Has your YouTube viewership dropped? You’re not alone. It is normal for watch patterns to change at this time of year. The company explains why.

In a new video from project manager Rachel, who works on YouTube’s recommendations team, the company answers five questions related to search and discovery.

Questions include whether YouTube’s recommendation algorithm has been recently updated.

Many channels experience disruptions in viewership patterns after the summer months. But it has to do with life changes more than anything algorithmic.

Here’s more on why you’re seeing a drop in video views.

We will then discuss other highlights from the YouTube Q&A video.

Has the YouTube Algorithm Changed?

If you ask this question in the fall, the answer is probably “no.”

Like Google, YouTube updates its recommendation system and makes improvements hundreds of times a year.

However, what YouTube is looking for doesn’t usually change in terms of ranking signals.

That means a sudden drop in views probably isn’t the result of an algorithm update.

The most likely explanation for the decline in views, especially at this time of year, is seasonality.

What usually happens in September is that spectator schedules start to change as school starts again.

Many creators have a steady decrease in the week with an increase in viewership every weekend.

Recent uploads may take slower than usual at this time depending on when you typically release them.

“This is the time of year when there are a lot of changes in the viewer because a lot of things are happening in the lives of the viewers …,” the company explains.

Video views usually drop during the holiday season for the same reason.

Life is disruptive watching YouTube sometimes.

Should I Share Videos Outside of YouTube?

A question was submitted regarding sharing videos outside of YouTube and whether that could negatively affect analytics.

Rachel said from YouTube that you should completely share videos elsewhere.

Watching video from external sources does not affect the algorithm as if a user found it on their home page, but that does not mean there is no benefit to it.

If your video gets more traffic from external sources such as social media it likely increases the potential of your video to be discovered by more viewers on YouTube.

Viewers can like the video, comment on it, and / or subscribe to your channel.

Those signals will all influence whether your video will be recommended on people’s home pages.

And the other benefit to outdoor traffic is that viewers now have that video in their viewing history. So there is a higher likelihood that they will recommend one of your other videos in the future.

Why So Many Old Videos On My Home Page?

Running videos from 10 or 12 years ago on your homepage is not a bug, it is a feature.

It’s normal for YouTube to recommend videos that were uploaded weeks, months, years, or sometimes many years ago.

YouTube’s recommendation system is designed to match viewers with videos they’re most likely to enjoy, regardless of when that video was published.

If viewers still show interest in a particular video years after it is published, it will continue to be recommended until viewer interest begins to decline.

For creators, this shows that there is value in keeping older videos on your channel.

Old videos can help bring in new viewers who will discover you for the first time. That can lead to them watching your latest videos.

When 10 -year -old videos appear on the home page, the algorithm works as intended. This means that the video is still being enjoyed by other users and you might like it as well.

How Important Are Video Tags?

YouTube creators can tag their videos with keywords as a way of categorizing them and enhancing their discoverability.

But how important are they to YouTube’s recommendation system?

No clear answer is given to that question, but it is strongly suggested that they should not think too much in the context of the recommendations on the home page.

Instead, focus on the things that viewers decide when they choose what to watch.

What really matters there is the title and thumbnail of your video.

Changing and modifying tags is unlikely to affect the performance of your video.

Origin: Insider Creator

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