YouTube Tips Is this a good idea to find my tribe?

[Amanda Summers]

I have a small travel channel that is moving very slowly. I don't think the algorithm is showing it to the right people. Not to complain. I know it's a bot that doesn't have it out to get me or anything. But it's still discouraging.
I saw a company that promises to put your video commercial in front of your best competition so their viewers get the opportunity to watch your video first. Are these companies and promotions helpful? Is there a way to do it directly from Youtube? Would it be better to do it directly?

 

[Tito Tim]

I have never really looked into those services. I really do YT more as a hobby, and do not want to spend much money on it. (Also I assume everything is a scam ha ha.)

What I have been doing is working on my searchability. If YT is not going to show the vids to the audience I think they should, then I will make sure my videos have a better chance to show up in search. When they are looking - I want the best chance to be found.

A few years ago I had 49% of my views from Suggested, 21% from Browse, and only 7.5% from Search. Two years ago there was a huge change (algorithm changed? or my rankings changed?) and my suggested dropped to 20% and has remained there. That was when I started working on being searchable. Now my suggested is 21%, browse is 26%, and search is 31%.

I would work on keyword research and SEO. Use the keyword explorer to find what people are looking for. I use the highest ranked in my title, and on the SEO tool. Then I use some of the other highly ranked keywords as my tags. YouTube says tags are not as important... but old habits...

 

[Super Cooper Hobbies]

I have never really looked into those services. I really do YT more as a hobby, and do not want to spend much money on it. (Also I assume everything is a scam ha ha.)

What I have been doing is working on my searchability. If YT is not going to show the vids to the audience I think they should, then I will make sure my videos have a better chance to show up in search. When they are looking - I want the best chance to be found.

A few years ago I had 49% of my views from Suggested, 21% from Browse, and only 7.5% from Search. Two years ago there was a huge change (algorithm changed? or my rankings changed?) and my suggested dropped to 20% and has remained there. That was when I started working on being searchable. Now my suggested is 21%, browse is 26%, and search is 31%.

I would work on keyword research and SEO. Use the keyword explorer to find what people are looking for. I use the highest ranked in my title, and on the SEO tool. Then I use some of the other highly ranked keywords as my tags. YouTube says tags are not as important... but old habits...

Two things, one, that assumption doesn't seem like a bad thing, lol.

But you're right in that search ability helps. The videos that drive my channel are searchable ones and they get me the most new viewers. So what I recommend is that you take a searchable idea, and make a very high quality video so that everyone who see's it from search will be impressed, and more likely to subscribe.

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

You have to beware bad actors out there. There are a lot of companies that will try to take advantage of your exact feelings here. That having been said there are companies who offer services like what you mention and legitimately do what they say they are going to do (they are basically buying ads for you).

But two things to note:

1. I have been doing YouTube for over five years now and I have never seen a single channel who can credit a company like this for being the reason they made it.

2. In every single circumstance of a someone using a service like this that I have seen I have never once heard someone say it was worth it. I think on average people are spending somewhere between 25 cents to over $1 per subscriber that they gain. If you have the money to buy yourself into the realm of subscribers that you want for vanity sake then this is not the worst direction to go. But in the end it is not an investment that is going to pay for itself.

This is actually one of the reasons TubeBuddy is so successful. Rather than investing in services like this you can take advantage of what YouTube is... a Search engine and one of the best on the planet (also, its owned by the best search engine on the planet). Utilize your SEO to get your videos in front of the people who are actively searching for the type of content that you make. That can get you in front of far more eyes than any amount of ad traffic... and with zero cost.

 

[Amanda Summers]

You have to beware bad actors out there. There are a lot of companies that will try to take advantage of your exact feelings here. That having been said there are companies who offer services like what you mention and legitimately do what they say they are going to do (they are basically buying ads for you).

But two things to note:

1. I have been doing YouTube for over five years now and I have never seen a single channel who can credit a company like this for being the reason they made it.

