What is the ACTUAL secret behind YouTube? I’m dying here

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darkodarko

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I’ve been doing YouTube off and on since 2013. It’s my only real dream. I started up again and decided to really give it a proper go this time. I bought expensive equipment and software, and have spent the past 6 months barely sleeping putting in a massive effort. I’ve bought views/likes/comments and it hasn’t helped. I’ve done every single “proper” marketing strategy I could think of, even buying real ads and spending hours commenting/liking other people ls stuff on YouTube as well as Instagram and sometimes Twitter.

Here’s my problem. A channel very similar to mine, started a year ago (so just 6 months older than mine) has nearly a million subscribers. I have 2,000. After all the effort, time, and money I’ve put in, I have 2,000, and recently, my sub count has completely stopped increasing altogether. I’m not ungrateful, just feeling like I’m missing some sort of secret trick. This individual only has about 40k Twitter followers and 70k Instagram followers.

There’s nothing massively different between the two of us. If anything my channel is better quality with a lot more research put in and other media to keep the viewer entertained. I get nearly all positive reviews from viewers with very high engagement. What are these people who get to a million subscribers in a year doing that I’m not? Is there a secret strategy? Please help, I’m drowning in Youtube haha. I grately appreciate anyone who takes the time to answer.

Edit: thank you for your responses! I don’t feel comfortable posting my channel, but my viewer retention sits around 50-55% typically, which I thought was ok considering I think the average is around 30%. Length is typically 6 minutes. The niche we’re competing in is exactly the same.
 
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Couldn't tell you without channel link. A lot of it is about who you know, of course. And using trends to your advantage.
 
Bro, no one can answer a broad question like that. ''How do I get more subs''. Maybe your videos are not good enough. Maybe it's a small niche, different than the guy you're comparing yourself to. Maybe no one cares about your content. Have you done SEO properly? Are you ranking your keywords? Maybe you should rank your keywords. Maybe you should make changes to your channel.

No one can tell without any info.
 
  • The other channel has a network?
  • You are targeting the wrong keywords(tags)
  • Low quality views? (low retention)
  • You are making shorter videos?
  • Your voice or his voice is more appealing?
  • You are saying/showing people to subscribe(begin/end video)
  • He's making a serie while you are not?
 
Can you tell about the niche ? Also, do you see sponsored posts on the competing channel now ?
 
krishnaverma said:
Can you tell about the niche ? Also, do you see sponsored posts on the competing channel now ?
Click to expand...
We’re both women in our 20s who discuss the truths behind urban legends and stuff like that. I’ve never seen any sponsored posts from her, I dont think I’ve ever seen her promote at all and while using tubebuddy, I can see she doesn’t even seem to bother with tags on her videos either.
 
darkodarko said:
We’re both women in our 20s who discuss the truths behind urban legends and stuff like that. I’ve never seen any sponsored posts from her, I dont think I’ve ever seen her promote at all and while using tubebuddy, she doesn’t even seem to bother with tags on her videos either.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a person supporting a cause. Have you tried contacting her with some ideas on how you both can tie up for making the common idea stronger ?Do good research about her before doing that.
 
Hmm, i wish i knew too lol.

Probably just has to do with the title description from my experience.
 
darkodarko said:
We’re both women in our 20s who discuss the truths behind urban legends and stuff like that. I’ve never seen any sponsored posts from her, I dont think I’ve ever seen her promote at all and while using tubebuddy, I can see she doesn’t even seem to bother with tags on her videos either.
Click to expand...

I might know your problem. You niche sounds unique and low competition, but when you type urban legend into Youtube it is nearly completely dominated by a single channel. They pretty much own that keyword and only other massive channels can break through. When I click one of their videos the recommendation sidebar is also almost exclusively their videos. I think the problem is that people have found a dedicated provider for the urban legends niche and aren't going to search for anyone else.

The other channel you mentioned probably got some mentions and maybe even a collaboration or they could have a different channel and use their urban legend channel for just that.

Trying to grow a channel discussing information is a slower process than trying to grow a channel that offers an opinion on information. A fine but important difference.
 
blackpanther111991 said:
I might know your problem. You niche sounds unique and low competition, but when you type urban legend into Youtube it is nearly completely dominated by a single channel. They pretty much own that keyword and only other massive channels can break through. When I click one of their videos the recommendation sidebar is also almost exclusively their videos. I think the problem is that people have found a dedicated provider for the urban legends niche and aren't going to search for anyone else.

The other channel you mentioned probably got some mentions and maybe even a collaboration or they could have a different channel and use their urban legend channel for just that.

Trying to grow a channel discussing information is a slower process than trying to grow a channel that offers an opinion on information. A fine but important difference.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with you there. Quality decides the market, anyone can break through if the content is well researched and generally good enough.

To the OP, I see you are maximizing your AVD (55%) retention. Thats good, but theres a couple things you can do to make your stuff better. I would love to help you. I need more information though. I have build up a few million view channels and I know where you are because ive been there before.

If you don't want to do a public display, message me. Your problem is one of the most painful to have. I feel you. Let me help.
 
Luck is definitely a big part of youtube someone with shitty content could blow up and someone with better content is being hidden by YouTube algorithms .
 
It's three complex steps.

1. Does your niche have a large audience and benefit the user from watching? e.g cooking channels teach you nice recipes, SEO channels help you with your business.
2. Is your content good? is it informative? is it funny? what makes it unique? are the thumbnails good? look professional? the most important part of this is, DOES THE FIRST 10 SECONDS GRAB THEIR ATTENTION? (this is proven in psychology) good youtube videos on how to do it.
3. Do you understand youtube algorithm and implement it properly?

If you fail on any of the above the youtube channel has no chance if you pass on all three above then its just blood sweat and tears. IF you are getting organic views indirectly from blackhat methods and these viewers are not subscribing, it's your content or you're nice. it's down to the 2. you have to understand for someone to subscribe it needs to be quality beneficial content, think when you watch a good video do you subscribe to everyone? no, not unless it will benefit you. I know I don't.
 
Try to check which tags the other channel uses.
Maybe you can try put same keywords in your tags. I don't really know how YouTube works. It is just an idea but you can still try.
 
From my observations, channels attempting to be successful in the long-run follow one of two paths as does any other company/site/individual aiming for success.

Path 1:
  • Unique
  • Great Personality
Path 2:
  • Consistency
  • Hard Work

If you were to follow path 1, then you'd probably find yourself with a channel similar to that of TierZoo or Brave Wilderness, Both these channels take a somewhat unique and creative path with their content and the 'stars' have great personality, the two combined leads to explosive growth. They essentially grow this fast because while there are competing channels who may offer a better product, their content is far more enjoyable based on their personal traits and the little twist added.

If you follow path 2, then it's just a hard grind. Creating mundane content which does offer value but doesn't really excite the user. This requires, week after week pumping of content, none-stop. It also requires shameless plugging of your channel link everywhere that you get the opportunity to get the word out and drive traffic. Not the best content to watch, but makes great filler content. (Typical Top5/Top10 channels)
​
You now need to figure out the path you're taking, you can combine them both if you'd like. But from the looks of it, you sound like a path 2 type of channel, good quality content, but nothing exciting which makes a user feel the need to share the content.
 
Buy more high retention views, niche related views, likes, comments so that your videos will be shown more on related videos side bar
 
kOtJvdU
 
try to check what she is doing exactly, how often she upload new content, at what time exactly?
check how fast the new video is growing in traffic (does it look organic), check her sub growth (is it also organic?)
also checking for back links will give you a clue on her sources of traffic and if she embeds it on external websites with high traffic volume
 
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