YouTube Experts Are WRONG About The Algorithm
The YouTube experts are wrong about the algorithm, and I'm not just going to tell you why—I'm going to show you why.
I got serious about YouTube in January with 68 subscribers, and I'm now up to 385. I've been making my way towards getting monetized and have watched a lot of videos on what works and what doesn't. I'm still learning, but I've seen a lot of advice about the algorithm that just isn't true.
The key idea is that the YouTube algorithm is smart. It knows what your video is about based on its content and title. It takes that information and finds people who want to watch it, aiming to pick the videos they are most likely to watch all the way through.
The problem is that people talk about the algorithm as if you have to structure your YouTube strategy in a particular way for it to understand your videos. But it knows what your videos are about. It can read the transcript and scan the imagery.
All the advice that you "have to train the algorithm" or "must be consistent with your topics" because the algorithm will get "confused" or "stupid" is flawed. They are essentially saying the algorithm doesn't know, so you have to guide it like a child to figure out who to show your videos to. That's simply not true.
Two Illustrative Stories
To debunk the myth that you need a history of publishing the same topic or that YouTube will get confused, I want to share two stories:
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The Channel that Pivoted: I started watching YouTube growth videos from a particular channel. The videos were seven to nine years old, and I watched about ten of them in my recommended feed. When I finally went to the channel, I saw that the creator had completely pivoted over the last two years, now doing lifestyle vlogs and parenting. However, the algorithm was not recommending any of their newer videos; it was only recommending the older YouTube growth videos, which aligned with my interests.
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The Jewelry Channel's Growth Videos: I watched a YouTube growth video from another channel about their road to monetization and their earnings. Months later, another similar video dropped and was recommended to me. The interesting thing is that this was primarily a jewelry channel, and the YouTube growth videos were just a small fraction of their content. Yet, I never saw the jewelry videos in my feed. YouTube knew I didn't want to watch those, but it knew which videos on that channel I did want to watch.
These two channels have a variety of content, yet the algorithm knows exactly what to show me and what to hide. The algorithm is very smart. You can't confuse it. It figures out what your video is about and shows it to the people who want to watch it.
Evidence from My Own Channel
The better advice for YouTube creators is that every single video can find an audience, regardless of your channel's history. If you have a video someone wants to watch, it will be delivered to them.
If you go to my channel and sort by Most Popular, you'll see a mix of topics that disproves the "niche" myth:
- YouTube Growth: Three of my top videos fall into this category. My most popular video ever was on YouTube growth, but it was the first one I ever did on that topic. How do you explain that, if YouTube is looking at your historical publishing schedule? The YouTube algorithm is based on the individual content piece, not the collective history of the channel.
- Podcasting/Personal Development: Several of my top videos are podcast episodes or clips. This category has nothing to do with YouTube growth and is about political, philosophical, and personal development topics.
- Technology Review/Vlog: I have a top video reviewing a new iPhone. I had no history of technology reviews, but I created the video, and it took off. Similarly, I have a popular vlog-style video about installing a rear-view mirror camera for a cargo van remodeling project.
I have a random mix of topics—YouTube growth, political/personal development, and technology reviews—that have all risen to the top because I created videos people wanted to see, and they took off without any historical context.
Multi-Passionates: You Can Build a Multi-Topic Channel
There are many people who want to create videos across different topics but feel stuck, thinking they must start a new channel or stick to a narrow niche. That's where the experts are wrong. You can build a multi-topic, multi-passionate YouTube channel. Do all the things that you love and care about.
Looking at my latest videos, you'll see this variety continues:
- Juniper and Jones (vlog/remodel)
- Update on taking a break from YouTube
- Podcast episode with an author
- Video about church hurt (related to a book I'm writing)
- Skit/satire about YouTube monetization
- Interview with an Air Force Major General
Some of these have gotten more traction than others, but I'm building a large library of content and having steady progress—I'm up from 68 to 385 subscribers.
Tips for a Multi-Topic Strategy
If you choose to communicate to a variety of audiences, there are a couple of things to note:
- Build a Larger Library: You must recognize that not everyone will like everything you do. If someone is interested in YouTube growth, they may not be interested in your other topics. You must be in it for the long run, building a large library of content so that, over time, you have plenty of videos in each of your chosen topics. I now have 40 videos in my YouTube category alone.
- Opportunity for Crossover: You can do crossover or "bridge" videos to try and move an audience member from one topic to the other.
- Don't Wait for Perfection: When I started, I didn't wait to have everything figured out. My early videos didn't have great lighting or a perfect backdrop. I just started creating and sharing the process.
I am operating on the idea that I am "packing dynamite with gunpowder"—as my channel grows and my individual content gets more popular, it will create a "vacuum" where people will get sucked into the rest of the content library. The overarching theme for my channel is "stories and systems to live better and work smarter," which covers entrepreneurship, business, leadership, and personal development.
The Takeaway
The big thing I want to emphasize is that the YouTube algorithm knows what you do and don't want to see. It shows you more of the former and less of the latter.
If you are a creator and you post four different videos, you don't have to worry about an audience member who is only interested in one, because they'll only see that one. They won't even know the others exist. I have hundreds of subscriptions, and I only see the videos I want to see.
Don't let rigid advice stop you from creating what you love and are passionate about. Figure out what's working and do more of that. The multi-topic path might be a harder or longer one, but it is the best path for me.
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