How to Make YouTube Shorts Go Viral

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Why are YouTube Shorts popular now? Here is the answer: changes in the target audience, their behavior, and content preferences. Now, if you want to find the answer to any question, you won’t watch a whole long video, but will look for a quick answer in Shorts or ask AI for help. New creators are taking advantage of this by creating short videos. Is it that easy to make a viral Short? Together with you, we will analyze YouTube Shorts algorithms, the use of AI in creating quick content, and specific steps for making viral Shorts.

Understanding How YouTube Shorts Algorithms Work

Let’s figure it out: how does the YouTube Shorts algorithm work? Contrary to what many believe, that Shorts algorithms are constantly changing radically and it is impossible to track their trends, it’s actually not all that bad. There are always criteria that influence the promotion of short content in one way or another. Here are the main ones:

Content Regularity (The more often you post content, the more actively it is promoted.)
Trends (The more actively you follow trends and adapt them to your content, the more often algorithms will “notice” you.)
Content Adaptation (The more actively you promote your content on other social media/the more often you promote long videos through a few small videos in YouTube Shorts, the better it is for your channel promotion.)

The reality is that the number of likes, rewatches of Shorts, comments, and clicks on the “Share” button still affects the promotion of your content. How to motivate your audience to react to your videos? We will discuss tips further. But before going deeper in this topic, let’s calculate how much you can earn from YouTube Shorts.

How Much Can You Earn From Shorts?

Before we start sharing all the YouTube Shorts monetization strategies, we need to fully understand how much a creator can earn on their videos. Basically, the revenue from short content is controlled by CPM (cost per 1,000 views).

According to Market.biz, the income per 1,000 views ranges from $0.75 to $2.50. This figure includes monetization from YouTube and additional advertising within the video.

If you don’t want to add ads to your videos and your subscriber count isn’t particularly high, you’ll earn between $0.05-$0.07 per 1,000 views. It’s up to you: connect additional sources of income or rely on Shorts algorithms and monetization. If you’re thinking about alternative methods of earning money on YouTube Shorts, you definitely need to read the next paragraph.

Monetization of Shorts: Affiliate Program and Additional Sources

It’s totally okay to search for extra ways to earn money. YouTube even encourages you at this point. You can add advertising inserts and affiliate links to your Shorts descriptions, as well as earn money by using special sounds in your videos. Does the last point sound like a myth? In fact, it’s a real offer that will provide you with additional income.

15+ Tips to Make YouTube Shorts Go Viral

Now that we’ve discussed monetization, it’s time to make a plan for capturing YouTube Shorts recommendations. We’ve compiled the most practical YouTube growth tips for you so that you don’t have to find them yourself through trial and error. Honestly, we are confident that by following these steps, you will be able to take your short videos to the level of viral YouTube Shorts in a relatively short period of time.

1. Research Your Niche

Have you decided to shoot short content? Great decision. Now it’s important to understand which topics your ideas will fit into. Of course, we’re not encouraging you to stick to one niche only. It’s important to find something that interests you as a viewer and content creator to avoid burnout and “fakeness.”

Start with browsing through the content of popular creators, then determine what you like, and make your final choice. Remember: even if you are not successful in a certain niche and your attempt to get into the trends was not fruitful, it is never too late to change course.

2. Generate Short Videos from Long Videos

That’s how easy it is to share popular creators’ cheat sheets with you. We’re sure it could have happen to you: you’re scrolling through YouTube Shorts, you come across a snippet of a podcast/show, and you become interested in watching the full video. This is a great life hack!

With short videos, you can promote longer videos. And it doesn’t require a lot of editing: many AI tools already handle this task automatically.

3. Try Trends: Why Not?

It seems that only uncreative content creators follow trends? In fact, this is a myth. If you can creatively adapt a trend to your niche, you are guaranteed to attract new followers.

You can even film a popular dance challenge and supplement it with expert commentary/professional jokes, etc. This way, you won’t be boring and will stand out among tons of identical content.

4. Create an Outstanding Hook

In short videos, you don’t have time to warm up. Your task is to hook viewers from the very first seconds and “force” them to watch until the end. How can you do this? Come up with a moderately provocative hook that will evoke emotion in users and raise a question that motivates them to watch the video.

The main thing is not to overdo it and not to create clickbait. If your video is about buying a phone at a store, you don’t need to start with the phrase: “I was kicked out of the store for this…”. Such deception will not interest them, but will scare them away.

5. Write a Dynamic Script

Without a compelling script, your video will not benefit from a newsworthy topic, an engaging creator, or even dynamic editing. The script for a short video is literally the framework that holds all the content together.

Moreover, it is much easier to work with a script because you immediately understand what you need to shoot and edit. You can consult with specialists or use AI to assist you with this step. However, do not copy the script. Be different and add your own unique touch.

6. Work with Video Loop

As we mentioned before, if your content is actively viewed, algorithms will surely promote it. How can you engage the audience to watch your videos once again? There are several options.

