How To Increase YouTube Watchtime easily 

YouTube just announced new Monetization Guidelines and many small creators on the platform are worried, upset, or incredibly pissed that they now have to fulfill these requirements:

YouTube requires your channel to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watchtime with the past 12 months to have monetization.

Now, I’m also a small creator and the above image was screencapped from an email directly from YouTube about one of my two channels. However, unlike a lot of small creators, I’m perfectly okay with this change.

Today I’m not gonna talk about the logistics of why this change is good or the emotional responses that anybody has about these changes. Instead, we’re gonna talk about the mathematical way that small creators can reach 4,000 watch time hours in the next year.

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I went back to the routes of my Algebra days and came up with the following word problem:

If Watch Time has to be 4,000 hours in 1 Year:

- What’s the minimum amount of videos you need to make this year?

- How many views does each video need to get?

-  AND how long should the video be?

I’m not gonna tackle the subscriber issue, because I think if you follow the quest in getting 4,000 hours of watchtime, the subscriber count will go with it.

Also, there are a ton of variables that come into play here, so we’re going to assume a couple of things for the sake of this exercise:

Each video you make, gets the minimum amount of views needed AND was watched all the way through by each of these views. We’ll call these views “pure views” because this assumes that they were watched in their entirety.

Since videos stay around forever, older videos can increase in views randomly and consistently throughout the year, so since this math would be extremely complicated, we’re not talking about that.

So, here are the things that we know:

We know that 4,000 hours of Watch Time is equal to 240,000 minutes.

We also know that YouTube prefers 10 minute long videos. So 10 minutes will be the baseline for part of our discussion.

Let’s Begin!

To reach the 240,000 minutes of Watch Time needed, you could make:

240,000 videos at 10 minutes long, with each getting 1 view. This is impossible.

2,400 videos at 10 minutes long, with each getting 10 views. This is also pretty unreasonable.

240 videos at 10 minutes long, with each getting 100 views.

Now we’re talking. 

Though 100 views would be hard to get on every video, UNLESS, every video you make is a quality video, the thumbnail is very clickable and extremely search friendly, this won’t be as hard.

How To Increase YouTube Watchtime easily 

Basically, if you ride on trends the entire year and create a bunch of How-To videos, along with niche content and the content that you want to make — we’re looking at an extremely possible situation.

How To Increase YouTube Watchtime easily 

240 videos at 10 minutes long, each getting 100 views, means that each video needs to have a total of 1,000 Watch Time minutes (which is equal to about 16.5 hours).

How To Increase YouTube Watchtime easily 

*Extra Tip* 

Take a look at your video library. If you have a video that has already received 1,000 Watch Time minutes in the span of a year, find out what made it work so well and try to replicate it success

We also know that 240 videos a year, gives us an additional 125 days in the year where a video is not being uploaded. This means 1 video every 1.5 days OR roughly 5 videos a week. Only 10 minutes a piece and you’ve got a nice weekend off.

But 100 views is still a lot for a small channel to maintain, including myself, so you spend 5 days a week recording, editing, uploading and then the other 2 days are left from promoting your videos in the right Facebook Groups, SubReddits, Twitter, etc.

But, for arguments sake (and because I still have plenty of more math for you), let’s say 100 views still seems like a lot.

Well, what if we made 365 videos this year, instead of 240. That means, one video a day.

Most people will even tell you that you should have daily content anyways.

So 365 videos a year, at 10 minutes long, means that you only need to get about 66 views on every video you upload.

Getting 66 views is much better than getting 100 views.

How To Increase YouTube Watchtime easily 

But what if I show you something crazier?

If you increase each video by 1 minute extra, then you have 365 videos, each at 11 minutes long. Now you only have to get 60 views, instead of the initial 100 views.

But let’s get even crazier.

Here is a chart that shows you how many views you have to get on each video, if you make 365 videos this year, based on the length of the video:

How To Increase YouTube Watchtime easily 

The longer your video is, the less views you’ll need to get the required 4,000 hours of Watch Time.

What you’ll notice here, is that if you create the kind of content that is shorter, anywhere from 1–5 minutes long, you’ll have to get a lot better at promoting your content, so that you can get more views on them and be able to reach the Watch Time required.

Keep in mind though,  

that these view numbers are still nothing crazy, as we don’t have a single video that would require you to go above 700 views.

Once we get into the 20 minute range of content, which tons of channels already create videos this length, you start to only have to get around 30 views or less per video.

And once you get towards the half-hour length or longer, those pure views could be in the single digits.

Meaning that podcasts and live streams only have to be viewed by a few people.

But maybe you want to focus more on the quality of your videos and not put out as many videos. Well then, the less videos you make, the more you need to advertise them to ensure that you get more views.

