YouTube Algorithm Hacks: 7 Tips for Growing Your YouTube Channel That ACTUALLY WORK | Blog Universes

YouTube Algorithm Hacks: 7 Tips for Growing Your YouTube Channel That ACTUALLY WORK

If there's one thing that's frustrating about YouTube, it's that it's constantly changing. Especially when it comes to the algorithm. It feels like you can release a video this week, and it just crashes, and then a week later you put out a better video, and it falls flat. So in this blog, I'm actually gonna be sharing a conversation that I had with YouTube experts Ricky Ray Butler and Derral Eves, all about how to hack the YouTube algorithm. And in the Blog we share seven proven strategies that are working right now, so that you can get more views, get more subscribers, and get your videos to stand out, coming up. So what are some other secrets? - Of growing on YouTube? - [Ricky] Yeah. - So lately, there's a couple that I'm loving. I think one is really paying attention to the topic. Now, this might sound basic, but sometimes common sense isn't common practice, so when I think about factors that are going to influence a video ranking, and that's really important for me, I want to rank in search, and 

when I think about ranking in search, I also think about suggested. I'm fine if a video is sucked into suggested or search, that's great, 'cause it's getting views weeks, months, and years to come later. So, of course, we know that the title and the thumbnail are the most important and that tags are having less influence now, but still, tags, description, title, thumbnail are super important, 

but I think a big missing piece when people think about really getting that thumbnail right, and even getting that title right, is the topic itself. And so, what I've been learning the most from studying YouTube Studio Beta is if I literally put out the best thumbnail, around the world, we could all just stand in an art gallery, like "My gosh, there could be no better thumbnail!" And even a title, like "I can't even believe he packed in that much. "What a headline, what a title! "There are keywords in there, "but it speaks to humans, it's perfect! "That thing has just been crafted." But if it's not the right topic, then people just aren't even interested. And so, I guess what I've learned now on THiNK Media is as I hear guys like Matt Gealan talking about and stuff, we're really getting sniper on-- YouTube channels need to have one value proposition. And that sometimes the algorithm, like you throw a thing out there, 'cause I'll talk about some random stuff, it's still my channel, so I know camera videos really perform well, but the other day 

I did the DJI Remote. It was so obscure that it just didn't perform that-- It was the topic itself! Who is really that interested in the DJI Remote? But then it kind of, the views didn't perform, of course. It wasn't there. And you don't wanna do that too many times in a row, you wanna be putting out those topics. So I really think, when it comes to the topic, here are some tips. What's trending? Like what is in the zeitgeist, the mentality of your industry, that's the thing you need to be talking about. So, are you talking about topics where even if you don't put the best thumbnail out and the best title, but you put out the right topic at the right time, it could be a game-changer for you because you're talkin' about-- Right now, Peak Design is doing that new tripod, and of course when you see Peter drop it, and then my friend Atola Visuals dropped about this new Peak Design tripod, it starts kind of going viral. We saw the SwitchPod, or whatever. And other people can jump on that. When the switched came out Pat was pumped that I talked about it, and I was super pumped to talk about it as well, but I actually realized I probably got more benefit out of the deal than maybe even Pat did, why? Because when Peter put it out, the suggested videos of being in that conversation-- So, thinking about topics, what's trending in your industry, what should you be talking about, but also, what do your subscribers wanna see, because that's probably-- That distribution to your subscribers for established channels is something I'm really tryin' to craft and figure out. Thinking, "What is it they'll click through on?", right? And I know, just to kind of break down my understanding of how it works, right now YouTube is giving that distribution just to a few of your subscribers. Whether they like it or not, whether they click through on that or not. So again, they're gonna click through-- They already know me. If the thumbnail's mediocre, they're gonna click through if it's the right topic, so am I making the right content decisions, really thinking about that, and then trying to hit the largest core of my audience as possible, 'cause 

I see-- These days it seems like as soon as a video dies if it doesn't get liftoff - [Ricky] Yeah. - it just dies. So, knowing that, it's that topic that's gonna hit, and once it gets liftoff, then I've seen it even spike higher than that through the algorithm. Hey, if you're gettin' value out of this video so far, can you smash the like button? All right, let's jump back into the content. Am I making the right content decisions, really thinking about that, and then trying to hit the largest core of my audience as possible, 'cause I see-- These days it seems like as soon as a video dies if it doesn't get liftoff, it just dies. - [Ricky] Yeah. - So, knowing that it's that topic that's gonna hit, and once it gets liftoff, then I've seen it even spike higher than that through the algorithm. - Well, I mean, it really depends. You may have mentioned, you know, "What's gonna be most appealing "to my core audience?" And a lot of creators think that way, and that's how they're creating content, and I think that works to a degree. It just depends on the type of channel that you're actually

The type of content you're creating. But the reality is, when you really wanna get tactical, it's like, "Okay, what's my core audience, "but what's gonna bring in and attract "a new audience coming in?" Because if you just take care of your core audience, core audience will come and go, and that's where I see a lot of channels plateau, I see a lot of channels lose subscribers, and they also lose the view and visibility of what they could have because they're not taking care of the emerging market and the other people that are watching. So, you have to have different balances. - [Sean] So, you have to branch out, then? - Exactly. (stammers) Was is that? - [Sean] Yeah. - He got on that was talking about that in-depth. He makes four different types of videos or something. - 

Yeah, one for subscriptions, one for views, - [Derral] Yeah, yeah. - one for engagement. - What on our channel do we need more of? And what are the videos that are gonna help us get there? Right? And so we try, in our programming calendars, to find a proper cadence of, "This is a subscriber building episode." That's going to get wider dissemination, get people excited about-- Covering a trending topic, or something that's very relevant, that we then do a very strong call to subscribe at the end. So, (stuttering) that's where it starts, so you have your subscriber building episodes, you have your (stammering) our monetization episodes, where it's like, hey, this is a video that's just going to monetize better than other videos in our repertoire because it has more searchable key phrases, it has something that is-- - It's building on the hype of something - Right. - that's hot right now and that we know there are big marketing dollars behind. So every once in a while there's that. - 

Yeah, and then the ones that are super-serving the fans. Where we're like, "Hey, we know that this one isn't going to blow-- "It's not gonna be the #1 video on trending or whatever." - [Interviewer] Case loyalty in. - But, yeah! It's of a small niche franchise, or of a topic that they come to us specifically for. It might not have wider audience appeal, but for the people who have been following us for all these years, it's something that they'll appreciate, they'll know and will show them that, "Hey, we are still doing the content for you as well "and we're still very much in touch with this community." - I think that the key is just, yes, you gotta figure out what the core is, but you also need to be able to see, okay. You gotta be a little bit experimental to see what's gonna be the next big thing, you know? And roll from there.

YouTube algorithm is always changing, we need to be continuously learning and leveling up, so if you actually wanna check out the full interview that I did on the Creative Disruption Podcast, I'll link that up on the YouTube card and put a link to it in the description below. As well as, also, the MatPat interview. There's massive value and I highly recommend subscribing to the Creative Disruption Podcast with Darrel Eaves and Ricky Ray Butler. Incredible, valuable conversations that will help you go further faster in your business and your brand. Question of the Day: "What have you noticed when it comes to the YouTube algorithm for you lately? Have you been struggling and seeing your views go down, or have you been actually seeing consistency? So definitely connect with everybody in the comment section and I will see you in the next Blog.