How many of your videos are in the suggested area?

[JayZippo]

This week I had one of my friends who watches my videos tell me something that really sucks. He was watching the video and looked at the suggested videos and I did not have ONE video in there. He scrolled and said he looked at 30+ and not ONE of them were mine. Every single one of them had 300K+ views, i.e. super popular channels that need NO HELP AT ALL. So on the page with MY video, I was not suggested at all. Which means anyone who does watch my videos will have to find their way to my channel to find more content. Rather than finding something in the suggested area and click on that. My views were cut in half about 3 weeks ago, and now I know why.

How am I to grow, or lets say how can ANYONE grow with this kind of B.S.? I told myself years ago I can't be doing this for the subs and views, I have to just do it for myself... but at some level I just have to say WT#! For poops and giggles I would ask someone who watches your videos to see if you are suggested. Maybe it's just me, Youtube doesn't like me, I wouldn't be surprised.

Just another reason why to NEVER trust Youtube. Do not make it your "job" because at any given time they can decide pink sneakers are terrible and any video with them they will remove or cut from their algorithmn. If YT wasn't free and unlimited, I seriously would of been long gone, and I think a lot of other people would of too. They are s***e, plain and simple.

Thank you for the vine, jsut wanted to bring this up so people can continue to understand how poorly Youtube is being run in general and most definitely for a content creator.

 

[MyLumoLife]

YT is so saturated now, that slim 'suggested' pane on the right is prime real estate that can't even remotely service all the channels and videos on YT.

People think the YT algorithm can be expected to behave like a human being. It can't. It's basically a machine that uses hundreds of signals/metrics to decide your video rank. And for the vast majority of people, the algo does not work in their favor.

Making videos about a niche that you love should be your main motivation, because that is what will keep you going when growth is slow or non-existent. But we can all dream of success.

3.41K subs, you are where most of the people in this forum strive to be.

 

[JayZippo]

YT is so saturated now, that slim 'suggested' pane on the right is prime real estate that can't even remotely service all the channels and videos on YT.

People think the YT algorithm can be expected to behave like a human being. It can't. It's basically a machine that uses hundreds of signals/metrics to decide your video rank. And for the vast majority of people, the algo does not work in their favor.

Making videos about a niche that you love should be your main motivation, because that is what will keep you going when growth is slow or non-existent. But we can all dream of success.

3.41K subs, you are where most of the people in this forum strive to be.

Understandable. BUT not one. Not ONE of my videos. It used to be the "next" video would of been one of mine, usually in succession if it they were watching EP12 and the next one would be EP13. I never expect my videos to be 'suggested" on other channels videos, and I don't recall ever seeing that either. But for my own video to not have at least ONE suggested video of mine is unacceptable to me. It is a serious kick in the jigglers. If this is for other smaller channels too then I can only hope they can take the same frame of mind I have, that I am doing this for ME and no one else. Otherwise why bother if every corner Youtube takes away the chance to grow?

Appreciate the response and you are dead on. Its saturated, especially videogame videos. I never wanted to be super popular, not sure I would want that headache (I'd never make my profession Youtube, for reasons I stated earlier and I have a great job as a Web Developer / Video Editor) but growing at any level is kind of a little reward, having a video watched 2-300 times, or getting 10-15 subs in a month. Makes you feel a little better about things.

oh, and 3,400 subs... been there for around 2 years and I have lost more than gained during that time. It was another algorithm change that screwed me over. But I won't get into that here.

 

[Jungle Explorer]

The suggested area has more to do with the viewer's past browsing pattern than your videos. Basically, YT serves up what they believe the viewer is interested in based on their past video viewing activity. So, that suggested area is not static. It is dynamic and changes with each and every viewer. Evidently, your friend does not watch many of your videos, because if they did, YT would suggest more of your videos in the suggested area. If a person does not typically watch a certain type of content, then suddenly does, it will not change what YT suggest to them. Suggestions are based on patterns, not one time anomalies.

