Beyond personalization and performance, external factors influence how many people see your videos. These include how much interest and competition surrounds a topic, alongside shifts in viewer behavior and preferences throughout the year. Keep these in mind when planning your content, researching your audience, and analyzing your performance.
- Topic Interest: Topic Interest reflects the global audience size for videos on a specific subject. Naturally, some topics simply have broader appeal than others. For example, football videos often get more views than golf simply because football has broader global appeal, attracting a larger audience to its content on YouTube. It's not the algorithm favoring football, but rather a reflection of existing viewer interest.
- Competition: YouTube's recommendations rank content against all other videos a user might want to watch. Creators often compare their video's performance only within their own channel, but the algorithm ranks your content against all videos a viewer might watch. Most viewers spread their attention across hundreds of channels. So, even if your content has good individual metrics, it might get fewer impressions if other channels' videos perform better for that viewer.
- Seasonality: Audience interest and platform traffic naturally ebb and flow throughout the year. The number of viewers online changes, and their search interests are often highly seasonal. For instance, a Valentine's Day recipe Short will likely perform much better in February than in August. Similarly, holidays or school breaks can significantly shift viewing habits. To better understand your traffic's fluctuations, consider your audience's location and what's happening in their lives at different times of the year.
What does this mean for your channel growth strategy?
- Tap into interests and trends: Tap into waves of audience interest by truly knowing your viewers. Understanding them allows you to tailor your content calendar to what’s more relevant in their lives. For instance, if your viewers set goals and hit the gym in January, plan related videos then to meet their peak interest around this time. Staying nimble also lets you adapt to surging trends. Publishing relevant content during high demand and low supply can mean more views per video. Stay tuned to your audience's evolving interests.
- Performance fluctuations are normal: It's natural for your channel's views to fluctuate. A temporary dip doesn't signal a permanent decline; we frequently see channels recover by re-engaging their audience and innovating content. It's also unrealistic to expect consistently record-high views indefinitely. A lower period simply means you're not at your all-time peak, which is normal. Focus on evolving your content, listening to audience feedback, and analyzing your data. This might involve exploring new formats or topics if your audience is ready for a fresh perspective.