more

views and I'll show you why in a second

so anyway it's going to promote your

Minecraft video test it with a small

section of the Minecraft viewers

audience now these Minecraft viewers

remember want to watch Minecraft videos

and so assuming your Minecraft video is

good this little segment is going to

resonate very positively with your

Minecraft video they going a bunch of

we're going to watch it YouTube's going

to be like oh we're on to something here

and it's going to promote that Minecraft

video of yours to maybe a larger segment

of this audience and a larger segment

and a larger segment until it promotes

this video to the entire segment of

Minecraft viewers and if you're lucky

well not lucky but if you've created a

good tile thumbnail video Etc they're

all going to click on and watch this

Minecraft video of yours and it's going

to get a bunch of views now let's say we

take this Minecraft video and because it

was so successful you create another

Minecraft video now the algorithm is

going to do maybe a similar thing to

what it did before but it's going to

promote and test with even smaller

portions of these other audiences

because it was unsuccessful with them in

the beginning with this video here so it

promotes to a small portion of this

audience and a smaller portion of this

audience and a smaller portion of this

audience again they don't resonate

because this is another Minecraft video

that you've just posted here right but

then when it comes back to the trusty

Minecraft viewers audience and promotes

to them they resonate very positively

with this video YouTube continues to

scale this video up within this niche

until all of them have had this video

promoted to them now again this isn't

exactly how the algorithm works but this

is a really good way to think about it

so we come up here and guess what you

post another Minecraft video and now at

this point the algorithm is starting to

learn it's figuring out hey this channel

whenever it posts a video seems to

resonate with Minecraft viewers and so

what it's going to do is it's going to

promote this video to the Minecraft

viewers audience and because you've

posted yet another Minecraft video again

this audience reacts positively to this

video click on it watch it everything is

right with the world and with every

video you post you start getting more

and more views but this is where a lot

of small creators stuff up they get

bored and they post a different video

for example instead of a Minecraft video

they post a fortnite video now the

algorithm remember thinks that this

channel is actually a Minecraft Channel

based on the profile the success and the

data it's built up on this channel in

the past so what it does is it promotes

your fortnite video right off the bat to

these Minecraft viewers but we have a

problem these Minecraft viewers aren't

interested in fortnite they want to

watch Minecraft videos and so they don't

react positively to this fortnite video

YouTube never ends up finding the Right

audience for this video and instead it

just assumes oh this must be a bad video

because this audience who normally click

on all the videos from this Channel and

not clicking on or watching this video

and so that video must just not be very

good now you and I with our evolved

brains can look at this situation and

tell hey maybe this fortnite video

actually is a good video the problem is

it's just being promoted to the wrong

audience it doesn't matter how good of a

fortnite video you make if that video

gets promoted to people who just don't

want to watch fortnite videos you're

kind of screwed I don't care how much

the algorithm plugs Peppa Pig videos to

me I'm not going to click on them just

because I'm not interested in those

videos at least that's what I want you

to think and so I know this is a bit

complicated but this is the algorithm

secret I want you to understand because

what a lot of you guys are doing right

now is you have videos on your channels

that appeal to multiple different

audiences meaning the algorithm is never

able to build up a profile of who your

viewers are and so you're stuck in this

endless learning cycle where all of your

videos just get a very small amount of

views and the algorithm has absolutely

no idea who to send them to So to avoid

this mistake and this is something I

constantly drum into my students create

videos for a specific Niche and the way

I Define that the question to ask

yourself is would the type of audience

who click on this video also want to

click on all of the rest of the videos

on my channel so this particular

circumstance our fortnite video doesn't

pass this litness test because fortnite

viewers will be far less likely to watch

all the other Minecraft videos on this

channel vice versa Minecraft viewers who

click on these videos probably aren't

going to watch our fortnite video so

this channel fails our Niche test which

means it's probably going to grow way

slower or just not grow at all so if you

design your channel strategy in a way

that it's going to be working with the

algorithm and feeding the algorithm good

data you're going to be way ahead of

almost everyone else but just because

you have a common through line AC across

all of the content on your channel

doesn't necessarily mean you're going to

get views because if your videos

themselves aren't very good then

obviously no one is going to want to

click on watch or send positive signals

to the algorithm about any of them in

the first place and that's why I want to

share this next algorithm secret with

you and it revolves around a principle

called the peak end rule so when we look

into what YouTube themselves actually

say about how to get their algorithm to

give me more views they say that

YouTubers should focus on three main

buckets first is appeal second is

engagement third is satisfaction now

this is actually very good advice from

YouTube but as with most of YouTube's

advice it's so vague and watered down

that it's kind of not useful so let me

explain to you what YouTube is saying

here basically the first step is you

