Getting your videos to the top positions in YouTube is the dream of every YouTube channel owner. But the thing is that YouTube itself doesn’t advertise what factors influence its ranking choices. But it also does not deny that promotion is carried out according to certain algorithms.
If you can’t just read YouTube’s rules and laws to see what factors influence the ranking, it doesn’t mean that no one knows anything about the secrets of promotion on this video hosting site. Experts have done the research and, after analyzing the data on more than a million YouTube channels, have derived an approximate formula for video ranking by identifying the most influential factors. You will find the results of these studies in this article.
YouTube Ranking Principles
The main idea behind YouTube ranking is that the most interesting and useful videos get into the top lines of YouTube ranking. That’s done to benefit users and maintain video hosting’s reputation.
But how to understand what videos YouTube considers worthy of the first lines in the search results. What principles underlie its ranking? Let’s take a look at what factors, according to experts, will have the most impact on promoting videos.
Views. YouTube promotion is also influenced by the number of views and their duration, i.e., how long you managed to keep the viewer’s attention. Among the means to attract views is buying them (this page — https://popularitybazaar.com/youtube-views/ — is an example). Most often, videos up to 15 minutes long are ranked higher. But you shouldn’t conclude from this that all your videos should have such a length. Keeping users’ attention longer might contribute to your popularity.
Video optimization. You can read about optimizing your YouTube channel elsewhere. Here, let’s say briefly: videos optimized by keywords have a clear advantage over competitors. Use popular search queries in the file you upload as a video, the title and description of the video, tags, and subtitles.
Likes and dislikes. You’ll be surprised, but both likes and dislikes bring a high ranking to the channel. YouTube considers even a high number of dislikes a positive factor because it shows interest in your videos.
Comments. A very important factor for ranking is users’ comments on your videos. Involve users in the discussion, encourage them to express their opinion, try to engage with them actively, and YouTube will surely give you credit for that.
Subscribers. Don’t think that the more numerous the channel’s army of subscribers, the higher its position in the rankings will be. This factor has almost no effect on promotion. New small channels have the same chance to move up to the front positions in the rankings as old YouTube channels with a huge audience. And the number of subscriptions to the channel caused by people watching the video can strengthen your rankings.
Conclusion
By attracting users with useful and high-quality videos, motivating them to debate on a topic of interest to them, and optimizing your channel, you promote your project and attract YouTube viewers. YouTube is sure to appreciate it, ranking your videos according to its own, unadvertised algorithm.