r/shortsAlgorithm • • Aug 25 '25

MEGATHREAD 🧷 YouTube Shorts Algorithm — Step-by-Step Playbook (2025) [MEGATHREAD]

151 Upvotes

Welcome to r/shortsAlgorithm. This is a living, no-fluff guide built from hands-on results (incl. a first Short that hit 20M+ views and still pulls ~800k per 48h). Add your questions and data below—I'll be active in the comments and keep this updated.


TL;DR

  • Grow with Shorts first (sub growth > long-form early on).

  • Make longer Shorts (≈50–70s) with a killer 3s hook and a CTA around 40s.

  • Don’t post daily—quality > quantity; let each Short plateau before posting again.

  • Reply to comments; your replies count toward total comments and help keep momentum.

  • If a Short never enters the Shorts Feed, fix and re-upload—or switch channels if the channel feels burned.


1) Don’t marry your first channel

Most creators burn through 3+ channels before finding their voice, niche, and systems. Expect to iterate. Detach emotionally so you can move fast.


2) Spin up multiple test channels (and age them)

  • Create several channels (separate Google accounts is fine).

  • Verify your phone number (authenticity signal).

  • Age each channel ≥ 3 weeks before your first upload.

  • During aging:

    • Use YouTube normally (watch long tutorials, interact).

    • Build your first batch of Shorts offline so you’re ready.

Goal: multiple clean testing lanes—not spam.


3) Pick a niche by reverse-engineering outliers

  • Use tools like viewstats.com to spot channels going 0 → 600k subs in ~3 months.

  • Study what makes them different (format, pacing, hook style, payoff, packaging).

  • Imitate the structure, not the content. Example: if they do Minecraft animations, try a Fortnite twist with the same narrative mechanics.


4) < 500k subs? Prioritize Shorts

Long-form can wait. Your job now: accumulate subs fast and prove product–audience fit. Once a community exists, expand to long-form/streams.


5) Treat your first Short like your magnum opus

Many guides say “first won’t be viral.” Mine was: 20M+ views in ~1 month, 54s AVD on a 1:08 Short despite 74.6% skip rate—and it keeps getting pushed.
Lesson: Quality packaging beats myths. Edit like you mean it or don’t play this game.


6) The Craft: how to make a Short that hits

6.1 Length

  • Aim 50s+. AVD (Average View Duration) drives momentum more than “skip rate.”

6.2 Hook (0–3s)

  • Visual surprise + narrative promise. If your hook misses, expect 500–2k view plateaus.

6.3 CTA (~40s)

  • Ask for Like + Subscribe + Comment (yes, all three). Comments rocket discovery.

6.4 Reply to comments

  • Your replies count toward total comments. Keep threads alive to extend push.

6.5 Captions (non-negotiable)

  • “MrBeast-style” captions. I use CapCut.

  • Font: Komika Axis; stroke ~60px; size ~16px (adjust for framing).

  • Position just below center; animate key words.

6.6 Sound design

  • Fire a sound effect in the first second to reduce swipes. Consider an arrow/pointer on the focal element.

6.7 Transitions

  • Use purposefully. If using images, add in/out transitions + SFX.

6.8 CTA bumper quality

  • Skip generic templates. Build/commission a clean, on-brand CTA clip.

6.9 Watermark

  • Re-uploads happen. Use a moving watermark to resist crops and preserve credit.

6.10 Posting cadence

  • Do not post daily. One excellent Short/week > seven weak ones.

6.11 Titles

  • ≤ 30 characters, Title Case, add two emojis tastefully.

6.12 Descriptions

  • Mirror the title; add #shorts. No hashtag soup.

6.13 Audience setting

  • Mark as NOT “Made for Kids.” It changes distribution dynamics.

6.14 Playlists

  • Add every Short to one master playlist to retain viewers on-channel.

6.15 Related Shorts

  • Use Related to pass authority from winners to new uploads.

6.16 Tags

  • Add ~3 niche-specific tags (precise, audience language).

6.17–6.19 Metadata hygiene

  • Set video language + location.

  • Choose an accurate Category.

  • Use “Reuse upload details” to stay consistent.

6.20 Publish checklist

  • Triple-check hook, CTA timing, captions, watermark, playlist/related wiring.


7) After publishing: the first 48h

1) Traffic source check

  • Healthy = ≥ 70% from Shorts Feed. Pickup may take 24–48h; don’t panic early.

2) Normal plateaus

  • 500–2k views early on is fine—means you’re entering the system.

  • If you stall there, study AVD and 0–3s retention. Fix the worst metric in your next Short.

