Small YouTubers: Do this to make the algorithm love you

Summary

If you're struggling to get views on your YouTube videos, this guide shows how to turn things around. The first step is to define your video niche and be consistent in your content. Research your niche and competitors to understand what attracts viewers. Use tools like vidIQ to analyze competitors' videos, focusing on those with high engagement rates. Learn from successful videos, especially their titles, thumbnails, and content structure. Apply these insights to create engaging videos that the algorithm favors, leading to more views, subscribers, and monetization opportunities.

Takeaways

• 📈 Consistency in content type is crucial; avoid mixing unrelated topics in your channel.
• 🔍 Research your niche thoroughly to understand what your target audience wants.
• 📊 Use analytics to determine why some videos aren't performing well; it's often due to audience disengagement.
• 📺 Identify and study your competitors to find patterns in successful videos.
• 📝 Track your competitors' content to stay updated on trends and new ideas.
• 📊 Tools like vidIQ can help you analyze competitor performance and identify top-performing content.
• 👍 Focus on the like rate (likes per view) to gauge audience satisfaction with videos.
• 💡 Create content based on high-engagement topics and formats from successful competitors.
• 🖼️ Pay attention to thumbnails and titles that attract clicks and engagement.
• 🕒 Consider optimal video length by analyzing top-performing videos in your niche.
• 🎥 Innovate with storytelling and unique presentation styles to make your videos stand out.

Q & A

What is the main issue discussed in the video script?

The main issue discussed in the video script is the struggle of small YouTubers to get views on their videos and how the algorithm seems to ignore their channels.

What is the first step suggested to improve views on a YouTube channel?

The first step suggested is to get really clear on what types of videos you want to make and to ensure consistency in the content of the videos, not just in the frequency of uploads.

Why is it important to be consistent with the content of your videos?

Consistency in video content helps the algorithm understand what your channel is about, which can lead to better promotion and engagement from viewers who are interested in that specific type of content.

What does the video suggest as a method to understand the audience's preferences?

The video suggests researching competitors' videos, particularly those with high like rates, to understand what content resonates with the audience and keeps them engaged.

How can one find competitors in their YouTube niche?

One can find competitors by searching for terms related to their niche on YouTube, visiting their channels, and subscribing to them for further tracking and analysis.

What tool is mentioned in the script for analyzing competitors' views and performance?

The tool mentioned in the script is called vidIQ, which can be used to analyze competitors' views and overall performance on YouTube.

What is the significance of analyzing the like rate of videos?

Analyzing the like rate helps in understanding which videos are resonating most with the audience, as a high like rate indicates that viewers are enjoying the content and are more likely to engage with it.

Why is it recommended to focus on videos with a high like rate?

Focusing on videos with a high like rate can provide insights into what type of content the audience enjoys and is more likely to engage with, which can help in creating similar successful content.

What is the process of finding the like rate of a video?

The process involves calculating the average number of views a video gets per like, which can be done by dividing the total number of views by the total number of likes.

How can one ensure their videos are satisfying the audience according to the script?

One can ensure their videos are satisfying the audience by researching and analyzing successful videos in their niche, understanding what aspects make them successful, and incorporating those elements into their own content.

What is the final advice given in the script regarding the analysis of competitors' videos?

The final advice is to avoid analyzing the wrong videos and to use data objectively to determine the best performing videos, as this methodical approach can provide significant advantages over competitors who skip this step.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Boosting YouTube Views with Algorithm Insights

The speaker shares their experience in increasing YouTube views by understanding the platform's algorithm. They emphasize the importance of content consistency and niche specificity, rather than just posting videos consistently. The speaker suggests that many small YouTubers overlook the need for consistent video themes, which can lead to the algorithm not promoting their content. They propose a strategy that involves researching competitors, understanding audience preferences, and creating content that resonates with viewers. The speaker also addresses misconceptions about the algorithm, suggesting that it reflects audience engagement rather than a mysterious force controlling video success.

