My channel is consistently performing. High CTR, high average view duration, and high-ranking in SEO. Why is it not growing?

[Acerthorn]

Even if we assume that "suggested videos" (aka the "recommended for you" impressions) are the most important as far as the youtube algorithm is concerned, my channel is still performing in that metric, too!

The last 90 days of suggested videos boasts 6.1% CTR and 7:16 average view duration, while my last 28 days of suggested videos boasts an astonishing 9.1% CTR and 8:00 average view duration! I'll attach screenshots to prove it!

So yeah ... what the hell?!

 

[Acerthorn]

Hell, even my home page impressions have high CTR and high average view duration (AVD for short)! At 3.5% CTR & 11:20 AVD for the last 90 days and 3.6% CTR and 15:07 AVD for the last 28 days (screenshots attached), my channel is still performing on the impressions that are the biggest "wild card" that youtube has to offer!

Think about it: With youtube searches, my videos will only get impressions when people enter keywords that match one of my tags or titles. In other words, I only get "youtube search" impressions when people are specifically searching for content I can provide them. So youtube's algorithm would understandably feel the safest promoting my videos in that case, but at the same time, I should also get fewer impressions per capita, since people have to go out of their way to enter appropriate keywords.

Suggested videos are middle-of-the-line. They will be suggested to people who are currently watching videos of a similar subject matter. So they are still serving my videos to people who have, at present, demonstrated an interest in my kind of content.

But home page impressions require the most guesswork by the youtube algorithm. At that point, the algorithm has zilch to go on besides the person's prior viewing history. They have zero idea what kind of content that person might be in the mood for at that particular moment in time. So home page impressions are the biggest "wild card" that youtube has.

So having high CTR and high AVD against home page impressions is probably the most impressive thing your channel can do.

 

[wchap001]

Hell, even my home page impressions have high CTR and high average view duration (AVD for short)! At 3.5% CTR & 11:20 AVD for the last 90 days and 3.6% CTR and 15:07 AVD for the last 28 days (screenshots attached), my channel is still performing on the impressions that are the biggest "wild card" that youtube has to offer!

Think about it: With youtube searches, my videos will only get impressions when people enter keywords that match one of my tags or titles. In other words, I only get "youtube search" impressions when people are specifically searching for content I can provide them. So youtube's algorithm would understandably feel the safest promoting my videos in that case, but at the same time, I should also get fewer impressions per capita, since people have to go out of their way to enter appropriate keywords.

Suggested videos are middle-of-the-line. They will be suggested to people who are currently watching videos of a similar subject matter. So they are still serving my videos to people who have, at present, demonstrated an interest in my kind of content.

But home page impressions require the most guesswork by the youtube algorithm. At that point, the algorithm has zilch to go on besides the person's prior viewing history. They have zero idea what kind of content that person might be in the mood for at that particular moment in time. So home page impressions are the biggest "wild card" that youtube has.

So having high CTR and high AVD against home page impressions is probably the most impressive thing your channel can do.

My best guess are 3 things keep in mind I am no youtube pro and I am a small youtuber myself but I do compare a lot of channels over time and been following peeps who were once at 1k subs and now up to 300k+

1. most of the subs are inactive or dont see your videos..it is kind of the same thing I am scared of. I am getting about 5 subs a day but I think most of them are inactive or dont hit the bell button

2. videos are not being found and searched

3. you have small true followers but not enough to influence your videos/channels ranking


**this below is from what I have seen from people I have followed and read**

so it kind of comes down from what I have read, instead of making videos about your own gaming, make videos that people want to search and look up. I will be blunt here and many people wont like it, but YT is mostly used for search and how to's and reviews. also entertainment, but sadly YT promoted the big guys more than anything. so an example...I have been following this offroad channel for years ... i know its not the same...but the principle is the same...

so this guy been making tutorials, how to, opinions, top bikes, top mod etc to grow his channel. he did post his normal "trail rides" which is equivalent to you gaming like normal and those wont get views but his tutorials did over time. so that is how he developed a nice fan base. NOW is when he is doing his own thing since he has a large follow base and I think us small youtubers need to do that and that is what I am slowly moving over too. I also know a few people like 6foot4honda if you look him up, I followed him when he was a tiny youtuber, but just last year he launched his gaming channel which now has over 300k on his gaming channel just because of his following base

As for myself when I did my gaming channel, I only had 3 top videos....best cameras to youtube in, top 5 horror games, best 2017 horror games to come out

my normal streams did not even pass 20 views.

I know its not much, but I am hoping it can help somehow

and the other thing is patience. i mean we are small yotubers, we wont have a following base for a very long time so you just have to keep grinding but have fun with it dont let it get to you.

