Breaking Through YouTube’s Algorithm: The Recommendation System

Unlike Google, YouTube mostly depends on recommendations to drive traffic rather than a search bar. If you are a regular user of this platform, you should’ve seen changes in your video recommendations over these years. This is because of the shift in the YouTube Algorithm throughout these years. 

YouTube used 3 phase changes in its Algorithm. Till 2011 YouTube used Top Clicks and Views to list a video at the top. This was down because YouTube found out that people click on a video, but without watching it, they go on to the next video because that wasn’t what they were looking for.

After that YouTube came up with the concept of Watch Time. After all this time, YouTube came to know people weren’t happy about what they were providing, which led them to develop what we are using today. YouTube today follows multiple sets of algorithms, The high-ranked and prioritized algorithm used by YouTube today is ‘Customer Satisfaction. Instead of connecting videos to the viewers, they took a different path connecting viewers to the videos. Simplifying it, YouTube gave the audience what they want and keeps them happy. In return, they would invest more time in YouTube to find satisfaction and happiness.

Adapting to this strategy, YouTube has gathered a 2 Billion + audience by 2022. Now you know the current algorithm is ‘Customer Satisfaction’, Do you know how YouTube actually measures whether an audience is satisfied after watching a video? YouTube intermittently shares surveys to the audience after a video, asking how they felt about the video. The survey data analyse to sketch a prediction of highly satisfying videos. YouTube also measures engagements using likes and dislikes to measure the satisfaction of the video.

Although YouTube prioritizes ‘Customer Satisfaction, the recommendations don’t stick to a fixed blueprint. It may vary on clicks, watch time, topic interest, and seasonality( several topics have a seasonal audience. If you are posting winter travel content in summer, the popularity would be low, but if you post winter travel content during the winter season, it has a high chance of reaching a larger audience)

I have written the above-mentioned on the view of the audience. Now, when it comes to the perspective of a Content Creator the algorithm change affects adversely. Youtube was the first social media to bring Monetization, which was by Snapchat and TikTok, which pay the creators more now.  The bitter fact is creating content on YouTube would exploit your freedom. As the algorithms keep on changing, if you need to reach your video to a larger set audience, you must keep on posting the content that the audience like. For a content creator, it depends on what they need to choose. Whether to post the content they like or to go with the flow.

Here Are A Few Tips For All Content Creators To Improve Your Video Recommendations With Youtube's Algorithm:

Stable Quality Gives You Consistent Growth

All the technical terms apart, maintaining a stable video quality would give you constructive growth. The growth may be slow, but it would be consistent. The video quality not only depends on the equipment you are using but also on the way you are conveying your content. 

Target the audience you want your content to reach, and convey it to them in the best quality possible. If you are targeting teenagers, adults, or elders, as the world revolved around them everyone has their own way of understanding. Deliver the content to them to their standards.

YouTube Video SEO Has A Huge Role In Recommending Your Videos

YouTube has its own SEO(Search Engine Optimization) practices to make your video go high.

Here are some steps to improve your YouTube Video SEO

  • Same as any other SEO, focus on your Keyword. Select the best keyword for your video.
  • Incorporate your Keyword in the video file.
  • Add Keywords to your video title.
  • Don’t forget to select the video category.
  • Evaluate your Description
  • Use hashtags to get more search results
  • Make your thumbnail catchy.
  • Try to add subtitles.

Engagement Actions Plays A Huge Role in Catching People's Emotions

If someone initiates an Engagement Action, Like, Dislike, Share, Donate or even Unsubscribe, because it triggers the emotion. The emotion triggers both positively and negatively. If someone is happy, influenced, or inspired, there’s a high chance of a positive engagement. If someone is hurt or offended while watching a video, there’s a high chance of negative engagement. Positive engagement actions would help improve your video recommendation, and a negative video will affect the video badly. So, always try to get a positive response.

Make Perfect Length Videos To Improve Watch -Time

YouTube loves longer videos, the same way Search Engines loves longer content. As videos are longer, YouTube can keep the audience engaged in their website for a longer time. Don’t make your videos long, for the sake of making them longer. Pack it tightly with the contents you wish to deliver to your target audience. Don’t forget to adjust your video length according to your video content and the audience you are targeting. If you are making entertainment content try to make it short and fun-filled. If you are targeting a younger audience, increasing the length could make them bored.

Thrive Into the Audience By Captivating Thumbnails

Thumbnails are the audience’s first impression before watching a video. As the cliché says first impression Is The best impression, thumbnails must be snappy as well as appealing. It should be something, the audience feels that they should certainly check out the video.

Thumbnails must also be very well coped with your video content and the video title. And should contemplate your brand.

In the End!

YouTube has been around since 2005, and various updates have popped up. Provides updates to make the user experience seamless, but those on the other side are struggling. At the time when YouTube pulls up an update, the Content Creator needs to unlearn the whole process and stick to the new process for getting back to their audience. 

As I said in the beginning, it’s hard to create the video a Creator loves and to get a lot of audience at the same time. The best part is to stay in the middle.

According to a Content Creator/Video Creator, it’s a hefty task to create the Content/Video itself, dealing with the YouTube Algorithm would double their task. That’s why TechBound Digital Marketing Agency concentrates on YouTube Marketing and other forms of Digital Marketing to help you reduce your toil.