Imagine this. You're at home relaxing when an idea pops into your head. You envision a video — a 

 to be exact — filled with action, comedy, and a trending song everybody loves. As far as you know, the idea is 100% original.

 go viral, there's a good chance those viewers will watch some of the longer videos on your channel — not just the quick, addictive Shorts.

Intrigued, you spend hours bringing the idea to life, from scripting to filming to editing. And just as you predicted, the Short gets thousands of views in no time. 

But there's just one problem. None of the "Shorts" viewers decided to watch your long-form videos, which is slightly baffling. Normally, a viewer who watches something on one channel gets recommended another video from the same channel.

YouTube Shorts vs. Longs: Two Different Watch Histories

If you're wondering why YouTube Shorts views never make their way to your regular videos, it's because the YouTube algorithm has changed.

Todd Beaupré, director of discovery at YouTube, explained the update during a 

 at VidCon this year. Apparently, the algorithm was updated because it had problems recommending content to people watching Shorts.

"When the algorithm saw a viewer, [it said], 'Oh, look, the last 200 videos this viewer watched were all under a minute. This viewer only wants to watch short videos.' And so it basically stopped recommending those viewers long-form content," Beaupré says.

To fix the problem, YouTube separated the watch history of YouTube Shorts from long-form videos. That allowed the algorithm to look at both content types as entities that 

 compete with each other. So instead of someone watching 200 Shorts and getting recommended nothing 

 Shorts, long-form videos were suggested again.

the algorithm won't consider any watch history from YouTube Shorts when recommending a channel's long-form content.

"When a viewer goes into the main [side of] YouTube, we're not going to pay attention to what Shorts they watch because we don't want the algorithm to get the wrong idea," Beaupré says.

Need more details? Watch the video below to learn more about the algorithm update.

What This Means for Long-Form YouTube Videos

We know this update is disappointing for creators. In some ways, YouTube is ignoring your best Shorts so they don't "boost" your long-form content.

That doesn't mean your longer videos will 

 get recommended, though. It just means there are no more shortcuts. You can't ride the wave of a viral YouTube Short and expect your channel to get new visitors now. These days, your long-form videos need to be outstanding in their own right. They should entice viewers, satisfy their need for entertainment, and make them return to watch more videos.

Once you do that, YouTube will serve those videos to the right audience.

In the meantime, here are six things the YouTube algorithm likes to see on creators' videos.

A recent update to the YouTube algorithm makes it harder to use YouTube Shorts to gain long-form viewers. Here's why the change was necessary.

Why Some YouTube Shorts Don't Attract Long-Form Viewers [Algorithm Update]

 to help video creators sell their products on YouTube. Eligible creators can connect a Shopify account to their channel, display products within videos, and have viewers buy goods without ever leaving YouTube.

This partnership makes shopping on YouTube much easier. Instead of asking viewers to click on product links, creators can feature the actual products below a video or on end screens. They can also 

 to the top of the live chat for all to see. If an item is out of stock, the listing will reflect that.

And if that wasn't enough, this integration unlocks the 

 on channel homepages — a dedicated space to feature your products.

The YouTube-Shopify integration is still rolling out to creators. But in the meantime, keep reading to see who's eligible for a store and how to connect one.

Which Channels Can Sell Merchandise on YouTube?

If you want to sell products on YouTube, you have to follow a few basic rules. Make sure you meet these 

 before you link a Shopify store to your channel:

 (or you have an Official Artist Channel)

Accepted into the YouTube Partner Program

No Community Guideline strikes for hate speech

No (or few) channel monetization violations

 on YouTube. Viewers must live in one of 28 countries to participate:

If you meet all the criteria above, congratulations! Now you can link your Shopify account to YouTube and start making extra money.

Click Monetization in the left navigation bar.

Click Add Sales Channel in the top right corner of the next page.

 to connect your Google account, complete store requirements, and create or link a Merchant Center account.

Need a quick tutorial? Watch this video guide from Creator Insider to see each step in detail.