2. In every single circumstance of a someone using a service like this that I have seen I have never once heard someone say it was worth it. I think on average people are spending somewhere between 25 cents to over $1 per subscriber that they gain. If you have the money to buy yourself into the realm of subscribers that you want for vanity sake then this is not the worst direction to go. But in the end it is not an investment that is going to pay for itself.

This is actually one of the reasons TubeBuddy is so successful. Rather than investing in services like this you can take advantage of what YouTube is... a Search engine and one of the best on the planet (also, its owned by the best search engine on the planet). Utilize your SEO to get your videos in front of the people who are actively searching for the type of content that you make. That can get you in front of far more eyes than any amount of ad traffic... and with zero cost.

Thanks, yes, I think you are right. Your answer made me realize something, too. I've gone back over all 100 + videos and looked carefully at the tags and keywords, description, etc. I think I could go back again and write something else in the description and then tag that making it a more searched term.
Here's the discouraging part; I write detailed descriptions, pick 3 hashtags and put as many search words as possible in the voice-over and I even started putting the chapters in the descriptions. Then I look at some of the videos at the top. None have chapters, 3 hashtags or anything in the description. Then I look at them and I think, 'My videos are more helpful, have a smother, stabilized footage. My video is newer delivers more information, etc.' So, I wish I could understand how they get to the top like that. It isn't that I have 'sour grapes' as someone suggested, but I just feel like I'm doing everything and still get nothing. If I had a plan to get on the right track I'd feel better but I feel like I'm just shooting in the dark.

 

[Amanda Summers]

You have to beware bad actors out there. There are a lot of companies that will try to take advantage of your exact feelings here. That having been said there are companies who offer services like what you mention and legitimately do what they say they are going to do (they are basically buying ads for you).

But two things to note:

1. I have been doing YouTube for over five years now and I have never seen a single channel who can credit a company like this for being the reason they made it.

2. In every single circumstance of a someone using a service like this that I have seen I have never once heard someone say it was worth it. I think on average people are spending somewhere between 25 cents to over $1 per subscriber that they gain. If you have the money to buy yourself into the realm of subscribers that you want for vanity sake then this is not the worst direction to go. But in the end it is not an investment that is going to pay for itself.

This is actually one of the reasons TubeBuddy is so successful. Rather than investing in services like this you can take advantage of what YouTube is... a Search engine and one of the best on the planet (also, its owned by the best search engine on the planet). Utilize your SEO to get your videos in front of the people who are actively searching for the type of content that you make. That can get you in front of far more eyes than any amount of ad traffic... and with zero cost.

I think you are right, but I thought if I could put it in front of a video that is already drawing 'my tribe' then the algorithm will start showing it to people who don't live in Nepal. The local people already know where to eat, where to go when they get sick, how to use a squat toilet, etc. but if you travel to a developing country like Nepal these things can be confusing. That's the person I need to find.

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

Thanks, yes, I think you are right. Your answer made me realize something, too. I've gone back over all 100 + videos and looked carefully at the tags and keywords, description, etc. I think I could go back again and write something else in the description and then tag that making it a more searched term.
Here's the discouraging part; I write detailed descriptions, pick 3 hashtags and put as many search words as possible in the voice-over and I even started putting the chapters in the descriptions. Then I look at some of the videos at the top. None have chapters, 3 hashtags or anything in the description. Then I look at them and I think, 'My videos are more helpful, have a smother, stabilized footage. My video is newer delivers more information, etc.' So, I wish I could understand how they get to the top like that. It isn't that I have 'sour grapes' as someone suggested, but I just feel like I'm doing everything and still get nothing. If I had a plan to get on the right track I'd feel better but I feel like I'm just shooting in the dark.

Don't sweat the others. There is a lot that goes into the videos which currently rank... a lot of them were there before there were chapters. Those ranks can take time too... in fact no video that is recently published will show an actual, long-term rank for at least two weeks. Also these videos often rank for these terms as a result of them doing well for other terms, other videos etc. Keep doing what you are doing; everything will come in time.

