[00:00] There is so much bad advice out there when it comes to growing on YouTube. And as a YouTube expert myself with over 30 million views across a number of channels, I've seen these hold back creators like you from going viral time and time again. So today, I'm going to bust the three most common myths about blowing up on YouTube,
[00:15] so that after you watch this video, you only focus on the things that actually help you grow your channel, so that you finally see the success that you deserve. Starting with number one, better editing will make you go viral. See, most small creators seem to think that adding really impressive animations
[00:29] or super complex after effects scenes or even pacing their videos way faster is going to get them more views. But the truth is having good editing isn't just going to magically blow up your channel. Because for starters, depending on your niche, good editing is no longer enough to
[00:43] make you stand out to viewers and keep them watching longer than other videos will. And this is because nowadays everybody has good editing. For example, if we take a look at the business niche, literally every single video has some sort of engaging retention editing and to be honest,
[00:55] a lot of the videos look the same. It's simply no longer enough to set yourself apart and go crazy viral. And at the same time, YouTube is also moving into a new era where videos without any sort of editing are blowing up too. Simply put, back in the early days of YouTube, the platform
[01:08] was full of raw, authentic, mostly unedited content that viewers loved. And over the years, this eventually got stale, and the modern Mr. Deep Retention style of editing began to emerge and keep viewers engaged better than other videos on the platform that didn't adopt this style,
[01:22] which has caused the meta of YouTube to be really highly edited videos over the last few years. However though, in recent years this style too has become stale to viewers, and viewer preferences are sifting back to where they first started on YouTube, where audiences enjoy more raw, authentic content because it gives them something new that they haven't watched very much of.
[01:39] So, having good editing isn't going to be what blows up your channel, but even as we move into this new era where unedited content is becoming more and more of a meta, this doesn't mean you should just immediately stop editing your videos and post raw footage and hope it gets views, because it probably won't.
[01:53] won't. See, success in some niches requires more editing than others. Take the documentary niche, for example. Literally every successful channel in that niche edits to a crazy high standard, with channels like Fern and Cypher even including full 3D renders in their videos to go above and
[02:07] beyond. With this in mind, you can't just post a raw, unedited documentary video that's just you talking on camera and expect it to get views when you're competing with these channels that have insane production. Or if we take a niche like mine, where channels teach other creators how
[02:20] to grow on YouTube. My channel gets lots of viewers from countries where English is not the main language like India so to keep viewers watching I need lots of edits to supplement what I saying in my voiceovers or I lose viewers because my videos will be harder for them to understand if it just me talking
[02:34] So, take a look at your niche, see how much editing your competitors are doing, and edit to that same standard so that you can compete with them in terms of production. But there's no need to go overboard and waste money on really, really, really expensive editors most of the time,
[02:46] it's just not going to get you more views. But okay, if better editing isn't the key to blowing up your channel, then what is? Well, a lot of people will tell you it's having better SEO, and they're sort of right. But before I tell you how, let's talk about something game-changing for your brand domain,
[03:00] specifically the .store domain. If you're running an online store or selling merch from your channel, your domain is more than just a link or a URL that you share. It's what you share with your community to get them to visit your store. It's your brand online.
[03:12] So why settle for something generic like www.natewells.myshopify.com where you can have a clean, memorable URL that actually means something, write www.natewells.store,
[03:24] which can still take your audience to your Shopify store, for example, but the URL looks branded and not random. A .store domain does exactly what it says. It tells your audience, this is your store. No confusion, no unnecessary fluff, just you, your name, and a clear URL.
[03:39] Here's why .store is the perfect choice for creators. Number one, the audience knows immediately it's your official store. Number two, it puts your brand first, keeping your name front and center with no distractions.
[03:51] And number three, there's a huge performance boost when you use a .store domain. Websites that use these domains see two times more visibility. That's simply real value for any creator. MrBeast online store moved from a long .com URL to a more direct MrBeast.store.
[04:06] iShowSpeed store transitioned from iShowSpeedstore.com to a sleek, memorable URL of Speed.store. Your domain is basically like your store's thumbnail. When someone comes to www.yourname.store, they know exactly where they're at and feel safe buying from you.
[04:20] And even if you don't have an online store yet, you'll definitely want to just lock in your .store domain early because it's your brand's home for when you do decide to monetize and nobody can take it once it's yours. And it's super affordable too, just 99 cents for your first year when you use code NATEWEALTH at checkout.
[04:34] So head to www.go.store.n8.1 or click the first link in the description to get your .store domain now. Now, lots of people out there will tell you that SEO optimizing your videos is the best
[04:46] way to go viral and as I said before they sort of right SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization which on YouTube basically means if someone looks up your video topic is your video going to come up or not Well to figure this out let first understand that some content is searchable
[05:00] and some content is not searchable. For example, a video called How to Get a Girlfriend is definitely searchable. This is something a lot of people will literally just type into their search bar because they want help with this very specific thing. Most how-to videos that are actually helpful are really searchable
[05:13] simply because people are going to search for them. On the other hand, a video that's like, I built a castle in my backyard, might be a good video, but it's not searchable, because nobody's going on YouTube and searching for that exact video. This is really important to know, because SEO optimizing your content will only get you more views if you can actually get views from search.