need a video that is going to appeal to

your Audience by appeal YouTube looks at

whether or not viewers once served your

video are going to find it appealing

enough to actually want to click on it

the second bucket is engagement it's all

well and good if someone clicks on a

video but if they click on it and leave

it immediately not a very good sign the

third category though is satisfaction

this is something that doesn't get

talked about very much because it's sort

of hard to understand and little know so

what YouTube wants is for people to keep

coming back to the YouTube platform and

even if someone creates engaging content

so they get viewers to watch that video

all the way to the end that doesn't

necessarily mean that those viewers were

satisfied with that piece of content I'm

sure you've been in a situation where

you've clicked on a video watched it all

the way to the end and thought

um it's the the biggest piece of dog

or maybe you were just completely

tricked you expecting a big payoff at

the end of that video and that big

payoff never came or maybe it was just

super underwhelming and that's really

bad in YouTube's eyes because it makes

you less likely to click on another

video to spend more time on YouTube and

when you spend less time watching videos

on YouTube YouTube makes less money so

what the YouTube recommendation system

does is analyze a bunch of signals to

figure out whether or not people are

actually satisfied with the video they

just watched so one of the things

YouTube does to learn how satisfied

viewers are with particular videos is it

periodically shows viewers surveys after

watching a certain video that asks them

how they feel about the video they just

watched YouTube then uses the data from

those surveys to train predictive models

to identify which videos are the most

satisfying now you might think well I

hardly ever see these surveys markers so

they must not have that big of an impact

well the thing is because of

collaborative filtering another concept

we talked a bit about earlier YouTube

might only show these seys to one out of

every 100 or one out of every 10,000 or

100,000 I don't know what the number

actually but then based on that one

viewer's response it's going to find all

the other people who've watched this

video who have similar viewing habits

and tastes to that one viewer who filled

out the survey and that one survey

response from that one viewer is

basically going to be used to represent

the sentiment for all of these other

viewers almost as if they filled out the

exact same survey so if you can get

viewers to remember your content very

favorably when those surveys pop up

they're going to be more likely to give

you a higher rating which means

YouTube's going to view your content as

more satisfying which means it's going

want to promote it more bit complicated

but I hope that makes sense so the big

question is how can we get people to

remember our content more favorably

that's where the peak and Ru comes in

the peak and R states that essentially

how people feel about something like

your video will be defined by the peak

of the video so the single most engaging

emotion inducing moment from that video

and the end of that video I.E how that

video ended and the part where a lot of

YouTubers screw this up is the end bit

so guys that's the end of my video

thanks so much for watching if you

enjoyed please leave a like down below

and leave a comment letting me know what

videos you want to see next basically

you're killing your end which means

people are going to remember your video

less favorably giving you less positive

survey ratings meaning the algorithm

send you less views so what you want to

do is have some sort of ramp of energy

or emotion right at the end of your

video now I can use the cliche example

that Everyone likes to throw around

including myself which is Mr Beast look

at how abruptly he ends these videos

after just casually giving away like a

million dollars so when that audience

satisfaction survey shows up or when

they promoted another Mr Beast video

those viewers are still sort of riding

the high of the last few seconds of the

video they just watched they're more

likely to give it a favorable rating or

click on another Mr Beast video and I

know this is hard to do I fail at this

in my own videos all the time but if you

can engineer this into the end of your

video based on what I've analyzed you're

going to start seeing better results but

in order for this to actually work

obviously you need your viewers to

actually get to the end of your video

and for people to get to the end of your

video you need a good average view

duration hence the next algorithm secret

the average view duration lie well it's

not quite that your average view

duration analytics lie to you but often

we don't have the context that we need

to when analyzing our average view

duration which is how long our viewers

watch our video for to draw good

meaningful conclusions from it let me

give you an example let's say you have a

small Channel you're not big but you

have a little bit of an audience growing

and you post a video like my story how I

started my YouTube channel now after you

post that video you go into your

analytics you scroll down to your

audience retention graph and you see the

retention is really good and you're like

wow people really like this video I

should create more story based content

about my life now sometimes that might

be the case what's more likely to be the

case is that particular video is only

going to be clicked on by people who are

interested enough in you to care about

your story and that type of viewer is

going to be more likely to watch your

video all the way to the end than say a

more casual viewer who's not even going

to click on your video in the first

place because your story doesn't

interest them so essentially you're

getting a very small group of people who

really care about you to click on your

video they watch it all the way to the

end they inflate your analytics to make

it look like this is the best video

