Youtube Algorithm Explanation
Over the past 10 years I have spent a lot of time figuring out the Youtube Algorithm. This started when I was head of marketing for a retail store and continued after when I got into consulting. Everything I have found is by trial and error but this is a concise break down of what I have found along the way.
I have created a Discord Group if you have any more questions or want to talk further https://discord.gg/qYPVhysEAz
How the algorithm works:
Checks the video, description, title …. to figure out what the video is about.
This is an automated system and must be treated as such as the poster.
Two scenarios happen here.
Scenario 1:
The algorithm is unsure the content of the video.
In this scenario the Youtube Algorithm will start by pushing to a fixed number of users it thinks might match the video's content.
Although the exact number is likely around 500.
If the video gets a good response with comments, likes or higher than average watch time this counts as a point.
Out of that 500 people who see the video in the feed the video must get “x” amount of points to move forward or the algorithm shuts down and stops pushing the video. (Although the video may still pick up views based on keywords)
If the video is successful at hitting (X) then the algorithm fires again to a similar group.
It will now send out to another group estimated at 1500 people. Once again the video must reach enough points to move forward or the algorithm dies again.
Now the third time is a little different. It will send it out to another 500 - 1000 viewers but this time in a different target audience.
This is the algorithm unsure but trying to find the right audience for the video. This usually fails and if you watch your live watch count in Youtube Studio you will see this actually happen in live time. If failed it will then try again with previous known good targets.
This all happens fairly quickly.
Step one is usually with in the first 10 - 30 minutes
The following steps will run a little longer but takes no more than a couple of hours unless you continue to successfully get points towards your videos.
Scenario 2:
You have correctly let Youtube know exactly what this video is about through proper techniques.
In this scenario, it is a similar process however skips the “trial period finding a different target market”
This helps with momentum and will keep a video growing for a lot longer.
Also unlike the algorithm dying as before, it will continue small spurts over time allowing the video to grow.
Now the point system is still in effect and for maximum momentum those points must be met.
Realistic expectations:
If you are starting a new channel your goal will not be 100 000 views or even 10 000 views to start.
You are looking for between 1500 - 5000 views with good interaction on the post. Interaction can be anything from thumbs up, thumbs down, comment, subscriber.
The snowball effect comes when the algorithm keeps sharing over time. The 1000 view video can hit 10 000 views in a month or two, but we don't need to worry about that as it keeps growing. Then it's a matter of consistently posting (weekly, daily, bi weekly) depending on content. What will happen is you will be hitting target market making it easy to get subscribers and interaction. This will start building your community of watchers. Also remember only something like 10 - 20% of people will ever subscribe but doesn't mean they don't come back again and again. Subscribers is actually not a very useful metric out side of brand deals.
How to talk to the Algorithm
Most people know the basics. Good title, description, tags and so on but what most people don't understand is that they must all work together. Because Youtube Algorithm is an AI it needs data points to be confident in knowing what the video is.
Data Point 1:
Title
Data Point 2:
Subtitles
Data Point 3:
Description
Data Point 4:
Tags
So how does the algorithm check these.
First the algorithm looks at the title and sets this as the main data point.
From there it starts comparisons. First it will check the words said in the first 30 seconds of the video.
If they match or reference the title in some way that is one point of confirmation.
This is done by the same system that does the Automatic Subtitles.
Now its going to check the first 200 to 500 words in the description.
If that matches or is a good reference to than you have 2 confirmations.
Then it will check tags
If the tags are relevant that is data point 3.
Here is the logic:
1 Data Point Match (No clue what its about)
2 Data Points Match (Unsure but have an idea)
3 Data Points Match (Confidence in what the video is about)
This is the very common rule of 3s that is used in different industries.
Description
As mentioned above description is one of 3 data points used. This is where a ton of people make huge mistakes.
Most people write the description for the viewer how ever ask your self, unless looking for a link in the description do you read the description? Absolutely not and Youtube knows this. So instead of writing for the person, write for the algorithm specially at the top of the description. Make sure your matching your title as much as possible and using related keywords. Think more of the top of your description as and expanded version of your title.
