Video views count trolling or...?

PictureFIT

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I wish I can go back to my early statistics and show people exactly how much of a grind it is to get things going. Posting on various forums and groups is only the tip of the iceberg. If the groups you're posting on aren't translating into views, then guess what? Don't post there. Go elsewhere. Look for a more engaging audience. Or maybe it's your approach to your marketing. Does it come off as too pushy? Are you trying to make it relevant to any discussions?

And here's the kicker: Is your content even worth clicking on in the first place?

First thing I noticed about your page is the shoddy thumbnails. Small font, difficult color choices in contrast to the rest of the thumbnail, and overall just unappealing.

Then we get into the content. Casey Neistat-inspired I presume? I don't think there's much problem with it, but it's nothing fascinating or haven't been done before. Personality isn't bad. Story delivery is bland.

And finally, 10 months, 19 videos. <--- #1 problem.

Make more content. Improve your content each time. Find better means to market yourself. Engage your current audience. Ask for help from friends/family. Learn a bit on SEO (although your tags seems decent).
 

Veecharlie

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here is another screenshot from July 2017 up to now
I wish I can go back to my early statistics and show people exactly how much of a grind it is to get things going. Posting on various forums and groups is only the tip of the iceberg. If the groups you're posting on aren't translating into views, then guess what? Don't post there. Go elsewhere. Look for a more engaging audience. Or maybe it's your approach to your marketing. Does it come off as too pushy? Are you trying to make it relevant to any discussions?

And here's the kicker: Is your content even worth clicking on in the first place?

First thing I noticed about your page is the shoddy thumbnails. Small font, difficult color choices in contrast to the rest of the thumbnail, and overall just unappealing.

Then we get into the content. Casey Neistat-inspired I presume? I don't think there's much problem with it, but it's nothing fascinating or haven't been done before. Personality isn't bad. Story delivery is bland.

And finally, 10 months, 19 videos. <--- #1 problem.

Make more content. Improve your content each time. Find better means to market yourself. Engage your current audience. Ask for help from friends/family. Learn a bit on SEO (although your tags seems decent).
This is probably one of the best pieces of advise I have ever had in my YT channel. I'm very grateful, thank you!!
May I counter-ask some questions?

Going back to the views problem, still no explanation to it. But maybe it's good to leave that apart and see what I can improve instead.

Forums/groups: I'm never spammy.. probably because I never intend it as spam. I get a lot of discussion on some topics and other topics that I don't get any answers, it really depends. My niche is quite small, there are few groups that are engaged and few forums that there is a good traffic to it. (most popular YT channels that made a huge impact on our field are around 100k subs, we don't have huge channels like in lifestyle for example) If I would say "let's not post there because I didn't get much traffic" probably those extra 20 views I got wouldn't be there, and as there are really few options, I'm kind of more screwed. If I would get 1k + views, I wouldn't care for 20 views. I normally don't post on all of them, as there is a lot of people that is already on the other forums, as I said before, no spam. I also don't want to spam my content everywhere, right?

So, I used to get enough with only one forum (the biggest in combination with a facebook group) but now posting like that + the other forums is not reaching even half of the views I used to get.
In my posts I always try to engage the audience with something to talk about related to the video, I mean it. I mean it good. I leave them the link about it if they want to look at it, but the post goes mostly on the post itself and not as the typical spam of YT. Again, I hate those spams myself, so I don't want to be one.
How would you approach this otherwise? Maybe there is a better way.

Thumbnails: I hate my thumbnails. I'm never happy with them. I have been experimenting with the last vlogs (from vlog 11 up to vlog 14 wich is the last one) on a new way to post them and make them all a bit "related" in style. You mean those or the ugly ones before that? I would appreciate that. After you have told me this, I'm rather unsure how I should replace the text. I will probably do some brainstorming later, but want to hear your opinion, maybe you have better ways. I'm really so open for other's people voice.

Casey Neistat..? I sure love his content. But I try to find my own "art" so to say. I have been focusing very hard on improving the quality of my vlogs, Neistat is not the only vlogger and not the one I can really take any inspiration right now, the level bar is way to high ad he is way too famous to even try and "steal" some ideas, won't work.
Mostly trying to find my own style and way to vlog. I think that's the best I could do on it.

