(intense music)
- This series is all about you.
I haven't don't a subscriber video
where I answer your YouTube questions specifically
in a really really long time.
But we're changing that today with a new series
where I answer your YouTube questions specifically.
And look, this is not to be confused with my podcast
called Comments Over Coffee,
I'll link to it down in the description
where I also answer YouTube questions,
instead, think of it like it a YouTube version of that
where I just go into the comment section
and I find the comments where people are asking
really good questions and then I answer them.
Starting today with this question from WeirdCast.
WeirdCast asks, out of curiosity,
how can a cinematic, comedy-oriented channel
rank in search?
Or just a comedy channel?
I mean, what's the video about?
You can't tell the audience what happens
because then it won't be funny.
You can't call your video funny video
or anything like that.
That's a really good question, WeirdCast.
I'm sure there's a lot of people watching this
that have channels to where you're thinking to yourself,
you know what, search doesn't really fit in
to what it is that I'm doing,
and that's perfectly okay
because search isn't necessarily for everyone.
I mean, don't get me wrong,
if you can tap into search, do it,
as part of your content strategy,
but not every channel is a perfect fit
for trying to rank videos in search.
And after hearing that,
you might be thinking to yourself,
oh my gosh I've been doing it wrong this entire time.
Here's the thing,
when it comes to YouTube search,
it's very specific in terms of
people are looking for a specific thing
and when they look for that specific thing
then you want to be able to show up in search.
Now, YouTube search is fantastic for cooking channels,
it's fantastic for how-to channels in general,
if you're doing any type of educational content,
if you're doing anything where you're showing people
how to do stuff that they might actually look for
how to do it, it's perfect for that.
But, if you're in a situation like WeirdCast,
where you're thinking to yourself,
wait a minute, I wanna try to tap into YouTube search,
but the content that I'm making,
I'm trying to shoe-horn my videos into YouTube search,
even though it might not necessarily be something
that people look for.
And trying to shoe-horn when it comes to YouTube search
is a very bad approach,
and the reason that it's a bad approach is
because YouTube is trying to show people the content
that is most relevant to them
that they are the most likely to enjoy.
So, if you are trying to shoe-horn your video
in YouTube search even though your video
isn't made for YouTube search,
then what's happening in that situation
is you're trying to force it in where it's not something
that people will necessarily respond to
for that search result.
And what happens in that situation
is you end up putting in all of this effort
in trying to optimize your keywords
and trying to research your keywords
and trying to find the ideal things
that people might look for in order to come to your video,
but if your content doesn't support
what somebody would actually expect
when they're looking for that particular thing in search,
then really you're just completely wasting your time.
So you have to think bigger.
You have to think from a content strategy as a whole
and you have to think of who it is
that you're trying to target
and you have to think of what sources it is
that you're trying to target that viewer with
in order to really get eyeballs
on what it is that you're doing.
Here's what I mean,
if you are doing comedy content
then trying to basically build your entire video's metadata
around a specific keyword phrase
isn't necessarily gonna be the greatest fit for you
whereas, thinking of it from a bigger picture point of view
in terms of people come on to YouTube
and YouTube is presenting content to them
that they're most likely to watch.
When they're presenting content to them
that they're most likely to watch,
it's based on the things that those people
have been proven to be interested in in the first place.
And it's not always things that they search for,
that's one of the things that they consider,
but it's things that they've been watching recently.
But in a nutshell, when you think of getting your videos
in front of people,
you have to think from a different perspective,
you have to think about when I make the topic of this video,
if I'm gonna be making comedy content
or any type of content,
I need to think about the people that I'm trying to reach
and the things that they might be interested in
that would bring them to my content
or that would help YouTube show them my content.
This is why people like me
who make content like me,
this is why we tell people so much
to pay really close attention
to things that are trending.
That's because when you're paying close attention
to things that are trending,
you can tap into the general interest
of a specific topic.
For example, if there's a big movie that's coming out
or there's a big event that's happening in the world
or a big event that just a lot of people
are paying attention to,
it doesn't have to be global,
but if there's something that is happening
that people are paying a lot of attention to,
then that gives you the opportunity
to be able to tap into the interests
that people have at large.
This is why you see a lot of music channels,
when there's a popular artist
that makes a song about something
and there's a lot of widespread interest
in that particular song,
this is why they make covers about it.
