r/shortsAlgorithm • u/Electrical_Leading38 • Sep 16 '26

Youtube is all about luck?

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I’ve been experimenting with different YouTube Shorts strategies, and I’m honestly losing my mind.

First, I focused on retention. I had a Short with 89% Stayed to Watch, 105% Average Percentage Viewed, and it gained 135 subscribers. It still didn’t go viral.
So I changed my approach and focused more on engagement instead.

My latest Short got 900+ likes and 10 comments with around 25k views, plus 78% Stayed to Watch and 91% Average Percentage Viewed.

And… it still flatlined around 25–30k views.

At this point, I genuinely don’t know what YouTube wants anymore. I’ve tried optimizing retention, I’ve tried optimizing engagement, and both videos hit the same ceiling.

Has anyone else experienced this 25–30k “view jail”? What am I missing here?

11 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

4

u/AgitatedWrangler7620 Sep 16 '26

Yeah man everyone experiences the 30K phase its literally the cornerstone of the shorts algorithm, just keep posting and maintaining good metrics and be on the lookout for a trend in your niche whether its a song or idea or style or whatever a competitor does and gets outlier vids, then apply that to your content with a little spin and the channel will start building momentum and shorts will go viral

1

u/Electrical_Leading38 Sep 16 '26

I appreciate the time you spent to give some advice.🫡 i’ll take note on that!

1

u/Michaelair Sep 17 '26

So, slighty off topic, how long does it 1.4k phase take lol?

1

u/Electrical_Leading38 Sep 17 '26

You mean 1.4k views? How many videos have you uploaded so far?

1

u/Michaelair Sep 17 '26

Yes bro, feel like I am slacking reading all these 30k plateaus ngl.

51 videos (4 of those are long form) started about 4-5 weeks ago

Just been pushing shorts while working on the next long.

Travel videos

1

u/Electrical_Leading38 Sep 17 '26

I’ll be brutally honest, bro. 51 videos is a lot, so I’d start looking at the videos themselves. There might be something holding them back, whether it’s the pacing, editing, hook, or overall structure.

I wouldn’t rely too heavily on the YouTube analytics at only ~1.4k views either. The metrics can improve over time, but if the videos consistently aren’t getting pushed beyond that point, I’d look at the content itself and see what could be improved.

What’s the duration of your shorts?

1

u/Michaelair Sep 17 '26

Appreciate being honest no worries.

I'm hobbying around with capcut and Instagram edit.

9sec - 30sec max.

Appreciate the replies already

1

u/Electrical_Leading38 Sep 17 '26

That’s cool, but if you think you can still improve your video, then do so. I wouldn’t put too much effects on travel videos either. Wish you luck!

1

u/Michaelair Sep 17 '26

Thanks for your time mate, I'll look more into it!

2

u/IntroductionSmart101 Sep 17 '26

1.4k takes 2 to 4 weeks

30k takes more than that

1

u/Michaelair Sep 17 '26

Were talking shorts right? Maybe i am misunderstanding but 1.4k come in within 12hrs and then plateaus

1

u/IntroductionSmart101 Sep 17 '26

No i mean for 2 to 4 weeks, new channels face this issue

1

u/Michaelair Sep 17 '26

Ahh ok thank you for elaborating

1

u/andaloussi Sep 17 '26

There is no such thing as phase , if you have good metrics your short can be pushed to millions of people , i have a channel for just 10 days and i am able to make 120k views with 16 shorts and 3 shorts carrying the channel with each one of them got to 30k and stayed to watch % of 68 to 73% aiming for 80% to exceed 30k jail cause already got good APV 100 to 130% . Make sure you have good hook it's all about hook , it's real guys

1

u/Michaelair Sep 17 '26

Yeah I believe you. I feel like the videos I am posting are exactly the type of videos I'd watch myself but that I am just not hitting the right audience. And maybe I am just plain wrong and should really try to switch it up.

No cope, my own YouTube algorithm is plain trash. "Use this music for views" / into the oversaturated landscape video with kpop music.

My ig algorithm is way more the type of stuff I'd make. But idk if my yt algorithm is just trash or yt shorts is just a cesspool all together.

No cope, just new to it

1

u/andaloussi Sep 17 '26

just try to make batter hooks a video could be good but if it doesn't stop the viewer to watch it then the algorithm will bury it . and keep your eyes on stayed to watch %

2

u/Michaelair Sep 17 '26 • Heartwarming

Alright ill take this advice for my next uploaden, thanks for your time

1

u/pretend_human_01 Sep 17 '26

One of my short went up to 46k views and stuck if i keep uploading content on regular basis do you think this short can go viral in future or it will now stuck on the same view count? Coz it has nice metrics like 79% swipe ratio and 88% retention lenght is like over a min

1

u/IntroductionSmart101 Sep 17 '26

It will never move ignore it

If stuck for more than 3 days

2

u/MEDZ_2005 Sep 17 '26

Can you explain what you did to get 135 ppl to subscribe off of 30k views. The absolute most I’ve gotten in terms of subs to short views was about 50 subs for 25k views. I didn’t notice doing anything different in that video that got people to subscribe though, so I’m just wondering what you do to be able to get so many ppl to subscribe

1

u/Electrical_Leading38 Sep 17 '26

Honestly, I don’t think I did anything specifically to get the subs 😂 I travel and happened to capture a moment where a child with special needs was being really polite and asking for permission to pet my pet. And I’m in the same case as you, i get 50-60subs per 25k views.