I follow many other really great vloggers, in my field too and in general. Especially a lot of photographers/filmmakers with tutorials so I can learn and apply. What would you make better in the storytelling? I'm particularly very bad at telling stories, I have been struggling with it since the beginning. I have tried both methods of mprovising or scripting, have a script template, etc. The last vlogs I have been improvising, and that seemed to work really good in the terms of helping me with my recovery on my illness. Especially that I stutter in English as I get stuck with my tongue, I admited to myself that if I have to retake the shot every time it happens, I could spend an entire day losing time with it.

Vlogging with my iphone has become a huge limitation for me, as many techniques and editing is very difficult. I know I can make good content with less camera quality, but I want to soon step up. I'm saving for a new camera but as I gig in low light conditions, I can't just buy the first DLRS or the first mirrorless camera that appears in a shop. I've been saving up since August last year, I was about to buy it in september when I had to spend the money elsewhere as always, an emergency. So here I am, saving again. I'm expecting April to be the month for it, finally.

10 months, 19 videos. Yep. That sucks really hard. It's due to my health last year, I was very ill... Actually you should notice the difference on the early 2 or 3 videos (I know that it was quite visible in my face that I was not ok) I barely was able to do a video. As my health improved, making videos became easier and faster and ofcourse possible. I now try to vlog twice a week. One with Q&A/share my life and one with a ranking topic vlog. I'm still not sure if I should keep this? If I recall to my SEO YT training, I should, for the sake of the algorithm, but to the otherside, it doesn't help my statistics so...YT will probably drag me down with it anyway. What would you do?

I have an entire notebook filled with SEO stuff. Not just on YT. Yesterday still had a webinar on the changes of FB and IG to apply. I think that's pretty visible by now on my videos. If there is something I should improve, please spot it. I appreciate this kind of feedback, as it's constructive!
That I study and try to apply this, does not mean I'm immediately nr1. I'm still far from being happy with it myself.

I love feedback, so thanks admins for moving this post. Maybe that's the thing I need. The only feedback I have is from friends that watch this, I always tell them to be honest with it but sometimes is difficult to know the truth anyways. The best feedback normally comes from outsiders.


Sorry for the long cake.
 

PictureFIT

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Forum/Groups: If 20 views means a lot to you (as it did for me when I started), then yes, post on those forums and get those 20 views. However, even though you do not intend to make it seem spammy, it doesn't mean that it won't come off as spammy. Best method to counteract this is to be engaged in the forum. Respond to other forum posts (not just your own posts), hold discussions on other threads/topics, and then once in a while, post about your content.

Thumbnails: Larger text with more meaningful words. Vlog #x isn't all that appealing. Everyone already knows you're vlogging and the number next to it really only appeals to you. Work on those titles detailing a key event in the vlog. Use contrasting colors for your text. Dark background, bright text. Bright background, dark text. Use borders around your texts if needed. Make more appealing background images for those thumbnails as well. For example, in your latest video about "first gigs," might be a good idea to have a picture of you at an actual gig in front of an audience. Appeal to emotion too. Smiling at your gig while performing? Perfect. Small things matter.

I'm sure you're not inclined to copy Neistat or any other vloggerss, but inspiration is commonly applied subconsciously. The feel of your videos are very close to his type of vlogs. Again, not a bad thing, but if you can indeed provide your own unique spin to it, then more power to you.

I can't tell you how exactly you can improve your storytelling because it's your story, not mine. All I can say is to follow a path that naturally lends to your story. Take the script away. Don't force narration/talks in front of a camera if that's not what you truly want to do. If you want to share your story through your music, then give it a shot. Fine tune it as you go. Listen to your audience and see what part of the video connects to them the most. Ask your audience if they share a similar story.

The recording device you use really doesn't matter as long as you can share your story in a way that captivates your audience. Too many times smaller YouTubers focus on picking the right camera or worrying about the quality of their shot. It doesn't matter. The story matters. Work on the story. Once you find your storytelling style and once you have a better grasp on how to express yourself in a meaningful way to your audience, then worry about getting that better camera.

Glad you're feeling better. As for the type of videos to make, make videos YOU want to make. Don't try to stick to a certain topic or style if that's not what you want to make. Let your passion leak into your content. The more you force a video, the worse it will come out. If you commit and express your passion into your video, it will resonate with your audience. If you can't do that with Q&As (or at least not right now), then don't do Q&As.

The algorithm is of no concern without good content. Prioritize improvement over SEO.

Listen to your friends. They know you best. Good if they're honest with you. Take their feedback seriously but don't let it completely dictate your actions. Put your intuition above all else.
 
