Quality or Quantity?

[CoolMoo5]

Isn't everyone's priority starting out to get views? I never understand why people say this. People are on youtube to get views right? or am I missing something?

When I'm first starting out my priority would be learning to use YouTube and getting comfortable sharing part of myself with the internet and using my equipment. I wouldn't want tons of views right when I'm starting off. I think a big part of getting started is find a niche too. Get tons of views right when I'm starting would make me feel weird. So yes, I do want tons of views but not when I'm still starting off and I think a lot of people would agree with me. But in the end we all have our own opinions and that is part of what makes YouTube so great.[DOUBLEPOST=1447478445,1447478192][/DOUBLEPOST]

Would you have 1 video that ranks in the top 3 for "How to tie a tie" on YouTube

Or

Would you rather have 50 videos that each gain 1000 views over a 3 month period?

I would rather have the second one to be honest. There is a Ted talk by the lady who wrote "Eat Pray Love" about how if you have one thing that is really popular you just get compared to it and known for one thing.

In my opinion, there is a lot more to YouTube then just gaining views. I was always known as the weird kid in school and YouTube is a place for me to do whatever and those people won't make fun of me (assuming they don't find my channel). Also, video production is something I've been doing for a long time I took classes in school, but I'm always looking to improve my skills and I think YouTube is the perfect place for it.[DOUBLEPOST=1447478577][/DOUBLEPOST]

@CoolMoo5 I agree with what you're saying, in terms of video/audio quality, but when I say quality I mean overall video quality. I'm referring to attitude, lighting, music, sound effects, editing, these are all things that you have control of when you're starting off no matter the circumstance. By adding subtle sound effects and music to your video you can improve the quality ten fold.

It also depends on what kind of videos you plan on making.

Good point. I never thought of it like that. Yes YouTubers starting out might not know how to make the highest quality content, but there are simple things every YouTuber can do to make their videos better.

 

[PrettyKeli]

When I'm first starting out my priority would be learning to use YouTube and getting comfortable sharing part of myself with the internet and using my equipment. I wouldn't want tons of views right when I'm starting off. I think a big part of getting started is find a niche too. Get tons of views right when I'm starting would make me feel weird. So yes, I do want tons of views but not when I'm still starting off and I think a lot of people would agree with me. But in the end we all have our own opinions and that is part of what makes YouTube so great.

I personally think that's backwards. The only way to get comfortable is to do it and you should always want to show yourself in the best light, so getting massive views from the start should always be the agenda.

Another thing that's backwards is finding a niche. You should figure out your niche before you even make a youtube channel. Example if you know you want to make beauty videos and you know before hand, you can name your channel Beauty101. If you wait until afterward you can make the foolish mistake of naming your channel ButterflyGirl5677. That last name can eventually be successful, with work, but that first name will almost instantly make you a SEO Killer.

Practice at home showing videos to friends and family if you want to get comfortable. When you get on YouTube realize the company says BROADCAST YOURSELF and they have Billions of signups. It doesn't say show yourself to a few people until you get comfortable. The goal should always be tons of views instantly or find another video platform or record at home until you are. Youtube is not a place for people who are afraid of success. Those are facts

 

[CoolMoo5]

I personally think that's backwards. The only way to get comfortable is to do it and you should always want to show yourself in the best light, so getting massive views from the start should always be the agenda.

Another thing that's backwards is finding a niche. You should figure out your niche before you even make a youtube channel. Example if you know you want to make beauty videos and you know before hand, you can name your channel Beauty101. If you wait until afterward you can make the foolish mistake of naming your channel ButterflyGirl5677. That last name can eventually be successful, with work, but that first name will almost instantly make you a SEO Killer.

Practice at home showing videos to friends and family if you want to get comfortable. When you get on YouTube realize the company says BROADCAST YOURSELF and they have Billions of signups. It doesn't say show yourself to a few people until you get comfortable. The goal should always be tons of views instantly or find another video platform or record at home until you are. Youtube is not a place for people who are afraid of success. Those are facts

Wow. I never thought of it that way. Yes the username thing is important, but you don't have to know your niche. If you don't know your niche then just choose a neutral channel name, like your name.

 

[PrettyKeli]

I would rather have the second one to be honest. There is a Ted talk by the lady who wrote "Eat Pray Love" about how if you have one thing that is really popular you just get compared to it and known for one thing.