The best way to see if your videos are being suggested in general, is to open a private browser and go to one of your videos without logging in. This eliminates all YT tracking and behavior analytics and will give you pure results to show you where your videos are ranking regardless of viewer behavior. Go to YT in private browsing mode and type a three-word key phrase from the title of one of your videos. Then see where your video shows up in the results. If it does not show up in at least the top 20 results, then that video is not ranked well and you need to work on the SEO. SEO is about balance and symmetry. There must be symmetry between all facets of your videos SEO. They must all agree with each other. Each area must reflect the same value as the other fields. There are four fields of SEO, these are,

1. The Video. All the images, actions, objects, and test, and words in the actual video are part of the SEO.
2. The Title. The tile is vital and should include keywords match and agree with the content of the video.
3. The Description. The description must also include keywords and phrases that match the title and the contents of the video.
4. The Tags. The tags should reflect all the keywords used in the title, description, and the video.

If your video is not ranking, work on the SEO and check the results of your work by searching YT in a private browser. Watch and see how each change affects the position of your video in the listing by refreshing the page after each major change. Save the change and wait a minute and then refresh the search page. If your video must up in the search results, hone in on what produced that positive change and keep improving on it until your video is in the top 20 results.

Hope this helps.

 

[JayZippo]

The suggested area has more to do with the viewer's past browsing pattern than your videos. Basically, YT serves up what they believe the viewer is interested in based on their past video viewing activity. So, that suggested area is not static. It is dynamic and changes with each and every viewer. Evidently, your friend does not watch many of your videos, because if they did, YT would suggest more of your videos in the suggested area. If a person does not typically watch a certain type of content, then suddenly does, it will not change what YT suggest to them. Suggestions are based on patterns, not one time anomalies.

The best way to see if your videos are being suggested in general, is to open a private browser and go to one of your videos without logging in. This eliminates all YT tracking and behavior analytics and will give you pure results to show you where your videos are ranking regardless of viewer behavior. Go to YT in private browsing mode and type a three-word key phrase from the title of one of your videos. Then see where your video shows up in the results. If it does not show up in at least the top 20 results, then that video is not ranked well and you need to work on the SEO. SEO is about balance and symmetry. There must be symmetry between all facets of your videos SEO. They must all agree with each other. Each area must reflect the same value as the other fields. There are four fields of SEO, these are,

1. The Video. All the images, actions, objects, and test, and words in the actual video are part of the SEO.
2. The Title. The tile is vital and should include keywords match and agree with the content of the video.
3. The Description. The description must also include keywords and phrases that match the title and the contents of the video.
4. The Tags. The tags should reflect all the keywords used in the title, description, and the video.

If your video is not ranking, work on the SEO and check the results of your work by searching YT in a private browser. Watch and see how each change affects the position of your video in the listing by refreshing the page after each major change. Save the change and wait a minute and then refresh the search page. If your video must up in the search results, hone in on what produced that positive change and keep improving on it until your video is in the top 20 results.

Hope this helps.

Excellent breakdown. Thank you. I really appreciate the response. This should be pinned somewhere, this is good information for A LOT of Youtube not just this thread.

I work for a Marketing, Web Development, SEO company and even they can't get certain things to rank or show up. It's a saturated market that I am in for Youtube, I get that. They also said that what I do today might not make a damn bit of difference a week from now when Google will inevitability change how they do things again. They suggested changing how I make my videos, and I have, added a face cam. Changed up some keywords, etc. But it doesn't seem to have helped.

I have VPNed private browsered a video of mine, but none of my vids show up on the page playing my video. I had other people do the same and 3 out of 4 of them said nothing came up in the suggested. Only one had a weird remote video I made like 6 years ago pop up.

Lastly
" Suggestions are based on patterns, not one time anomalies." - My friend watches my videos twice a week, and he was the one telling me he had none of my suggested videos. I guess that is why I was so bent out of shape about it. He does watch my vids, its his usual thing, and he wasn't getting any suggested vids of mine, how would I ever image someone new ever getting my vids either?

Again, greatly appreciate the response. I have actually copy and pasted into a my notes folder for safe keeping and referral.

 

[Jungle Explorer]

Excellent breakdown. Thank you. I really appreciate the response. This should be pinned somewhere, this is good information for A LOT of Youtube not just this thread.

I work for a Marketing, Web Development, SEO company and even they can't get certain things to rank or show up. It's a saturated market that I am in for Youtube, I get that. They also said that what I do today might not make a damn bit of difference a week from now when Google will inevitability change how they do things again. They suggested changing how I make my videos, and I have, added a face cam. Changed up some keywords, etc. But it doesn't seem to have helped.

