What are the most popular types of YouTube videos?

If you are looking for the most popular categories of YouTube videos to determine what kind of YouTube videos you should make, you are in the right spot.
Regretfully there is not one specific formula that works for every audience and every channel.
But there are types of content that generally tend to do very well.
In this article I’ll discuss them with a strong focus on the value for the viewer.

1. Tutorials (how to…)

The easiest way to give value to people is by explaining how things work.
Tutorials are also easiest to be found in the search results on YouTube (and Google).
If you want to start a new channel, a tutorial channel probably is the best starting point.

2. Fashion

Women love fashion.
Keeping your fans up to date about the latest and greatest can be very lucrative.
Your value is the ‘food’ you provide for hungry fashionistas.

3. Bikini

Sex sells, and skimpy clothed women drive a ton of engagement (and thus promotion, which means extra views).
A lot of female creator combine fashion with bikinis.
The value for men is obvious.
The value for women: the style and the fit of the bikini.
Do bikini hauls and your channel will grow like crazy, add a Patreon and you are financially solid for the next 10 years.

But a bikini channel is risky, the Community Guidelines forbid sexualizing content.
Showing a women`s butt in a thong is regarded as sexual.
You can’t monetize a bikini channel because you risk a Community Guideline strike or channel termination if you do so.

This may seems kind of prude at the first glance, but if you think about it: it was kind of unfair to other creators who pour their heart and soul in carefully researching, writing, preparing, shooting and editing content to grow at a normal rate.
Starting a YouTube channel and growing in 6 months to 200k subscribers with only 10 videos in a bikini is kind of ‘unhealthy’.

Even if you decide to risk it, there are also two long term downsides to a bikini success.
First, do you really want to be famous for taking your clothes of and showing your underwear?
Can you still do this is 10 or 20 years?
What if your looks aren’t as great anymore and some hotter and younger version of you comes along that now drives all the attention?

Second, you know everything about turning men’s heads, but do you actually know how to make proper video content?
Do you know how to write a video script? How to create a storyline? Attention span? Ranking videos?
Have you learned to work for your success? Have the perseverance to grind and develop a ‘real’ business/YouTube channel?

4. Violent, harmful and dangerous content

The second thing (after sex) that sparks engagement is violence.
Harmful and dangerous videos are really good candidates for going viral.

Danger is assumed with being badass which is cool.
I think because a lot of people aren’t badass enough themselves, they get a rush (the value for the viewer) of watching violent videos.

In the aftermath of the 2019 comment controversy, the Community Guidelines are stricter around violence than ever before.
Be careful if you decide to go this route.

5. News channels

Bring the latest and greatest to your followers.
Because news is very broad and you have to compete against established news organizations, it is wise to search for a niche like tech news (although there are a ton of tech channels already out there).
With a news channel you can’t really make evergreen content.

6. Entertainment

Entertainment is very broad and overlaps some points in this list.
The entertainment factor is the value you give to your viewer.
Entertainment is difficult to discover for the YouTube algorithm, you can’t really search for it in YouTube search.

You need to have a great personality, great content, great story and on top of that: something to show every day.
It takes a while for people to start caring about you in a way that they keep coming back.
But when viewers do start to care, they become loyal fans and consume every video you make.
Whereas a tutorial channel, if subscribers don’t like the topic, they skip it.

Vlogs fall also under this category.

7. Reviews of products

In the eighties and nineties people went to a store for advice when they wanted to buy a product.
Nowadays in the information age, people search online.
Because YouTube has sound and moving images it is a really good medium for reviews.
The value you give is the information about a certain product.

8. Controversy

Controversy sparks engagement, which is fuel for a YouTube channel.
Mac vs PC, Men vs Women, contradicting political views, conspiracy, aliens, going against a popular belief (the earth is round) etc etc.
Personally I don’t want to moderate the comment sections for these channels, the things people say in the comments is beyond your comprehension.
Keep an eye out on the Community Guidelines, there are limitations to what you can do and say.

9. Stupidity / scandal

We humans love to feel superior to others and like to see other people fail.
The emotion of pride in superiority is the value for the viewer.
This can be “innocent” (someone falling on the street), or serious (uncovering the lies of a company or politician).
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.