Curious How YouTube Algorithm Works? Here’s What You Need to Know

YouTube is more than just a social media website where you can watch all sorts of videos in your downtime. A lot of popular influencers also started their careers on YouTube – perhaps earned millions of thanks to their video content and legions of followers. However, more and more marketers have realized how YouTube can help boost brand presence, generate leads, and gain sales. 

If you want to reach your target audience, you should also consider creating a YouTube channel or place ads here. Make sure to link your social media accounts on your business website so your audience can reach you more easily. 

 

YouTube and its viewership evolution 

Have you experienced opening YouTube and seeing recommended videos that seem to match your interests? It’s surprising to find videos that you want to watch. YouTube seems to read people’s minds. This is the wonders of the YouTube algorithm. 

A report by the Pew Research Center revealed that more than 80 percent of YouTube users in the US discover new videos through the algorithm. As someone with a YouTube channel, you would want to pull your target audience towards your channel. So, how are you going to do that? 

YouTube has evolved ever since its first video back in 2005. Back then, YouTube favored videos with more click rates than those with actual user engagement. This was one of the reasons why a lot of videos back then contained misleading titles and deceiving thumbnails. No wonder a lot of viewers felt betrayed and disappointed upon clicking such videos. 

Because more and more users start to hate YouTube, the platform decided to work on an algorithm system that we know of today. Instead of focusing more on the number of clicks, YouTube ensured to provide quality and valuable content and a positive viewing experience among its users. 

In short, YouTube encourages video creators to come up with more valuable content. Ensure not to deceive your viewers with misleading video titles and not stress getting more clicks than actual views.

 

The wonders of the YouTube algorithm 

So, how exactly does YouTube work? It is by tailor-fitting videos according to every viewer’s interests. From there, YouTube will determine which videos will appear on each user’s “recommended videos”. The YouTube algorithm looks at two major elements: recommendation streams and search results. 

Video search results may vary from user to user. It depends on factors such as the video’s likes, watch time, and comments, as well as its metadata including the description, title, and keywords used. Other factors that affect the algorithm include: 

 

• View velocity (how a video gets views quickly) 
• Video engagement (number of likes, shares, comments, etc.) 
• Click-through rates (the reason why video creators should also focus on how they create their thumbnails) 
• How often the video creator uploads a new video content 
• Amount of time viewers spend on watching a video content 
• What kind of videos a user previously watched 

 

Other ways to improve your channel’s organic reach include the following: 

 

• The more (valuable) content you upload, the higher the chance your video will become “recommended”
• Focus on videos that work and build leverage from them. 
• “Talk” to your audience in the comments section. 
• Make the most of your video description text (put keywords and social media channel links). 
• Contact a digital marketing expert in Franklin TN to help your brand get out there!