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Veecharlie

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Forum/Groups: If 20 views means a lot to you (as it did for me when I started), then yes, post on those forums and get those 20 views. However, even though you do not intend to make it seem spammy, it doesn't mean that it won't come off as spammy. Best method to counteract this is to be engaged in the forum. Respond to other forum posts (not just your own posts), hold discussions on other threads/topics, and then once in a while, post about your content.

Thumbnails: Larger text with more meaningful words. Vlog #x isn't all that appealing. Everyone already knows you're vlogging and the number next to it really only appeals to you. Work on those titles detailing a key event in the vlog. Use contrasting colors for your text. Dark background, bright text. Bright background, dark text. Use borders around your texts if needed. Make more appealing background images for those thumbnails as well. For example, in your latest video about "first gigs," might be a good idea to have a picture of you at an actual gig in front of an audience. Appeal to emotion too. Smiling at your gig while performing? Perfect. Small things matter.

I'm sure you're not inclined to copy Neistat or any other vloggerss, but inspiration is commonly applied subconsciously. The feel of your videos are very close to his type of vlogs. Again, not a bad thing, but if you can indeed provide your own unique spin to it, then more power to you.

I can't tell you how exactly you can improve your storytelling because it's your story, not mine. All I can say is to follow a path that naturally lends to your story. Take the script away. Don't force narration/talks in front of a camera if that's not what you truly want to do. If you want to share your story through your music, then give it a shot. Fine tune it as you go. Listen to your audience and see what part of the video connects to them the most. Ask your audience if they share a similar story.

The recording device you use really doesn't matter as long as you can share your story in a way that captivates your audience. Too many times smaller YouTubers focus on picking the right camera or worrying about the quality of their shot. It doesn't matter. The story matters. Work on the story. Once you find your storytelling style and once you have a better grasp on how to express yourself in a meaningful way to your audience, then worry about getting that better camera.

Glad you're feeling better. As for the type of videos to make, make videos YOU want to make. Don't try to stick to a certain topic or style if that's not what you want to make. Let your passion leak into your content. The more you force a video, the worse it will come out. If you commit and express your passion into your video, it will resonate with your audience. If you can't do that with Q&As (or at least not right now), then don't do Q&As.

The algorithm is of no concern without good content. Prioritize improvement over SEO.

Listen to your friends. They know you best. Good if they're honest with you. Take their feedback seriously but don't let it completely dictate your actions. Put your intuition above all else.
I engage a lot primarily. I’m senior member in one of the forums, for example. I really get lost in answering and answering and more answering and creating threads (non sharing my videos) which I guess is a good sign from what you say me. I do this without any reason than just helping.

Your thumbnail approach seems very interesting. I’ll be brainstorming and give it. Try in the next few days, thank you!!

For the rest of the advises, again, I have to take all your words. Thank you!!
 
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Ezrider92356

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i do some promoting on discussion forums as well. and yes my view count on the forum post is always MUCH higher than the views brought in from the post. but remember that post views are impressions on your video. not clicks. YouTube only counts clicks. I post some of my video's in on topic discussion forums that I am active on besides just posting my video's I always get good interaction on the forums. lots of reply's and discussion ect. but my YouTube view count will be 20 to one or less. and the more discussion on the video in the fourm the worse that will get. because the same 50-100 people that might have watched from the topic may come back to read reply's but wont necessarily watch the video again. then people may click the post and read the discussion but never actually watch the video. other people may click the forum post and not be interested enough to want to click the video. I would say its to be expected. ill try to give you a example of effective promotions on a discussion forum with some screen captures

upload_2018-2-9_19-29-4.png

highlighted time on the 48 hour analytics is when I posted the promotion. video was getting steady views before promotion but there is a obvious increase in views after


original question asked on the forum
upload_2018-2-9_19-31-22.png

my first reply to the topic
upload_2018-2-9_19-32-35.png
give good useful information. on the topic

then post related video.
upload_2018-2-9_19-35-32.png


you just dump a video on them and say please watch this is does not generally do well.

