YouTube Algorithm Explained — Step-by-Step Guide & Transcript

[00:01] If I tell you that there is no such thing as algorithm on YouTube, then ? The whole world talks about YouTube's algorithm. Many new creators consider this a monster. So the reality is that YouTube's algorithm does

[00:16] only one thing: which video should be shown to the whole world and which video should go into oblivion. This thing called algorithm neither looks at your emotions nor your hard work. It only looks at two things. Numbers and Signals.

[00:29] Many new users are afraid of this algorithm and are seen complaining everywhere that the The algorithm is against me. Many such comments also come on our videos. So let me end this fear of yours today.

[00:51] not your enemy, but your partner. Its main function is to show the viewer the kind of video he wants. So the secret to success on YouTube is not about pleasing the algorithm, but about pleasing the viewers who watch your videos. And the

[01:05] day you understand this point, YouTube will become extremely easy for you. So let me guide you through what YouTube's algorithm thinks? How he sees the signals. CTR Watch Time Session Retention Time Search Suggested Browser

[01:20] How does it work in all these things and when you understand all this, then after uploading the video, you will easily understand why your video played or did not play? Before understanding the algorithm, understand one basic point.

[01:33] YouTube's algorithm works within YouTube. What does YouTube want now? YouTube wants more and more people to stay on YouTube, leaving other sites and social media platforms.

[01:48] stay on YouTube, the more ads they will see. They will get more advertisers people making videos on YouTube will earn more and this is their business. Now one thing is clear from here that YouTube needs long term viewership and YouTube has

[02:03] deployed its algorithm for this purpose. The creator whose video is interesting, the creator whose video is attracting people from outside.

[02:15] wasting their time on YouTube only. Algorithms are gold to him. So here the work of the algorithm that comes out is that the algorithm works as a match maker. It brings to the that the algorithm works as a match maker. It brings to the

[02:29] think a little that you made a video which people are liking. If people are watching it for a longer time, then in reality you are fulfilling the purpose of YouTube and in return YouTube is making your video reach more people. Due to which your

[02:42] earnings are increasing, views are coming, likes, comments are coming, subscribers are increasing and this is the secret of the algorithm that you made the algorithm happy. In return, he is taking your video to more viewers. The algorithm is your partner,

[02:55] not your enemy, and you should not chase the algorithm. You have to target that viewer and what kind of video he wants. You have to show him such a video. You have to keep him watching your video for as long as possible. After this, understand one more point.

[03:07] People think that algorithms are very difficult and complicated. While the reality is the opposite, the algorithm looks at certain signals that all relate to the viewer's attitude and behavior to determine what people are clicking on. Which

[03:19] video are you watching till the last? Are you also clicking on the next video of the same guy ? Are they liking, commenting and sharing the videos they watched? So that's just what the algorithm sees the viewer. Looks at his actions and not the creator's

[03:31] video. And the first indicator of all this is CTR. In the previous sessions, I guided you that CTR is directly related to your title and thumbnail, how many people saw your video, how many people clicked on it. CTR comes from the combination of these two.

[03:45] Now come to the screen and understand that in the previous session I had guided you a little about CTR that the better your CTR, the more clicks your video will get. So, for this you will have to make your title the best

[03:57] , make the thumbnail attractive because this is the main gate to enter your video. And from here you will know from these impressions that how many people YouTube showed your thumbnail to and how many people clicked on it and from here

[04:09] comes your CTR and I have already told you that CTR from 7 to 10 [music] is a best CTR, it is not bad. But if you create such a thumbnail and title on which the CTR goes up to 10 plus or 15 plus, then understand that

[04:23] your video has gone viral. So you have to work as much as possible on creating good thumbnails and titles but that is only half the battle. The first task is to bring someone to your video and even more important is that after coming to your video, he should

[04:37] not leave immediately after playing the video but should keep watching the video and sit for as long as possible. And when he sits on the algorithm for a longer time, then this is the second signal through which he will get the average duration time. After CTR, the algorithm

[04:51] looks at your duration time. Looks at the average time. Now, if people leave a video within 15-20 seconds after visiting it, then the algorithm gets a bad signal. If your video was initially shown to 100 people, the algorithm would show it to 50 people, then 15,

[05:03] 20, and 10, and then your video would disappear from the scene. But if more and more people are coming to your video , staying for a longer time , and people are spending less time on them. Spending more time on your videos. So

[05:16] from here your video will send a plus signal to the algorithm. Your video will also rank and will also rank in search. After this, the next signal that goes to the algorithm is the retention time. When someone clicked on your video, at what point did he

[05:29] leave your video? The I have already told this in my session that the more you increase your retention time, the more plus signals will go to the algorithm and the watch time will

[05:42] increase, if the retention time increases then your video will what you said that made the viewer leave you. What next gets viewers hooked again ? So in this way you have to increase the retention time by removing the flaws of your video.

[05:55] This is the third signal going to the algorithm that you have to boost , recover, increase. Let us understand a small example here. Suppose two similar videos have been made by two creators. People are watching a creator's video for 2

[06:07] minutes and then leaving. People are watching the same video of another creator for 7-8 minutes. understood it well. So you have to pay a lot of attention to retention and try your best to boost it. Now after this, an important

[06:20] using some other social media platform. He clicked on your thumbnail. Started watching your videos. But after watching your video, he did not close YouTube and go away, instead he started watching some other video of yours on YouTube

[06:34] or started using YouTube in some other way. But it remained on YouTube only. So this will become the session time of that viewer. And YouTube wants people to stay on YouTube as much as possible and if you succeed in doing this then

[06:47] your channel gets authority, gets ranked, and the algorithm gets a plus signal. And how will you do this? Whenever you end your video, leave a CTA at the end that will make people click on your next video.