If you have products on Shopify, be sure to take advantage of this opportunity. The integration with YouTube allows you to make more money and give viewers (your potential customers) the shopping experience they crave. In fact, 

 say they trust recommendations from creators, which feels like a strong invitation to sell your own merch!

But before you do, check out other ways to make money on YouTube — even outside the YouTube Partner Program.

Want to sell your merchandise on YouTube? A new partnership with Shopify is letting creators feature products in their videos and make more money.

YouTube Partners with Shopify to Help Creators Sell Merch

A channel audit is an objective, in-depth look at how your YouTube videos are performing. It helps you analyze critical areas of your content — watch time, search traffic, click-through rates, etc. — and see if they’re working in harmony to grow your channel.

Fix the biggest problems within your content.

Double-down on YouTube strategies that worked.

So before you make another video, think of where you’re headed on YouTube. Are you on the road to more views and subscribers? What could you do to get there faster?

Here’s how to audit your YouTube channel and get the answers you need.

Without a dedicated tool, it takes a while to perform a YouTube audit. You have to find your best and worst-performing videos, and review a mountain of data around views and subscribers. You can find all of this in the YouTube Studio, but do you really want to spend hours digging for it?

. Rather than searching for stats, it pulls various reports 

 you. 

In fact, vidIQ has a dedicated tool for that purpose. It shows:

You can use some of the channel audit features with a free vidIQ account. But to get everything you see above, you’ll need to upgrade to vidIQ Pro ($10/month) or vidIQ Boost ($49/month).

3. The next thing you’ll see is a YouTube video with more installation details. To the right of that, click 

 in the left navigation bar of  the YouTube homepage.

 of the features in the channel audit tool — and here’s how to use it.

1. Check the Basic Stats: Views, Subscribers, Watch Time

On YouTube, you can get a general sense of your progress by looking at the number of views, subscribers, and watch time on your channel.

: The number of times people pressed play on your videos.

YouTube subscribers: Viewers who opted-in to see your videos appear in their feeds.

: The total amount of time viewers spent watching all your videos.

These stats are at the top of the channel audit tool, and they display automatically. Just use the time period selector (top-right corner) to see data from the last 30, 60, or 90 days. Then you can see how much your channel has grown or stagnated.

2. Find Your Channel’s Click-Through Rate

Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who clicked on your videos after seeing the thumbnails attached. A higher CTR leads to more views and watch time, so you’ll want to keep an eye on this metric.

CTR isn’t available in the channel audit tool, but you can find it in the YouTube Studio.

impressions and how they led to watch time

Here, you’ll see the number of impressions on your channel, and right below that, your 

For example, our CTR is 4.9% on the vidIQ channel. That means nearly 5% of people who saw our videos decided to click on them — at least in the month of June.

Want to increase your CTR? Here are six ways to get more people clicking on your content.

3. Look at Your Top-Performing YouTube Videos

Next, see which videos are outperforming others on your channel. Top-notch videos tend to have a few things in common:

You can see which videos make the cut by viewing the "

From the screenshots above, it's clear that videos about small YouTubers perform well on the vidIQ channel. Thanks to the channel audit tool, we'll keep exploring that topic in the future.

It’s also important to know which videos your viewers didn’t like. That gives you a clear example of what not to do, and you’ll find it easier to make enjoyable content for your audience.

Again, we’ll use the channel audit tool to find this. Just head to the “

According to this report, our YouTube live streams could use some work. They’re bringing in less views and even causing some people to unsubscribe. Every creator has content like this, so it's good to review these details and come up with solutions.

Search engine optimization is a big deal on YouTube. When a viewer searches for something to watch (that your channel covers), one of your videos should appear in the search results — preferably near the top.

It won’t happen overnight, but you can get there faster in three steps:

Place those terms in your video titles and descriptions.

The channel audit tool can help with that last step. As you can see, our top terms at vidIQ are YouTube Shorts, getting subscribers, and removing copyright claims.

We could do two things with this information:

Make more content about YouTube Shorts (because it’s ranking highly).

Try to rank higher for other topics we cover, such as “YouTube views” or “monetize YouTube channel.”

