Transcription
If you've got a small channel and you feel like YouTube isn't recommending any of your content, don't worry. It's actually a really common issue. But there is an easy fix. So, in this video, I'm going to show you six different ways you can get YouTube to start pushing your videos out. Let's get into it.
So, the very first method I want to introduce you to is something I call session chain power. And this is one of the most underused and underrated signals out there. And I found it strange that nobody else talks about it. But basically, this signal directly helps YouTube decide who to recommend your videos to. And now to understand how all of this actually works, you need to know that YouTube doesn't just recommend any random video. It actually recommends next videos. Meaning it will only show videos to people that naturally continue a viewer's watch session. So, let's say someone watches a video from one of the bigger channels in your niche and then they watch your video right afterwards. Here, YouTube will think, "Oh, these two videos must go together. Let's start testing the smaller video after the bigger video more often." So, if you're able to create videos that fit seamlessly within your niche and that naturally follow on from videos from other creators, then you have a much higher chance of having your video recommended next.
Now, you might be like, "How on earth do I even know what to look for?" Well, there are actually two main ways of doing this. Firstly, the simple way is to go into your YouTube studio, click on analytics, click on audience, scroll down here, and then these two sections here, channels that your audience watches and what your audience watches. These videos here are the most viewed videos of other channels by your audience. So, you are going to need to watch and analyze these videos and then see how you can make sure that your new videos can naturally continue a viewers session chain with these so that the audience will want to watch your video straight after if YouTube recommends it. Or if you wanted to go even deeper, you can actually look at each individual video you've posted in the past. So what I would do is click on a video, click on your analytics, then click on reach, and then down here it says content suggesting this video. And these are all the videos from other creators that are recommending this exact video. So again, you need to go in and have a look at those videos. Once you know what the typical viewer journey looks like, you can then start building a session chain as this will create a strong link between your video and everyone else's videos. And then over time, YouTube will start pairing your content next to those videos more often. And that's ultimately how small creators get discovered in massive traffic streams.
All right, then. Next up, we have 24-hour engagement velocity. And this one is crucial because when you upload a new video, YouTube will always test it within the first 24 hours just to gauge how much interest and engagement is getting. And it will basically predict its future success by these test results. And this short testing period is extremely important because it helps YouTube decide whether your video deserves to be pushed out further in brows and suggested feeds or if the algorithm should restrict it and hide it. So your goal here as a small creator is to make the results of that initial test look as strong as possible. Now the algorithm doesn't just look at how many likes, comments, or views you get. It looks at how fast you get them. Like a video that gets 20 comments and 50 likes in the first few hours looks way more promising than one that gets the same numbers but over several days. So the key here is the speed of engagement. So when you upload, you want to create an early search. And here's a couple of ways you can do this. Number one, encourage people to comment on and like your video as soon as it's up. Number two, you always need to reply and give a heart to every comment you get in the first one to two hours. Number three, post your video link to your community tab. Number four, literally just ask your audience to hype the video as well. And then number five, if you have a second channel, use that channel to watch, like, and comment on your new video, too.
Now, some of you may have noticed that I use my other channels to comment on my videos. And I do that for this exact reason. And look, asking your audience to hype your video isn't desperate, it's smart. Like, the hype tool is literally built for small channels. And the more hypes you get, the better your score. Now, look, you don't need hundreds of people doing this. Even just like 10, 20, 30 early interactions can trigger a signal that tells YouTube, hey, this video is starting off strong. Let's test it to more and more people. And the cool part is once YouTube sees that early velocity, it will often retest your video again to more people 48 hours later, which is why a lot of creators suddenly see that second spike in their analytics. So going forward, always try to maximize engagement within the first 24 hours.
And then the next method we have is something that I call metadata echoing, which is the secret way to align your videos with the YouTube's recommendation engine. Now, you all know by now that YouTube's algorithm doesn't just look at your title and thumbnail. It also analyzes your video's metadata, your tags, descriptions, captions, and even the words you say within the video. So, the goal here should always be to make sure that your metadata actually echoes the same metadata as the successful videos in your niche. Like, the big channels are obviously doing something right, and a successful video usually always has their metadata spot on. So, you are going to want to echo it. And here's how you're going to do it. So, search for a specific video from your competitor. Or if you want to just go and find the best performing videos in your niche, then you want to use a tool like Tubeuddy because it literally shows you all of the metadata from those videos, including their tags, their keywords, and the hashtags. So, now you would have all of that data there readily available to you. Now, I wouldn't just suggest copying them word for word, but you can most definitely mirror their phrasing and their structure. And also make sure that your description uses the same key phrases naturally. Doing this builds a metadata echo between your video and the ones already performing really well, which helps YouTube group all of them together, including yours. So, when someone finishes watching one of the bigger videos, your video will become the next best recommendation. And that's what we want.