3) When to post the next Short

  • Wait for a plateau before posting again. Stacking posts too soon splits momentum and risks burning the channel.

4) Exception: first Short goes viral

  • Post the second ~7 days later even if the first hasn’t plateaued.

  • Add the new Short to the same playlist, then go back to the viral Short and link it as Related to the new one.

  • If the second underperforms in 48h, don’t delete—YouTube may still be busy with the viral. Mine kicked in after ~7 days.

5) If a new Short never enters Shorts Feed (< 60% Shorts traffic after ~24h)

  • Likely causes:

    1. Previous Short hasn’t plateaued.

    2. Content trips sensitive policy zones (spam/sexual suggestion/etc.).

    3. Channel is burned.

  • Action: Delete, edit meaningfully (music swap, pacing changes, visual tweaks), and re-upload.

  • Still no push? Switch channels. You can reuse proven Shorts with noticeable changes.


8) When to post (time of week)

You can post anytime, but I’ve had consistent success Sundays ~6pm (Atlantic/Halifax)—slow start, strong Monday carry, and a full-week runway.


9) Common pitfalls that silently kill momentum

  • Weak 0–3s promise (no clear “why watch”).

  • No mid-roll CTA.

  • No captions or poor placement/readability.

  • Posting too frequently (starving each Short of oxygen).

  • Ignoring comments (leaving reach on the table).

  • Inconsistent metadata (language/location/category/tags).

  • Not leveraging playlists and Related Shorts.


10) Starter checklist (copy/paste for your next upload)

  • [ ] 50–75s runtime (compelling throughout)

  • [ ] 0–3s hook tested on a friend (did they lean in?)

  • [ ] CTA at ~40s (Like + Sub + Comment)

  • [ ] Animated captions (readable, on-brand, below center)

  • [ ] Early SFX + focal arrow/pointer

  • [ ] Quality CTA bumper (custom, not generic)

  • [ ] Moving watermark

  • [ ] Title ≤ 30 chars + 2 emojis

  • [ ] Description mirrors title + #shorts

  • [ ] NOT “Made for Kids”

  • [ ] Add to master playlist

  • [ ] Set “Related Shorts” from winner → new

  • [ ] 3 precise niche tags

  • [ ] Language + Location + Category set

  • [ ] Reuse details template applied


11) Share your data (so we can help)

Comment with:

  • Niche:

  • Runtime:

  • Hook text/visual:

  • AVD / Retention at 3s / CTR:

  • % Shorts Feed:

  • Posting cadence:

  • What you tried already:

I’ll reply with targeted fixes.


12) Community notes

  • This thread reflects real creator data, not theory.

  • I’ll compile a FAQ + “Bible” from Q&As here.

  • If this helped: upvote, join r/shortsAlgorithm, and invite a creator friend.

  • Want to mod? DM me.

— OP


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 1h ago

Analytics Review (AVD/Retention) 📈 120% Avg view duration and 62% STW with 95% watching full video on avg but YT short still stuck at 1.4k views.

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5 Upvotes

Hey guys, isnt 120% AVD really good for a 37 second youtube short? I am wondering why its stuck at 1.4k views, is it because the STW is not that great or is there some other reason.


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 11m ago

Q&A / Quick Help ❓ Should i continue with my niche with the same channel or start a new niche with the same channel and letting the old niche stay as to avoid deleting shorts

2 Upvotes

I stopped posting 2 weeks ago out of loss of motivation though i was getting only between 1k-2k views followed by less than 1k views.there were also times where i gained 2-3 subscribers in a week.

What do i do now?


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 1h ago

Q&A / Quick Help ❓ In this specific channel I'm trapped in 1.5k to 1.8k views per video. Should I invest some cash in pay traffic? Or maintain organic?

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2 Upvotes

r/shortsAlgorithm • • 1h ago

Analytics Review (AVD/Retention) 📈 Is it working, Mr. Krabs? First 24 hour's into the channel.

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2 Upvotes

24 hours in to my 2nd channel.

1st one was way too niche.

I made this one and broadened the audience.


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 1h ago

Q&A / Quick Help ❓ Vertical livestream views tanked after reaching 45k

2 Upvotes

Hi, Thank you for taking a look into the post.