Create a series of viral shorts on the same topic. Do you have an interesting story? Break it down into several short videos and leave cliffhangers for the next part. Also, work on your storytelling, as it increasingly attracts viewers’ attention and literally creates the feeling that the creator on the other side of the screen is your close friend whom you empathize with.

7. Master Your Thumbnails

Thumbnails really do have a big impact on video promotion. This also applies to Shorts, because now you can upload thumbnails yourself instead of just choosing a random frame from the video.

That’s why we’re sharing some cool YouTube Shorts thumbnail examples, so follow the link, get inspired, and create something catchy and unique. The secret to a great thumbnail is that it should reflect the essence of the video, not be overloaded with text and graphic elements.

8. Don’t Forget About Video’s Frequency

Really, we hear this question every day: how often should you post videos to get to Recommendations? Honestly, we won’t give you a universal answer. Posting videos 5 times a week doesn’t guarantee that your content will go viral. But that doesn’t mean you should post Shorts once a week. The ideal number of Shorts is 1-3 videos per week.

9. Think About Posting Time

Do you really need to post only in the morning? Or maybe in the evening? Basically, none of this may work for you. So when should you post Shorts? In fact, there is no universal time. Our main advice is to test different posting time and track when your audience is active through YouTube Studio. We can say for sure that you shouldn’t publish content at night, as few people will watch it and the algorithms won’t promote your video, considering it uninteresting to viewers.

10. Add SEO Words

Have you heard about video optimization? We know exactly how to start working with SEO. Conduct keyword research and add them to the title, description, and tags of your Shorts. This will help your videos appear in search results faster. There are dozens of tools that can help speed up this process. We discussed them in our article. We understand that SEO seems like a hard topic, but in our articles we make it easier to understand and accessible even for aspiring creators.

11. Use Clickbait or Not?

We pointed out above that clickbait may not be beneficial for your image. However, should you be afraid of this issue? Absolutely not. Clickbait can be used in reasonable amounts (i.e., don’t lie, just embellish). However, it’s important to remember that if the audience discovers the truth, some viewers will lose trust in you and unsubscribe.

12. Integrate Cross-Platform Promotion for Viral Shorts

Is it possible to promote your Shorts for free? Of course, that’s what cross-platform promotion is for. If you have accounts on other social media and you maintain them, it wouldn’t hurt to talk about your new Shorts and leave a link to it. Some creators also upload the same content across different social networks to maximize their profits. Either way, sharing your YouTube Shorts across all social media is essential for quickly growing your views and audience.

13. Add CTA

It seems impossible to motivate users to like and comment on content. In fact, the whole problem lies in the lack of a clear CTA. Try adding a clear call to action at the very end of your next videos, asking viewers to subscribe and like the video. Believe me, you will see a difference. Many viewers simply forget to leave feedback, even if they really like the content.

14. Start Filming UGC Content

Content formats such as UGC have become very popular in recent years. The essence of this format is that the creator literally creates content for the development of the brand. And the brand, in gratitude for the work and time spent, posts the creator’s content on its own channels, tagging them on social media. As you can see, it’s a win-win situation for the creator and the company.

15. Make Collaborations with Creators

If you suddenly feel that you’re running out of ideas for Shorts but still need to shoot content, collaborations are always a great decision. Their main advantage is that you can exchange experiences with a colleague, gain a new audience, and find inspiration to shoot content. And, of course, it’s often a fun and memorable experience!

16. Don’t Ignore Your Stats

When it comes to checking your results and YouTube channel audit checklist, it’s time to turn to YouTube Studio. This tool will help you quickly understand which videos have been successful and which formats you should stop shooting for your account. First, you can check your statistics every month to form a content plan. Later, you can do this less frequently (but not once a year, of course!).

17. Use AI Tools for Shorts

Don’t be afraid of AI because of the tag under the video, deepfakes, negative comments, or unsuccessful examples of using such tools. If you know how and what to work with, such mistakes will not happen, and AI assistants will make content production easier and editing more diverse. By the way, not so long ago, we shared our favorite AI tools in an article. Here’s the link.

Final Thoughts

So what are the ingredients of a viral Short? Let’s summarize once again: hook, retention, strong script, regularity, detailed analytics, content adaptation, and dynamism. If you follow all these conditions, the chance of not getting into the recommendations is 0%. Another great solution is to use AI tools, which will really facilitate editing, research, and other tasks involved in creating short videos.

Either way, if you haven’t thought about creating short content yet, this checklist is literally a sign that it’s quite easy to get started. Especially knowing that short content will continue to be the most popular and will attract even more advertisers. And where there are advertisers, there is profit. When the time comes to make your first money withdrawal from YouTube, try our financial app for creators MC Pay. With us, the money withdrawal process can be reliable, fast, and flexible anywhere in the world.

By Veronica Kovalenko

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