you've ever created but the video

doesn't get very many views because as

soon as YouTube tests promoting it with

a small section of other broader

audiences they show absolutely no

interest and so YouTube just like cuts

off the promotion and so my overall

advice to you here is not to completely

ignore your analytics but it's to bear

in mind the context of them so the

ultimate metric you should keep coming

back to is your views even if you got a

bad click through right if that video is

getting a lot of views it means you're

doing something right so Analyze That

video figure out what it is about that

video that people are liking and apply

it to all of your future videos but for

some people this brings up the question

what analytics in my YouTube dashboard

can I trust well beyond things like

views and Impressions a metric YouTube

puts a lot of focus on is your watchtime

hours watch hours are almost a

combination of the three big elements we

talked about earlier appeal engagement

and satisfaction and here's why you can

have a video that retains a lot of

people but the video has only been

watched by nine people because it's not

very appealing to anyone on the other

hand you could have a really appealing

video great title great thumbnail great

idea but when people click onto it they

don't engage AKA watch it for very long

and that's also a bad thing but in order

to get watchtime hours people have to

actually click on the video and they

also need to watch it for a certain

length of time to actually contribute

seconds minutes maybe even hours towards

that watchtime hour step and this is why

YouTube are constantly talking about and

showing you watch hours analytics when

you click to your YouTube Analytics

dashboard it's YouTube sort of hinting

to you like hey we want you to focus on

this it's even so important that the new

YouTube ab thumbnail testing tool that's

going to be released sometime next year

decides the best thumbnail for a video

not based on clickthrough rate not based

on views but based on watch hours so if

you can create longer videos without

making them boring and adding more

filler content sometimes this gives you

the opportunity to get more watch hours

per viewer which can sometimes lead to

you getting more views and you can see a

lot of popular creators Mr Beast Ryan

Mayan arach etc etc compare their video

lengths nowadays to what they were a

couple of years ago or when they first

started you'll see they're gradually

making their videos longer and longer

and longer and this is also true with

YouTube shorts for example a study I

covered in one of my previous videos

analyzed 5,400 different YouTube shorts

and something they found was that on

average the shorts that got the most

views tended to be the longest ones now

sure there are a bunch of other

important factors obviously but let's

take two really good shorts the only

difference between them is at 13 seconds

and one's 1 minute and on average they

both get viewers to watch the short all

the way to the end according to this

study the short that is 1 minute in

length is probably going to get more

watch hours and perform better now I've

talked a bunch about retention and watch

hours and so I think it's only fair that

we talk a little bit about the appeal

equation which is making clickable

content and I think this is really

critical because while obviously it's

important that we engage and satisfy our

viewers if people don't click in the

first place you don't even have the

opportunity to engage or satisfy your

viewers there seems to be this click

versus retention myth going around that

says if you just create great videos

viewers are going to come and I don't

think this mentality is correct in fact

based on what I'm seeing on my channels

but also across my thousands of students

channels it's that your packaging which

is your tile and thumbnail so how you

package your video actually plays a

bigger role in your video getting views

initially than the quality of your video

so what I mean by that is if you have a

great video highly engaging keeps people

watching all the way to the end but you

have a pretty average title and

thumbnail that video is not going to

perform as well as another video that

has a great title and thumbnail but kind

of more average video content and I know

that's very controversial to say I'm

open to other data but it's just what

I'm seeing right now and so the

actionable Insight you should take away

here is if like most people you're

spending 90% of your efforts on actually

creating your video and then 10% of your

efforts on the title and thumbnail you

should probably be spending somewhere

more like 30 or 40% of your efforts just

on coming up with a really cracking idea

and great packaging so super enticing

title and thumbnail and then the

remaining percentage of your efforts

actually on your video and after trying

that for a bit I would be very surprised

if you're not getting more views than

you currently are now now speaking of

packaging a lot of people associate

packaging with your click-through rate

which is the percentage of people who

click on your video after they see it

listed on YouTube so for example if my

video is pushed out to 10 viewers and

out of those viewers one of them

actually clicks on my video I will have

a 10% clickthrough rate because the

number one is 10% of 10 but as you're

probably Gathering from this video

clickthrough rate is also not a metric

you can just take on face value

sometimes you can actually get more

views with a lower clickthrough rate

than you would with a higher

clickthrough rate and so before you go

spending all this extra time on your

titles and thumbnails you should

probably learn how to gauge the

performance of your titles and

thumbnails and how to accurately

understand what click through rate is

and how it works so I'll link a video on

screen where I go over that in a lot

more detail because I've been recording

for 1 hour and 3 minutes right now and

and U I kind of want to go to bed right

now so click on that video I'll explain

it all there