Okay. Then now let's talk about something that most small creators completely overlook. And that's not relying solely on YouTube for your entire success. Because at the moment, you don't actually own your audience. YouTube does. And at any time, YouTube could change its algorithm. It could restrict your reach or it could even suspend your channel. Now, if that ever happens, would you still have a way to reach or access your subscribers? Well, for most creators, the answer to that question is no. And that should really concern you. That's why you should always be looking to build up your audience outside of YouTube, too. You need to start doing things like collecting emails, creating your own website, and then building a home base that you control because that's how you can protect yourself. And it also allows you to start turning your channel into a real business. And this is where Hostinger comes in. Now, Hostinger is honestly one of the best tools I found for any creator who wants to expand their reach and their brand beyond just YouTube. And basically, it's an affordable web hosting and AI website builder that lets you create a full professional website in literally under a minute with no experience and no coding needed. And all you do is you tell the AI what you want your site to do. for example, showcase your videos or collect emails or add a work with me page for brand deals. And then Hostinger will build this entire thing for you automatically. And under the business plan, you get access to over 150 readytouse templates. Plus, you'll get their AI website builder, you'll get their AI image generator, an SEO assistant, and even an AI logo maker. All just for a few dollars a month, which is incredible. And once you're in, you will have everything in your own dashboard here. And then once you're in your own website builder, you can customize anything and everything using a simple drag and drop editor. So you can easily add things like a bio, your projects, a contact form, an email opt-in form for your subscribers, like pretty much whatever you want for this website. And what I appreciate the most is that it's not just about having a website. It's about having control just like I do with my own YouTube Academy website here. And what this means is you're no longer completely dependent on YouTube's platform. You'll have your own space, your own audience, and your own digital identity that you can own and grow forever. So, if you're ready to start building your own online presence outside of YouTube and actually take control of things, click on the link down in the description below and use my code dan at checkout to get an extra 10% off your hosting plan on top of their huge Black Friday sale.
And then the next thing we have is embedding. And turning this sneaky little setting on is a simple but really powerful way to get free external traffic to boost your YouTube views. Because when you enable this setting, your videos can then be embedded into blogs, news sites, forums, websites, and even social media pages outside of YouTube. This means that people can watch your content without actually needing to visit YouTube directly. This not only increases your watch time, but it will also improve your video's ranking in YouTube's algorithm, and it can even drive new subscribers sometimes. However, if you disable this setting, it will block those potential views. So, always keep it turned on to maximize exposure. Now, look, obviously it's not going to make a huge difference to your channel, and you might not even notice it, but having it on can let the wider web help to distribute your content outside of YouTube, too. And those small little differences really do help.
And then last, but not least, we have enabling places mentioned, which is really good for both local and global discovery. Now, enabling this helps YouTube and Google recognize locations in your videos, making them more likely to appear in local search results and things like travel related recommendations. Now, if you mention a city or a landmark or a region, YouTube may automatically tag it using this setting, which means it's going to boost visibility to users searching for that content about that particular place. Now, this is especially powerful for niches like travel, food, events, news, and vlog style videos as it also increases the chances of appearing in Google search results as well. So, to do this, I'll run through one of my best performing travel vlogs here on my old travel channel. Now, this travel vlog was made in Mumbai, India. So, as you can see, you always need to add the location in the location setting here, but also mention this in your description as well. pretty much just like as much as you can naturally, but also in the hashtags and in the tags down here too. And then finally, I also did it in the title, but that's up to you guys if you want to do it or not. These locations, I can now attract both local and global audiences who want to view content about Mumbai or India. And this brings in loads more organic views without any extra effort.
Now look guys, the tips in this video don't even touch the surface as to how deep we go into all of the YouTube growth tactics and secrets in my YouTube wealth academy. It's got over a 100 lectures, 15 different modules, and you get access to me and hundreds of other creators in the community tab. So if you want to take your channel further, my YouTube wealth academy and YouTube wealth accelerator courses are linked down below. Or if you're not yet ready to invest in yourself, watch this video that comes up here because YouTube thinks you'll love it. See you there.