That's not true at all. That's her opinion but that's not a fact. If you rank for "how to tie a tie" and you do another video "how to save a life" and another video "youtubers be like..." and they all rank, you really believe everyone is gonna say "that's the how to tie a tie girl" 0_o even if they do, they're still talking about you and most likely sharing you, isn't that the point?

Wow. I never thought of it that way. Yes the username thing is important, but you don't have to know your niche. If you don't know your niche then just choose a neutral channel name, like your name.

You do have to know your niche. You don't want to be a goldfish jumping in the tank with sharks. Knowing your niche will at least put you at swordfish status. Why make it hard for yourself when it could be easy? Why struggle on purpose?

"Hey, here is a million dollars"
"No thanks, I'd rather work at mc donalds for 50 years and try to earn it on my own, but thanks anyway"
0_o

We simply don't think alike and must agree to disagree

 

[CoolMoo5]

That's not true at all. That's her opinion but that's not a fact. If you rank for "how to tie a tie" and you do another video "how to save a life" and another video "youtubers be like..." and they all rank, you really believe everyone is gonna say "that's the how to tie a tie girl" 0_o even if they do, they're still talking about you and most likely sharing you, isn't that the point?


You do have to know your niche. You don't want to be a goldfish jumping in the tank with sharks. Knowing your niche will at least put you at swordfish status. Why make it hard for yourself when it could be easy? Why struggle on purpose?

"Hey, here is a million dollars"
"No thanks, I'd rather work at mc donalds for 50 years and try to earn it on my own, but thanks anyway"
0_o

We simply don't think alike and must agree to disagree

Yeah I guess. I'm just doing YouTube for the fun of it and doing whatever videos I feel like posting I don't feel I need a niche now. But I do see your point. But since my videos get like 10 views I don't care what I'm doing. But if I got even slightly popular I could see why people would get confused if my videos were all over the place. You do have a lot of good ideas and I can see why your channel is as successful as it is.

I do think we disagree. My main priority is not getting veiws and I don't spend a ton of time with seo. I have wanted to be an artist and create stuff since I was three years old and I don't care who watches.


Also unrelated but I'm a really lucky person and I tend to become popular out of nowhere at just the right time without even trying. This has happened a lot in real life and so it wouldn't be weird if it happened on YouTube. . .

 

[PrettyKeli]

I have wanted to be an artist and create stuff since I was three years old and I don't care who watches.

You have wanted to be an artist and create stuff since you was three? Perfect!!!! Technology has evolved and here is this amazing platform called youtube, use it!

to say "I don't care who watches" is beyond me. We all do youtube (most of us) do it for the views but let's analyze this real quick

views = viewers so when saying "we do it for the views" we are really saying we do it for the viewers

Do you know what an inspiration you could be to someone who has been teased or deals with the same issues as you? to say "I don't really care who watches" is like saying "If what I do can help someone, it really doesn't matter and I don't care if they see it". You can be the thing that helps that awkward kid who wants to give up a reason to keep going. That kid, right now at this very moment is searching for someone he/she can relate to. someone who can be an inspiration and give them hope, but they wont find you because "My main priority is not getting veiws and I don't spend a ton of time with seo"

You have to really think about what you say before you say it and reevaluate your purpose and how you could be and are currently impacting lives. Then adjust accordingly

 

[Juzey]

I think quantity is most important when starting off. Because when you are starting off it is very hard to make quality videos. Having quality videos comes through two things trial and error and time. Plus, if you are a YouTuber just starting off you probably won't have much of an audience so there is no pressure to make super amazing content.

I am doing this thing where I making a video every single day in the month of November. For me, the reason for doing this is just to learn how to make good videos. I have learned a lot so far, even though I know most of the videos I made this month were horrible.

Also, once you gain an audience you can just private or unlist your old not quality videos. Once you have made a bunch of videos you will know what type of videos you want, how often you want to upload and how much quality you to put into each upload. Some people could spend months on a single video and will be top notch quality, but unfortunately YouTube doesn't work that way. Automatically YouTubers who follow a strict schedule probably sacrifice some quality but only because they know what quality content means to them and what they expect from themselves.

So basically I think focus on quantity when starting out.


Also check out "The Gap" by Ira Glass on YouTube.

