YouTube recently in a video answering queries related to Shorts

In September 2020, YouTube introduced its short video format YouTube Shorts, similar to the concept of TikTok and Instagram Reels which enables the creators to post vertical videos of 60 seconds or less duration. This came through as a potential opportunity for the creators to increase their reach for their YouTube channels and gain more subscribers. Soon, YouTube Shorts became one of the most popular short-video formats and people started creating YouTube shorts for rapid growth. 

However, certain questions and doubts kept bothering the YouTube Shorts creators regarding the views and engagement on their channels. These questions remained unanswered for quite a time but not anymore. Yes! Recently in a YouTube channel Creator Insider, YouTube’s Todd Sherman answered some of the most common queries of the creators while also giving an insight into how the Shorts algorithm works, giving the creators blurry hints on what could work for them and what not. 

Questions Covered in the Video

In the video posted, the questions covered ranged from the difference between the long-form and Shorts video algorithms, whether you should create a different channel for Shorts to what counts as a view in Shorts videos. The product head also shared a few additional vital quick tips to boost the confidence of the creators however they did not reveal the exact algorithm or view count criteria.

Todd Sherman, the product lead for Shorts explained how the long-form video works on a different algorithm wherein the users first tap the video, then the suggested videos are recommended based on that while in the case of Shorts, users continuously scroll through a diverse range of videos without knowing what the next video would be. They also highlighted that the watch history for long-from videos and Shorts are kept separate thus the video recommendations for both formats are not affected by each other.

Another important question answered by YouTube was what counts as a view for YouTube Shorts. They explained that, unlike in TikTok, not every flip in Shorts videos is counted as a successful view, rather the platform uses certain criteria that indicate that the viewer indeed had some intention to view the video to count it as a view.

Sherman also clarified how Shorts doesn’t always guarantee views which is why even after getting successful views on videos, there are times when their views get stuck.

 “There are parts of the algorithm that try to find people, find creators and an audience.” “And sometimes those algorithms will go and effectively find a seed audience, find a set of people that may enjoy your video. And depending on how that goes, it may get a lot more traffic or it may taper off,”

An essential tip given in the video was that creators should avoid deleting and re-uploading Shorts if their videos fail to garner views. Many creators do so in the hope that if they post the video again, their video will possibly blow up which is not true, and rather may get termed as spam.

Sherman also said that the need for custom thumbnails for Shorts is eliminated since, in the case of long-form videos, viewers choose the video based on the thumbnail and title while in the case of Shorts, the videos appear randomly one after the other where there is no time to even look at the thumbnail.

In the video, they also answered that the number of videos per day or at what time of the day should the Shorts be posted does not highly impact the number of views. Although the use of hashtags can potentially help in the wider reach of the video.

The company also reinforced how Shorts will remain a strict 60 seconds or less duration video format, unlike rival platforms like TikTok that have introduced longer duration video formats with time. But the company also said it is working on a few new features to enhance the Shorts experience for the creators!