Transcription
Most small YouTubers will quit right before the moment they blow up, not knowing that they could be just one or two videos away from seeing total success on their channels.
Now, there are actually seven major signs that almost every successful YouTuber will notice before their channels start to skyrocket. And if you're seeing even just one of these seven signs, you might be on the brink of something big. So, listen up and see if you recognize any of these seven.
So, the very first sign that your channel is on the verge of blowing up is that your returning viewer rate is increasing. Now, this metric is actually brand new. YouTube just released it a few days ago. So, if you haven't heard of it yet, listen up because this one is really important.
Now, one of the strongest signals that you're on the right path is when your returning viewer rate starts to climb. Now, this metric tells you how many people are coming back to watch your content again and again, and it's basically YouTube's way of measuring loyalty.
Now, to access your returning viewer rate, go into your YouTube studio, click on analytics, and then click on audience. And this is what you want to see here: Audience by watch behavior. And as you can see, it's broken down into new viewers, casual viewers, and regular viewers. And these two figures here, these are the ones you want to see increasing: the casual viewers and the regular viewers, as these measure people who keep coming back to watch your content. The higher these two are, the better.
And this is exactly what YouTube wants. The algorithm doesn't want to promote creators that are just chasing views. It instead wants to promote creators who are building long-term audiences, which is why they're now making a huge push in it right now. And as I said, this metric has only just been released, so a lot of you may not have seen it yet. But if you do begin to notice that your returning viewer rate is improving, it means you're not just good at pulling people in, but it means you're actually good at keeping them coming back and watching more and more. And this is a major sign that your channel is on the right path. So after this video is finished, go into your YouTube studio and check yours out and just keep an eye on it over the next couple of months.
And then the next sign, which is really important if you're mainly posting shorts, is if your view to swipe ratio starts consistently hitting over 70%. Now, for those of you that don't know, 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 on average is around 75 to 25%.
Now, if your view to swipe ratio is below 70%, there's a high chance that YouTube won't push your shorts out as much because it basically means that most people are actively swiping away from your short as opposed to actually staying and watching it. And that's not a good sign for the algorithm.
Now, if you can get your view to swipe average up to at least like 80%, which is tough, I have to be honest. But if you can do this, you'll go viral with almost every short you post. But anything above 70 to 75% is a sweet spot. Now, one of my videos has over 12 million views, and the view to swipe average of this one is hitting just 86%, proving that anything above like 75% should make your shorts go viral. So, you need to make sure to get your view to swipe stats up.
Now, an easy way to boost your overall shorts views is if you're posting, let's say, both long-form videos and shorts on your channel. The best way is to clip up your long-form videos directly into multiple shorts and post them out. Now, an easy tool you can use for this is Nexus Clips. Its AI tool will basically analyze your long-form video. It will pick out the best segments and then create up to five viral shorts from that one video. It has features such as facial recognition and it can even add animated subtitles automatically. Now, all you have to do is drop your videos in and the AI tool will do it all for you. Doing this will give you an immediate boost in views and reach and will help you break out of that small channel hell.
Then, the third sign you're about to blow up is that one or two of your videos are outperforming the rest of your channel. So, if you get to a point where you notice that one or two of your videos are suddenly pulling in way more views than all of your other ones, that's usually not by accident. What this means is that you might have touched on a particular topic or style of video that really resonates with the viewers on the platform. And the exciting part here is usually one breakout video is all it takes to start a huge chain reaction because that one video will pull in a ton of new viewers and then those new viewers will start to binge watch your other content too. And suddenly your whole channel gets a massive boost.
Now for me, these two videos were my breakup videos. I already had a few videos on my channel beforehand, but these ones did super super well, and they're the ones that gave my entire channel a big boost right at the start, early on. So, if you've got one or two videos that are clearly outperforming the rest, study them and ask yourself, what's working here? Because often that video is a blueprint for the rest of your channel's growth.