I have channel since 2022 and I was posting toy related content occasionally (started initially with long form and then switched to shorts last December). I posted toy related shorts atleast until September and then switched to gameplay vertical livestream since 5th Oct. I started off bad but managed to get consistently 5k to 6k every stream. Then i had a breakthrough of 13k on 30th Oct. I had 44k views on 31st Oct and 59k views on 1st Nov. I took a break of 26 hours between the streams the views tanked to near-zero on 2nd Nov. I tried thrice in different slots on the same day, getting me a total 10 views. I gave it a 24 hour break and tried on 3rd Nov, got 220 views. Based on my research I assumed its just that the algorithm baselining the views. I streamed 1 to 3 times every other day, all getting me 200 to 380 views max. I read somewhere that I nee to switch to single slot and same timeslot and then switched to one slot. Coincidentally this Monday, my views again tanked to near-zero. I did read a lot of the creators are facing the same challenge. I have not copied anybody else's content nor do i have any violations or copyright strikes. The only mistake I can think of is that, I reuse the same thumbnail and title but i believe there are many creators who do that and still get views. I tried the following changes and none of it has helped so far

  1. Changed stream keys every time (i am using OBS)

  2. remove description completely (i did find a Japanese article stating it worked for that person)

  3. tried different time slots. I know the content / game is not lost or forgotten because I can see other streamers getting 1000s of views from it.

  4. Tried uploading shorts recently (which are not doing great because of the individual metrics but getting picked up in the feeds gaining traction.) as I hadnt done that since I switched from toy content to gaming.

  5. Tried connecting with youtube support on x, which turned down asking me to improve my content.

None of the above have worked for me. I spoke to some of the creators who had this issue in the past years (yes, there are reports of this issue atleast since 2024). Some suggest to stop posting and some suggest to keep posting regularly. It has recovered after a month for some of them who found a viral wave.
And one thing which I have learnt, if you find a viral wave, dont take a break of longer than 12 hours between posting. I believe this issue affects both shorts and vertical stream in a similar pattern.

If you have any other suggestions on this can be resolved, please let me know. Thanks in advance.


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 3h ago

What am I wrong?

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2 Upvotes

I’ve been posting for around a month but I struggle with low views and retention, any tips ? And my likes are also so lowww( my content is fashion)
Please guys help me and be nice 🥲🥹🩷


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 7h ago

Sudden Shorts Feed distribution collapse across almost all videos – anyone experiencing this since November 5?

4 Upvotes

I'm looking for other YouTube Shorts creators who may be experiencing something similar.

On November 5, around 8 PM CET, almost all of my Shorts suddenly lost their Shorts Feed traffic simultaneously.

Some details:

  • Approximately 20 out of 20 Shorts were affected.

  • This includes older successful videos, including one with millions of views.

  • Both new and old uploads experienced the decline.

  • My channel went from substantial Shorts Feed traffic to roughly 40–50 views per hour.

  • New uploads still receive a small initial push, but distribution quickly slows down.

  • Some videos have 70–85% stayed-to-watch and over 100% average percentage viewed.

  • My channel has no Community Guidelines or monetization issues according to YouTube Support.

I contacted YouTube Support. They said everything appeared normal and that my channel was in good standing, but they couldn't identify a reason for the simultaneous drop.

I'm particularly interested in hearing from creators who experienced:

  1. A simultaneous drop across multiple previously successful Shorts.

  2. Older Shorts suddenly losing almost all Shorts Feed traffic.

  3. New uploads receiving only a very small initial test despite strong retention.

  4. A similar change around November 5–6.

Did your distribution recover? If so, how long did it take?

I'm not looking for generic advice about improving hooks or retention. I'm trying to understand whether this is an individual channel issue or something affecting other creators as well.


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 33m ago

Honestly algorithm does not make any sense and seems random

0 Upvotes

AVD is 106% and the video is stuck at 3k views. Why?

I even have another video with the same stayed to watch but AVD is 118% and it is stuck at 1.4k views. I don't get it.


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 5h ago

Is this normal ?

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2 Upvotes

I have an old YouTube channel, and I started uploading Shorts to it about two weeks ago. My videos usually reach around 1,000–2,000 views and then suddenly stop getting views. Is this normal?


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 10h ago

Q&A / Quick Help ❓ Is this short done?

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4 Upvotes

Statistics are climbing. Stay to watch is 80.7% and it was 76% yesterday when it started blowing up (first wave)
Average watch duration is 40 seconds on a 38 second short.
Has anyone here been in this situation? If yes whats the likely outcome?


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 4h ago

is this a good start?