05:01

🔍 Researching Competitors to Grow Your YouTube Channel

The speaker provides a step-by-step guide on how to research competitors on YouTube to identify successful content strategies. They recommend using search terms related to one's niche to find top competitors and subscribing to their channels for easy tracking. The speaker then suggests using a tool like vidIQ to analyze competitors' monthly views and identify the most successful channels. They also explain how to export data from competitors' channels to analyze which types of videos receive the most likes, indicating viewer satisfaction. The speaker warns against superficial analysis and encourages a data-driven approach to understand what content truly engages the audience.

10:02

📊 Analyzing Like Rates to Discover Popular Content

The speaker explains how to analyze like rates to find out which videos in a niche are most engaging. They advise against looking at the total number of likes, as this can be misleading, and instead focus on the like rate, which is the average number of views needed to earn one like. By sorting videos by their like rates, creators can identify which types of content are most appealing to viewers. The speaker demonstrates how to use a spreadsheet to calculate like rates and filter out less successful videos, providing a method to objectively determine the most engaging content. They also highlight the importance of video length and creative presentation as factors contributing to viewer satisfaction.

15:05

🚀 Leveraging Data to Create Engaging YouTube Videos

The speaker concludes by urging creators to use the data they've gathered to inform their video creation process. They stress the importance of not only analyzing the best-performing videos but also understanding the elements that make them successful, such as video length, thumbnail design, and creative storytelling. The speaker warns against the common mistake of superficially analyzing videos and encourages a deeper dive into the data to uncover insights that can be applied to one's own channel. They also mention a special offer for vidIQ, a tool they use for channel analysis, and invite viewers to see a case study of how they applied these strategies to achieve 2.7 million views on a video.

Keywords

💡Algorithm

The term 'algorithm' refers to the set of rules or processes that a system follows to solve a problem or accomplish a task. In the context of YouTube, the algorithm is the mechanism that decides which videos are recommended to users. The video discusses how the algorithm can seem to 'ignore' certain channels if their content does not resonate with viewers. An example from the script is when the speaker suggests replacing 'algorithm' with 'audience' to emphasize that it's the viewers' preferences that drive video performance.

💡Consistency

Consistency in this video script refers to the regularity and uniformity in uploading videos and the content's theme. It is important for building a channel's identity and viewer expectations. The script mentions that while many small YouTubers understand the need for consistent uploads, they often overlook the need for consistency in the type of content they produce, which can confuse the algorithm and viewers.

💡Niche

A 'niche' in the context of YouTube refers to a specific, focused topic or category that a channel specializes in. The video emphasizes the importance of defining a niche to attract a dedicated audience and to give the algorithm a clear understanding of what type of content to associate the channel with. The script uses the example of how to grow on YouTube as a niche and discusses the importance of researching within this niche.

💡Research

Research, as discussed in the video, is the process of gathering information and analyzing data to understand a subject better. In the context of growing a YouTube channel, research involves studying competitors, understanding audience preferences, and identifying successful content strategies within one's niche. The script provides a step-by-step guide on how to research a niche, including using tools like vidIQ to analyze competitors' performance.

💡Competitors

Competitors in the script are other YouTube channels that create content within the same niche. Identifying and analyzing competitors is crucial for understanding what works well in the niche and what doesn't. The video suggests subscribing to competitors' channels to keep track of their content and to learn from their strategies, as well as using tools to find the top-performing channels based on monthly views.

💡Like Rate

The 'like rate' is a metric that measures how many views a video receives for each like it gets. It is used as an indicator of audience engagement and satisfaction with the content. The script explains that a lower like rate (e.g., one like per 10 views) suggests that viewers are more engaged and satisfied, which can influence the algorithm to promote the video more. The video provides a method to calculate the like rate using data from competitors' videos.

💡Engagement

Engagement in the context of YouTube refers to the level of interaction and interest that viewers show towards a video, which can include likes, comments, shares, and watch time. The script explains that if viewers engage with a video, it sends a positive signal to the algorithm, which can lead to more promotion and visibility for that video. The video's analysis focuses on finding content that has high engagement rates to understand what resonates with the audience.