I have VPNed private browsered a video of mine, but none of my vids show up on the page playing my video. I had other people do the same and 3 out of 4 of them said nothing came up in the suggested. Only one had a weird remote video I made like 6 years ago pop up.

Lastly
" Suggestions are based on patterns, not one time anomalies." - My friend watches my videos twice a week, and he was the one telling me he had none of my suggested videos. I guess that is why I was so bent out of shape about it. He does watch my vids, its his usual thing, and he wasn't getting any suggested vids of mine, how would I ever image someone new ever getting my vids either?

Again, greatly appreciate the response. I have actually copy and pasted into a my notes folder for safe keeping and referral.

I am also in a very competitive niche, but using the tactics I outlined above, I can almost always get my videos to rank well right out of the box. The issue is not ranking, it is where you set your target. Let me explain.

Okay, this may take a bit so hold on.

The first thing you have to come to grips with is who you are. I am a nobody. I have no fame or notoriety outside of my friends and family (and not much there either. LOL). If I create a new channel today, it will take a lot of hard work to get it moving. Why? Because there is one truth of life that applies even to YT, "It is not what you know, it is WHO you know", or in this case, who knows you. If Kim Kardashian makes a new channel, she will have millions of subs in 24 hours. I am not Kim, so it is unreasonable for me to expect to experience that kind of growth for my channel. Accepting who you are in the world, helps you to have more balanced and reasonable expectations for your success as a YouTuber.

There are a lot of famous YouTubers that are well established. They have the best and the brightest minds working for them doing all their SEO and targeting the best keywords. If I choose to compete head to head with these channels as a nobody, I am not going to win. It is an unreasonable expectation and target goal to reach. It would be like me posting a picture of my butt and expecting to get the same kind of attention Kim's did. . Dumb example, but you get the point.

My point is, if you target the most popular keywords, you are competing with channels that have fame, huge ad budgets, and the best SEO money can afford, and you will never get anywhere doing that. But that does not mean that you can't rank well, it just means you have to target a less popular set of keywords. Instead of targeting the millions, target the thousands, if that makes sense. If you build a new restaurant on a road that has a burger joint every block, maybe try selling tacos instead.

My channel is an outdoor sports channel. But every now and then, I will do a cooking video to change things up. Think about how competitive cooking shows are. I mean I am competing with the like of Gordon Ramsey, Rachel Ray, Emeril, Flay, etc. Okay, so I recently did a Fried Rice video. Think about that for a second. Rice is the number one most consumed food on earth, with about four billion people eating daily! How many videos are there on youtube about how to make fried rice? MILLIONS! Just about every person with cooking fame has made one. How on earth could I possibly ever rank in a niche like that? What if I told you that my video is in the top five under certain keywords and number one on Google and YT under others? It is!

You see, it does not matter how much fame you have or how big your channel is, you simply cannot target all possible keywords for any given niche. YT provides you only so much space for SEO and that limits what you can target. So the trick for small channels like ours is to not go after the best and the most popular keywords, but to find those hidden gems that the bigs channels have missed or simply don't have the space to target. Every now and then, you find a real gem. Take for instance my fried rice video. Would you believe that I was able to dominate the keywords, "World Premier Rice Recipe" (as well as the other spelling too) Type that into YT or Google (private browser) and my video is #1. Crazy right? How in the freaking world did nobody ever think to target those keywords?

Now, before you run off and make a rice video and targeting my secret keywords I just shared with you, let me just say that, as good as my video is ranked on those amazing keywords, my rice video is getting no views, because nobody is searching for "World Premier Rice Recipe". So if you have great keywords, but nobody is searching for them, it does not matter. So that is the challenge for us small YouTubers. Finding less competitive keywords, that may not have huge traffic, but at least has some. The great thing is, you can always go back and try new things. One day I may go back and work on the SEO of my rice video and see if I can't find better keywords, but cooking is not the main focus of my channel, I don't put a lot of effort behind those videos.

Now if you are into cooking, you might just like this video right here. "Secret Recipe! Best Chicken Carnitas Tacos Ever! Tacos de Pollo!"

