Why Is YouTube Not Suggesting My Videos?
Oct 23, 2020
Have you ever asked yourself: "Why is YouTube not suggesting my videos?" If so, you wouldn't be alone. Many content creators struggle to get their videos suggested by YouTube. But why is this? Why doesn't YouTube suggest videos sometimes? Does a video need a lot of views to get suggested, or something else?
Your videos might not be getting suggested by YouTube due to your click-through rate or average view duration. Both CTR and AVD are two important metrics that YouTube looks at when determining how much a video should be suggested. If your videos have a low click-through rate or average view duration, this will cause them to be suggested less frequently.
As a YouTube content creator, it's in your best interest to position your videos to be suggested more frequently. The suggested videos traffic source can lead to a large number of views, furthering your channel growth. Many large channels get 70% or more of their traffic through suggestions. But what can you do to get your videos suggested more frequently?
How Does YouTube Choose Suggested Videos
Before we go over how you can get your videos suggested more frequently, we must answer the question: How does YouTube choose suggested videos? After all, if you don't know how the process works, it will be difficult for you to understand why you need to do certain things to get your videos suggested more.
YouTube suggests videos to users based on their viewing history and habits. When a user has been proven to enjoy a particular type of video, they are then suggested more of the same. Along with this, YouTube suggests videos to users that are similar to other users. If lots of male viewers between the ages of 18 and 25 enjoy a video, more will be suggested the video.
In terms of how YouTube suggests videos themselves, however, this is mostly based on the performance of a video. The main metrics that are evaluated are click-through rate and average view duration. Another thing to be aware of is that YouTube does also evaluate the metadata of a video to determine the subject matter of it before suggesting it to users.
YouTube does not suggest videos based on the size of a channel. However, larger channels tend to have more success in getting their videos suggested. Subscriber counts and view counts don't matter directly, but they do matter indirectly. Large channels are more equipped to create high-quality videos and design click-friendly thumbnails, leading to more suggestions.
How to Get YouTube to Suggest Your Video
I'd imagine that you probably want to know how to get YouTube to suggest your video more frequently. This task can take time, but if you focus on the right things, over time YouTube will begin recommending your videos more frequently. If you want to get your videos suggested more often, focus on these 3 things:
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Average view duration
- Video optimization
Get as many users to click on your videos as you can. Create high-quality videos and make adjustments to encourage users to watch for a longer duration. Optimize the metadata of your videos with keywords related to in-demand topics. If you do these 3 things, your videos will be suggested more frequently.
If you have a channel with some authority, this process will be easier. With a somewhat established channel, you can get feedback on your efforts more quickly than small channels. Small channels will need to test different thumbnail styles, for example, for a while to determine if they lead to an increase in CTR.
Remember, YouTube is a long-term game. Over time, you will begin to possess the skills necessary to be able to create higher quality videos and thumbnails. These higher-quality videos and thumbnails will lead to an increase in CTR and AVD, thus leading to more suggested video views. So, the longer you stick with things, the more successful you will be.
Why is YouTube Not Suggesting My Video
Whenever I speak with content creators after they've made an effort to get their videos suggested more, I always get the same question. The question I always get is: "Why is YouTube not suggesting my video? I've done everything you recommended!" Since you will probably have this question eventually, I figured it would be good for me to answer it here.
So, you've made adjustments to your videos in hopes of getting them suggested more frequently. The problem is, nothing seems to be changing. What's the deal? Often, the issue is simply a lack of patience. As I mentioned earlier, smaller channels need to wait longer to get feedback on their efforts. If your channel is small, you might need to be more patient.
There is another issue that pops up aside from impatience. Usually, when a content creator makes changes to their thumbnails, for example, but nothing changes, they give up. This is the wrong way to do things. If you try some different thumbnail styles but your click-through rate doesn't increase, try some more styles! Test things until better results arrive.
Always ask yourself these 2 questions before getting discouraged when results don't follow after making adjustments:
- Am I being impatient?
- Have I tested multiple different video styles, thumbnails, etc.
If your answer to either of these 2 questions is "no" then you need to make the required adjustments before coming to any conclusions. In many cases, if a content creator would simply stick to what they were doing, they would achieve more success. While being patient and waiting is hard, it's important and beneficial to do so.
Conclusion
If your videos have not been getting suggested by YouTube, you should now know the reasons why this might be the case. Make the needed adjustments and over time, YouTube will begin to suggest your videos more frequently, leading to more views and growth for your channel.