And once you've identified these kinds of videos, I would recommend that you do the following. Firstly, you need to make more videos based around the same sort of topics because if those videos worked once, they will work again. And if you were struggling with how to do this, ChatGPT can be your best friend here. Literally just put in some detail about you, your channel, and who you're trying to target. And then explain that this particular video was your best performer. And then ask it to suggest some more video ideas that are closely related to that one. And then you'll get all of these video ideas here that you can take away with you all for free. And then you can use these as part of your growth strategy going forward.
And for example, as you can see here on Ryan Trahan's channel, all of these videos pretty much use the same concept. Like most of the titles start with either "I tested" or "I tried." Now he quickly figured out that those types of videos worked best for his channel. So he found new and creative ways of making more of the same. And this would be the case for all of your big favorite YouTubers, too. So give it a try. I promise you it will work.
All right. The fourth sign is you feel like quitting, but you keep going. Now, it took Mr. Beast over 200 videos before he even saw any shred of success on his channel. Even Ali Abdaal, he spent years posting bang average videos that nobody watched before his channel blew up to where it is now. But time and time again, I see so many small YouTubers who've only posted like five videos already ready to throw in the towel and give up. Which is why so many people fail because they aren't determined enough or patient enough to stick through it.
Now, YouTube and full-time creation is a tough business. It's cutthroat and sometimes it's extremely brutal. Just like success in any realm of life, it's all about how strong your mindset is. Because every creator hits that wall where growth feels slow, motivation dips, and you start to question if all of this effort is even worth it. And quite frankly, this is where all of the weak creators give up. But the difference between those who quit and those who blow up is simple. The ones who succeed are the ones who kept going. So, if you're someone that's felt like quitting, but you're still here, you're still making videos, and you're still improving, then trust me when I tell you that's proof that you're much closer to success than you might think. So, keep fighting for it. I promise you'll get there.
Then, the fifth sign that your channel is on the verge is if your older videos suddenly start picking up traction again. Now, this one is really exciting. When your older videos start gaining more views again randomly, it shows the true power of YouTube. Because unlike other platforms like Facebook and Instagram, content on YouTube never really dies. A video that you uploaded like months ago can suddenly come back to life. It can suddenly pull in loads of new viewers, loads of new subscribers, and gain loads of new momentum for your whole channel. It's kind of like planting a seed and seeing it sprout long after you've forgotten about it. And this happens far more often than you might imagine.
I've had a ton of videos do this. And here's what happens. The algorithm's job is to match your videos with the right audience. But that's not always instant. Sometimes the algorithm figures out quickly. Other times, it can take weeks or even months to find the perfect match of the audience. So, when you find that some of your older uploads start picking up new viewers randomly, it's a clear sign that YouTube is finally connecting your content to the right viewers. And once that process begins, it can snowball because those new people who find your old videos then get recommended your new videos as well. And suddenly your whole channel starts to rise. This is something that when it happens to you is almost guaranteed to be followed by a very quick rise to success. So always keep an eye on your old videos.
Now the sixth sign is that you're starting to get binge watches. This one is a huge sign your channel is on the rise. The algorithm loves binge watchers. Basically, a binge watcher is a viewer who stays on the platform and watches two or more videos in a row without leaving. And the reason the algorithm loves this is because the longer someone spends on YouTube watching videos, the more ads they see. And the more ads they see, the more money YouTube earns. But not only that, if viewers are watching two or more of your videos in a row, it shows the algorithm that you've created a mini Netflix-like effect, which is where your viewers can't stop watching your content. And this is one of the strongest indicators of future growth because if someone is binging your content, they're way more likely to subscribe, share, and become a loyal fan of your channel.
And when YouTube sees people diving deep into your channel, it will push your content out even further as a reward. So really, if you can make YouTube more money by creating good content and keeping people binge watching, trust me when I say the algorithm is going to fire your channel up and it will be imminent that you go from being a small YouTuber to a big YouTuber.
Now, if you want to take your YouTube channel to the next step, I have a number of different YouTube growth courses that start at just $59. My YouTube Wealth Academy is incredibly popular right now, but I've also just released a YouTube Wealth Accelerator, a cheaper course, but full of a ton of value that will teach you all you need to know about YouTube growth. Link is in the description below, so come and join us. If not, YouTube thinks that this is the most suitable video for you to watch next. So see that.