How the YouTube Algorithm Works and How Can You Beat It?

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YouTube is the biggest video hosting platform and the most viewed site globally. YouTube has more than 2 billion active users, and it serves as an excellent place for content creators, viewers, and brands aiming to increase their audience reach. All thanks to the efficient YouTube Algorithm!

While you can optimize YouTube SEO to rank higher, SEO alone will not work for you. You need to pay attention to the YouTube algorithm anyway. 

Do you know that 70% of a user’s time spent on Youtube is because of the efficient YouTube recommendation algorithm? 

 

You can consider YouTube as the search engine for videos. Similarly, like a search engine, YouTube operates on its specific algorithm to rank videos and suggest them to the audience.

Now the question arises how this YouTube algorithm works, and how can you beat it? 

In this blog, we are going to answer these questions in detail. 

So dive in to familiarize yourself with the new YouTube algorithm and understand how to beat it. Read on! 

How Does The New Youtube Algorithm Work? 

While the stated mission of YouTube is to provide everybody with an opportunity to express and explore the world, there are some revenue-based goals too that must not be ignored. 

There are basically three major goals of the Youtube algorithm: 

  • Matching the user’s search intent
  • Finding the right video for every user on the platform
  • Engaging them to keep on watching 

 

Further, there are three essential qualifiers on which the YouTube algorithm is based:

  • Engagement
  • Relevance
  • Quality of the content

 

Relevance

The YouTube algorithm matches the titles, tags, and video content with users’ search queries to gauge the relevancy of the videos on the platform. 

Engagement

YouTube’s measure for engagement is watch time, no of views, and frequency. 

Quality 

Lastly, YouTube determines the quality of the content by a channel’s past record and its ability to depict trustable authority. 

Videos on YouTube appear in 6 locations:

  • Channel subscriptions
  • Recommendations
  • Home page
  • Searches 
  • Trending section
  • Notifications section

 

Now, at this point, we assume that you have got an idea of how the YouTube algorithm works. If you have, then it is time to know how to beat it. Keep Reading!

5 Effective Tips To Beat The Youtube Algorithm

Make Sure To Do Your Youtube Keyword Research

Do you think that a human is sitting in the YouTube headquarters and ranking your videos manually? We know you do not. But who does the job for you then? Of course, the YouTube algorithm!

It analyzes your metadata and figures out what your video is about, what it aims for, and who might be the target audience.

So to get acquainted with this piece of machine code(algorithm), you need to incorporate proper comprehensive keywords. But how can you find the appropriate ranking keywords? This is where keyword research tools come into play. 

There are many free keyword research tools like SEMrush and Google Adwords that you can use to find the most relevant keywords with high volume. 

Further, by using high search volume keywords, you are likely to engage more and more people to click on your video, thus beating the YouTube algorithm. 

Keep A Close Eye On Your Competitors On The Platform

Before getting started with your own videos, make sure to research your competitors. Knowing what they are up to and what kind of videos they have been uploading will help you to polish your own videos. And come up with something unique. 

While researching, you should get insight into:

  • What type of videos your competitors make
  • What are the engagement levels that their videos receive
  • How many views they are pulling off
  • What metadata they are utilizing

 

Once you have got an insight into these essential things, you will be able to come up with better content than your competitors. This will give you an upper hand over your competitors and enable you to flourish on the platform. 

Create Effective Video Metadata

What is metadata, you ask? Video metadata contains all the information related to the video, including the creator’s name, date created, camera information, location shot, release date, etc. It is used to index a video correctly.

However, when it comes to YouTube, metadata includes titles, tags, thumbnails, captions, cards, etc. 

Metadata can aid in making your video visible to a large audience. With the help of effective metadata, your video can be found easily by the YouTube algorithm. 

Optimization of metadata is something that plays a huge role in making your video stand out on the platform. Therefore, in order to beat the YouTube algorithm, your focus should be more on creating effective metadata. But how can you do it? 

For optimizing metadata, you need to:

  • Incorporate relevant keywords in your title
  • Title your video correctly.
  • Make use of the video’s description section.
  • Add tags to your videos.

 

Make People To Click On Your Videos

Engaging the audience or persuading them to perform a certain action is truly an art. And when it comes to YouTube, making people click on your videos without being clickbaity is not only challenging. But it also requires a little creativity on your end. 

In order to draw the attention of the users and make them click, you need to follow these simple steps:

  • Make use of custom thumbnails.
  • Have a consistent visual style across all your thumbnails
  • Curate an eye-catchy, intriguing title
  • Make sure to keep the topic sentence engaging and relevant

 

Attract Views From Other Sources

Views from other sources apart from YouTube itself can still vouch for your success with the algorithm. 

What do we exactly mean by other sources?

  • YouTube ads
  • Collaboration with brands
  • Collaboration with other YouTube channels
  • Promotion of YouTube channel on social media
  • Blogs 

 

These sources can help you earn views, subscribers and help your channel grow, provided that you have a good marketing strategy.

The YouTube algorithm will have no problem if your views are coming from external sources. In fact, in the words of the product team of YouTube, the algorithm is only concerned with how videos perform in context.  

Final Thoughts!

Competition in the YouTube space is increasing day by day, which means that optimizing your videos has become even more essential than it was back in the days. 

The YouTube algorithm has constantly been tweaking and evolving for the past couple of years to better satisfy user engagement with the changing times.  

So the only way to stand out and grow on the platform is to beat the YouTube algorithm efficiently. Then what are you waiting for? Follow the tips mentioned above and start shining on YouTube.

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