Understanding the YouTube Algorithm

[badsha00313]

As a YouTube creator, you're not just an artist; you're the director of your brand. Every video has the potential to build a connection with your audience, develop real brand awareness, and drive sales. But what if your content is sailing unseen in the vast sea of YouTube? Since YouTube is the 2nd most popular social media network, the competition is vast.

When striving to rank in search results, employing every tactic to beat the competition is now more important than ever. In this post, I'll tackle strategies to amplify your presence, ensure your content gets the attention it deserves, and spark conversations that resonate with viewers far and wide.

Firstly, I’ll acknowledge that YouTube's algorithm is a secret like many social specific database by industry media algorithms. However, as users and social media experts, we can deduce from years of experience what works and what doesn’t. With that said, let’s look at ways users discover video content in the first place:

The YouTube algorithm suggests videos to users based on two things:

Through searching for a specific video
Through recommendations by the app.
In both scenarios, the videos shown to the user are delivered based on previous user behavior, i.e., previous views, searches and engagement. Still, the YouTube algorithm also prioritizes the success metrics of videos themselves. In other words, videos with more viewer engagement, including metrics such as watch time, likes, shares, and specifically, views and comments, go a long way in helping that video rank.

In summary, the more engagement your video receives, the more likely it is to be recommended to others, creating a virtuous cycle of visibility and growth. Before we dive in further, let's look at the one algorithm-winning strategy that will always reign supreme.