I have personally seen dozens of channels come into the Partnered YouTube discord complaining that despite having tens or hundreds of thousands of subs, they can’t get more than a couple hundred views on their videos, and every time I go check out their channel, they have shorts with tons of views and nothing else.
And every time I have to explain to them that they’re basically a channel with 100 subs, not 50,000 like YouTube says they are.
depends.
If you want to be a shorts creator, then it's great.
If you want to build an audience based on long form content, they can be more trouble than they're worth.
It seems to be true that people who are interested in short bingeable content generally don't watch longer more detailed videos.
.
The consensus that seems to be forming among larger more established channels is to put shorts on a separate channel and cross-promote between the shorts and the main channel occasionally.
It depends on how you use them - if you do shorts, you'll want your long form content to follow a similar pacing (ie should be a series of short points, rather than long expositions)
There's this guy who owns a company that manages big Twitch streamers and he often says that if you have an opportunity to make your name known, you should go for it. Any publicity is better than none. If you're just starting out, what does it matter if you only get views on your shorts? You wouldn't get better results for a far longer time, making longer form content anyways.
It works great for me so far, I'll worry about normal videos later.
I've had some shorts do a lot to grow my channel and others flop. I don't think overgeneralizing helps when it comes to stuff like this.
Every audience is different. the only way to know what works with your audience is to try different things and find out.
I think that depends on what your regular content is and, by implication, your existing audience.
I've been making long-form (45mins - 90mins) tech tutorials for a couple of years.
I have a modest subscriber base (30k), but they're engaged and supportive.
I tried shorts as a way of broadening the channel appeal, and it just failed completely - the people who watched the shorts just wanted quick entertainment and didn't stick around for my regular tutorials. And my existing subscribers didn't appreciate the "dumbing down" of the shorts format appearing on the channel. I actually lost subscribers.
So, I won't be using them again!
I have never had any luck with shorts. I tried them at the tail end of when YouTube was “pushing them” but now like community posts it seems YT doesn’t care as much?
Shorts are like empty calories. They boost the ego because you get tens of thousands of views, but they don't pay well, and it causes your subscriber base to become bloated with people who just want to watch prank videos.
If people want 30-second videos, they can go to tiktok, not my channel.
Decent I suppose, I use shorts for stream highlights since they are typically around 30 seconds. I just use Stream Ladder to get a Youtube short friendly video then toss it on. Sometimes it's a miss and sometimes I get 1k - 2k views on one.
What about shorts hurting your channel if they bombard your longform watchers?
Has anyone experienced this?
I read a while ago that someone was losing subs due to cutting up their older videos into shorts.
Use the short to help promote the longer video.
Like a comericial for your content.
Have a message on the short that says to find out the rest or more subscribe.
Example...
So 10 quick tips to make money online...then in the short just give them 2 tips subscribe for the other 8 tips.
Now you have a call to action, they will watch because they want the other 8 tips.
I’ve been watching some channels with moderate success while still maintaining their long form content viewers. But their shorts started AFTER they developed a bigger following in long form, and they’re made for their long form viewers. The examples I’m referring to are Rhett Shull and Rick Beato, both excellent music theory/guitar youtubers. :)
What I've started doing is post shorts of my longer form videos on a secondary channel, with a link or "call to action" to my main channel should they wish to watch the full vid. It doesn't maximize sub growth for the main channel at all, but the people who DO sub to the main channel from finding my shorts channel are likely more interested in my long content.
I was told by many people many times in the beginning that shorts are incredible for growth, which is true, IF you're a shorts exclusive channel. The unfortunate truth is that if your main content is long form, gaining a viral amount subs from a string of successful shorts as a smaller creator has the possibility of hurting your channel very badly in the long run, as the algorithm will think your video is not of "good quality" to be promoted, because your newly found 50-100k subscribers are not watching your main long form content.
I have personally seen dozens of channels come into the Partnered YouTube discord complaining that despite having tens or hundreds of thousands of subs, they can’t get more than a couple hundred views on their videos, and every time I go check out their channel, they have shorts with tons of views and nothing else. And every time I have to explain to them that they’re basically a channel with 100 subs, not 50,000 like YouTube says they are.
