The 2026 YouTube Algorithm Explained (What Actually Changed) — Transcript

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1. 0:00If you feel like the YouTube algorithm
2. 0:02is killing your channel's growth and
3. 0:04performance, you actually just might be
4. 0:06making the wrong videos. So, in today's
5. 0:08video, I'm going to show you how to work
6. 0:10with this year's algorithm. So, it
7. 0:11actually helps you grow this year as a
8. 0:14creator. We got seven points we're going
9. 0:15to cover in this video. And the first is
10. 0:17that the algorithm is not working
11. 0:19against you. It's actually your
12. 0:21matchmaker. You can think of YouTube's
13. 0:23algorithm as honestly the world's
14. 0:25greatest dating coach. It's constantly
15. 0:27trying to set your videos up on the
16. 0:29perfect blind date with the right viewer
17. 0:31for that specific video. And they do
18. 0:33this totally for free, too. It's crazy.
19. 0:34You don't have to pay for distribution
20. 0:36of your content. YouTube is doing this
21. 0:38all for you. It kind of reminds me of
22. 0:40like the show on Netflix, that awful
23. 0:42dating show, Love is Blind, that I
24. 0:44highly do not recommend watching, but if
25. 0:46you watch it, I mean, more power to you.
26. 0:48>> I know my worth like a thousand%. But if
27. 0:51YouTube were producing Love is Blind,
28. 0:53there wouldn't be any drama and there'd
29. 0:54be no tears and no craziness, no chaos,
30. 0:57because YouTube actually knows who's
31. 0:58compatible. They're studying everything,
32. 1:00clicks, comments, watch history to make
33. 1:02sure your content ends up with the right
34. 1:04viewer and not some crazy person who
35. 1:07nobody should ever end up with.
36. 1:08>> Anyways,
37. 1:10>> so when your videos underperform, it's
38. 1:12not that YouTube is punishing you in any
39. 1:14way. It's just that they haven't found
40. 1:15the right viewer to pair that content
41. 1:17with. And that could be a problem with
42. 1:19your own structure and clarity of your
43. 1:20content, or it could just be a lack of
44. 1:22demand. In any case, the rest of the
45. 1:24tips in this video are going to help you
46. 1:25create the right kinds of videos that
47. 1:27get seen by the right people. So, our
48. 1:29next tip is to focus on what we call the
49. 1:31first audience. So, these are the first
50. 1:34people that are going to encounter your
51. 1:35video. And in the first 24 to 48 hours,
52. 1:38this little short window really does
53. 1:40matter because your current viewers are
54. 1:42going to teach the algorithm who your
55. 1:44video is designed for. If your viewers
56. 1:46get the opportunity to click on your
57. 1:48video and watch and they actually decide
58. 1:50to stick around and watch a lot of that
59. 1:51video, YouTube is going to expand the
60. 1:53distribution of that video. And I'll
61. 1:55show you here in our analytics. We can
62. 1:57literally see this. If a video performs
63. 1:59well, you'll see all the positive green
64. 2:01arrows pointing upwards, which is a
65. 2:03great sign. And YouTube will give you a
66. 2:05specific notification that simply says,
67. 2:07"Great work. Your views are up right
68. 2:08here for this video. They're up 88%.
69. 2:11More subscribers are choosing to watch
70. 2:13the video. They're watching longer than
71. 2:14usual, too. that's helping to increase
72. 2:16its reach on YouTube recommendations.
73. 2:19And then the inverse is also true. If
74. 2:21subscribers choose not to click on your
75. 2:22video, you can see this video
76. 2:24underperformed for us. Underperformed
77. 2:26our average. It only did about a couple
78. 2:28thousand views in the first 24 hours. It
79. 2:30says subscribers of your channel are
80. 2:31showing less interest in this video,
81. 2:33contributing to 69% fewer views than
82. 2:36usual. Now, you might be thinking to
83. 2:38yourself, "Well, Craig, does this pigeon
84. 2:39hole me into always creating the same
85. 2:41kinds of videos over and over again?
86. 2:44Will I not be able to just experiment
87. 2:46with different formats or ideas? I get
88. 2:48that concern and I feel like the answer
89. 2:49is sort of like yes and no. Yes, you
90. 2:52should always be thinking about serving
91. 2:53your audience anytime you make a video.
92. 2:55Who are the first people who have the
93. 2:57opportunity to watch and are they going
94. 2:58to click on this video and even be
95. 3:00interested at all. So yeah, you want to
96. 3:02be thinking about that, but no, it's not
97. 3:04going to pigeon hole you fully. There's
98. 3:06so many great formats and creative ideas
99. 3:08you can experiment with. You could try
100. 3:10reaction style videos, vlogging, long-
101. 3:12form podcast, lifestyle. So, there's
102. 3:14endless possibility in content formats
103. 3:16you can explore. But generally, yes, you
104. 3:18do want to come back to thinking about
105. 3:20how can I serve my core audience and my
106. 3:23core viewers the best because that's
107. 3:25going to help increase the overall
108. 3:26distribution of the YouTube algorithm.
