15 Top YouTube Mistakes that hurt algorithm

Do you want to start a YouTube channel, but are worried about getting no views? Do you already have a YouTube channel, but your not getting the views you think you should? These 15 YouTube algorithm Mistakes might be hurting you... Not Having a Plan Having a Weak Hook YouTube SEO Not Having Consistant Schedule Not Optimizing Thumbnails Having Fluff and Long Intros Having NO Call to Action Not Engaging in Comments Not Creating Playlists or Series End Screens Quitting Too Early After Low Views Shorts and Normal Videos NOT Repurposing Videos Publishing Low-Quality Audio or Video Ignoring Viewer Retention Stats Not Being Niche Keep reading and I'll share how to improve in all these 15 areas. Plus I'll share a nifty way to make more cash with YouTube than your grandma’s secret bingo fund. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKdhPR8H8iI&t=50s The Top YouTube Mistake for the 2025 Algorithm is Not Having a Plan If you mess up everything else, but you have a decent plan and stick to it - you still have a good chance of succedding. Are you making a YouTube channel for.. Money To help the world To get attention To market a business It doesn't matter the reason "I firmly believe" that having an optin page and collecting emails will skyrocket your growth. You will gain... Having direct access to your audience You own the list Can promote multiple offers Can contact someone WAY into the future Promote your other content Do list swaps Easier to get accepted into affiliate programs MUCH higher conversion rate Great for launching products Get valuable feedback Protects you from algorithmic changes More personalized marketing Even if you're trying to save the "earth" you will do more good by collecting emails. You should at least have the landing page set up before you start your channel. You "don't" even need that many views on YouTube if you know what your doing with email! It's that powerful. If you're not sure how to collect emails or how to send and create them, I have free guides that explain all this to you by clicking on the link HERE. Big Video GamePlan Having a plan for videos is also a good idea. What I recommend is having content clusters. Below is my Kindgarden drawing of how it would look like. You make 1 video that is your hub video that directs someone to a free gift and a landing page. In exchange for the free gift you get their email address. Then you make a bunch of videos that point to that first video. The reason you want to do this is because if someone watches 2 or more of your videos in a certain amount of time YouTube considers them a "subscriber" EVEN if they don't hit the subscribe button. Plus it helps your videos rank and get more views. Speaking to men, this means you just have to go on a few dates before making your move. Instead of making the move on date 1. Small Video GamePlan Also, it helps to have a bunch of video ideas already planned. You don't have to do this, but it's nice. This is very easy to do just go to ChatGPT HERE, and type in "give me 50 video ideas on the topic "__" and you will get a bunch of ideas on what to create a video about. Why Having a Weak Hook Will Kill Your YouTube Videos The algorithm "heavily" favors people watching your videos past the first 15 seconds. This is why you want a strong hook (sort of like hooking a fish). Here are a few ideas on how to make a stronger hook... Start With a Bold Statement or Shocking Fact! Example: 99% of bloggers are making this mistake - and it's REALLY hurting their website. Something like this interrupts their pattern and creates curiosity. Photo by Mário Rui André on Unsplash Speak Directly to the Viewer’s Pain Point! Example: Are you making videos and not getting the views you want? Notice how I did something similar at the beginning of this post? This method can poke at their pain and build more of an emotional connection. Use a Countdown or Time-Based Promise! Example: In just 3 minutes I'm going to share how to double your YouTube views. This can work because the viewer sees the benefit. I never use it because I don't like getting boxed into a time. Also, make sure you finish under the time you promised! Tease the Outcome Without Giving It All Away! Example: By the end of this video you will know exactly how to rank a blog post. This works because it creates a clear incentive to stay until the end. Of course, a great idea is to use ChatGTP to give you 10 hooks on the topic "___" and pick the hook you like. How Neglecting YouTube SEO Will Kill Your YouTube Video Views We make videos primarily for people; however, a machine is organizing the videos. The machine does the job of recommending certain videos to certain people. This is why we also have to make videos for the "algorithm" or machine. I call it dummy proofing them. You can do this by optimizing your title, description, tags. You also want to optimize your channel. I created a post about 10 of the most overlooked settings for YouTubers HERE. How an Inconsistent Schedule with Uploading Videos can Hurt a YouTuber's Growth Honestly, an inconsistent schedule is one of my weaknesses. I just finished the 1,000 episode of a