I came to this thread to say "quality, always" but you've actually made a very good point and changed my mind! But I think if you ever get to a point where you're actually sacrificing quality for quantity (for example, 'I think the video would be improved by this bit of editing but I don't have time to do it because the video has to be up today' or similar thoughts) then there's a problem.

 

[CoolMoo5]

You have wanted to be an artist and create stuff since you was three? Perfect!!!! Technology has evolved and here is this amazing platform called youtube, use it!

to say "I don't care who watches" is beyond me. We all do youtube (most of us) do it for the views but let's analyze this real quick

views = viewers so when saying "we do it for the views" we are really saying we do it for the viewers

Do you know what an inspiration you could be to someone who has been teased or deals with the same issues as you? to say "I don't really care who watches" is like saying "If what I do can help someone, it really doesn't matter and I don't care if they see it". You can be the thing that helps that awkward kid who wants to give up a reason to keep going. That kid, right now at this very moment is searching for someone he/she can relate to. someone who can be an inspiration and give them hope, but they wont find you because "My main priority is not getting veiws and I don't spend a ton of time with seo"

You have to really think about what you say before you say it and reevaluate your purpose and how you could be and are currently impacting lives. Then adjust accordingly

I guess you don't understand where I'm coming from. Most of my videos now and in the past aren't that good and meant to get aot of views. I made a video one time where I roll a watermelon on camera for 20 seconds. If I make something inspring or worth watching or I know it could help people I will spend a lot of time on seo.

I know what I'm doing I just haven't got there yet. For example, when I was in middle school my teacher had this thing where once and a while anyone who wanted to could go in front of the class and talk about any thing. I didn't plan what I said and did a horrible job of blabbing on about who knows what. But it got me going and figured out I like talking to people. I would perform and give speeches to anyone I could and didn't care who was watching. Then in college when I took a speech class I actually planned out my speeches and thought about how to get everyone to pay attention (kind of seo). At the end of the semester all the students had to write down all the speeches they could remember. In the end I had the highest grade in the class, the favorite speech and the top three most remembered speeches were mine. So in a six year period I went from talking about stuff no one cares about to giving the best and popular speeches in class. I want my YouTube channel to be like that. I hope that analogy makes sense.

Feel free to reply probably but I won't reply to you again because this is getting nowhere and we obviously don't see it the same. But like I said I really do think you know what you are doing with seo and you make some good points given the success of your channel.

For me right now (this could change later) I am focusing on quantity over quality and having fun and making what I want over impressing people and getting views. But if somehow I get a bunch views I know that it is what I signed up when joining YouTube and know it could happen.

 

[V3XL0R]

I'm just gonna throw in my two cents into this... Though what I'm about to say contradicts how I first started out, quality is always better, if you're picking one or the other. Generally, you want a balance in both quality and quantity. I'd rather have one good video than 50 bad ones. Sure you want to present as much content as possible to the person viewing your channel, but there's always the future to look forward to. If you have a ton of videos, chances are, the viewer is only going to watch 1-5 of your latest videos, whether or not they're interested in subscribing to you. Rarely will you have someone that watches EVERY single one of your videos. With one good video, that hooks in the viewer to subscribing and watching your future videos because they'll looking forward to the anticipation. Whereas with 50 videos, they'll maybe subscribe, but they'll only view 1-5 of your latest videos and most likely won't even look back. If they're truly your subscribers (as in they truly love your content and what you do) they'll watch every single one of your videos. This leads me to another point. They only watch that many videos at the beginning because a ton of videos can be overwhelming to people. If you have good content, good branding, etc, then that's all you should focus on. For me, I'm able to upload so much because for one, I make a ton of music. A YouTube audience is backwards from, say, a Soundcloud audience. In general, YouTube's audience is different than any other audience because any other audience would tell you that it's about the quality because too much content can be overwhelming. It's all about how you look at it because most of the people who root for quantity mostly care about the views, the money, and the subscribers. However, you should make and do whatever you want. People will have their reasons for subscribing. Focusing on the quantity can change your mind very easily about why you do YouTube. Focus on what you want to upload and what you like to upload. And if you're enjoying it, then that's all that matters.

 

[FartingOnThings]

I would think quality would be better. If you have one good video, which has really high retention, and it's targeting some popular topic, I would think you would get a lot of views from that. Your relative retention needs to be above average, otherwise your videos will sit there with 12 views each.