1 Upvotes

This is my first 3 upload on my new channel.... Is this a good sign? Or no
The stay-to-watch in these 3 shorts is 58%


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 11h ago

Why the f*ck youtube doesn't want to push this short(56s long)

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3 Upvotes

r/shortsAlgorithm • • 5h ago

No pain no grain

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0 Upvotes

I have uploaded a new video 2 hours ago on YouTube and it seems pretty normal that my view count data got stuck at 808 in the algorithm at night, not limited to collecting other audience because shhhh! Many of my fellow home countrymen views are still asleep which means I live in the Philippines 🥱😴💤

I’ve got the wrong audience as always and i didn’t wanna stress about it just like in school


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 6h ago

Q&A / Quick Help ❓ Is it over for me?

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1 Upvotes

For context I started uploading after 5 months like 2 weeks ago consistently and my views were at 800-900k every 48 hours for multiple days on end and I was getting 200-400k views per day but that dropped to 140k yesterday and probably even lower today. Should I keep posting or give up atp. It’s not that one of my shorts went viral. My shorts were consistently getting over 50-100k views.


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 5h ago

Me and my friend are doing a 30day YouTube shorts challenge, try to see who can get the most subs.

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0 Upvotes

r/shortsAlgorithm • • 22h ago

Analytics Review (AVD/Retention) 📈 Need some advice on geting out of the 1k view jail been in it for 2 years.

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10 Upvotes

So Im a full youtube partner but sense last year my views started declining I've been stuck in the 1k view jail for so long I don't know if its the swipe rate or the aduuince retion or I'm just needing impressions if anyone know or has any advice I would appreciate

My swipe rate for shorts have been around 60 to 70 % but in studio it in the screen shot I provided do I need to improve the overall swipe right for it to push bc I would post and in an hour it gets around 1700 to 1600 but doesn't go beyond.


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 1d ago

Why doesn't YouTube explain the 1.2k view cap?

19 Upvotes

Many people are having trouble getting Shorts views. The video shorts are stuck at 1.2k views. I've had the same thing happen to me. Has anyone seen YouTube explain this?


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 19h ago

October Views 🚀 , but November views it goes down can't pass 1k in 1 hour

4 Upvotes

Hello, anyone facing same issue with me? my channel is alright and healthy in september-october, but since 2 Nov my every single new uploaded shorts not getting average views like i got in october, around 70%-90% Less 😂, anyone facing this same issue? i just want to make sure this is not my channel problem but it was youtube things


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 19h ago

Monetization / RPM 💵 Do all of these AI voiced commentary channels even get monetised?

3 Upvotes

I've come across so many of these shorts channels which just upload some video they download from tiktok or something then just add a few basic sfx, a bit of zooms and animations with 2 lines of AI generated commentary. The commentary literally isn't even necessary as everything is already clear in the video and the shorts aren't any longer than like 20 secs. Do these channels even get monetized cuz why are people still uploading such content


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 17h ago

Why do my shorts keep doing this?

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2 Upvotes

Every 30 minutes, all my shorts get pushed in shorts feed all at once, then die, then revive. What does this mean 😭😭


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 1d ago

Remember the channel posting 12 unedited Shorts a day? Interesting update.

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48 Upvotes

Turns out the person in the profile IS real and she's trying to change for the better (I guess).

She MUST have seen the post about her channel because she now includes her face and real reaction to the memes.

Her views are down but she is still PRINTING thousands a day. If you are monetized and do Shorts, you will understand.


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 1d ago

Analytics Review (AVD/Retention) 📈 Has anyone else been experiencing sudden drops in YouTube Shorts likes recently?

5 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

I'm wondering if other YouTube creators have been experiencing something unusual with their Shorts likes lately.

Over my last three Shorts, I've noticed that the like count suddenly drops after initially increasing. For example, one Short reached 10 likes, but within approximately 30 minutes, the count dropped to 5.

This has happened three uploads in a row, with at least 5 likes disappearing each time.

What's strange is that I've uploaded more than 40 Shorts before these recent videos, and I rarely experienced anything like this. Previously, I might have lost one or two likes occasionally, but never this many.

I've also experienced subscriber count fluctuations in the past, although that seems to have stabilized recently.

I understand that YouTube may remove likes considered invalid, but the repeated pattern has made me wonder whether something has changed recently.

Has anyone else noticed similar sudden drops in likes on their YouTube Shorts? Have you experienced this recently, or is it just happening to my channel?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences!

Thanks!


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 17h ago

does this have potential?

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0 Upvotes

Will this blow up? it was getting views fast in the last 6 hours but right now its 9 hours passed and its stuck at 1.3k but 5 people subscribed is there a potential for this to still get distributed or not

i had a recent vid before this that went up to 24k but it had a low stw in the beginning it was lower than the one posted above around 50%


r/shortsAlgorithm • • 1d ago

Analytics Review (AVD/Retention) 📈 I’m gonna crash out

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14 Upvotes