My YouTube Theory

[TinHatRanch]

Definitely agree with WrecklessEating's post on the first page. (he and I are both 'large' channels)

Length doesn't matter at all. Being successful in what you do matters. Typically this means being unique and different. Anyone can make vlogs or gaming videos. How are you going to make yours stand out?



Same, joined 2007, started making vids 8 months ago.[DOUBLEPOST=1373398086,1373397977][/DOUBLEPOST]
In my experience there is no easy 'press to win' button. The biggest factor by far is creating unique, awesome content.

I know lots of folks that have awesome and unique content and no views. I feel I have hit a "ceiling" myself and am trying to find a way to push through it. For the most part I can repeat the same performance over and over again but I cannot break out. Both you and Wreckless Eating had to have had some type of break along the way to go from linear growth to exponential growth. I'm not complaining, just looking for answers.

 

[Flammy]

I know what you mean, as in surely if you upload consistently then people will continue to sub slowly but surely? However, then I think, this couldn't work for everyone could it, like imagine someone with the most dull personality who filmed them self doing blogs about his/her routine day, everyday, in 240p. They could never be a success even if they'd been uploaded for so many years could they?

Slowly, yes, but that is super inefficient and takes so long that either you give up or you get lucky. What wreckless and I are talking about is working smarter not working longer.

I know lots of folks that have awesome and unique content and no views. I feel I have hit a "ceiling" myself and am trying to find a way to push through it. For the most part I can repeat the same performance over and over again but I cannot break out. Both you and Wreckless Eating had to have had some type of break along the way to go from linear growth to exponential growth. I'm not complaining, just looking for answers.

Note: I haven't looked at your channel.

The majority of people are boring and make fairly boring videos. I'm included in this.Vlogs are boring. Let's Plays are boring. That covers about ~80% of uploads, it feels like. If anyone truly wants me to rate someone's videos on an 'uniqueness scale' let me know.

Note: just because someone else can get away with doing let's plays or vlogs successfully doesn't mean that you can too.

The other part is making content which is going to have search volume. It doesn't matter if you have an amazing show if you don't position it as 'similar to this' or 'kinda like that' where you can suck some search volume off of that other topic to yourself and get yourself going. This isn't as much as an issue, as almost everyone is stuck in the not-unique category.

 

[FantasyGamerX]

Actually, I like Camille Montpetit pointed out, it's misleading. I opened my YouTube account in 2007 but only just started my gaming channel in Feburary of this year. So those 600 subs you see are from a little over 5 months of active channel uploading...which I think is pretty good! lol.

I'm so jelly

 

[TinHatRanch]

Slowly, yes, but that is super inefficient and takes so long that either you give up or you get lucky. What wreckless and I are talking about is working smarter not working longer.




Note: I haven't looked at your channel.

The majority of people are boring and make fairly boring videos. I'm included in this.Vlogs are boring. Let's Plays are boring. That covers about ~80% of uploads, it feels like. If anyone truly wants me to rate someone's videos on an 'uniqueness scale' let me know.

Note: just because someone else can get away with doing let's plays or vlogs successfully doesn't mean that you can too.

The other part is making content which is going to have search volume. It doesn't matter if you have an amazing show if you don't position it as 'similar to this' or 'kinda like that' where you can suck some search volume off of that other topic to yourself and get yourself going. This isn't as much as an issue, as almost everyone is stuck in the not-unique category.

Compared to vlogs and gaming the niche I am in is relatively undercrowded. There are some in my niche that do very well, not the very top of YT as far as views or subscribers. The highest I’ve seen someone in my genre make was top 25 in subs and views. There are quite a few folks that are probably making a living making videos similar to mine. Am I original? I don’t know, you tell me. Everyone always thinks they are original. I’ve only been doing this 4 months so I learn something with every video. I’d be happy for a successful youtuber to take a look at my channel.

 

[Seb King]

I've been wondering lately if the key to YouTube success is simply continuing with your channel. I've been looking a lot at people's "date joined" versus their subscriber count and the majority of people with high sub counts have been on here for an average of 3 years. Some less, some more, but the majority of them for 3.

My question is, do you think if anyone continually uploaded decent quality videos that they would eventually get up into the higher thousands in terms of subs and views? Or do you think at some point unless their content is above average in quality that they will hit a wall and won't gain anymore subs?

From my experience (and this is several years worth), I can say for certain that being Consistent and continuing to upload to YouTube are MAJOR contributing factors. There are other things that are involved, but allow me to explain these first.

Around the start of 2010, I had a YouTube channel with more comedy based vlogs, where I would simply take something and it's principles and twist them to make them humorous. At the same time, a good friend of mine on YouTube, MorganPaigeLoves was at around 500 Subscribers and was getting about half the views I was (given that I was at over 1000). Fast forward 3 years and I have since moved onto different channels. She stuck by hers, and she's almost at 20K subscribers.

