What kind of videos does the YouTube algorithm like most 2024

There is no particular video genre or video style that the algorithm is programmed to like the most.
You can’t say that tutorials perform better than vlogs for example, because it is all relative to the competition in your niche and content type.
But there is something that the algorithm likes more than anything else.

The algorithm is programmed to favor the videos that have the best viewer satisfaction.
Because a higher viewer satisfaction makes viewers stay longer on the platform, which makes them watch more ads, which is how YouTube makes money.
In other words: make videos that viewers enjoy, because the algorithm reacts to that.

This is what YouTube has to say about this:
“Believe it or not, our algorithm doesn’t have an opinion about the content you make.
It actually focuses on what your viewers might enjoy based on things like videos they’ve watched, likes & dislikes, and feedback.
So instead of catering to the algorithm, concentrate on your fans.
If you do, the algorithm will follow.”
(source email: “your March Creator Monthly Newsletter is here!” March 13th 2021)

Then the next question arises:

How does the algorithm know what viewers enjoy?

Well the YouTube algorithm measures mainly 3 things, that you can find in your YouTube Analytics:

Average View Duration (AVD) – how long are viewers watching your video on average.
The longer viewers watch, the more they like the video.
Try to get this as high as possible.
Average Percentage Viewed (APV) – how much of your video is watched by viewers on average.
If they watch 50% or more the algorithm gets a digital boner.
But there is a healthy balance between Average View Duration and Average Percentage Viewed to ensure that also short videos are promoted.
Click Through Rate (CTR) – how many people clicked after seeing your title and thumbnail?
If 100 viewers saw your thumbnail and 4 clicked on it, you have 4% CTR.
4% CTR is quite normal.
I have videos that have 15% CTR, but that is an exception that occurs generally only on super specific topics.
But, be careful to compare CTRs between videos, because it is not an apples to apples comparison, like I explained in this YouTube video.

If you want to learn more about how the YouTube Algorithm works, check out my YouTube video on the matter right here.

These 3 factors (AVD, APV, CTR) are the holy trinity, but there are hundreds of other factors into play, just like YouTube says.
YouTube mentions the like-to-dislike ratio, which is a factor, but only a small one.

The reason why I know why I know this for sure, I’ll describe in this article about dislike myths.
In the article I describe the behavior of the first video on a new channel that had only dislikes.

I’d say that it is more important: how well you can convince viewers to watch more of your videos.
Because that is also THAT a positive sign that viewers LIKE your content, so your content is good in the eyes of the algorithm
How long you can keep viewers’ attention over multiple videos is called Session Watch Time.

What does the YouTube Algorithm like?

The algorithm likes videos of which it can determine the topic, because THEN it can see the relevancy between video topics that it can use for recommendations in end-screens, Recommended algorithm and YouTube Home.
So, be clear to the algorithm what your video is about.

How can you be clear to the YouTube Algorithm?

Title - Have a proper title that represents the content of the video for the algorithm, but is clickable for the human (remember, the human causes the click through rate to go up, which the algorithm reacts to).
Thumbnail - Also make sure that your thumbnail represents the content of the video, the algorithm uses text and object recognition to get hints about the content of the video
Description - Have a video description that DESCRIBES (what’s in the name) the content of the video. 2 or 3 paragraphs in which you mention your target keywords should be enough.
Putting only your social media handles in your description doesn’t tell the algorithm anything useful about your video.
Use the transcribe feature - Explain in the video what your video is about (in the intro for example).
Make sure to say target keywords in your video.
Don’t forget to check the video transcription for “misunderstood” words.
The video transcription feature is also used for subtitles, if it is correct, it will also improve the automatic translation to other languages.

Still got no traction in the YouTube Algorithm?

You might ask yourself:
“But when I upload amazing videos, the numbers you showed earlier are on point. But still they don’t show up in YouTube search and aren’t recommended on the right side.”

This is because you got probably outranked by a larger channel.
To prevent this, I would focus on 2 things:

YouTube Search – But pick topics that are not too competitive.
If you have trouble with that, my step-by-step keyword research tutorial video (17 min) on YouTube can help you.
YouTube Home – Yes, even small creators can do this. But it takes some strategy, which I explain in my article about triggering YouTube Home as a small creator (including video).

YouTube tries to predict what a viewer wants to watch next, this is called predicted watch time. Larger channels have more reputation, because they have contributed to more views and watch time (and ads) in the past.

So YouTube trusts those larger channels more and will recommend larger channels more.
As a small creator you have to prove yourself to the algorithm that you can keep viewers longer on the platform.
For example, by convincing viewers to watch more than one video on your channel.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t rank as a small creator when your videos are amazing, you just have to pick your topics more carefully.
In fact there are channels that got a million subscribers with their first videos.
You hear only these stories because they make great YouTube video titles that get a high Click Through Rate.

But for 99.9999994738932749483938494747384756856934938747595837647% of YouTube creators, like myself, it doesn’t work this way.
You and I have to upload a lot of videos to gather watch time on your channel, so we can gain reputation in the eyes of the algorithm.

When you are serious about YouTube and want to take it to the next level, take a look at my video training program: Viral Strategy.
The program takes you step-by-step through the process of getting views, subscribers and going viral.

For new creators I included a module that guides you step-by-step through the process of starting, creating and setting up a YouTube channel.