I chose to screen capture the next post quoting my post of posting my video because they are quoting my post and saying "thanks 1000x!!! "

the forum members are a audience that you have to make want to be a viewing audience, you have to not only have a content that is appealing to them but present it in a way that makes them want to watch it. you will also want to do it in a way that will generate or add to conversation about your video. the other advantage to trying to create conversation on the forum is as long as people are replying to it it stays on the first and more potential viewers are likely to see it.

edit
I just realized that you may not be able to enlarge the screen captures to be able to read the text but I think you should still get the idea....lol

I also checked fourm views to YouTube views on a video that did very well on the fourms to give you a comparison of fourm views to video clicks

Replies:
64
Views:
2,564
to YouTube views from external view analytics on that video from that forum post
353 video views
(not the same video referenced earlier in this post)
 
Last edited:

Veecharlie

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i do some promoting on discussion forums as well. and yes my view count on the forum post is always MUCH higher than the views brought in from the post. but remember that post views are impressions on your video. not clicks. YouTube only counts clicks. I post some of my video's in on topic discussion forums that I am active on besides just posting my video's I always get good interaction on the forums. lots of reply's and discussion ect. but my YouTube view count will be 20 to one or less. and the more discussion on the video in the fourm the worse that will get. because the same 50-100 people that might have watched from the topic may come back to read reply's but wont necessarily watch the video again. then people may click the post and read the discussion but never actually watch the video. other people may click the forum post and not be interested enough to want to click the video. I would say its to be expected. ill try to give you a example of effective promotions on a discussion forum with some screen captures

View attachment 41802

highlighted time on the 48 hour analytics is when I posted the promotion. video was getting steady views before promotion but there is a obvious increase in views after


original question asked on the forum
View attachment 41803

my first reply to the topic
View attachment 41804
give good useful information. on the topic

then post related video.
View attachment 41805


you just dump a video on them and say please watch this is does not generally do well.

I chose to screen capture the next post quoting my post of posting my video because they are quoting my post and saying "thanks 1000x!!! "

the forum members are a audience that you have to make want to be a viewing audience, you have to not only have a content that is appealing to them but present it in a way that makes them want to watch it. you will also want to do it in a way that will generate or add to conversation about your video. the other advantage to trying to create conversation on the forum is as long as people are replying to it it stays on the first and more potential viewers are likely to see it.

edit
I just realized that you may not be able to enlarge the screen captures to be able to read the text but I think you should still get the idea....lol

I also checked fourm views to YouTube views on a video that did very well on the fourms to give you a comparison of fourm views to video clicks

Replies:
64
Views:
2,564
to YouTube views from external view analytics on that video from that forum post
353 video views
(not the same video referenced earlier in this post)
Hi, thanks for your answer.

Yes I absolutely agree with you. But once again, this is not the problem I’m talking about. I used to make between 300 views on average after publishing my video in a forum and in one fb group. I now don’t get enough from everything.

It’s not one video, and I won’t count an average so quick, but making some math and taking in count factors like one video might be less popular than another one, average external views, etc. It used to be more or less the same. It’s wven surprising that the videos that I never intended to be popular actually gained more views in the same amount of time than these recent ones. But anyways I can’t do anything on it, so I just decided to deal with it and make it over. There seems nobody with the same problem, so I really can’t solve it.

I just don’t understand what’s so hard to understand my problem? I’m not expecting all or even a half of the clicks of a forum to my YouTube, I’m just wondering why there is a clear consistent drop from my previous videos to the recent ones, taking in count that the quality of video only got better (I hope) and the same factors for every video, just as always.


Once again, I never spam groups/forums because I want to be a helpful person. If I stop vlogging I won’t stop going to those groups. I’m senior member in one of the biggest forums for example, I’m a member of many fb groups even before I started YouTube and have been always active there as well, the groups that are not engaging with interesting topics or if I have a problem nobody cares, I leave it. That happened too.

I reply and create threads daily by my own. I love to engage and share my passions, ask questions to learn/solve or help others. My videos on such places are just a bonus, and once again, can’t wait to get rid of needing to publish them and replace it with a consistent YouTube community.
I wish there was a way to spot the activity of me with forums/groups together to show it.

Nevertherness thank you for your dedicated answer, I hope it will help somebody reading up to these replies :)
 
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Veecharlie

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I think this thread is case closed. I couldn't solve this mystery however my statistics started to go up again, without even publishing a new video. I have seen in a fb group something similar was reported but we all don't know the cause.
rtyui.png
 

CrazFrank

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Update:
I made a post this morning on a different forum... here is the response:
I got an update count of views on my latest vlog: from 76 to 81 views. In other words, since this morning that I posted, I only got 5 views (4,17%). The forum thread has already 120 views and 14 answers.
This is depressing... I just can't see how "nobody" watches my videos anymore, and I can prove with other videos that it didn't go so bad like these last 3 ones. Something must have changed...
View attachment 41730
I can tell you... not to be a d**k that if you keep seeing it this way, you wont go far.
Forget the views and the subs, just do youre craft and improve it. People will come.
The more you worry about s****y numbers, youre production quality will decline.