💡Monetization

Monetization on YouTube involves earning revenue from the platform, typically through ads, sponsorships, or other means. The video mentions that having more views and subscribers can lead to greater monetization opportunities. The script implies that understanding the algorithm and creating content that resonates with viewers can help grow the channel and increase its earning potential.

💡VidIQ

VidIQ is a tool mentioned in the script that helps YouTubers analyze their channel's performance and that of their competitors. It provides features like tracking views, identifying top-performing videos, and exporting data for further analysis. The video suggests using VidIQ to simplify the research process and make informed decisions about content creation.

💡Content Strategy

A content strategy in the video script refers to a planned approach to creating and sharing content that aligns with the channel's goals and audience preferences. The script discusses the importance of having a clear content strategy, especially after defining a niche, to work effectively with the YouTube algorithm and grow the channel. The video provides insights on how to develop a content strategy based on research and analysis of successful videos in the niche.

Highlights

The speaker shares their strategy for increasing views on YouTube videos from barely any to 400-500 views per hour.

Emphasizes the importance of being clear about the type of videos you want to make and doing it properly.

Mentions that consistency in video upload frequency is not the only factor for channel growth.

Consistency in the content of the videos themselves is crucial for channel growth.

The speaker uses their own channel as an example to demonstrate the research process.

Suggests replacing 'algorithm' with 'audience' to better understand video performance.

Analyzing why a video isn't performing well involves looking at views, clicks, and engagement.

Competitor videos can reveal what satisfies viewers and entices them to click.

Recommends finding and subscribing to competitors' channels for research purposes.

Using tools like vidIQ can help identify top competitors and analyze their performance.

The importance of finding videos with the highest like rates as they indicate audience satisfaction.

Calculating the like rate involves dividing the number of likes by the number of views.

Focusing on long-form videos for in-depth analysis to understand what engages the audience.

Analyzing video ideas, titles, thumbnails, and lengths to replicate successful strategies.

The example of 'YouTube mistakes that destroy your growth' as a high-performing video concept.

Inspiration from competitors' video styles and storytelling techniques.

A warning against analyzing the wrong videos and the importance of using data objectively.

Encouragement to use the research method to gain an advantage over other YouTubers.

An offer to show a behind-the-scenes example of applying the strategy to achieve 2.7 million views.