Podcast called "Econtalk" and the host was inconsistent with uploading episodes in the early days and his audience didn't like it. They would go to listen to a new episode and it was "old stuff" there. This hurts trust. I've heard the same stuff with TikTok where 1 creator posted every day and then took a few days off and the next time he posted a video his reach was WAY down. The same thing happens with YouTube. What I recommend is uploading 1 YouTube video a week (say on Monday). Then on Tuesday make the video, but hold off on uploading it until (next Monday). If you create a third video then it's a bonus. So, 1 video a week is consistent, and everything else is the playground. If you're going on vacation, then you can schedule a few videos in advance. You also want to overdeliver and underpromise. If you're not sure you can post 1 video a week try to cut out editing. You can go MUCH faster. On that EconTalk Podcast the host mentioned he never edited and these were 1 hour long Podcasts. You could also make shorter videos. A VERY short video is better than nothing. How Not Optimizing Thumbnails for Clicks Hurts a YouTube Channel! If nobody clicks on your video, then the "entire" video doesn't matter. This is why titles and Thumbnails are SO important. To be honest, I've grown a "HUGE" YouTube channel maybe 10 years ago with NO custom thumbnails—but times have changed. You want to give yourself the best edge you can. Thumbnails and titles are more important than the video itself. It's the engine of the train! Photo by Richard Horne on Unsplash I created a post on the top 10 tips for creating clickable thumbnails and how to create thumbnails (step-by-step) for free at this post HERE. How Fluff and Long Intros can Hurt a Youtube Channel Don't you hate it when you're looking for an answer and can't find it? It's the same thing with your viewers. This is when on my blog for example, I put the answer in the beginning (even bold it). People's attention spans are SHORT. Long intros and not getting to the point will force someone to click another video. The first 15 seconds is "everything." Plus, I used to hate those long intro videos some channels had. It's so stroking someone's ego. How NO Call to Action in Videos Hurts a YouTube Channel One of the worst advices I've heard is someone saying to make 6 TikTok videos with no call to action then on the 7th have a call to action. Every TikTok video has a chance to go viral. If you make a video without a call to action and then it goes viral (That's going to suck). It's the same with YouTube. Some of my videos pop and "gets LOTS of views" and some suck. But I have a call to action in ALL my videos. Usually it's ONLY 1 call to action at the end of the video. If you tell someone too many things to do "the confused" brain doesn't do any of them. Usually my call to action is to watch another video, sometimes it's a link to my website or landing page. I very rarely ask someone to subscribe or leave a comment. My call to actions are at the end too, I've seen some YouTubers put it at the beginning and that looks desperate, but I used to do the same thing. Lastly, it's not a bad idea to ask a question in the comments to help engagement and this can help your video get seen more. How Not Engaging with Comments Hurts a Channel If someone takes the time to leave a comment they are honoring you. Even if it's a nasty comment - they took their time (out of their busy schedule) to write to you. If you can respond to all comments that is better. Many times I've written "thanks for the comment." Even a heart, which can take 1 second. Nasty Comments can hurt. The last 2 days I've been getting destroyed on Reddit (some of those comments were funny). I recommend trying to laugh about it. Remember every comment helps your video reach more people. YouTube looks at engagement! So embrace Trolls. Laugh it off and keep moving! How Not Creating Playlists or Series Can Hurt a YouTube Channel This is one of the areas that I need to improve on myself. You might be wondering what is SO cool about a playlist. I used to think this way! Playlist autoplay to the next video. This increases "watchtime" and helps your videos do better and get seen more. Another cool tips is "playlists" can show up in the search results and be indexed as a separte piece of content. Other benefits is it helps the YouTube algorithm understand what your channel is about. It helps your channel look more organized. Plus it keeps people on YOUR content and that is good. Lastly, playlists work "great" with my content cluster strategy. The entire content cluster can be 1 playlist. Each video links to another video and then 1 video links to your landing page. How Skipping End Screens Can Hurt a Youtube Channel End Screens are "amazing" and I've been using them a ton recently. This is the boxes that show up at the end of your video that someone can easily click on. These could be... A link to another Youtube video Subscribe button Playlist External link The bad news is someone has to be enrolled in the Partner Program to get an external link "end screen." In order to qualify for the Partner Program a channel needs... 