As a small channel you need to use EVERYTHING that is at your disposal. Look on Google Trends to figure out what to best name your video (for example; is 'coloured pencils' or 'colored pencils' more looked at?), check your tags with Tube Buddy, follow trends on Youtube and your specific niche (for example, one of our forum members got a huge boost by doing Apex tutorial videos, that's a new game and well sought for).
Everything works in conjunction with each other. You can have the greatest tags in the world, but if your thumbnail and title aren't appealing, people still won't click. And if people do click, but your actual video isn't engaging, they will leave, hurting your retention and watch time.
My biggest tip is: ignore big channels. They already have an established fanbase, so it matters less to them when and what they upload. Have a specific niche, offer value (either informative, entertaining, etc) with your video, have an upload schedule, interact with your audience (heart comments, respond). There's a lot to think about
I wouldn't know about ranking, but it is a terrific way of finding a bigger audience, especially if the channel has equal or more subs then you. However, this is why it is important to collab with creators that have a similar niche. Collabing with a gaming channel while you are a beauty channel is fun and all, but your target audiences are completely different, thus you won't get a lot of subs from that. Collabs also need to be genuine, establish a friendship with the Youtuber in question, instead of just having an exchange of videos and viewership.
With all that being said, though collabing is a proven way of growing your channel, it is FINDING those collabs that is the hitch. I've been doing Youtube for 1.5 years now, lived in England, the Netherlands and Australia and still haven't met any other Youtubers n.n" Even went to Summer in the City in London and came back empty handed. So if you have someone to collab with, certainly do so