Transcripts

if you're struggling to get views on

your videos and it feels like the

algorithm just is ignoring your Channel

today I'm going to show you how I went

from Barely getting any views on my

videos to now having the algorithm send

me four to five hundred views every

single hour and that not just led to

more views but also led to more

subscribers and me being able to

monetize my channel further so let's go

through this step by step and the first

step is to get really clear on what

types of videos it is you want to be

making now that might sound really

obvious but you'd be amazed how many

small YouTubers who don't get love from

the algorithm skip over this topic or

they don't do it properly and when I say

don't do it properly here's what I mean

see a lot of small channels hear things

like you need to be consistent and so

they take that information they go okay

and they post one video a week for you

know six months and just assume that

eventually their channel is going to hit

this Tipping Point where the views just

keep compounding and compounding and

eventually the challenge just blows up

but in reality it doesn't work that way

because while being consistent in how

often you upload helps it's not the only

area of consistency for your channel

consistency can apply to the actual

content of your video themselves so for

example even if you're posting one video

every single week you are not being

consistent if one week you're posting

bass fishing videos and the next week

you're posting League of Legends tips

and tricks videos now I know that's an

extreme example but you get my point so

once you've got your Niche down that's

when we can really start to work some

magic with this strategy the first thing

we're going to do let's do some

Inception level crap and I'll use my own

channel as an example here so you want

to take your niche in this case it's how

to grow on YouTube you want a really

thoroughly research it and I know

research sounds super vague so don't

worry I'm going to show you like exactly

step by step what I do in just a second

but first I need to address the elephant

in the room and that is all the comments

down below saying but Marcus you were

going to teach me how to you know hack

the algorithm why are we doing research

well don't take it from me take it from

Mr Beast anytime you say the word

algorithm just replace it with audience

the algorithm didn't like that video no

the audience didn't like that video so

basically when it seems like the

algorithm is ignoring you often it's

just that the viewers don't really enjoy

your content maybe as much as you think

they do and the algorithm is just

picking up on that so for example if I

take this channel which is a pretty

small Channel and I come over here to

this video you can see it's only gotten

three views in three months roughly

actually more four months now so pretty

terrible result you could say and then

you might think that oh the algorithm is

just ignoring this video but if you log

into your dashboard you go to the video

your videos that aren't getting views

and you come here and you click

analytics and then from there you come

across to reach what you can see is the

algorithm actually promoted this video

to all over 250 people but those people

didn't click on the video firstly and

for those three people who did click on

this video they probably didn't engage

with it as enthusiastically as maybe

they engaged with other similar

competitive videos and so that just

leads to the algorithm stopping to

promote this video because it's clearly

not keeping people's attention or

satisfying them and just promoting

competitors videos instead but the good

news is often the secrets and clues to

what it is that satisfies viewers in

your Niche and entices them to click on

videos are hidden in plain sight in your

competitors video and so like I said

earlier the first step in this entire

process is to actually just do the

research in your Niche and figure out

who your competitors actually are and so

how I would do this for my own channel

going back to mind Channel as an example

would be I might come to YouTube and I

might type in terms that are highly

related to the terms people in my Niche

would be typing in so maybe something

like how to get views on YouTube and

then from here you can see obviously a

whole ton of videos have shown up from

all these other different creators and

you can just click on all of these

different creators channels and chances

are many of them are your direct

competitors and so once you've gone

through and you've found all of your

direct competitors for this particular

search term you can do it for another

search term so it might be like how

get subscribers

and so again you do the same thing and I

like to actually click on these channels

and then subscribe to them on my channel

so I have all of my competitors all

subscribed to on just one channel and

not only does that help me keep track of

them but it also means the algorithm

often then serves me their content or

other new competitors will have sprung

up uh in my homepage recommended videos

so I can often find new competitors

without me actually having to search

them out so in my case I've already done

this and you can see that I've got about

124 people who I would consider to be my

competitors who are in my Niche creating

uh content that would help grow

YouTubers channels you might have a lot

more than that you might have a lot less

than that either way figure out who they

are subscribe to them or track them

somewhere in a sheet or something so you

know who they are and so once you've

kind of done this what you want to do is

you want to take all these channels

you've just found and you want to find

the top 5 to 10 channels based on how

many views they actually get each month

so not subscribers how many views they

actually get each month because often

you'll find there might happy Channels

with you know huge amounts of

subscribers that actually get beaten by

Channels with far less subscribers on a

views per month basis now you can do

this manually obviously but it is a bit

of a pain so the tool I like to use is

called vid IQ if you log into a vdiq

dashboard you can come across here to

competitors and if you click onto

competitors you can see I've already