So here’s another chart, showing you the amount of 10 minute videos you need to put out throughout the year and the amount of views required to make that watch time:

How To Increase YouTube Watchtime easily 

The less videos you put out, the more views you need to have to reach the required 4,000 hours of Watch Time.

This assumes that every video you put out is only 10 minutes long, as that’s the baseline, but we’ll see that the more videos you put out, the less views you need to get on each video.

Obviously the top part of the chart is practically impossible, so the first realistic goal here(depending on the kind of content you make) is 686 videos this year. This is close to uploading 2 videos a day, every day, and receiving 35 views on each video. 

The next main one is 365 videos, which was covered above. But then right under that is 240 videos, again only requiring you to have 100 views.

The less videos you put out, the more views you need to have to reach the required Watch Time.

Technically you could put out 1 video, every 2 weeks and end up with 24 videos by the end of the year. If you can get each of these videos up to 1000 views a piece, then you’ll be able to make the required amount of Watch Time.

Additionally, if these videos are longer than 10 minute long, you could easily make less videos, depending on how much you want to advertise your videos.

Again, remember that these are “pure views” meaning that every one of these views has to have seen the entire video for it to count.

At the end of the day though, here are the things you need to consider:

What types of videos can I make that are extremely sharable OR would be watched if you shared them in the right place?

Find things that people haven’t covered yet. Do something unique. Yes, it’s easier said than done and I’m learning this myself, but every time I’ve ever done an off-the-wall video, the views have been much higher.

Consider diversifying your content. If you’re a Let’s Player, do Live Streams and other types of Gaming Content. If you’re an animator, Live Stream your animating sessions, and do behind-the-scenes videos. If you’re a musician, do covers, record raw sessions of your music, and Live Stream gigs or performances.

LIVE STREAM. 

This past year on my gaming channel, I had 1,566 hours of Watch Time. The Top 10 most watched videos only made up 24% of my entire watch time AND 8/10 of those were Live Streams. Live Streams will get you more watch time.

Consider doing a weekly podcast in your niche. On my Main Channel, 91% of my watch time in the past 5 months came from my Top 10 most watched videos. 5/10 of those were podcasts. Chances are you know something about your niche and can provide some kind of value there.

Above all else, make good content. Too many people focus on the numbers and don’t realize that maybe they still need to work on learning how to make good videos. I was there once and I still have plenty of room to grow. I’m sure you do too.

Now we have to go back to the word problem: 

If Watch Time has to be 4,000 hours in 1 Year:

What’s the minimum amount of videos you need to make this year?

 How many views does each video need to get?

AND how long should the video be?

A good start, in my opinion, is to try to make 300 videos this year at 10 minutes a piece. Don’t flesh out the videos if they don’t need to be 10 minutes long and if the videos go over 10 minutes, that’s fine too.

Try to incorporate live streams in the mix and maybe start a podcast.

This will put you at about 6 videos a week, meaning that you’ll only need to get 80 pure views on each video. If you target them to the right audience and share them in the right places, that’s completely doable.

Create a content strategy around this, execute it for a month, and then figure out if creating this many videos is too difficult for you OR if you can create daily content.

Experiment with it, but most of all, execute it!

As a small creator, I can tell you as much as I need to, that I believe in you, but at the end of the day —

You have to believe in yourself.

Take this knowledge and put it to practice and create some awesome videos and you’ll reach that threshold in no time. I know I will.

FOR MORE IN FORMATON:- 

How To Increase YouTube Watchtime easily 

https://youtubechannelbuysell.blogspot.com/2020/11/how-does-youtube-algorithm-work.html

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https://youtubechannelbuysell.blogspot.com/2020/11/how-to-set-up-youtube-channel.html

How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

A Guide to Getting More Views

Looking to increase your YouTube video views? 

The YouTube algorithm decides what people watch on YouTube 70% of the time. And according to Pew Research Center, 81% of American YouTube users say they regularly watch videos recommended by the algorithm.

How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

If you’re a creator working on getting more YouTube views, or a brand building out your YouTube marketing strategy, the platform’s recommendation algorithm counts for a lot. So how do you optimize your channel and videos to work with it, not against it?

YouTube usually isn’t known for being super transparent with creators or advertisers about how the proverbial sausage is made. So in this article we’re going to take a look at the history of YouTube’s priorities when it comes to helping viewers discover new videos. We’re going to lay out how the algorithm works, as well as all the latest YouTube algorithm changes for 2020.

A brief history of the YouTube algorithm

YouTube’s first video was uploaded in 2005. Fifteen years later, people are uploading 500 hours of video to the platform every minute.

How do 2 billion users find what they want to watch? The short answer is that it’s changed over the years. But here’s the long answer, too:

2005-2012: View count (a.k.a. clicks)

For the first seven years, YouTube rewarded videos that got clicks, rather than the ones that kept users engaged.

