If you’re a content creator on YouTube, whether a novice or a seasoned expert, chances are that you’ve seen some of your videos get massive traffic and views.
Some of your videos stayed popular with considerable engagement. Still, chances are you’ve experienced the trend where your videos get a ton of views, and then suddenly, those views stop.
If that’s happened to you, have you thought about why do YouTube videos get a lot of views then stop?
There are various reasons why this occurs, and in this post, we’ll dive deep into why video views will surge before they drop off and tips on things you can do to prevent this from happening to you.
What Are Video Views Anyway?
Before we discuss why YouTube videos get a lot of views then stop, let’s quickly discuss what we mean by video views as it matters to you as a content creator.
Video views are how you can measure the total number of people consuming your content. It’s a crucial metric for measuring the overall success of your content on the platform.
The simple definition is that YouTube gives attribution to a view: every time a user watches a video on your channel, it’s counted.
This is important because the more views your content gets, the more it informs the algorithm of the popularity, importance, and relevance of your content, boosting your videos and channel rankings.
Why Do Views Matter?
When evaluating what channels and videos on YouTube are relevant and should rank higher than other content, one important metric is viewer rates.
The number of views directly impacts a channel’s ad revenue and potential for partnerships, sponsorships, and collaborations, making counting views correctly an essential metric for the YouTube algorithm.
YouTube counts when a user plays a video but has more specific criteria defining a “legitimate” view.
One of the ways that YouTube differentiates what is legitimate versus not legitimate is through analyzing user types.
For example, a bot or fake account can initially be counted as a valid view. Still, once the YouTube algorithm assesses the legitimacy of the consumer, then it can subtract that view from the overall count.
This is one way that YouTube maintains the integrity of its view count, which is one of the primary ways that content creators have to assess the relevance and popularity of their videos.
Several other factors contribute to the view count of a video on YouTube.
More in-depth, one significant factor is the Suggested Videos, which are promoted to users based on search queries, interests, and viewing history.
Because these are promoted videos and appear in search results, they will have more views since they are exposed to a broader audience.
Another factor is the video’s ranking in search results.
You’ll need to optimize your video’s title, description, and tags to do this. Include relevant keywords that can improve its visibility in search results, making it more attractive to people looking for similar content to consume.
So Why Do Videos Get a Lot of Views and Then Stop?
There are several reasons why a video can get a lot of traffic and views and suddenly stop.
There are obvious reasons, like popularity and audience interest changes, for the fact that the video may have been artificially inflated due to spam, bots, and fake accounts.
Also, YouTube may have algorithm updates and changes in how they rank the visibility of videos, disrupting the number of views.
Another factor is that there may be increased competition from other content creators that are operating in the same niche and producing similar content.
Ok, so there are a few different reasons that your YouTube videos get a ton of views and then stop, so let’s discuss some of the reasons your videos may surge and then examine the reasons why they may be impacted.
Finally, we’ll discuss what strategies you can take on that will help you avoid ever having to answer the question, “Why do YouTube videos get a ton of views then stop,” ever again.
Understanding The Mechanics Of The Initial Surge
When you publish a video on YouTube, it may attract an initial surge in views.
There are many reasons for this, ranging from being a relevant answer to what people are searching for to getting traction from bots and fake accounts to gaining genuine, organic traffic.
How you optimize your title, description, and thumbnails goes a long way in generating organic traffic, so this step is crucial for the long-term growth of your video.
Also, the timing of uploading your video can play a significant role. If your video is one of the first to be published in a particular niche or with a specific search result, you’ll generate a lot of views.
Initial Promotion Hype
When you publish a video, often it comes with outside hype, from PPC ads to social media posts that leverage content to click on the link to YouTube where your video is sitting. You can do this with pre-release teasers, collaboration announcements, or leveraging trending topics to generate excitement once you have published your video, helping the algorithm discover and rank your content.
Hacking The Algorithm Boost
Like all search engines, YouTube plays a crucial role in discovering content on the platform.
When a video gets an initial hype, it signals to the algorithm that the content may have a broader appeal.
As a result, your video is exposed to a broader audience, further boosting its initial popularity.
Finally, you can expect to see a boost from the algorithm when people are engaged, watch the length of the video, and are willing to stay through to the end.
Unraveling The Reasons For View Decline
It’s not a mystery as to why videos drop off in traffic. Sometimes, it’s simply due to a change in the algorithm; other times, the videos aren’t built with a long-term growth model in place.
Not Being Promoted
Videos stop being viewed once they aren’t found in search results. Poor SEO and optimization tactics often cause this, though a primary factor is the lack of sustained promotion.
Before you scramble to answer why YouTube videos get a ton of views, stop and take time to analyze your marketing and promotion strategies.
Consistent promotion, including across other platforms and social media channels, will help drive organic traffic to your video and channel, making it essential to help keep generating views.
