Transcription
If you're constantly uploading shorts and you're getting less than a thousand views, here are some things you can do to fix that.
Now, in this video, I'm going to give you six reasons why your shorts are missing the algorithm, so let's get straight into it. Now, I have two shorts channels with a combined count of over 75 million views and 200,000 subscribers. I've been making short-form content for over 3 years now, and I've had to deal with this problem many times, but I finally figured out how exactly to fix it, and this video should help you too.
Now, the first reason on this list is that you're having a view-to-swipe ratio issue. Now, your view-to-swipe ratio is basically just how many people choose to stop and watch your video versus how many people swipe away. Now, my view-to-swipe ratio average is around 70 to 30, which is barely passing. If your view-to-swipe ratio is below 70%, there's a high chance YouTube won't push your videos as much because it basically means that most people are actively swiping away from your short as opposed to watching it, and that's not a good sign for the algorithm.
Now, an easy way to improve this is to upload shorts that are 20 seconds or shorter in length, and by using a very strong hook at the start of the video. Now, the reason for shorter videos is that people are just more likely to watch a full 20-second video compared to a 40-second one, and you need to be able to hook people in within the first 2 seconds to make them want to stick around and watch the entire short. Now, the hook at the start just needs to be eye-catching and intriguing. It simply just needs to be able to stop people from scrolling. If you can get your view-to-swipe average to at least 80%, which is tough, I have to be honest, but if you can do this, you'll pretty much go viral with literally every short. But usually, the sweet spot is just anything above 70%.
Now, one of my videos has over 12 million views, and the view-to-swipe ratio on this is 86%, proving that anything above 70% will make your short go viral. So if you want to get more views on your shorts, you need to get your view-to-swipe ratio up, and the next five methods I'm going to show you in this video will help you do that, so listen up and make sure you listen to every single one.
Now, the second reason is that you're using a brand new account. So first of all, let me ask you, how old is your account? If you've just started a brand new channel and you started uploading shorts straight away, there's a very low chance that any of those shorts will be pushed out by the YouTube algorithm. Now, this is annoying, I know, because we all want to get started as soon as possible, but for some reason, YouTube will think you're some sort of bot if you're a new channel and you randomly start spamming uploads, so it won't push any of your shorts out at first. Now, I first heard this from an employee at YouTube, so I decided to test it out a couple of times on a brand new account, and I can confirm it's true. Guys, YouTube for some reason doesn't like brand new accounts.
Now, with both of my main channels, I had been using them for around 3 months before I posted any videos, and I grew much faster this way because YouTube had already gathered enough data about me and my channels to determine that I was a human and not a bot. So if you want to start a new channel and start uploading shorts, please use an account that has already been set up and used before.
Now, what I mean by this is you need to use an account that you're already active on, meaning you watch different channels, you leave comments, and you hit the like button on different videos, just like active engagement. Now, this will significantly impact how many views you get at the start. Now, if you're planning to set up a brand new account for shorts, just make sure you use this account for two to three weeks before just by liking, watching videos, and commenting on people's videos, just so the algorithm recognizes that new account is in use before you start posting shorts on it. I mean, you can do this straight away by leaving a comment on this video here and giving it a like too. This will help show you're not a bot.
Now, the third reason is that your shorts simply might just be missing the algorithm. Now, the YouTube Shorts algorithm just isn't as advanced and as sleek as the Instagram Reels or the TikTok algorithm. It kind of feels like YouTube are still figuring it out, and it's definitely not perfect. This means that sometimes your newly posted shorts will just completely miss being pushed by the algorithm. It happens to everyone, and it's not something to be worried about.
Now, if you're using an established account and your video doesn't get past 100 views at the start despite being a good video, it honestly just means it didn't reach the algorithm. Now, this happens to me on my channel sometimes, even with 145,000 subscribers, so don't freak out. A simple trick you can try is just deleting the video if it hasn't budged in 2 days and then reuploading it on a different day and trying again. For example, this is my most viral short on my travel channel with just under 6 million views. Now, what's crazy about this is that I had to upload it twice because the first time I uploaded it, it completely missed the algorithm and it got me 47 views in 48 hours. So I deleted it, I changed the title, and then re-uploaded it. Now it's got nearly 6 million views, so I just hope that goes to show you how temperamental the algorithm can actually be.