Obviously, this system had a tendency to show people a lot of clickbait: misleading titles and thumbnails proliferated. Users would click, but then feel tricked, probably a little annoyed, and then abandon videos partway through. Eventually, YouTube realized that their user experience was going down the drain and changed tacks.

2012: Watch time (a.k.a. view duration)

In 2012, the platform announced an update to the discovery system designed to identify the videos people actually want to watch. By prioritizing videos that hold attention throughout (as well as increasing the amount of time a user spends on the platform overall) YouTube could assure advertisers that it was providing a valuable, high-quality experience for people.

Meanwhile, YouTube was also encouraging creators to stop fussing with algorithm optimization (i.e., making videos shorter to get a higher retention rate, or making them longer in order to rack up more watch time).

Instead, as it still does today, YouTube encouraged people to just “make videos people want to watch.”

In 2016, YouTube released a whitepaper that made some waves. In it, product engineers described the role of deep neural networks and machine learning in the platform’s recommendation system.

How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

Of course, for all the impressive jargon, this whitepaper wasn’t a tell-all. You can read it, but even if you understand it (or get your smart friend to explain it to you), it’s not the equivalent of Coca-Cola’s secret recipe. (It’s more like if Coca-Cola announced that the reason their beverage is so tasty is because it undergoes a carbonation process and also there is sugar in it.)

At this point, we still don’t know that many details about what’s under the YouTube algorithm’s hood. But we do know that it tracks viewers’ perceived satisfaction to create an addictive, personalized stream of recommendations.

2016-2020: Borderline content, demonetization and brand safety

For the past few years, YouTube has faced plenty of questions about the type of videos its algorithm surfaces and promotes (or doesn’t).

How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

According to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, YouTube is taking its responsibilities seriously, and trying to balance a broad, fair range of opinions with making sure that outright dangerous information doesn’t spread. For instance, YouTube says that algorithm changes in early 2019 have led to 70% less watchtime for “borderline” content. (Borderline content is defined as content that doesn’t quite violate the platform’s community guidelines, but is harmful or misleading.)

How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

It’s a complicated issue because it touches every issue: from white supremacy to the coronavirus. For instance, in March 2020, YouTube creators say the platform was demonetizing videos that so much as alluded to the existence of the coronavirus. YouTube’s position, meanwhile, is that it wants to support a diversity of opinions (i.e., how governments should respond to the coronavirus) but not the dangerous ones (i.e., videos saying the virus is a hoax, or that drinking hand sanitizer will cure it). Wojcicki announced that “when people come to YouTube searching for coronavirus topics, on average 94% of the videos they see in the top 10 results come from high-authority channels.”

Regardless of where you stand, the developments are ongoing, so this is an important discussion for both creators and advertisers to keep informed about.

If you’re a creator, remember that just because the algorithm is rewarding the content you make with high visibility and ad revenue doesn’t mean YouTube won’t turn around and demonetize your channel or video if your content crosses the line into something advertisers find objectionable.

 How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

Meanwhile, advertisers need to know that their sneaker ads aren’t funding anti-vaxxers or conspiracy theorists. The YouTube algorithm in its current form is designed to demonetize borderline content, mostly to protect brands. At the same time, YouTube says says it might never be able to guarantee 100% brand safety.

How does the YouTube algorithm work in 2020?

According to YouTube, the algorithm is basically a “real-time feedback loop that tailors videos to each viewer’s different interests.” It decides which videos will get suggested to individual users.

The algorithm’s goals are twofold: find the right video for each viewer, and get viewers to keep watching. Therefore, the algorithm is watching user behavior as closely as it watches video performance.

The two most important places the algorithm impacts are search results and recommendation streams.

How the YouTube algorithm influences search results

Unsurprisingly, the videos you get when you search “carnivorous house plants” will be different from the videos I get when I search “carnivorous house plants.” Search results are based on factors like:

Your video’s metadata (title, description, keywords) and how well those match the user’s query

Your video’s engagement (likes, comments, watch time)

How the YouTube algorithm influences recommended videos

The recommendation stream is a two-fold process for the algorithm.

 How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

First, it ranks videos by assigning them a score based on performance analytics data. (Scroll down for our list of all known factors.)

Second, it matches videos to people based on their watch history, and what similar people have watched.

The idea is not to identify “good” videos, but to match viewers with videos that they want to watch. The end goal is that they spend as much time as possible on the platform (and therefore see as many ads as possible.)

For the record, there are three other places the algorithm makes a big impact:

Your YouTube homepage

Trending videos

Your subscriptions

Your notifications

How YouTube determines the algorithm

While we don’t work at Google, here’s a running list of all the different factors that YouTube has mentioned in its various public discussions of the algorithm over the years.