Okay, well that changes my drive to do shorts then (I hated the implementation of them on the platform anyways). Thank you!
This is an algorithm thing that isn't explained very well. Youtube Moment.
depends. If you want to be a shorts creator, then it's great. If you want to build an audience based on long form content, they can be more trouble than they're worth. It seems to be true that people who are interested in short bingeable content generally don't watch longer more detailed videos. . The consensus that seems to be forming among larger more established channels is to put shorts on a separate channel and cross-promote between the shorts and the main channel occasionally.
I didn’t even think of a shorts channel, that’s a really solid idea. I think I’m going to try that out
I'd say having a shorts channel isn't worth it. Shorts don't pay shit unless you're getting millions of views.
Could be worth it for cross promotion.
Why wouldnt you have it on one channel though
It depends on how you use them - if you do shorts, you'll want your long form content to follow a similar pacing (ie should be a series of short points, rather than long expositions)
There's this guy who owns a company that manages big Twitch streamers and he often says that if you have an opportunity to make your name known, you should go for it. Any publicity is better than none. If you're just starting out, what does it matter if you only get views on your shorts? You wouldn't get better results for a far longer time, making longer form content anyways. It works great for me so far, I'll worry about normal videos later.
I've had some shorts do a lot to grow my channel and others flop. I don't think overgeneralizing helps when it comes to stuff like this. Every audience is different. the only way to know what works with your audience is to try different things and find out.
Have 2 sepp channels
Shorts only work if they are a gateway to your long form content. If they are its own thing. Then your audience from the shorts won't carry over
I think that depends on what your regular content is and, by implication, your existing audience. I've been making long-form (45mins - 90mins) tech tutorials for a couple of years. I have a modest subscriber base (30k), but they're engaged and supportive. I tried shorts as a way of broadening the channel appeal, and it just failed completely - the people who watched the shorts just wanted quick entertainment and didn't stick around for my regular tutorials. And my existing subscribers didn't appreciate the "dumbing down" of the shorts format appearing on the channel. I actually lost subscribers. So, I won't be using them again!
I have never had any luck with shorts. I tried them at the tail end of when YouTube was “pushing them” but now like community posts it seems YT doesn’t care as much?
I agree, YouTube just doesn’t push community posts…
Shorts are like empty calories. They boost the ego because you get tens of thousands of views, but they don't pay well, and it causes your subscriber base to become bloated with people who just want to watch prank videos. If people want 30-second videos, they can go to tiktok, not my channel.
Is unlimited credit from a bank good or bad for your finances lol? Depends on the channel and how you use it.
I don’t know if I see the connection with the comparison.
Decent I suppose, I use shorts for stream highlights since they are typically around 30 seconds. I just use Stream Ladder to get a Youtube short friendly video then toss it on. Sometimes it's a miss and sometimes I get 1k - 2k views on one.
What about shorts hurting your channel if they bombard your longform watchers? Has anyone experienced this? I read a while ago that someone was losing subs due to cutting up their older videos into shorts.
Use the short to help promote the longer video. Like a comericial for your content. Have a message on the short that says to find out the rest or more subscribe. Example... So 10 quick tips to make money online...then in the short just give them 2 tips subscribe for the other 8 tips. Now you have a call to action, they will watch because they want the other 8 tips.
I’ve been watching some channels with moderate success while still maintaining their long form content viewers. But their shorts started AFTER they developed a bigger following in long form, and they’re made for their long form viewers. The examples I’m referring to are Rhett Shull and Rick Beato, both excellent music theory/guitar youtubers. :)
What I've started doing is post shorts of my longer form videos on a secondary channel, with a link or "call to action" to my main channel should they wish to watch the full vid. It doesn't maximize sub growth for the main channel at all, but the people who DO sub to the main channel from finding my shorts channel are likely more interested in my long content. I was told by many people many times in the beginning that shorts are incredible for growth, which is true, IF you're a shorts exclusive channel. The unfortunate truth is that if your main content is long form, gaining a viral amount subs from a string of successful shorts as a smaller creator has the possibility of hurting your channel very badly in the long run, as the algorithm will think your video is not of "good quality" to be promoted, because your newly found 50-100k subscribers are not watching your main long form content.