How to Beat the YouTube Algorithm | GRIP Blog 1/8/21, 7(23 AM

How to Beat the YouTube

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Posted on 08/24/2020 at 02:15 PM

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What if you could have your videos go
viral every time you upload?
Month
YouTuber Mark Rober uploads around one video per month. His

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How to Beat the YouTube Algorithm | GRIP Blog 1/8/21, 7(23 AM

videos are full of fun, educational, and family-friendly Year

content. On the surface, don’t seem very special, but here’s the Filter
kicker: every single video has an average of about 27 MILLION
views. His channel averages about 36 million views per month
(that’s
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cookies million
to enable views per
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site, to enhance your browsing experience, to provide a better service
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Global Reach Earns 3 New

W³ Awards

The 2nd Largest Search

Engine on the Internet

The Bene=ts of Website

Animations

YouTube is the second largest search engine on the planet and Tags
is owned by the largest, Google. Getting found and growing an
audience on YouTube can be a huge boost for your brand. What Accessibility
if there was a way to beat the YouTube algorithm and tilt the Advertising Amazon
odds of “going viral” in your favor? App Development Awards

In this article, we’ll break down the content, tactics, and best Blogging
practices implemented by the top YouTube content creators to
help you grow your brand on YouTube and expand your digital Branding
reach! Consumer Behavior
consumers Content
Coronavirus
Understanding How the Algorithm Marketing

(COVID-19)
Works Customer
In order to give the YouTube algorithm what it wants you Retention Design

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How to Beat the YouTube Algorithm | GRIP Blog 1/8/21, 7(23 AM

must =rst understand exactly how it works. Like any skill, development
creating content that speaks to the masses requires practice
and a deep understanding of the very speci=c science behind it.
Digital
When you upload any video, the algorithm starts working to test
Marketing Domains
just how “good” the content is. YouTube’s primary goal is to
E-Commerce
share engaging content that will keep people on their site longer Facebook
so the algorithm tests your content in phases to see if it can
Google Google Ads
help meet that goal.
Google Analytics Google Maps

Phase 1: The Upload. Google Updates

Graphic Design GRIP Tips &
Right after you upload a video, YouTube shows it to a small Tricks Images IT Security IT
“early” audience. This audience is comprised of a mix of people Support Lifestyle

who have recently viewed or engaged with your content and a

large percentage of your current subscriber base who the
Marketing
algorithm believes are most likely to watch and react to it. It Mental Health News Search
also serves it to anyone who has “hit that noti=cation bell” to SEO
Engine Optimization
make sure they never miss one of your uploads. Small Business
The larger your test audience, the better the data so if you have Social Media
a lot of subscribers you have a better chance of the video doing
well, but the beauty of this phase is that the balance on non-
Strategy Tech
subscribers means that even channels with a low subscriber News Telecommuting
count have a fair chance of virility. If the video eops with this TikTok Video web design
Web Development
audience, the video slips into obscurity. If it “does well” with this
Working from Home
audience, the algorithm moves on to Phase 2.
YouTube

Phase 2: The Viral Moment.

If your video reaches this phase it means that based on the
reactions of your core audience, the Algorithm Gods have
Categories
smiled upon your video and will begin to show it favor. What this Branding and Graphic
actually means is that the algorithm will begin to show your Design

video to a wider audience made up of people with similar Content Marketing and
interests and search habits to your core audience (similar to Sales
how look-alike audiences work on Facebook). GRIP News

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How to Beat the YouTube Algorithm | GRIP Blog 1/8/21, 7(23 AM

If the video continues to do well with the expanded audience, it Recently Launched
has proven that it has a larger appeal beyond your typical fan Websites

base and core audience. This is your viral moment. Your video Safety and Security
will now get recommended more and more for as long as Search Engine Marketing
people continue to reactive positively.
Search Engine Optimization

Social Media
How does YouTube Decide What Web Development
Content is “Good”? Website Tips

The YouTube algorithm looks for three very speci=c metrics that
any YouTuber can see via the Analytics section of their Creator
Studio. These mighty metrics are:

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Watch Time
Audience Retention

When creators can maximize each of these statistics, they

vastly improve their chances of reaching their viral moment.
Speci=cally, video content is considered “good” and potentially
sharable if it averages over 4 minutes of Watch Time, has a
Click Through Rate Higher than 10% (more on this how to
improve this in a minute…), and more than 50% Retention.

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How to Improve Retention

Keeping people on your video may seem diicult but becomes
easier when you understand a bit about human nature and
psychology. Generally speaking people have a deep need for
closure. When creating content, you can and should keep this in
mind and use it to your advantage.

Make it hard to stop watching by prolonging the pay-off. Think

about your favorite book, show television show, or movie. How
did they keep you invested through to the end? When you have
watched a show on television (or a YouTube video), how many
pointless commercials (and YouTube ads) have you sat through
just so you could =nd out what happens “after these messages
from our sponsors”? Why did you keep watching?