 How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

When it ranks a video, the algorithm looks at performance:

Whether people click on a video (a.k.a. impressions vs. views: thumbnail, and title are important, here)

How much time people spend watching a video (watch time, or retention)

How many likes, dislikes, comments or shares a video gets (a.k.a. engagement)

How quickly a video’s popularity snowballs, or doesn’t (this is called view velocity, rate of growth)

How new a video is (new videos may get extra attention in order to give them a chance to snowball)

How often a channel uploads new videos

How much time people spend on the platform after watching a video (session time)

When it matches a video to a potential viewer, the algorithm looks at personalization

Which channels and topics have they watched in the past?

What have they engaged with in the past?

How much time do they spend watcHow Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? hing?

How many times has this video already been surfaced for this person?

What don’t they watch?

7 tips to improve your organic reach on YouTube

Here’s our list of tied and true methods for playing nice with the algorithm.

 How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

1. Optimize your video description text

Contrary to popular belief, that block of text underneath your video isn’t just a place to link to your socials (although you should definitely do that, too.) It also helps the algorithm surface your video when users are searching for your topic. So make sure you front-load the first sentence with a clear, keyword-focused description of your video.

YouTube optimize video description text

As in the above examples, make you sure you:

Use natural language, not keyword salad

Focus on one or two keywords and repeat them in both your description and title

For more detail, check out our complete guide to SEO-optimized YouTube descriptions, including tips on zeroing in on your keywords.

 How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

2. If something works, rinse and repeat

Building leverage on YouTube, as these five unexpectedly interesting YouTube channels have learned, requires paying attention to what your audience wants. That means paying attention to your analytics, but also your gut.

The YouTube algorithm wants to give people more of what they’ve liked in the past. Experiment skillfully, take feedback from your audience, give everyone time to adjust.

For instance, this local dad started a channel during the pandemic lockdown, and his premise—answering questions people might usually ask their dad, if, like him, they don’t have one—has racked up 2.4 million subscribers in two months. It’s a unique, earnest and emotional value offering, and it’s extra-impressive because this channel succeeded in a content vertical (that is, DIY how-to videos) that seemed pretty much saturated.

 How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

Also note that he reads picture books once a month, which leads us to conclude that the algorithm rewards those who make their viewers weep.)

3. Publish often

Quantity of videos, and frequency of upload, is an important factor for the algorithm, and YouTube’s home screen especially. (It’s that personalized list of new and interesting videos that’s kind of like Instagram’s Explore page).

If you can increase quantity without losing quality, go for it. The more videos you publish, the better chance you’ll have of hitting the right nerve. Maybe you can turn that one big hit into a series. Or you could introduce a new, low-effort weekly feature that fits into your brand’s established niche; like a Tuesday reaction video or a Wednesday study with me session or a Thursday Twitch stream.

4. Make your videos public when your audience is watching

Recency is an important ranking factor for every social media algorithm we can name (the Instagram algorithm, the Twitter algorithm, the Facebook algorithm), and YouTube is no exception.

 How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

YouTube’s notifications feature pings your subscribers when you upload a video, and it’s definitely most effective if that happens when they’re looking for something new to watch.

But on the whole, we recommend taking a look at your YouTube analytics to pick the optimal time of day or week to drop your newest masterpiece. In many cases, this also means scheduling your YouTube videos ahead of time.

5. Keep viewers engaged throughout the whole video

Another key performance metric for the algorithm is view duration. You might see advice that advocates for making your videos shorter or longer, but really, just make them as interesting and fun to watch as you possibly can.

 How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

For instance, this six-minute video of a bratty raven chatting at her best friend is solid across the board. Our educated guess is that not just clickability but retention (a.k.a. view duration) helped this video’s views skyrocket. (This was the channel’s breakout video, hitting 4 million views when their average is usually well under a million.)

 How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

Once you’ve charmed people to watch through to the end, you can then go ahead and use end cards and/or playlists (See #6 in our list of ways to get more YouTube views) to suggest that they watch your next video. Because no one needs a recommendation algorithm if people trust your recommendations, right? Right.

6. Engage with your community

We’ll never stop saying this. Reply to your comments. Talk to your people. Just remember that the algorithm “knows” if you’re having meaningful conversations or just paying lip service to bump up your vanity metrics.

If you’re in the position of having too many people to respond to, you can always do an appreciation video. Like this video, where this illiterate fox gets to hear all the compliments people type to him.

7. Turn viewers into subscribers

According to YouTube, your channel’s subscribers provide a bunch of important initial signals that help dictate the success of your video. In other words, these fans are the testing ground—if they love it, the algorithm is more likely to show the video to new eyeballs.

 How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? 

For more tips on how to get free YouTube subscribers, check out our list.

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