This site is cooked…

aYouTube is not a discovery platform. I ran a clickbait test with a title and thumbnail that had nothing to do with the video, and the results proved what click-through rate really does.

The test was simple. I put out a video titled TOTAL CHUD VICTORY, cycled three titles and three thumbnails around that topic, and talked about something else entirely. It immediately became one of my best performing videos of the year. Point made, so I took it down. I have been running tests like this since early this year, including weeks where I covered the latest thing with reaction style titles. Same result every time.

If you want to grow on YouTube, here is the straight version, not the guru version.

Takeaway one: your title and thumbnail matter more than anything you say in the video. CTR, click-through rate, decides how far a video travels. You can have the best edited video, great animations, and a great personality on camera, and it can still go nowhere. In my experience, videos with strong audience retention but a weak click-through rate do not get pushed. The worst performing videos I make are the ones where the title tells you exactly what I am talking about. Do I like it? No. But that is how the site works, and it rewards algorithm chasing over authenticity.

Takeaway two is about our corner of YouTube. Ever wonder why it feels like we are still having the same conversations about mainstream media and AAA gaming that we had in the mid to late 2010s? The people who built a following on that content are pigeonholed. Their income is tied to YouTube, the audience only wants that one thing, and changing direction can crush them. That is why so many creators run multiple channels, and why even non culture war channels rely on dramatic thumbnails and overpromising titles.

That pressure is also why you see creators burn out and step away for months. The site incentivizes you to pretend.

YouTube is a great place to cultivate an audience and an extension of your business. Route people to it from elsewhere. But for new, independent, original content, discovery here means hitting the lotto or playing the game. Go in with your eyes open so you do not ram your head against the wall.

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#YouTube #Clickbait #ContentCreator