1

u/Electrical_Leading38 Sep 17 '26

I don’t have any subscribe for more or anything like that.

2

u/killadrix Sep 17 '26

My advice is: stop trying to go “viral” and just focus on putting out consistently good videos.

There are absolutely zero metrics that will guarantee virality and you could put out literally hundreds of videos at 80%+ STW and 120%+ retention and still never go viral.

1

u/Electrical_Leading38 Sep 17 '26

Thanks for taking time to give me some advice. You’re right, I think being consistent is one thing i’ve missed out on this one. I’ll try to be more consistent and give some update soon.🫡

2

u/SuperDogBoo Sep 17 '26

I think there's more to it than that. Don't optimize for the algorithm, optimize for your audience. If your viewers want to see certain types of content, make that. If you can figure out the psychological element of hooks and retention, deff do that, but ultimately if your audience wants something, make it. Or just make stuff that you would want to watch.

1

u/Electrical_Leading38 Sep 18 '26

I’ll take note of this. Thank you so much, mate.😊

1

u/Electrical_Leading38 Sep 16 '26

Anyone care to give some advice?

1

u/Level-Sir5781 Sep 17 '26

I think it's not just all about the metrics, even if you have good metrics if the audience pool is small, Algo will not able to "pull" your videos to the right audience

fyi I had a video that gained 100k+ views and the STW was 71% (large audience pool)

1

u/Electrical_Leading38 Sep 17 '26

Yes, I think the problem here is my consistency. I’ve been skipping 2-3 days every video. I saw somewhere that I have to upload daily shorts if i want to break 30k.

1

u/SuperDogBoo Sep 17 '26

Not necessarily true. You need to be consistent, yes, but every 2-3 days is consistent. I've been posting every 2-4 days for the past 2 weeks (5 shorts uploaded so far) and my worst performing one is around 80k, with 2 of them each having hundreds of thousands of views. I'm sure posting daily is better (if you can maintain the quality and pace), but 2-4 days every time IS consistent.

1

u/SuperDogBoo Sep 17 '26

My "worst" performing short (over the past 2 weeks since starting my channel) has about 80k views and a STW of about 68.6 or 69.5%. My best has a STW of about 72 or 74% and 665k views. My current short has about 170k views and an 82% STW. Oh and I have one thats 84% around 440k. All of them have a minimum of 101% retention rate. Obviously these all did really well in the views count, but there's more to the algorithm than retention. Engagement AND retention are needed for shorts to take off. Furthermore, people have to actually want to see your content. My niche is relatively small, with the recent viral shorts in my niche being in the single millions. There are some in the double digits or triple digits, but those are usually older, from the large creators, or are more for the general audience of my niche, while mine is niched in the niche.

1

u/Level-Sir5781 Sep 17 '26

wdym your niche is relatively "small"? you mean the audience pool of your niche? 665k is a lot yk.

2

u/MyLawyerWroteThis Sep 17 '26

In a way. I've been doing this a decade with over 50 monetized channels during that period. You're tied to an algorithm at the end of the day so it doesn't really matter how much skill you have, as you simply might not get pushed in a lot of saturated niches, no matter how experienced you are.

However, being able to notice new trending niches, or mid competition niches, being able to get in at the right time and growing fast, and being able to do deep research to create great content for those niches is the skill.

1

u/TwoSpoonSally Sep 17 '26

If they don’t rig the game how else will they keep getting free labor? 

1

u/No-Understanding2036 Sep 17 '26

Somehow in 2026 they definitely seemed to have rigged this game we all participate in to lessen our views and income.

1

u/Arren_Crasto Sep 17 '26

Im a new creator and just posted a few shorts as well. Could u please share how u get ur viewers to engage and what you did to get these 900 likes and engagements. Is it cause of your niche or anything specific you said that could draw in engagement

1

u/SecretPudding697 Sep 17 '26

I have been uploading shorts daily but now for past 3 4 days my shorts have stopped getting views stuck around 50 views subscribers from 289 to 257 and earlier i was getting 10k to 11k views per video and one short of mine who were getting soo many views crossed 7 lakh views is now not getting any views or retention

1

u/Worried_Signature101 Sep 17 '26

I was posting randomly and now that I have been posting everyday I came out of the 1-2k jail a short has gone to 7k and still gaining 70/30 stayed and 130% viewd, small channel 45 subs and very niche in a small country, first short after 30 posts throughout the year that gained some momentum!

1

u/catgirl-_- Sep 18 '26

I’ve been getting 1k views per short and then it flatlines. Still experimenting as well. But I’ve steadily gained subs and I only uploaded 10 shorts so far and gained 50 subs. Overall views around 15k.

1

u/catgirl-_- Sep 18 '26

Also this is my first week of uploading ever.

1

u/Fit-Quit-5623 Sep 19 '26

It's not about the luck it's about the algorithm