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.OR1,000 subscribers with 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days. The Partner Program also means you can run ads and earn money. The good news is you can always just include a link to an external website in the description of your YouTube video. A video also has to be more than 25 seconds to have an end screen. How I use them is to promote another of my videos. Quitting Too Early After Low Views is Very Bad for a YouTube Channel I get it we all wants results VERY fast. via GIPHY Just remember that every video you make can continue to get views WAY into the future. I recently saw a training class on a TikTok Shop and I saw the exact view counts on each day a video wen't viral. There was barely any views for 4 days. Then on day 5-7 It hit 500,000 views. Normal YouTube videos can take months to go viral. You Just don't know! I've had videos I made years ago still get good traction. Remember the #2 website in the world is YouTube and it gets 2.5 billion monthly active users to the website. It's good to look at other business models, platforms, strategies but video IS "YouTube" and video is here to stay. It doesn't hurt to having some Youtube be apart of your overall plan! Not Using Shorts and Normal Videos can Hurt a YouTube Channel Honestly, both types have their uses. They both target different audience. YouTube shorts can attract new viewers quickly through being discovered in the Shorts feed. Long-form videos builds a better relationship and helps build trust. You want both! Every view, like, comment or someone subscribing sends good signals about your channel. YouTube also likes "watch time." which long form videos help with. My Short videos are usually 15-20 seconds long. Sometimes I just like to go deeper into topics for my own sanity too. I would say Shorts are better to make now. For example I make 6-8 short videos to every 1-2 long form YouTube video. A really nifty strategy is to make 1 normal YouTube video. Then you could break that video up and create 5 short videos from it. This way you compete for both audiences. If you really want to dominate with Short videos I created a FREE guide and you can check that out from this place HERE. How NOT Repurposing Videos is Hurting a YouTube Channel The power of creating content to me is leverage. This means doing the work once and continue to get paid from it. Leverage could also mean getting more stuff done with less work. Sort of like levaging a car to travel. Did you know there is "a lot" you can do with just 1 YouTube video? There are other places to post the SAME video. You can do very little work and get more views! For a full list of places to post a video you can check out this post HERE. Publishing Low-Quality Audio or Video I've heard 80% of a video is the audio. I do buy into this because I've tried to watch a movie before with steller graphics, but the audio was just a little off and I couldn't do it. It's the same reason why "podcasts" and audiobooks are popular right now. Heck, I listen to more audiobooks than actually reading a book. Investing in a little better of microphone can "really" help a channel. Video and light can also be of some help, but not as much as the audio. To learn more about how to get the best microphone and equipment for the lowest price you can view this post I made HERE. How Ignoring Viewer Retention Stats can Hurt a Channel Now and then it's good to see what is working and what isn't. Just be brutally honest! Be careful of going overboard and going crazy over your stats. You could look at it once a month, maybe once a week "at most." You just don't want to get in the habit of looking at how your doing every day. To view "viewer retention" go to you YouTube Studio and click on "analytics." Then look and see where people are clicking away. If there is a pattern of people dropping in the beginning you know you need stronger hooks. Just look for a pattern on when people leave your video then try to make improvements in that area to keep viewers! How Not Being Niche Can Not be Good for a YouTuber I made this mistake early one. Making completely different videos on different topics because I was interested in everthing. This is why content clusters are SO good. You don't have to stay in niche jail, you can slowly migrate to other niches just slowly. If you have a fishing channel you can slowly start a content cluster on fishing boats or fishing locations. If your videos are all over the place then your going to struggle! Conclusion YouTube is an amazing platform! You can build trust, credibility and get FREE advertising on almost anything. Many people let fear, self-doubt, negativity prevent them from starting. Some people let "trolls" stop them too! Just jump in, make crappy videos and always try to improve. Whats the worst that can happen? You get NO views and some troll comments. As long as you can deal with that - your good. Of course I did recently watch a story about a YouTuber making fun of another YouTuber dressed as a clown and 2 people got shot over it. I guess maybe don't make fun of clowns too! For the full 10 steps to starting a YouTube channel click on the link HERE.