Now, reason number four is that you're using incorrect tags. So, just like for long-form videos, if you really want your shorts to get more than a thousand views, you need to be targeting the right people for the short. So to make sure your short is shown to the right target audience, you need to use the correct tags for that audience. Now, I have a viral tags formula that I've perfected over the years, and this is how I break it down. So you need to split your tags into three categories: one is post-specific tags, number two is niche-specific tags, and number three is broad tags. But what exactly do I mean by each of these?
Well, firstly, post-specific tags need to explain exactly what the post is. For example, if you have a short based on a bicep workout, then your post-specific tags could be bicep workout, bicep curl, big bicep tips, or best bicep exercise. So you're basically describing exactly what the video is and putting it as a tag. The next is niche-specific. So this is where you use your niche as your tag. For example, that bicep video would be in the Health, Fitness, or Bodybuilding niche, so that's the tags I would use for that. But yours could be, let's say, gaming facts, streaming, finance, marketing, or anything. So whatever your niche is, you need to use that as a tag. And the last ones are broad tags. Now, these are the tags we use to go viral. They literally just use ones like viral, viral shorts, shorts for you, for you page, and that kind of stuff, like no real audience but everyone at the same time. You need to use about three or four of each of these types of tags, and I promise you, you'll see your views climb massively.
Now, just a quick favor to ask, guys. If you're enjoying this episode, please give it a like and subscribe to my channel. I'll be posting videos every Tuesdays and Fridays teaching you everything I've learned over 5 years of YouTube. I'm trying to grow this channel to 10,000 subscribers in record time, so please help me smash my record by liking the video and subscribing. Thank you.
Now, the fifth reason is that you might be uploading too much. Yes, you heard that right. You might be uploading too often, and it might be hurting your growth. Now, when you're just starting out and trying to grow, it's crucial to upload at least once a day. Now, that is simply the best way to grow your channel and get more views, and I would recommend to anybody to post at least once a day. But unless you already have an established channel with a big audience, uploading twice or three times a day might be counterproductive to your growth.
Now, if you currently have, let's say, fewer than 100,000 subscribers and you're not yet monetized, I would recommend you only post once per day at the start. Now, there's a good reason, and this is because when you upload once per day, you allow the short to sit and collect information, which helps the algorithm assess its performance. Now, uploading multiple videos in a single day forces YouTube to push out more of your content, which can sometimes be a problem because, let's say, one short does well, but the other one doesn't. The algorithm won't have enough time to push the successful video to more people because it's working too hard trying to find an audience for the unsuccessful one, which results in stagnant views for both.
Now, look realistically, sometimes you'll post a short and it won't get any views at first. I personally had this many times when I started my new channels, but if you're patient, after a couple of days, YouTube might start pushing it, and you can go from six views in the first 5 hours to over 10,000 views after 2 days. Now, patience with shorts on a new account is key. Let the algorithm do its thing and find your audience for you. If your short is good enough, I promise you, you'll get views. If it doesn't get any views, usually it's because either one of these five reasons or simply the quality is just not there yet.
Okay, then, last but not least, the last method in another six is hashtags in titles. Now, this is a big no-no. Using hashtags in your titles is a huge waste of prime real estate. Your title should never include hashtags, no matter what other people tell you. Now, you never see people putting hashtags in the titles of long-form videos, so why should you ever do it in shorts either? Now, the title should be used exclusively to create curiosity and make people want to click on the short. It should, if you can, include a keyword naturally, but trust me, you should never use hashtags in your title.
Now, you should always put around three hashtags in the description where it's hidden out of sight because that can be a great SEO boost, but just never in your title. And to prove this to you, here you can see all of MrBeast's shorts. Not a single one of them includes hashtags in the title. So if the most successful YouTuber on Earth isn't doing it, why should you? And there's your answer.
Okay, then. So I teach YouTube growth on Udemy, and I have thousands of students, and I recently had someone reach out for advice on their growth. So I looked at their channel, and I could instantly see the problem. They had only posted 10 videos, and they're expecting massive results. Now, I've posted well over 500 videos to YouTube, and I failed many times, which has finally allowed me to create a formula that actually works. So if you want any more help with any of these, feel free to drop a comment down below, and I will try my best to look over your channel and review your content for you.
Now, if you did want to take it a step further, hit the Udemy link in the description down below and join one of my classes. But for now, thanks very much for watching. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you in the next one. Goodbye.