Old And Outdated: The Changing Trends
Like fashion and reality TV, the digital landscape is ever-changing. A video that was all the rage not too long ago could quickly drop off. Think about all the videos of cats playing keyboards that launched the viral sensation on YouTube.
Those are gone.
To keep your videos from becoming stale and boring, you must create more content that shifts with your audience’s changing and evolving interests.
Inadequate Audience Engagement
Another reason your views are dropping is that you may need more audience engagement.
When a video is popular and gets many likes, comments, and shares, it tells the algorithm that the content is something people want. Still, on the other hand, if viewers are not actively engaging with it, the algorithm will interpret this as lower relevance and interest on the point of users on YouTube.
Viewer Fatigue Through Saturation
Your video becoming popular, even slightly viral, can also have a negative effect due to saturation.
For example, have you ever had a favorite food? Like something you absolutely die for? And because you love it so much, you eat as much of it as possible. Then one day, you’re just like, “blah–that’s good, but I’m kinda over it.” That’s the saturation effect.
Or, to beat a lousy metaphor even more, think about cool things to say that lose their flare over time. “Ok, Boomer.” “So, cringe.” are two that come to mind. Once, they were such cool things to say; they’re an afterthought because they got played out. That’s the fatigue factor.
And your videos can do the same thing. They can get played out, or the platform has too many similar types of videos, which may make yours seem boring and can drop views as well.
That’s because YouTube is incredibly popular.
The platform is saturated with over 500 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute. Since there’s simply more content than a person has time to consume, it’s easy for your video to lose popularity and views as more and more content is published.
Strategies for Sustaining and Increasing Views
Ok, so now that you have an idea that your views may be fool’s gold, what can you do to guarantee and continually generate views?
Create High-Quality Engaging Videos
To succeed on YouTube and generate more views over time, you’ll need to strategize in different ways, and one effective strategy you need is for your content to be of high quality and engaging to your target audience.
By producing videos that people want, you’re providing value, entertaining, or maybe educating your viewers, which, if done right, you can then leverage them to comment, like, share, and subscribe to your channel.
Promoting your videos through social media, collaborations, and paid advertising can also help increase your video views and reach a larger audience.
Consistent Content Schedule
A simple little “hack” you can do, if that’s what you want to call it, is to upload videos consistently.
By creating a publication schedule always, you can retain your current audience and help make your channel relevant, helping to attract new viewers further.
Additionally, publishing and uploading content frequently can positively influence how the algorithm evaluates your channel, boosting increased visibility.
Optimization Strategies
For your videos to remain relevant, you need a combined strategy that includes creating content people want and ensuring they can find it. All the quality content you could produce means squat if people can’t find it, which is where your optimization strategies come to bear.
Keyword Research
Begin your optimization strategies by doing effective keyword research. What topics and search queries are your target audience looking up, and what results are appearing?
In other words, effective search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for maintaining and increasing video views. Integrate these keywords into your video title, description, and tags to enhance discoverability.
Engaging Thumbnails
Your thumbnails may be the only thing your target may see, so it’s crucial to have eye-catching ones. Create visually appealing thumbnails that showcase your content and entice viewers to click. You’ll want to experiment with various thumbnail styles to find what resonates best with your target audience.
Additionally, optimizing your video titles, descriptions, and tags for relevant keywords can help improve your visibility in YouTube’s search results and attract more viewers.
Cross-Promotion and Collaboration
Cross-promotion and collaboration strategies are a great way to boost your views and exposure. Consider creating content with other creators in your niche so that you can then expose your videos (and theirs) to new audiences.
By conducting a cross-promotion strategy it allows you to tap into each other’s subscriber bases, which should be mutually beneficial in growing your audiences.
Audience Interaction and Community Building
Community building is one of the best ways to gain permanent growth for your channel. To do this effectively, you must actively engage with your audience through comments, community posts, and social media.
You can start contests, encourage discussions, ask for feedback or topical ideas for future content, and respond to viewer input.
By fostering a community, you’ll create loyal fans who are more likely to share your content and contribute to increased views.
Analyze and Adapt
Finally, to build long-term sustainable growth of your channel, you’ll want to analyze your video and channel performance using YouTube analytics.
When you’re looking for insights into what your videos and channel are doing well, you’ll want to look for and identify patterns like when peaks or dips in views occur. Of course, this may be easier if you outsource it, such as to a YouTube management company like Raffiti.
Once you collect various data points about your video trends, you can then use this data to refine your content strategy. This will help you create more focused content that resonates with your audience and is something that they will eagerly consume.
Being flexible with your content objectives is essential, and adaptability is vital.
There can be a lot of different reasons that answer the question, “Why do YouTube videos get a ton of views then stop?”
For long-term success, the key is creating content your audience wants to consume and is eager to view.
Suppose you need help with your content, video performance, and channel ranking. In that case, Raffiti Media is a full-service YouTube management agency that will produce and optimize content to help your channel succeed.
If you’re curious about the services and what we can do for you, call for your FREE one-on-one consultation with Raffiti Media, today!