Tags
Maximize your tag usage. Fill out as many as you can.
What I recommend is have the default set full of ones relevant to your channel, then change as many as you can to match the video.
Once your run out then leave the channel based tags in. Saves a lot of time.
Subtitles
This one is important to clear up any miss match. If you have seen auto subtitles you know it makes mistakes from time to time.
By uploading your own subtitles you can solve for this. Don't worry you don't have to do them your self just use something like Adobe Premier or Descript to automatically generate, but spend time making sure its accurate.
Using AI to help
You can use AI to help generate relevant tags and help with the description and title.
I use Google Gemini for this as it is tied into Youtube and will likely know what I need a bit better than others.
Prompt: Help me create a title, description, and tags for a youtube video about ………..
In your prompt be as descriptive as you can. Alternatively if you have your subtitle file you can provide that and ask it to come up with a title, tags and descriptions. It won't always sound good or be correct so pay attention here. If you want it more playful just ask it in an additional prompt… “Can you write that in a playful way” more professional… “Can you write that as if you were a marketer for a large company”
You get the idea.
Important other things
The top deals with the algorithm but now we need to deal with the human aspect.
We need the people seeing the video in their feed to click. This comes down to thumbnail.
The best way to do this is spend a day in Canva or Adobe's competitor and build some templates.
Easy to read text, bright colours. No you don't need a silly face of you on it to work. It can help though but not as much as design.
Simple Design Tips
Large Fonts
Red for bad news Green or Blue for pretty much everything else. Yellow for a sense of urgency.
Psychological meanings of each colour.
Red (STOP PAY ATTENTION)
Yellow (Caution Pay Attention) * less aggressive than red
Green (Good, Happy, Friendly)
Blue (Relaxing, Happy, Light hearted Feel goods)
The colour choices should match the tone of your video.
Most important tip
When uploading any video turn off Notify subscribers of new video.
This is for shorts and standard length videos. This is nothing against your subscribers, they will have it show up for them when they are ready. However it is unlikely they are online at the exact time you start your post. The problem is, those notifications will go against your initial 500 push at the beginning of the algorithm. You want new viewers.
This will increase new subscribers as well as help in your initial algorithm push.
The stronger the initial push the better your video will perform over time.
Video Requirements
Engaging content in some way shape or form so that your watch time doesn't crash.
Good Audio, there is no excuse here, bad audio will kill your video faster than anything. You could have a potato camera but if your audio is decent more people will still watch the video.
If your doing talking head videos, make sure to break up people just staring at you with b-roll and change of camera angels (can be done with cropping in editing). People have an insanely short attention span so changing up every so often helps with retention.
Good editing
This has fallen off quite a bit recently, people leaving in mistakes, retakes…. don't do it please lol.
Not good at editing? Use Descript or Adobe Premier pro and edit via text. Remove the sentences the um's an uhhs and tighten up the gaps.
Using tight gaps will increase the tempo of the video and a great way to hold attention but not so good for tutorial videos.
Shorts
Take advantage of the endless loop trick where you end the video with and that's why…. or something similar
It may seem a bit dorky but you get free views. Also keep short pacing high, if someone misses something important on the first watch they can watch again and get it on the second. If your cutting from a longer video make sure to link the longer video. You can do this when uploading and have it reference the main video. Don't ever try and make people check the description or comments. You'll loose them.
What to do if you miss a step but realize it after?
If you have good interaction don't be afraid to go into Youtube studio and add things after.
Although not as strong as initial push, the algorithm will pick up on the change and try again. If you ever have to do this you will see the algorithm in live watch time slowly come back alive.
I have created a tool to help with Scripts, Titles, Description and Tags
If you would like an AI that handles the SEO/Algorithm for your videos check out the AI Tools post on this wiki to learn more.
AI Tools | Channelyzer Wiki
If you have anymore questions visit the Discord and you can message me there.
If enough people join I will do some video/audio calls to coach.
https://discord.gg/qYPVhysEAz