I think that says a lot.

As for other factors, women tend to get more growth on YouTube than men in general. It also depends on the quality of your content.
So you can really go to town if you can produce High Quality content consistently.

 

[Flammy]

Compared to vlogs and gaming the niche I am in is relatively undercrowded. There are some in my niche that do very well, not the very top of YT as far as views or subscribers. The highest I’ve seen someone in my genre make was top 25 in subs and views. There are quite a few folks that are probably making a living making videos similar to mine. Am I original? I don’t know, you tell me. Everyone always thinks they are original. I’ve only been doing this 4 months so I learn something with every video. I’d be happy for a successful youtuber to take a look at my channel.

I can't watch your content, but yes, you definitely are more unique than most of us. There are still others doing guns and such though.

Your issue is the one i mentioned briefly at the end - the majority of people won't be searching for content to find yours. You aren't competing with others as much as finding terms that do have good search volume.

You do have a lot of possibilities for SEO - weapon names, stuff like your nuclear survival vid are great because they ARE what people will search for. However the big views will come from ranking on some good search results page and from ranking on the suggested sidebar of videos from people like FPSRussia. That will drive a lot of traffic your direction.

 

[TinHatRanch]

I can't watch your content, but yes, you definitely are more unique than most of us. There are still others doing guns and such though.

Your issue is the one i mentioned briefly at the end - the majority of people won't be searching for content to find yours. You aren't competing with others as much as finding terms that do have good search volume.

You do have a lot of possibilities for SEO - weapon names, stuff like your nuclear survival vid are great because they ARE what people will search for. However the big views will come from ranking on some good search results page and from ranking on the suggested sidebar of videos from people like FPSRussia. That will drive a lot of traffic your direction.

And that is the 64 million dollar question, how does one rank on the suggest sidebar of videos from people like FPS Russia? I think I have the basic search down. I am on the front page or the first one on most of the videos on different search terms, most of the time what I feel would be most common. Just search "how to survive a nuclear war" or "mosin-nagant". I have NOT figured out the suggest video thing.

Thanks for the advice, I did find it funny that you said "I can't watch your content" lol.

 

[Flammy]

And that is the 64 million dollar question, how does one rank on the suggest sidebar of videos from people like FPS Russia? I think I have the basic search down. I am on the front page or the first one on most of the videos on different search terms, most of the time what I feel would be most common. Just search "how to survive a nuclear war" or "mosin-nagant". I have NOT figured out the suggest video thing.

Thanks for the advice, I did find it funny that you said "I can't watch your content" lol.

Relevant videos is mostly by description/tags from my experience.

Other (less relevant) factors:
Title, views, rating, retention, channel name, transcription/closed captions, etc.

And I can't watch because I'm at work Some of it looked interesting and I probably would have watched if I could.

 

[TinHatRanch]

Relevant videos is mostly by description/tags from my experience.

Other (less relevant) factors:
Title, views, rating, retention, channel name, transcription/closed captions, etc.

And I can't watch because I'm at work Some of it looked interesting and I probably would have watched if I could.

When you can, check out my latest video on "bug out bags". I don't know you and I don't know if you even know what a BOB is, but it is a popular subject in the survival community. I feel that my content is solid and my perspective is always different from the rest of the genre. That part comes easy to me. What I try to focus on from that point is actual production. I am limited in the quality of the video due to my crappy cameras but I focus on providing a more cinematic experience for the viewers and pacing the videos in a manner I do not think my peers consider. Like I said earlier, I learn with each video. The part I struggle with is getting videos in front of people. When people watch they generally like and subscribe. In the survival community there are places to share the video but there is a limit to that sharing. I can guarantee myself a few thousand views by my own efforts, it is beyond that where I am lost.

 

[Seroths]

And that is the 64 million dollar question, how does one rank on the suggest sidebar of videos from people like FPS Russia? I think I have the basic search down. I am on the front page or the first one on most of the videos on different search terms, most of the time what I feel would be most common. Just search "how to survive a nuclear war" or "mosin-nagant". I have NOT figured out the suggest video thing.

Thanks for the advice, I did find it funny that you said "I can't watch your content" lol.

Google Adwords may be your best chance to get noticed ! Like I have said before on another thread, you can make best content in the world, if nobody see it it's useless !

In the real life, mention a famous cola drink !
How did they achieve to make you said that ? It's not the best drink in the world, but you know it because they can't stop braging about it everywhere you go ! Advertisement has already demonstrate you how powerful it is !

Just think about how you have discovered your most beloved youtuber !
There is no secret... Or there is patience !