done this for my channel but if you come

down to this list here you can click in

here and you can actually add in your

competitor channel so let's say I was

doing like PewDiePie and then I just

click on him and I just come down here

and click add competitor and then they'd

show up in this list and basically what

I've done here is I've added in roughly

the top 20 competitors in my Niche but

you can see they show up in here and

then what I can do is I can click 30

days in total make sure this is on views

and this is going to give me a really

easy summary to see who's actually

getting most of the monthly views in my

Niche so you can see Robert Benjamin is

actually getting the most views out of

all that competitors so he would be a

really good example to study another

good example here is my friend Ed from

film Booth if you'd like you makes it

really easy to find these sort of

outlier challenge now obviously there's

a lot of YouTube tools out there but I

will say vid IQ is probably the only one

I've used almost every single day for

the last six to seven years now they're

not paying me to make this video or say

any of this but I did recently give

vidiq permission to create a special

landing page on their website just for

you guys my subscribers where you can

actually get a month of vid IQ premium

for just one dollar and if you do sign

up through that webpage I will get a

little Kickback which obviously helps

support the channel and helps me make

videos like this so that is down below

if you're interested but even if you're

not you can still follow along with this

video so let's pick add let's go to his

Channel right now and then on Ed's

Channel if I have the vid IQ extension

installed what you can actually see is

I'll get these extra little buttons here

now again you can follow along and just

do this manually if you want but if you

like you just makes it a lot easier for

me and what I'm going to do is I'm going

to hit this export SCV button then we're

going to click on export all of their

videos and it's going to give us a ton

of data that we can really dive into and

I'll show you how to find the gold

Insight so you can apply apply to your

own channel that will result in your

videos starting to get like way more

views than they probably are currently

so once you're here you just hit

download CSV and you'll download the CSV

and you can open it up in something like

Excel or if you're a tight ass like me

and don't don't have Excel you can use a

WPS office

and then once you open up the sheet you

can pretty much get rid of most of the

columns just to make this easier so I'm

going to get rid of that and we've

cleaned this up because what we're

really looking for here as we talked

about earlier is we're trying to find

what it is that people in our Niche

really really engage with and enjoy

because if we can do that the algorithm

is going to pick up on that and it's

going to work for us in our favor to

promote our videos to loads and loads of

people and the way I like to often do

this is to look at the likes of an

individual video because think about it

if you're watching a video that you

think is really really awesome and you

want to show that created some support

the easiest thing you can do is hit like

so figuring out which of our competitors

videos have the most likes can be really

valuable but there's a mistake everyone

makes here and that is they just look at

overall number of likes so for example

they might look at this video here which

has 5 000 likes and 114 000 views and

compare it to this video here which has

55 000 likes and they'll go well 55 000

likes is far more than five thousand and

so this video might be a better one and

it might be but it's not really a fair

comparison because one of these videos

has a hundred thousand views the other

one has almost 500 000 views right and

so what we want to do is not look at the

number of likes overall on individual

videos to get a feel for what it is our

audience and our Niche is resonating

with instead we want to look at the like

rate so what I mean by that is how many

views does this video need to get on

average to get one like if that number

is higher let's say on average it takes

100 views to get one like on the video

that's usually a bad thing because it

means less people felt like they wanted

to leave a like on that video which

indicates maybe less people enjoyed that

video compared to say a video that got a

like for every 10 people who watched it

so I'm going to show you how we can use

all this data to find the exact like

rate of these years really easily so we

can really clearly see which ones stand

out but first one thing I like to do is

get rid of the smaller videos on this

list because they kind of throw off the

data a little bit so what I'm going to

do is I'm going to go equals average and

you can do this in pretty much any

spreadsheet like software whether it's

Excel or Google Sheets or anything and

what I'm going to do is going to go

average and we're going to take the

views column I'm going to just select

all the videos in here I'm going to find

the average number of views so the

average number of views in this

Channel's case is 83 000 so what I'm

going to do is I'm going to go assort

this by views

just to make it a little bit easier to

manage and then I'm going to go down and

I'm going to find every video with less

than 83 000 views we're going to delete

it so we're just going to come down here

because we don't want it messing up our

data and we're going to delete all of

that cool so now we're only left with

the above average videos and from here

to find the like rate we're going to do

another little calculation in this sheet

again can be done in pretty much any

sheet-esque software we're going to go

equals and then we are going to select

this column here and we're going to

divide it by the number of likes so

we're going to go slash and then we're

going to go the likes here enter what

that's going to tell us is our light

rate so on average for this video this

video needs to get 27 views to get one

like so if I promoted this video for

example and got 27 people to to click on

my promotion and watch this video

chances are that would have earned me

one additional like and then once we've

got that number what we can do is we can