It was likely because of one of two things: You didn’t know how
it was going to end but really wanted to or you had an idea of
how it would end but no idea how they would get there. To hook
your audience, consider using this formula at the beginning of
each video to set the tone:

1. Start with a Hook

This should be what the video is about and tease how the
video will end. Maybe pose a question that you plan to
answer through the course of the video.

2. Provide Context
Here you should explain why it matters and perhaps what
lead you to ask the question mentioned in the hook.
Basically, you are giving your viewer a reason they should
care.

3. The Set-Up
With your set-up, you explain how you are going to do

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whatever it is you are going to do in the video. You use

this as an opportunity to provide a clear understanding of
what to expect and hints at the hook (the reward) at the
end of the video.

Ultimately, a great hook, context, and set-up will show the viewer
what they have or where they are, tease what they want or
where they could be, then explain the challenges to get there
with a promise to deliver the solution at the end.

Great Pacing Makes Great Videos

Another great tip to keep your audience engaged is to make a
conscious effort to have the pacing of your video smoothly eow
from one point to the next. Avoiding dull moments can mean the
difference between keeping someone’s attention and losing it
(and them) to another video. You can do this by occasionally
reminding people about the reward at the end of the video and
“teasing” that the best is yet to come. Consider writing mini
cliffhangers between transitions in your videos to keep them
watching.

The above tactics will only take you so far. To keep retention
high you must master the art of powerful storytelling. Your
video should tell the kind of story that you would want to hear. If
it would lose your interest, it will likely lose the interest of your
viewers too. Plan out your content from start to =nish. The more
time you invest in planning and implementation, the greater the
reward.

How to Improve Click Through Rate

(CTR)
You may have the best story on the planet, but in its video form,
it is useless if no one is clicking to watch it. Maximizing your
CTR requires just as much strategy as building the video

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content itself. Think of this as the Search Engine Optimization

(SEO) of your video. Even if people =nd your video, if they don’t
click on it, it may as not well exist. Two factors play into taking
advantage of both human psychology and the algorithm to
maximize your CTR: Optimized Metadata and an Optimized
Thumbnail.

Optimizing Metadata
Metadata is the SEO copywriting of your video. When done
properly, it feeds both the YouTube and Google algorithms the
information they need to recommend your video. The experts
implement keyword research into their metadata to make it
stretch even further. Meta falls into four categories:

1. TITLES

Titles should be kept at 50 characters or less. This is to

avoid truncating (your title being cut off) when it is
shown on mobile and in searches. Titles should be
concise and to the point, contain keywords, be clear, and
“punchy”.

2. TAGS

Tags are the keywords that help the search engines =nd
your content. They also help group your content with
similar content so it can be found easier by people who
share similar interests. Don’t overlook the value of longer
Tags (3 to 4 words).

3. DESCRIPTIONS

YouTube provides you with 5,000 characters. Though

digital marketers recommend using as much of this
space as you can, the =rst line is by far the most
important. The =rst line is what shows up in the search
results so treat it as your elevator pitch to your video.

4. THUMBNAILS

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Thumbnails are the teaser image that promotes your

video. Humans are visual creatures and we interact with
things that catch our eye. Your thumbnail should always
be custom (don’t use the screengrabs provided by
YouTube), super clickable, and “thumb-stopping”. To
create The best thumbnail images, have a very speci=c
strategy in mind that follow these best practices:

Images should have a homemade feel, but still clean and

professional (not sloppy or blurry)

Text on images should be legible and contain 4 or fewer

words

The image should contain a demonstration of the payoff

(the reward) to tease what to expect and entice people to
click (like click-bait) but delivers on the promise

Take your thumbnails seriously as they may be the most

powerful way to draw people in

Sometimes More is Less…

The key to creating quality original content that will bring people
back for more is to focus on quality over quantity. Really take
time to strategize the content you create to make sure it stands

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out. We have all heard the saying that wise people listen more
and speak less so that when they do speak their words carry
more weight. This can be true for video content as well.

A good video will be evergreen. It can be shared again across

social media every three to six months and will not hit the law of
diminishing returns until about the 3rd share. If you create new
content and upload it once to twice a month, you have more
time to really focus on creating pure and sharable content that
will continue to provide returns for months (if not years) to
come.

Consider creating exclusive content for each platform you are

on. Sometimes this means using the larger piece of video
content for YouTube and taking short pieces of it to share
across other social networks. This will push traic to the video
and help boost the value of it in the eyes of the algorithm. You
can also use the content of the video to create an article or blog
like this one for even more keyword value.

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Next Steps
Creating a video content strategy as part of your
overall digital strategy can be a real challenge but
the payoff is worth it. If you are not sure where to
start or need help, the experts at Global Reach can
help you cgure out where video content can help
you most! Contact us today to learn more!

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