Want to know the simplest way to dramatically increase views on your YouTube? It might seem unusual, but it’s insanely effective! We call it Reverse Content Creation.
But first, let’s talk about why certain videos rack up views.
Impressions Click-Through Rate
The most significant factor determining how many views a video usually gets is the Impressions click-through rate. You’ll find those details in your Video Analytics data on YouTube Studio mobile and desktop.
In super simple terms, a 10% Impressions Click-Through Rate means that out of everyone who saw your video, 10% actually clicked and watched it.
So, let’s say YouTube showed your video 1,000 times on the platform, and 100 people clicked and watched it, then your Impressions Click-Through Rate (CTR) would be a respectable 10%.
The higher this number, the more views your videos will usually receive. You boost this number by crafting irresistible thumbnails and titles around topics your audience finds interesting.
We believe this is the most important metric for getting more views on YouTube.
You’ve probably heard about the importance of retention, average view duration, and smashing the like button. However, those metrics come into play after someone clicks on your video.
People click on your video based on its thumbnail, title, and topic, and that’s measured by the click-through rate. See more in our explainer video:
Some of the most popular videos have just average retention rates. But, thanks to their high CTR, these videos still managed to rake in a ton of views.
Reverse Content Creation
Usually, content creators follow a familiar process: they come up with a topic, they create the content, and then design the thumbnail and title they hope will get people to watch. While this process may seem logical, sometimes we do it a little differently.
Reverse content creation is when you decide on the title and thumbnail before creating the actual video content. If you don’t believe the title and thumbnail will grab attention and earn a high click-through rate, you don’t even bother creating the video.
This will keep you from investing a lot of time into a video that won’t even get seen. We practice reverse content creation all the time.
If our video producers are not sure what to title a video, they think of one that a YouTube viewer would find irresistible like. “The Genius SHORTCUT To 4,000 Hours of Watch Time!”. Then they experiment with a thumbnail image that includes, for example, an upward graph.
Finding Inspiration From Other Creators
We saw a video from a creator named Dan Koe titled “How To Get Ahead Of 99% Of People (In 6-12 Months)”:
We loved the title and thumbnail and could tell by the views that others found it clickable, too, so they saved it for later.
Of course, it’s from a different niche than YouTube education, but they knew the subject was good motivational content and that many of our viewers would appreciate it. They looked at it and said, we need to make a video titled X; what should the video be about?
Instead of creating a title and thumbnail for an existing video, you craft a video around a title and thumbnail you know is incredibly clickable. Now you’re producing content you know will get views rather than content you hope will get views.
by TubeBuddy as part of