Transcription
We've all had that feeling when we post out a brand new video, it starts getting some views, we get excited, and then two days later, nothing. Like, the views just stop. Well, that's not random. There's actually a reason this keeps happening. And once you understand what it is, everything changes.
So, in this video, I'm going to show you exactly why that happens. And then I'll share five steps you can take to revive any video that stops getting views. So firstly, let's talk about why this actually happens.
Because when you post out a new video, YouTube will immediately put it into what's called a test phase. And this is where the algorithm suggests your video to a small group of people. And the people in this small group is usually made up of your own subscribers and a few random people who've watched content similar to yours recently, but don't actually subscribe to you yet. And basically this test is done to analyze how those people in that group behave when they see your video. And this test will look at things like do they click on your video? Do they watch past the first 30 seconds? Did they finish the video? Did they like or comment on your video? And finally, do they watch another one of your videos afterwards?
And basically all this does is this early data tells YouTube everything it needs to know about your video. Because if plenty of people click on your video and watch it, it means your video scores well in the test and YouTube will then start expanding its reach and pushing out to more and more people and therefore you'll get more and more views. But however, if those viewers in the first test don't click on your video or if they do click on it but then leave early or if they just don't engage with it at all, then the algorithm will assume it's not an interesting video or that it's a bad quality video and therefore it's going to stop recommending it. And that's why most of you will see a sudden little burst of views at the start and then nothing.
Now, if that does happen to you, then it just means your video failed that first test. But that doesn't necessarily mean your video is bad or dead. It could just mean that the algorithm was suggesting that video to the wrong audience in the first place. Now, look, I know what I'm about to say might seem unfair, but bigger channels like mine, we don't suffer from this as much because our audiences are already trained. YouTube knows exactly what kind of viewer loves our content, but if your channel is smaller or inconsistent, the algorithm basically has no pattern to follow. So, every new video basically starts from zero.
Now, the good news is if you do have a video that dies off after 48 hours, you can actually re-trigger the testing phase at any time. Like I said, there are five different things you can do to revive views on any video, and I'm going to break them all down for you right now.
All right. So, the very first thing I recommend you do is add timestamps using keywords that are related to both your niche and the video itself. This is a great little way of adding in some sneaky SEO and discoverability to your video. And doing so basically actually re-triggers your SEO rankings because you're actually adding more metadata to the video on top of what it already had. And if you don't know what time stamps are, they're these things here, like little chapters. They break up the video, but they also add more context and SEO.
Now, for me, I always actually usually write mine like this. I don't particularly like giving away the information. So, I'll say like method one, method two, method three, as it kind of keeps the content a secret and makes you need to watch it to find out. But if the views on this video died out, I would need to go in there and give it some more life. So, I would swap these into something a bit more SEO keyword heavy. And to do so, I'd get rid of method 1, method 2, method three, and instead I'd write something more like YouTube growth method one or how to get more views or best YouTube growth tips or YouTube growth tips one, YouTube growth tips two, for example. That way, I'm still describing the video, but I'm throwing in a few more related keywords to my niche in there as well, and the algorithm loves it.
Then the next method is one that actually barely anyone talks about, which I find strange, but this can completely revive a dead video overnight if done correctly. And this is what I call seasonal or timely refreshing. Because here's the thing, YouTube loves fresh content. And sometimes your video just needs a bit of tiny new fresh data. So let me explain what I mean.
Basically, if your video covers a topic that's timebased, like trends or certain products or travel spots or workouts or even like tips for the new year, you can easily give it a second life by updating it to match what's relevant right now. For example, if you posted a video called, I don't know, the top 10 best side hustles, but it's completely dead now after 48 hours, don't delete it. Instead, go in and just update a few key things. change the title to something like best side hustles for 2025 brackets updated. And then maybe even go into the thumbnail just to include the text 2025 as well because when you do this, YouTube actually treats it like a fresh little upload and it's going to re-evaluate your video and start another little micro test. And you can also do this with seasonal content, too. For example, let's say you have a video titled summer workout plan. You could just refresh this by updating the title to summer workout plan 2025. or if you're in travel, turn, let's say, top European destinations into something like top European destinations for winter 2025. That kind of stuff. This tiny little change can completely reset your entire click-through rate, and it can help YouTube to retest your video to a brand new audience that's actively searching for that content right now. So, just give it a try.
Then, this next one might sound a little scary, but trust me, it works. So, if your video is completely dead after 48 hours, don't be afraid to re-edit the first 15 seconds and then re-upload it as a new video. Here's why. Most videos fail not because the content is bad, but because the hook doesn't grab attention fast enough, and YouTube retention data proves it. You will always see the biggest drop off of viewers within the first 30 seconds. So, if you can fix that, you can completely change how the algorithm treats your video.
But if your video is like really dead and not bringing in any views at all, even after you've tried to revive it, like with one of the other methods, then here's what you can do instead. You should test a full re-upload, but instead with an improved opening hook and packaging. And to do this, you just need to make three small but powerful changes. Number one, obviously add a new thumbnail. Number two, try a different title. And number three, rewrite and re-record your first 15 seconds to hook people in better than before. Because like I said, sometimes the video itself is actually perfectly fine. But it could just be that the hook or the first impression has killed it. So just never be scared to re-upload a video with a few tweaks and just go again. And you don't even have to delete the old one if you don't want to.
Then the next thing I want you to do is improve your audience signals. And what I mean by this is if your audience isn't watching enough related videos before or after watching your video, then the algorithm basically can't find a proper viewing journey pattern. So in this case, if you have videos that keep dying off after 48 hours, then you need to manually create a mini viewer path. And that's basically where you link your dead video to the best performing ones on your channel.
So now I want you to go into your YouTube studio, find all of your best performing videos that are still bringing in a few views here and there, and then do the following. First of all, I want you to go in and pin a link to the top of the comments of each video and the description. And it's basically going to say something like, "If you enjoy this video, give this one a watch next. I'm sure you're going to love it." This means that they'll have another one of your videos to click on to as soon as they're done watching the current one. And then I also want you to add cards and end screens onto those videos as well, which again will point those viewers to your new video. Look, I know this might feel like a lot of work, but once you get the hang of it, it will become second nature to you. Doing so will allow you to reconnect the dead video into an active viewer journey, and that is what we want.
And then finally, similar to the end screens trick we mentioned right at the start of the video, the final thing I would suggest you do is link all of your shorts to your new video. And you should know by now that YouTube gives you the option to link specific shorts to specific videos. So if viewers see one of your shorts, they will then be automatically suggested one of your long-form videos, too. It's basically going to come up here. It's another handy little trick you can use to drive traffic to a new video. So, I would suggest that every time you post a new video, go into every single shot on your channel and link your latest video to all of them. This will help with that extra few bit of views and exposure. And you could also use a tool like Nexus Clips to clip up those long form videos into shorts because like I said, having shorts directly related to your long form videos is the best way to grow your channel and bring in a very strong audience. So, when you do post out a new video, upload it to Nexus Clips, get the AI tool to clip up into five different shorts from that one video automatically, and then upload those shorts straight away to YouTube and link them all to your long form video. That way, you've posted like five bits of content from one video. And that's five different options of getting views.
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