just grab this just apply this formula

to all of the different videos in here

and what you're going to do is you want

to go through here and find the videos

with the lowest like rate because that

shows you on average those videos are

getting the most likes per viewer this

one here stands out to me but I can see

it's only 40 seconds so I'm going to

assume it's too short so I'm gonna I'm

more interested in long form videos here

um so aside from that if I kind of

scroll down through all this list I can

see this video here it's kind of a bit

of a standout right 13. so on average it

only takes 13 views for this video to

get one like and that video is titled

YouTube mistakes that destroy your

growth and so then that's where we can

start executing on the next step of this

strategy which is okay we found the

videos that are really attracting people

on this channel and you can go through

here find all of the you know the top

five probably videos that are like

performing the best in terms of like

rate and really dive into them but for

the sake of this example I'm just going

to pick the best one which it seems to

be this one I'm gonna go to YouTube I'm

gonna Chuck that title into YouTube and

I'm gonna find that video which it looks

like it's this one right here and this

is where our analysis starts to come

into play and I'm going to show you the

things I really look for in these videos

so the first thing I like to look for is

what is the actual video idea itself

what is the premise what is the concept

so in this case it's almost like a tips

and tricks type video but it's mistakes

so it's like the inverse of TX right so

it's the mistakes that destroyed your

channel growth so if I was to try and

sort of use this as a case study I could

be like well maybe I could create a

video on my Channel about the biggest

mistakes that I think destroy people's

growth and this wouldn't necessarily be

ripping off ad completely because I

would be using my own content my own

mistakes my own experiences my own

thoughts I'll only be using ads video

ideas sort of a just a housing for my

own content and you can do this exact

same thing with whatever it is the top

videos your competitors have and which

videos from your competitors have the

highest like rates for the thumbnail you

can see that the way it's kind of

positioned is it's like I wish I'd known

so it's almost like uh regret like I

wish I had known this so in my thumbnail

if I was going to create a video like

this I might try and take into

inspiration from that and try and you

know pose with my face on the right hand

side have a sort of you know

disappointed looking face

um and then you know some sort of phrase

and graphic on screen that's sort of

indicates or gives the vibe of you know

I regret not knowing this and the reason

that we look at tile and thumbnail even

through the lens of which video has the

most likes is because if someone clicks

on your video because they like the tile

thumbnail and idea and then they are

really Satisfied by that video content

enough to actually leave a like that's a

very positive signal now after that the

other thing I'd really look at is the

video length so this video for example

you can see is about six minutes and

again I want to try and take inspiration

from that and be like hey if I was to

create these types of videos on my

channel I'd probably want to keep them

around that length because it seems like

according to the data from the likes

we've gathered people really appreciate

this sort of length of content and then

lastly we'd want to actually look at the

video itself now you can check it out

yourself because it's an awesome video

but to kind of give you the rundown

basically it's a video where Edge shares

his biggest mistakes but the way he does

it is really really cool he kind of

pretends that he he's going back in time

to those moments when he actually

originally made that mistake using this

sort of bucket effect that you can see

and then he sort of commentates on and

gives examples as to how this mistake

impacted the old Ed which is really

creative when you think about it how

many tips and tricks or mistakes videos

are there out there that do something

like this now it makes sense why the

light crate was so high on this video I

could take inspiration from this and

figure out okay how's a cool kind of

story driven way that I could turn my

tips and tricks or mistakes video into a

story where I walk people step by step

sort of through my previous experiences

and how I sucked and then share how I

fix those things and how it positively

impacted my channel and so This research

has got me thinking in a whole different

way about how I might be able to create

a video like this in a way that would

satisfy my audience probably so much

more than if I had just created any old

tips and tricks or biggest mistakes type

video but before you jump in and do this

I want to warn you don't make the

mistake that I see so many people make

after they first learn this and that is

analyzing The Wrong videos don't Deep

dive and research videos that you think

are the best use the data objectively

just like I've shown you how to do in

this video to figure out what are the

best and you'll probably get better

results because I know it's boring and

people don't want to do it but because

it's boring so few people do it which is

why you have such an advantage over

almost everyone on the platform if you

can just do this one thing and again you

can do it manually completely for free

or like obviously I like to use vid IQ

just because it's it saves me a bit of

time and it's fast and easy to do and

you can get vid IQ for one month for

just one dollar just in the link down

below which you know isn't that much so

be the person who does this stuff

properly I promise you it will be worth

it you'll find so many insights that'll

help you create videos that your viewers

will love which will make the algorithm

love you which will result in more views

more subscribers and more money for you

but if you're still not convinced and

you want to maybe see the nitty-gritty

of how I actually put this into practice

for a particular video and blow it up to

2.7 million views you can click on the

video on screen and I'll show you the

behind the scenes of everything