 

[GameVestment]

mmm Your channel is performing the way it should I don't understand the problem.
YouTube recommends that CTR and maybe for them is considered decent in the long run I guess (you are getting what they promised since they are recommending your content) but that CTR is waaaay below average, it will take you years to grow but you will eventually grow. The CTR answer you are looking for is MINIMUM 10% and MINIMUM 60% Average View Duration to start being recommended on YouTube in a bigger scale and you start having organic growth PLUS popular content people are looking for today, YES.. there might be people interested in Skyrim but they are not looking for that anymore, people want to know more about Sekiro, Apex and all of that. And if you want to grow fast don't enter a saturated niche or game. if you like Skyrim... Blades (Mobile) is getting some traction now until you wait for their next big game. The answer you are looking for that is in Google Trends

When I changed my strategy to CTR and Watch Time I went from gaining 300 subs to gaining 2,8K subs in one month so I can tell you it truly works but never with a CTR lower than 8%. Your last video is an interesting one where you got 50% of views considering your Sub Count. That's pretty impressive for any channel, trying to get 50% or more considering that probably only 16% or less of your subscribers will receive the notification <--- Confirmed by Creator Insider

You don't need to focus or analyse those graphs,,, all the answers you are looking are in the funnel

 

[zerocache]

Ok beaten to the punchline by GameVestment so I'm gonna still post my observation which is kinda similar

I'm just gonna throw this here, have you considered that even if your AVD seems good the vast majority of the views are much less in watch time hence offsetting the few that did watch your video(s) through to near completion?

I looked at your channel and at the view numbers and that question came to my mind. I'm under the impression that you need a consistent flow of eyeballs watching most of the video for the AVD to be effective in your channels favor.

 

[wchap001]

mmm Your channel is performing the way it should I don't understand the problem.
YouTube recommends that CTR and maybe for them is considered decent in the long run I guess (you are getting what they promised since they are recommending your content) but that CTR is waaaay below average, it will take you years to grow but you will eventually grow. The CTR answer you are looking for is MINIMUM 10% and MINIMUM 60% Average View Duration to start being recommended on YouTube in a bigger scale and you start having organic growth PLUS popular content people are looking for today, YES.. there might be people interested in Skyrim but they are not looking for that anymore, people want to know more about Sekiro, Apex and all of that. And if you want to grow fast don't enter a saturated niche or game. if you like Skyrim... Blades (Mobile) is getting some traction now until you wait for their next big game. The answer you are looking for that is in Google Trends

When I changed my strategy to CTR and Watch Time I went from gaining 300 subs to gaining 2,8K subs in one month so I can tell you it truly works but never with a CTR lower than 8%. Your last video is an interesting one where you got 50% of views considering your Sub Count. That's pretty impressive for any channel, trying to get 50% or more considering that probably only 16% or less of your subscribers will receive the notification <--- Confirmed by Creator Insider

You don't need to focus or analyse those graphs,,, all the answers you are looking are in the funnel

View attachment 42996

this is very well explained this might be it and I did not know the CTR requirements thanks for posting this!

 

[Acerthorn]

The CTR answer you are looking for is MINIMUM 10% and MINIMUM 60% Average View Duration to start being recommended on YouTube in a bigger scale

Not saying you're lying. But do you have a source for this?

 

[GameVestment]

If my channel isn't enough proof... October is the date I started focusing only on CTR and AVD



Then the channel of Andrew Wall who is YouTube certified and one of the founding members of the largest gaming video network on Youtube, TGN. I watched his livestreams and followed his strategies. He's been on YouTube for 8 years, he pretty much knows what he's talking about.

 

[Acerthorn]

Look, what I can see from your channel is ONE successful youtube channel. But what you say and what you show doesn't match up.

For starters, you say that a 10% CTR is the absolute bear minimum needed for a snowball effect, but then you show me a funnel with a 9.4% CTR.

Then you also say that everything I need is in the funnel. But then you say I need 60% AVD. Well, average view duration is a flat number, not a percentage. The studio analytics keeps track of "average percentage viewed" (APV for short) as a separate statistic, but you have to dig around for it. So clearly, youtube intended for us to view AVD and APV as two separate statistics. If they wanted us to see AVD and APV as interchangeable or as two sides of the same coin, I'm pretty sure they would have made APV just as clearly visible as AVD, and not require nearly as much digging to find.

So which is it? Is APV more important than AVD, or is all the information we need in the funnel? You can't have it both ways.

 

[zerocache]

No man, the 60% AVD means that if you have 10min video the AVD should be at least 6mins.

I don't know about the classic studio but the new studio beta does place a percentage in the video's Audience Retention graph.