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

I think you are right, but I thought if I could put it in front of a video that is already drawing 'my tribe' then the algorithm will start showing it to people who don't live in Nepal. The local people already know where to eat, where to go when they get sick, how to use a squat toilet, etc. but if you travel to a developing country like Nepal these things can be confusing. That's the person I need to find.

YouTube is going to put your video in front of that exact person searching for something like what you are targeting... but they are also going to put it in front of the person who is attracted to the video style that you use, the type of thumbnail that you use, the length of your video and even the type of device the viewers tend to enjoy your content on. It goes pretty deep (if you are feeling sadistic check out Google Brain... that's part of what YouTube uses to determine your audience and it gets... weird). So target what you can and let YouTube do the rest. It may not be the exact audience you are looking for and it may not even be the audience you would expect. But it is the audience who has proven to be the most in tune not only with your topic but with a lot of video elements you never even considered.

 

[Amanda Summers]

Don't sweat the others. There is a lot that goes into the videos which currently rank... a lot of them were there before there were chapters. Those ranks can take time too... in fact no video that is recently published will show an actual, long-term rank for at least two weeks. Also these videos often rank for these terms as a result of them doing well for other terms, other videos etc. Keep doing what you are doing; everything will come in time.

You are so right. Also, it's a travel channel for a tiny country hit pretty hard by the pandemic. It's crazy times for anyone in the travel industry. I just love doing the videos. I just started getting embarrassed that I still don't have it going after all this time, expense and talking it up.

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

I also deal with an audience based largely on tourism, totally hear you there. But I will say I have done well to branch out into a larger demographic... mainly due to some assistance thanks to the tools TubeBuddy provides. Keyword research and well-planned SEO works wonders. But also doing my captions and translating my metadata into various language has accounted for a nice boost in views as well.

 

[Amanda Summers]

I also deal with an audience based largely on tourism, totally hear you there. But I will say I have done well to branch out into a larger demographic... mainly due to some assistance thanks to the tools TubeBuddy provides. Keyword research and well-planned SEO works wonders. But also doing my captions and translating my metadata into various languages has accounted for a nice boost in views as well.

I started to have someone translate the subtitles into French, but then I didn't pursue it. What I did in that vein, though, is to set my VPN to a European country when I upload to see if that would help. It doesn't seem like it did anything. But I think I'll give this friend a call again and see if she still wants to do it. I'm in Nepal where labor costs are so cheap. She offered to do it for about $16.

 

[Amanda Summers]

So what I recommend is that you take a searchable idea, and make a very high quality video so that everyone who see's it from search will be impressed, and more likely to subscribe.

LOL. I think that's what we are all trying to do. Damn! it's hard.

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

I started to have someone translate the subtitles into French, but then I didn't pursue it. What I did in that vein, though, is to set my VPN to a European country when I upload to see if that would help. It doesn't seem like it did anything. But I think I'll give this friend a call again and see if she still wants to do it. I'm in Nepal where labor costs are so cheap. She offered to do it for about $16.

Oh man, translations are actually not that hard to do (and are even easier with a TubeBuddy Legend license). I'll try to write up an article with instructions for doing so this week. But there are plenty of videos out there explaining how to do it. I translate all my captions/titles/descriptions into about two-dozen languages. The entire process for this takes about 30 minutes start to finish.

 

[MattCommand1]

Oh man, translations are actually not that hard to do (and are even easier with a TubeBuddy Legend license). I'll try to write up an article with instructions for doing so this week. But there are plenty of videos out there explaining how to do it. I translate all my captions/titles/descriptions into about two-dozen languages. The entire process for this takes about 30 minutes start to finish.

Translated into two dozen languages? Ok, you got my attention!

 

[Amanda Summers]

Oh man, translations are actually not that hard to do (and are even easier with a TubeBuddy Legend license). I'll try to write up an article with instructions for doing so this week. But there are plenty of videos out there explaining how to do it. I translate all my captions/titles/descriptions into about two-dozen languages. The entire process for this takes about 30 minutes start to finish.

But does it come out right? All the AI type translations I've seen have been so wrong it can make no sense half the time. Maybe the quality is better now. I'd love to learn more about this.