Because in that situation,
what they're doing is they're tapping into
that wider interest of people that are listening
to that song or sharing that song with their friends
and things like that,
which then will help YouTube identify
hey, this content creator is making this particular video
and they're getting a really good response,
people are enjoying it, they're sharing it,
they're coming back, they're listening to it
or watching it more,
therefore, other people that have been interested
in this particular topic
or this particular song is also somebody
that we should possibly show the content from this creator,
show it to them on their home page
instead of something else.
So what you need to do in that situation
if you're making content
that isn't necessarily made for search
or content that isn't something
that you would leverage search for,
in that situation, you just have to think about
what things are people generally interested in at scale?
So if you're making comedy videos,
try to make your comedy about something.
Now if you're thinking to yourself,
oh well that's great,
but I wanna do my original stuff.
I'm not saying to do cover comedy,
I don't even think that's a thing,
but what I am saying is you need to think
of how you can wrap things
that people are interested in
into the comedy that you're doing
so that you can have the chance
to get in front of more people
based on the things that they are interested in.
You know, another example of this would be like,
let's say that you have a channel
where you're talking about dogs.
If there's a popular dog breed,
like some new hybrid that somebody made,
then in that situation,
if that's even how dog breeding works,
then in that situation you would want to make sure
that you make some content about that
because then in that situation again,
you're tapping into that interest
of that particular new dog breed.
So you don't have to necessarily make a video
titled for that in search,
you just have to think, how can I write this title?
And how can I put a thumbnail together
that would make this interesting for people
who are interested in that topic
to wanna click on it
so that people will click on it,
watch the video, I'll send positive signals to YouTube
showing them that people are enjoying this content
and then they will be more likely
to put this content about this new dog breed
in front of new people
that will bring new people into my channel as viewers
that I can hopefully convert as a subscriber
because they like that dog breed content
or even if you're making jokes about that dog breed
in your situation,
it would give YouTube the information that it needs
in order for their systems to show your content
to people that are interested in that topic.
So as I'm saying all this
I'm trying to think of how can I say this
in order to really make it hit home
and I think I've got it.
If you don't make search-based content,
content that isn't a good fit for YouTube search,
then what you wanna do in your situation
is you wanna optimize your video topically.
What I mean by that is you wanna make sure
that in your title, your description,
and the actual content of the video
that it is crystal clear what it is
that you're actually talking about,
what the content is about.
So if you're doing comedy in that situation,
then you have to think about okay,
I'm doing comedy here,
but what is it that my video is about
in terms of what is it that I'm making this comedy about
so that I can optimize around that
so that I can tap into the interests of the people
that are on YouTube that are interested
in that specific topic
to increase my chances of getting on the home page
of people that are interested
in that particular topic.
But here's the catch to this whole thing,
and this applies if you're doing search-related content
or if you're just trying to tap
into all the recommendation features
by really paying attention to what it is you're doing
with your titles and thumbnails and content,
but the thing is is regardless of what source it is
that you're trying to get your videos on,
because I know everybody's like how do I get my videos
on more homepages?
How do I get my videos suggested more?
How do I get my videos to show up in search?
And they thing that they're doing all of the things,
but at the end of the day,
it still comes down to how people are responding
to what it is that you're doing.
So even if you are optimizing for the topic approach,
in that situation,
you still have to be able to get people to click on
your thumbnails and titles
and enjoy your content.
And further engaging your content as a bonus.
So that same exact thing applies to search.
They'll be a lot of people that will reach out,
and they'll be like, hey Nick,
I'm doing all this stuff,
I'm using the right keywords,
and the right keyword phrases
and I think I'm making good thumbnails,
but what they're not realizing
is that the content itself isn't something
that people are enjoying,
therefore it doesn't say in search results for that long.
Same exact thing will happen in the homepage
or in suggested videos or any of the recommendations
because if people are not clicking
on what it is that you're doing,
then YouTube is not going to continue to show it to people.
And if they're not watching once they do click,
then they're not gonna continue to show it to people.
So, even if you are optimizing for things topically
or for search, whichever approach it is that you're taking,
then in that situation,
you have to make sure that people are still responding
to what it is that you're doing.
Because if they're not responding,
then you're gonna be dead in the water
right out of the gate
and it doesn't matter what approach that you take,
you have to, at the core of it all,
right, at the heart of everything,
you have to be able to make content
that people enjoy.
This series is an experiment,
so if you have any questions
about what it is that you're doing on YouTube,
make sure that you leave 'em down
in the comments section below
and it can be about anything video and YouTube related.
And if you wanna learn about growing your YouTube channel,
click into this playlist right here.
Thank you so much for watching,
I'll see you next time.