[06:59] Say something that hints at the next video. Along with that, there should be a thumbnail of that video or a link should be placed in the i button or the icon of that video should be placed on the end screen in the form of a playlist. If we talk about the previous video and the subsequent video in this video, then with this

[07:12] significantly. Now this series of mine is going on. I can clearly see from my analytics that people are going and watching my previous sessions and Alhamdulillah they are also waiting for the upcoming sessions. Surely there are such people among you too. So, by the

[07:25] succeeded in increasing the session time on YouTube. And that's a plus signal for YouTube's algorithm. After this comes the question that where does the traffic on YouTube come from? YouTube's algorithm looks at this very closely. So there are

[07:38] three major ways for viewers to come to your video. The first thing in which is search. Suppose you search here how to change PTCL Wi-Fi password. Let's click. This video of Banda Nachis came in front of you. It has 1.8 million views and it has been

[07:52] 4 years since this video was made and Alhamdulillah, this video is still at number one. If you live in Pakistan and search on any internet, any mobile, laptop, PC with different types of wording, then the video of this brother of yours will

[08:05] appear on the first number in front of you. This is called evergreen content. If your title is powerful, you have written everything clearly on the thumbnail. Whatever the searcher searched for, he gets everything in your title and thumbnail. So the person clicks on this and

[08:18] clicks on the video that appears in the search result. She's pleasing the video algorithm. Now this video has come at number one. Once this video was at seventh or eighth position. As people scroll down, the thumbnail and title of the video attract them.

[08:30] People clicked on it as more and more people clicked. This video kept on rising in its ranking and even after 4 years, it is still at number one. So here that thing is also getting combined, CTR and due to clicks after coming in the search, a positive

[08:42] signal is going to the algorithm from here also. Now the second thing is the browser feature. As soon as someone opens YouTube and your video is shown here, it means that YouTube itself is recommending your video to people. If it is not in the first row, it may be in the second or

[08:55] third row. If your video is appearing on YouTube's home page, YouTube But if no one clicks on it then the algorithm will get a bad signal and if someone clicks on it then what is coming in it, the CTR is the thumbnail and title of your video,

[09:09] goes to your video then YouTube's algorithm gets a plus signal, that is why I am saying again and again that your title and thumbnail should be amazing, you have to spend time in making it ready. After this, the third thing is recommendation.

[09:24] Suppose the viewer has opened a video and is watching it here on the bottom of the mobile or on the YouTube is suggesting your video on the right side, wants to boost your video, wants to rank it and here also your

[09:38] title and thumbnail will be useful which creates CTR, so if the viewer clicks on your video then a plus signal goes to the algorithm, so these three things together are boosting your video, the next work is of your title and thumbnail. So overall,

[09:50] what people call an algorithm should actually be called a recommendation engine. And it's different for every viewer. You and I open YouTube at the same time. Other types of videos come in front of you. Other types of videos come before me. The

[10:03] YouTube home pages of both of us look totally different. Why? Because YouTube also looks at your history. What do you see ? How long do you watch? What topic are you ? Do you subscribe, what kind of videos do you share? So after that,

[10:16] whenever you open YouTube again, YouTube shows you similar mixed videos and because of this, your audience becomes one type and mine becomes another type and when your video starts being liked by a specific type of audience, then it becomes a

[10:28] special audience for you and after that, when you publish this video, YouTube starts recommending your video to the people of the same category. but it is your partner. You always have to give it positive signals.

[10:42] , through good retention time. So Inshallah it will automatically start boosting your video. Now let us understand a little myth misconceptions about this. There's a thing called Shadow Bane. Some people think that

[10:55] YouTube secretly shadow bans your videos. Views don't come. Some people say that the My channel has been shadow banned. So there's nothing like that on YouTube. An example of this is my own living channel. I created this channel in 2012. I left it after uploading two-four

[11:09] videos and exactly after 9 years, I started working on it again in 2021 and in one and a half to two months, when I kept creating content continuously, the channel started growing automatically. So there is no shadow ban issue on YouTube.

[11:22] publish the video. So believe me, 7:00, 10:00 in the morning, 2:00 in the afternoon, 5 in the evening, 9:00 in the night, 11:00 in the night. But there is no guarantee at any time

[11:36] views. Videos published at this time will get fewer views. If your video has life and power, you will definitely get views. You will see many people selling fake things on YouTube saying that I have a magic trick, I have a hack of YouTube's algorithm. He should

[11:49] take this much money, grow the channel and make it viral. So this is neither a trick nor a hack. The only thing I have guided you again and again is the best content, good thumbnail, good title. If you have these things then

[12:01] you can publish them at any time. The algorithm will understand them. If your content is strong, it will grow. Many of you new creators start adding a lot of tags to your videos as soon as you come. Start entering keywords. They think that if I add this or this, the

[12:14] video will go viral and will start getting views. This is also absolutely wrong. The main thing that matters is your thumbnail, title and what you are saying in your video. So what you learned from here is that YouTube does not run on shortcuts. YouTube runs on data,

[12:26] quality signals and the value of your content. If you observe a little, in all our previous sessions, we have all done the same thing. Whether it's creating titles , thumbnails, scripting, editing, interloops, loop holes, CTAs,

[12:39] whatever we've done, we've done it all to please the algorithm. But in reality, if the viewer is happy with this video, then the algorithm will be happy. So this is YouTube's algorithm. What did you learn, what did you know, what did you understand?

[12:52] Tell us what you feel in the comments. After this, our session is going to be about how to achieve 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watch time on your channel, Insha Allah, we will discuss this in detail and a big misunderstanding of yours will also be cleared, so do not miss that session.

[13:05] Apart from this, whatever hard work and effort you are putting in to be successful in this world, put in a little more hard work and effort to be successful there and be regular in your prayers. Greetings.