Discovery and performance FAQs
YouTube’s search and discovery system helps viewers find the videos they’re most likely to watch and maximize long-term viewer satisfaction. Get answers about your video and channel performance with the following FAQs.
Discovery FAQs
How does YouTube choose what videos to promote?
How do I get my videos promoted to a bigger audience?
How are videos ranked on Home?
How are videos selected for Trending?
How are videos ranked in Suggested under ‘Up Next’?
How are videos ranked in Search?
Does changing a video’s title or thumbnail re-rank the video in the algorithm?
How can I optimize my title and thumbnail for discovery?
Does monetization status (yellow icon) impact my video discovery?
How important are Tags?
Does setting my channel location to a specific country/region help me reach more viewers in that audience? (ex. Switching location to US even though I’m in Brazil)
Do Likes/Dislikes impact how my video is recommended?
If I upload a video as unlisted and later flip it public, will that hurt my video performance?
Performance FAQs
If one of my videos under-performs, is that going to hurt my channel?
If I take a break from uploading, will that hurt my channel performance?
Do I need to upload daily or at least once a week?
When is the best time to publish videos?
What’s more important, average percentage viewed or average view duration?
Why are my views lower than my subscriber count?
Why is my channel getting less traffic from Home or Suggested?
An old video recently took off, why?
How does a ‘Made for Kids’ designation impact my video performance?
Get more discovery and performance tips with a Creator Academy lesson.
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