 

[markkaz]

I agree that the least YouTube could do is put one of your videos in the 'up next' location. Until then, keep working on growing your audience and most importantly, improving watch-time.

 

[JayZippo]

I am also in a very competitive niche, but using the tactics I outlined above, I can almost always get my videos to rank well right out of the box. The issue is not ranking, it is where you set your target. Let me explain.

Okay, this may take a bit so hold on.

The first thing you have to come to grips with is who you are. I am a nobody. I have no fame or notoriety outside of my friends and family (and not much there either. LOL). If I create a new channel today, it will take a lot of hard work to get it moving. Why? Because there is one truth of life that applies even to YT, "It is not what you know, it is WHO you know", or in this case, who knows you. If Kim Kardashian makes a new channel, she will have millions of subs in 24 hours. I am not Kim, so it is unreasonable for me to expect to experience that kind of growth for my channel. Accepting who you are in the world, helps you to have more balanced and reasonable expectations for your success as a YouTuber.

There are a lot of famous YouTubers that are well established. They have the best and the brightest minds working for them doing all their SEO and targeting the best keywords. If I choose to compete head to head with these channels as a nobody, I am not going to win. It is an unreasonable expectation and target goal to reach. It would be like me posting a picture of my butt and expecting to get the same kind of attention Kim's did. . Dumb example, but you get the point.

My point is, if you target the most popular keywords, you are competing with channels that have fame, huge ad budgets, and the best SEO money can afford, and you will never get anywhere doing that. But that does not mean that you can't rank well, it just means you have to target a less popular set of keywords. Instead of targeting the millions, target the thousands, if that makes sense. If you build a new restaurant on a road that has a burger joint every block, maybe try selling tacos instead.

My channel is an outdoor sports channel. But every now and then, I will do a cooking video to change things up. Think about how competitive cooking shows are. I mean I am competing with the like of Gordon Ramsey, Rachel Ray, Emeril, Flay, etc. Okay, so I recently did a Fried Rice video. Think about that for a second. Rice is the number one most consumed food on earth, with about four billion people eating daily! How many videos are there on youtube about how to make fried rice? MILLIONS! Just about every person with cooking fame has made one. How on earth could I possibly ever rank in a niche like that? What if I told you that my video is in the top five under certain keywords and number one on Google and YT under others? It is!

You see, it does not matter how much fame you have or how big your channel is, you simply cannot target all possible keywords for any given niche. YT provides you only so much space for SEO and that limits what you can target. So the trick for small channels like ours is to not go after the best and the most popular keywords, but to find those hidden gems that the bigs channels have missed or simply don't have the space to target. Every now and then, you find a real gem. Take for instance my fried rice video. Would you believe that I was able to dominate the keywords, "World Premier Rice Recipe" (as well as the other spelling too) Type that into YT or Google (private browser) and my video is #1. Crazy right? How in the freaking world did nobody ever think to target those keywords?

Now, before you run off and make a rice video and targeting my secret keywords I just shared with you, let me just say that, as good as my video is ranked on those amazing keywords, my rice video is getting no views, because nobody is searching for "World Premier Rice Recipe". So if you have great keywords, but nobody is searching for them, it does not matter. So that is the challenge for us small YouTubers. Finding less competitive keywords, that may not have huge traffic, but at least has some. The great thing is, you can always go back and try new things. One day I may go back and work on the SEO of my rice video and see if I can't find better keywords, but cooking is not the main focus of my channel, I don't put a lot of effort behind those videos.

Now if you are into cooking, you might just like this video right here. "Secret Recipe! Best Chicken Carnitas Tacos Ever! Tacos de Pollo!"

View attachment 44987

Not going to lie, that looks friggen delicious!!!

Thank you again, that all makes sense. The real work lies in finding the keywords that will work that is not getting used by everyone else. Makes complete sense.

EDITED TO ADD: Yeah Keywords? They don't work unless you have something very unique. My R&D dept has told me it doesn't hurt and maybe helps a little (less than 1% as I recall). But the "tags" are 100% useless except for misspelled things (that is straight from Youtube). Essentially, unless you pour a ton of money into it, have some big backers / friends who can promote and help or you have a nice set of Jugs... you are going to be shrinking or not growing.