109. 3:28Now, our next tip is to find outliers
110. 3:30that already exist on YouTube. And maybe
111. 3:33this is content of your own that you've
112. 3:34already posted that outperformed and did
113. 3:36really well. Or you could look at
114. 3:38somebody else's content. And a little
115. 3:40phrase we often use here is that success
116. 3:42leaves clues and make part twos. So if
117. 3:46you have successful content or if others
118. 3:48are making successful videos in your
119. 3:50respective niche that are getting really
120. 3:51broad appeal in your niche and a lot of
121. 3:53people are resonating with that content,
122. 3:54you want to study what's working with
123. 3:56those types of videos and then use those
124. 3:58as references to build your own content.
125. 4:01Now, one of my favorite tools to use for
126. 4:02finding outliers is Vid IQ. They're a
127. 4:05longtime partner of this channel. And if
128. 4:06you want to get started for as cheap as
129. 4:08$1, you can click the link down in the
130. 4:10description below to get started with
131. 4:11Vid IQ. But check out this interface
132. 4:13here. If I go over to this discover tab,
133. 4:15right now I'm on outliers. And so this
134. 4:17is going to filter some of the best
135. 4:19performing pieces of content on the
136. 4:21platform right now and generate an
137. 4:23outlier score for that video. So here's
138. 4:25a video by Katie Steckley. She makes
139. 4:27awesome content for creators and this is
140. 4:30a 50x outlier on her channel. If I click
141. 4:33this, [music] I can expand it and get
142. 4:34more information. She got 583,000 views
143. 4:37on a video posted a year ago. This is a
144. 4:4050x outlier, so it's performing 50 times
145. 4:42better than most of the content on our
146. 4:44channel. So, this tells you that there's
147. 4:46demand for this like [snorts] free video
148. 4:48editing software for YouTubers. So, we
149. 4:50could spin this for ourselves. What if
150. 4:51we did a video that was like top five
151. 4:53best free video editing softwares for
152. 4:56creators and YouTubers in 2026? That
153. 4:58could be a great video. And there's
154. 5:00proven, verifiable demand for this
155. 5:02content because Katie's video did over
156. 5:05half a million views in just over a
157. 5:07year. So clearly, this would be a great
158. 5:09outlier that we could use as inspiration
159. 5:11for our own content. We can also add
160. 5:13filters to videos. So if I went like
161. 5:14best Sony camera, for example, I could
162. 5:17filter. I'm searching for outliers
163. 5:19within the last, let's say, 6 months.
164. 5:22And maybe we want an outlier score of at
165. 5:24least five to sixx on their channel and
166. 5:27a subscriber range of less than a
167. 5:29million subscribers. We don't want any
168. 5:30massive channels on this. So, we're
169. 5:32seeing like smaller channels that have,
170. 5:34you know, outperformed the respective
171. 5:35niches. So, here's like a 15x outlier.
172. 5:38Here's one right here. And we actually
173. 5:39just did content around the iPhone 17
174. 5:41Pro. Best iPhone camera settings. So,
175. 5:44this is a 10x outlier score. Good to
176. 5:46see. So using a tool like Vid IQ to find
177. 5:48outliers is a great way to find
178. 5:50verifiable videos within your specific
179. 5:53niche that have current demand. Our
180. 5:55fourth tip is to think about building a
181. 5:57viewer journey, not just posting random
182. 6:00one-off videos. So you want to think of
183. 6:02creating content like creating more like
184. 6:04a playlist, not just one specific post.
185. 6:06So ask yourself, what's the next logical
186. 6:09video that somebody would want to watch
187. 6:11after I make this current one that I'm
188. 6:13working on? So, for example, we'll make
189. 6:15a video that's like how to start a
190. 6:17podcast in 2025, which is a really broad
191. 6:20appeal video. It did really well for us,
192. 6:22over 300,000 views, and that's just a
193. 6:24basic overview of how to start a
194. 6:25podcast. But then we can get even more
195. 6:27specific and how to start a podcast from
196. 6:30your phone. That's a great specific
197. 6:31question we could answer for people. How
198. 6:33to start not only a podcast, but a video
199. 6:35podcast is another video we created.
200. 6:38Also, podcast distribution. How do we
201. 6:40distribute a podcast if you even start
202. 6:42it? So, we're thinking through the
203. 6:44logical next steps that a viewer would
204. 6:46need to have solved for them if they're
205. 6:48going to watch a broad podcasting video.
