How Does the YouTube AI Algorithm Work - AI EXPLAINED

YouTube is a video sharing platform that is popular among people of all age groups. It was launched back in the year 2007 by 3 PayPal employees. Now, it has become the world’s largest search engine and visited websites after Google. It is the abode of the modern world that has something for everyone.

Per day, people spend approximately 1 billion hours watching videos on YouTube. At the same time, the users of YouTube upload approximately 300 hours of video per minute. But, do you know like Google, this video platform works on a technique known as the YouTube AI algorithm? The platform highly depends on these algorithms to deliver content to the viewers. As YouTube is overloaded with content, AI is a powerful weapon that helps to decide the video recommendation for the huge number of users. This recommendation system for YouTube works on certain factors.

Part 1 The Aim of YouTube’s Algorithm

YouTube’s algorithms work with 2 major aims. Its first aim is helping the viewers easily get what they want to watch. The second aim of YouTube’s algorithm is to maximize the satisfaction rate of viewers which ultimately leads to long term engagement.

Part 2 How the YouTube Algorithm Works

YouTube has a well defined AI-based algorithm. The working of the YouTube algorithm AI depends on several factors. It decides the position of videos at 6 different places as per the viewer’s interest. These locations include:

Notifications, Channel subscriptions, Trending streams, YouTube’s homepage, Recommended streams, and Search results.

Let’s understand some more facts about the working of the YouTube algorithm.

01How YouTube Determines The Algorithm

The traffic source for each video might be different. But YouTube’s approach to determine the algorithm for video recommendation is decided by:

● External factors i.e. the overall audience or market

● Performance i.e. the success rate of video

● Personalization i.e. the history and preferences of viewers

02How YouTube Determines Its Homepage Algorithm

You might have found a large array of videos when you type Youtube.com or open the app. YouTube shows these videos thinking that person might be interested in watching any video from the list. The selection of these videos is based on performance and personalization. Performance is measured depending on the metrics such as viewer surveys, likes, dislikes, average percentage viewed, average view duration, and click-through rates. Personalization means the selection of videos based on the past behavior of the viewers.

03How YouTube Determines Its Suggested Video Algorithm

When a person watches any video on YouTube, they always find some video options to watch on the right side. These videos are decided by the suggested videos algorithm. Such videos are decided by AI based on the viewer's interest in a particular visit. The recommendations for these videos are decided by the following:

● Performance

● Personalization

● Videos watched by the user in the past

● Topically related videos

● Videos that are often watched together

04How YouTube Determines Its Search Algorithm

Just like Google, YouTube is also a search engine. Its search algorithm works when a user comes to search for a particular video or keyword. When the viewer types something on the search bar, it decides the recommendation based on:

● Keywords used on the metadata of video

● Performance of the video

Part 3 Ways to Improve the Odds of Your Video = Ranking Well With the YouTube Algorithm

Algorithms work following the actions of the audience and the creator’s intelligence. If you are planning to do YouTube marketing or are struggling to get your video ranked or appear trending, then let us help you with it. Here, we will let you know about the ways to increase the views. These ways will increase the odds of your video ranking well with the YouTube algorithm. So, let’s understand what all you need to do:

01Keyword Research Is Important:

YouTube decides the recommendations based on the user's action. What they type to search for a particular video keyword plays a very important role. So, you need to understand your target audience and research the keyword that the target audience might be interested in.

The YouTube AI algorithm follows the metadata to decide the category of your video and the target audience. Use the language which the people are using while explaining your video to the AI.

Do proper keyword research and put the keywords in the following places:

● The filename of the video

● Title of the video

● Description of the video (first 2 lines)

● Script of the video (subtitle and closed caption)

Note: It is not required to put the keyword in the video tags.

Methods to Identify Right Keywords

There are numerous techniques available to do keyword research, both free as well as paid. Here, we will discuss some of the options to find keywords for YouTube videos:

YouTube’s Search Bar

Go to YouTube’s search bar and enter the word or term of your interest. The autocomplete feature of YouTube will present the list of related keywords. These are the terms that people are searching for and you can use them in your future videos.

View Page Source

Look for a video that contains the terms that you wish to rank for. Load it on the desktop computer. Tap on "view source" by right-clicking on the page. The HTML code of the YouTube page will appear on your screen. Press CTRL + F, and enter the "Keywords" on the search bar. You will get the list of keywords for that particular video.

Tubebuddy

Tubebuddy is a browser extension that is available both for paid and free. It is useful for the optimization of YouTube videos.

02Optimize Video Titles

Optimization of YouTube video titles is very essential to get more clicks. There are 4 key elements that make a title effective. These 4 key elements are Urgency, Useful, Unique, and Ultra-specific. Use at least 3 among them to create an attractive and powerful title.

03Create a Compelling Description

The description of YouTube videos is the write-ups that details the content of your video. It contains the information that makes the viewer understand the content of your video. Creating a compelling description is easy, you just need to put the details.

04Transcribe Your Videos

Transcription is the process of converting video into text. It is very beneficial to include a transcript or subtitles in the video. According to the researchers, approximately 69% of viewers watch videos by muting them. They understand the video through the subtitles. You can add a transcript to the video both while and after uploading the video.

05Create Custom Thumbnails

Custom thumbnails are necessary to enhance the experience of the video. There are some steps that are required to follow to create a custom thumbnail. These steps are as follows:

● Capture an action-driven still image from the video

● Use a human face to express emotions

● Pique curiosity

● Add color contrast

● Brand your videos

Following these steps, you will be able to create interesting as well as captivating thumbnails.

06Use Pattern Interrupts

Watch time is an important factor to rank your videos on YouTube. The viewers should watch the video wholly, which means it should appeal to the audience throughout. Pattern interrupts are the perfect key for this purpose. It makes the viewers pause the video and pay more attention in between binge-watching. Pattern interrupt is just the method of introducing graphics, B-roll footage, full shot, close-up shot, etc in between the video.

07Include Call to Action

Call to action sounds like something which is not so important. But it plays a crucial role that triggers actions from the viewers. It should be added at the conclusion part of the video. There are many ways to ask the users to take calls to action, according to your particular aim. For example, you can ask them to like, share, subscribe, etc.

08Promote, promote, promote

Promotion is the most important step to getting your work noticed by the audience. Promote the video as much as possible. Some of the techniques for video promotion are:

● Cross-pollinate on social media

● Send to email subscribers

● Add videos to your website

09Engage Your Audience

To grow on YouTube as a brand, you must plan for the long term engagement of the viewers. Also, you can engage the audience by asking questions, answers and commenting on the comments. There are 3 quick tips that are essential to engage your viewers and they are:

● Dedicate time

● Always keep it positive

● Answer all questions

10Pay Attention to Your Analytics

YouTube analytics gives the overall information about the performance of your video or channel. The analytics show results based on Revenue, Audience, Engagement, and Reach. It will help you to understand where you need to invest your time for better performance.

Part 4 Ways to Improve Your Video Quality

The quality of a video has a great impact on its performance as well as user engagement. There are many tools available using which you can enhance the quality of your video. Some of the good video editing software options are Adobe Premiere Pro CC, PowerDirector, Studio, etc. But, Wondershare Filmora is the best of all the tools.

Wondershare Filmora Video Editor is an easy to use tool with lots of features that help to make your video look great. One can use it for free or buy a paid version. Its features such as saturation controls, tint, contrast, brightness, and stabilization help to enhance the video quality. The software also offers a lot of title templates, motion graphics, overlays, etc. Moreover, Filmora supports various video formats. You can export the video in an optimized format to post on YouTube.

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