[05:30] So if your video isn't searchable, it's a complete waste of time to do SEO optimization. Like with my client, Belinda's channel, where she's getting pretty much no views from search, even though her videos are really good and get crazy views from recommendations. Her content just isn't searchable, which is fine.
[05:43] Maybe you make tutorial videos like I do and also want to get hundreds of thousands of views from search on your videos like I do. Well, my process is actually really simple. First, start with a searchable topic, which in my case is a video like how to write scripts or how to edit videos.
[05:56] Second, make it interesting and good so people will actually click on it and watch. Third, write a short description of your video and put it as high up in your description as you can and use common keywords people will search for related to your topic. Like for a video about how to get a girlfriend, use words like dating, love, online dating, tinder, high school, and so on.
[06:11] But don't just throw a million words together in a paragraph because YouTube's going to filter that out as spam. Instead, write a paragraph that's actually good English and makes sense while trying to stuff in those keywords when possible. If you want, you can even have AI do this for you.
[06:23] And then your video is SEO optimized. You really don't have to do too much work for this because YouTube also takes your title and transcribes your video's voiceover to find keywords and phrases to use those for SEO as well. And with this method, I've been able to get hundreds of thousands of views on several videos that I've worked on.
[06:38] But as cool as this is, the hundreds of thousands of views from search only came after I had about 100,000 views from YouTube recommendations. Because once the algorithm saw that viewers loved these videos, and also because they were SEO optimized, YouTube was able to push them to the very top of search, and then they could get views from there.
[06:52] So even though SEO optimizing your videos is a really sneaky way to get a bunch of extra views in a lot of cases, it's probably not what's going to blow up your channel in the first place. So if the key to going viral isn't better editing or better SEO,
[07:04] then let's have a look at a few hacks that everyone says you can use to blow up your channel. Because after all, if you just do a few little tricks next time you upload a video, game change a couple settings then you gonna blow up on YouTube right Hack number one uploading at the most active time for your channel when most of your viewers are online A lot of people say there a best time to upload on YouTube and you need to find the right time for your channel
[07:24] And this is wrong. YouTube themselves even says this doesn't matter because long-form videos get tested over a long period of time. If you upload at a time when your audience isn't online, your video probably won't do well initially, but will just pick back up later when your viewers get on YouTube.
[07:38] I've seen this myself time and time again. For example, this video here that I uploaded at like 2 a.m. when most of my viewers were offline. It started off like a 10 of 10, and now it's got over 100,000 views. So it really doesn't matter. Next, hack number two, using good tags on your videos.
[07:51] This also probably won't help you. You can suggest to only use tags if words in your video are commonly misspelled, otherwise they don't matter. For example, if your video is about business or clients, you might want to include misspellings of the word business since it's a little hard to spell like D.
[08:04] This way, if somebody misspells the word business when they're searching for your video, your video will still come up. So yeah, this is a good thing and could get you a few extra views, but it is not going to be what makes you blow up on YouTube. Finally, hack three, making your videos longer.
[08:17] So many creators I've talked to say things like, oh, YouTube's not going to push out my video if it's not 10 minutes long, or I need to make my video eight minutes, or the algorithm won't like me. But in reality, none of the above is even close to true. If YouTube cared about the exact length that you made your videos,
[08:31] then these videos that are all under five minutes long, including my video, would not have gone viral. Just make your videos as long as they need to be, Because at the end of the day, no little hack, trick, or setting is going to be what makes you go viral. And so if nothing we've gone over today is going to make you blow up on YouTube,
[08:46] then what is the key to going viral? Well, I know the answer, but don't just take it from me. Why not take it from the person who's closest to the YouTube algorithm and knows exactly how it works? Back in September, I attended a private meeting run by the director of the YouTube algorithm, Todd at Bopre.
[09:00] And he actually gave me the answer. To sum it up, make content viewers enjoy, and the algorithm will notice and push out your videos. You aren't getting shadow banned, the algorithm doesn't hate you, and you don't have the wrong settings or wrong time on your upload.
[09:12] Do teach or talk about things that are interesting to your viewers, and they will watch, delete positive feedback in the videos, and the algorithm will promote them. And if you just do cool stuff in your videos, it's way easier to come up with viral titles, thumbnails, and write really good scripts.
[09:25] All of which make your content better and make viewers enjoy it more. So if you want help making your content better, then feel free to check out this video next or book a free call with me at natewealth.com or with the QR code on screen.