206. 6:51They need to know every step of the
207. 6:52process if they do indeed decide to
208. 6:55pursue creating a podcast. So, ideally,
209. 6:57you could create clusters of videos or a
210. 7:00video series that will help a viewer
211. 7:02binge watch several videos on your
212. 7:03channel, which is going to boost watch
213. 7:05time across your channel broadly instead
214. 7:07of just creating individual one-off
215. 7:09pieces of content. Our fifth tip is to
216. 7:12remember that searchbased discovery is
217. 7:14still so key, especially if you're a
218. 7:16smaller channel and you're just getting
219. 7:18started. If you don't have subscribers,
220. 7:20YouTube doesn't have that built-in
221. 7:21network of people that they're going to
222. 7:23send that video out to for testing. So,
223. 7:25you really got to rely on [music] good
224. 7:27SEO or search engine optimization
225. 7:29tactics like good titles, good
226. 7:31thumbnails, good episode descriptions,
227. 7:33and tags to get your video discovered in
228. 7:36the first place. And I want to show you
229. 7:37here why this is so important. Here's
230. 7:39our channel analytics for our Think
231. 7:40Media channel. If I go over to content
232. 7:42and I scroll down to the way that
233. 7:44viewers are finding us in the last 28
234. 7:47days, 55% of our channel's views are
235. 7:50coming from the YouTube search bar. This
236. 7:52means that having those really good
237. 7:54titles on our channel's library is
238. 7:57vitally important and it's the most
239. 7:59frequent way that people engage with us
240. 8:01here at Think Media. A couple methods
241. 8:03that we teach in our online course
242. 8:04called Video Ranking Academy. And if
243. 8:06you're interested in that course, you
244. 8:08can visit thinkv.com to check us out.
245. 8:10But a couple methods we teach in there
246. 8:12is the ASQ and the RSP method. ASQ means
247. 8:16answering specific questions. So we'll
248. 8:17make videos like how to start a podcast
249. 8:19in 2025, very specific question. Or the
250. 8:22RSP method, reviewing specific products.
251. 8:24So that could be the best podcast
252. 8:26microphones of the year. We do a lineup
253. 8:28of all of those videos reviewing each
254. 8:30individual microphone. Essentially,
255. 8:31every channel could apply these two
256. 8:33methods to never run out of content
257. 8:34ideas. Answering specific questions and
258. 8:36reviewing specific products that relate
259. 8:38to your core topic or idea is a great
260. 8:40way to get discovered. Now, our sixth
261. 8:42tip here is kind of more like an
262. 8:43encouragement to smaller channels. It's
263. 8:45that thankfully discoverability has
264. 8:47never been easier on YouTube than it is
265. 8:50right now. Specifically, because YouTube
266. 8:52is no longer relying on subscriberbased
267. 8:55distribution for getting content in
268. 8:57front of people. It's now all
269. 8:58interestbased and it's more focused on
270. 9:00the interest of individual viewers and
271. 9:03the patterns of those individual viewers
272. 9:05and the retention of your specific video
273. 9:08than it is on any number of subscribers
274. 9:10or views that your channel is
275. 9:11generating. This means that small
276. 9:13channels can compete with massive
277. 9:14creators if viewers are sticking around
278. 9:17for longer watch durations or if they're
279. 9:20sharing videos, copying the link,
280. 9:22sending that to a friend or engaging in
281. 9:24the comment section. If you just create
282. 9:26viewers who are really satisfied, you're
283. 9:27going to get rewarded even if you're a
284. 9:29really small channel. So, if you're
285. 9:30watching this video and you literally
286. 9:32have zero subscribers and you feel
287. 9:33overwhelmed of like, how am I going to
288. 9:35compete in this YouTube arena? The
289. 9:37beauty is all you got to do is create
290. 9:38quality videos that speak to a specific
291. 9:41type of individual or viewer and do that
292. 9:43over and over and over and over again
293. 9:45and you will see growth. And that brings
294. 9:47us to our final tip, which is riches are
295. 9:49in the niches. And do you say niche or
296. 9:52niche? I almost always say niche now,
297. 9:54but it doesn't really work with the
298. 9:55phrase riches in the niches. It's like
299. 9:57the only time I say niche. Anyways, if
300. 9:59there's one thing you take away from
301. 10:00this video, it's remember that the
302. 10:02algorithm does not promote channels that
303. 10:04are all over the map. It rewards
304. 10:06clarity. So, the clearer your topic and
305. 10:08the niche of your channel is, the faster
306. 10:10that YouTube is going to be able to
307. 10:12connect and play matchmaker with your
308. 10:14video, connect the right video to the
309. 10:16right viewer at the right time, and
310. 10:18that's what's going to make your content
311. 10:20get seen by more people. So, if you want
312. 10:22to see how to find your niche and grow
313. 10:24faster on YouTube, click the link right
314. 10:26here on screen to watch a video that
315. 10:28Nate and I did together. It's a great
316. 10:30podcast episode that'll help you dial in
317. 10:32exactly how to focus your channel in the
318. 10:34right way to succeed on YouTube this
319. 10:36year. And I'll see you over there.