You can also look at your SEO score in the channel audit tool. On a scale of 1 to 50, it rates how well you’ve optimized your video titles, tags, and descriptions with relevant keywords.

 to see a list of videos you can optimize right now.

6. Review the Length of Your Video Titles

If your titles are too long, they’ll get cut off in some areas of the YouTube app (and even the desktop site). But that’s an easy fix. All you have to do is 

This works best for videos you’re naming for the first time. But what about older videos? Is it possible to shorten those titles without too much effort?

Yes and yes. In the channel audit tool, go to the section titled “

” Below that, you’ll see a number representing the 

If you click that number, you’ll see a list of titles that are too long to display at 100%. Spend some time condensing those headlines so viewers can read the whole thing.

7. Check the Quality of Your YouTube Thumbnails

Most of the time, viewers see the thumbnail on your video before anything else — and first impressions are everything.

If you have low-quality graphics, the audit tool will point them out. Simply go to the “

 section, then take a look at the number of low-resolution thumbnails on your channel.

You have nothing to worry about if the number is zero. But if it’s higher than that, go ahead and click the number to see which videos could be improved. Then you can swap the not-so-great images for quality ones.

Want to make your images stand out on YouTube? Read this thumbnail guide to discover nine helpful tips.

No matter how well you're doing on YouTube, you could always benefit from a channel audit. Here's a 10-step guide to quickly review your content.

How to Do a YouTube Channel Audit: A 10-Step Checklist

You don't have to leave YouTube to promote your channel these days. Rather than throwing your videos on Instagram or Facebook first, it's often better (and easier) to stay right where you are. After all, there's a social network inside of YouTube itself.

 allows you to connect with viewers through media-rich posts, such as polls, images, GIFs, videos, and plain text. So when you aren't posting videos, it's a good idea to stay active on the Community tab and promote your channel with additional content.

But how does all of this work? Well, the Community tab is a proper promotion tool because it reaches beyond your subscribers. After some testing, we found that a diverse group of people engage with our posts — both viewers and non-viewers. So you could introduce your channel to new viewers just by posting on the Community tab.

For now, YouTube says you need 500 subscribers to 

. But once you have it, here's how to promote your channel without leaving YouTube.

To truly stand out, start a conversation on the Community tab. People love answering questions, participating in polls, and talking about things that interest them in their personal lives.

Imagine being face-to-face with one of your subscribers for the first time. You probably wouldn't ask them to watch your latest video and abruptly walk away. There would be a conversation first, and you would hopefully learn about their dreams, goals, and desires. 

Here's an example of a unique conversation starter:

We asked this question on our channel because we're YouTube educators, and we want to understand the challenges creators — our audience — face. Some of those hurdles are…

Needing more subscribers to build a community

Want to reach your target audience on YouTube? Start a conversation that's relevant to them, and you'll end up promoting your channel in an empathetic way.

Polls are your secret weapon for YouTube channel promotion. Viewers love them because it takes two seconds and one finger tap to answer a multiple-choice question. With such little work involved, it's pretty easy to get votes — especially since YouTube shares Community posts with viewers 

That means promoting your channel through

 is more than possible. Most of our polls get 20,000 or more votes, which is a lot of attention.

But first, here are some best practices for creating polls:

Ask a question your audience cares about.

Write a simple question that's easy to understand.

Add an "other" option to the poll choices, then ask people to comment their answers below (more engagement).

Ready to promote your latest YouTube video? You can do that successfully on the Community tab, but only if you take an interactive approach.

Instead of posting a link and asking people to watch your video, follow the problem-solution format:

Ask a relevant question in a poll format (present the problem).

Use "yes" or "no" as the poll answer choices.

Share a link to a video that solves the problem (present the solution).

Check out the example below. We wanted to promote our new video about 

, so we asked viewers if they've ever received a copyright claim or strike on YouTube. Spoiler alert: Most people have.

With this poll, we helped people acknowledge a problem in their lives. Then we nudged them to watch our video and discover a good solution.

How often should you post on the Community tab? There's no answer to fit all scenarios, but you can start with a few posts a week and see how people respond. Another idea is to post something when you don't have a new video coming out as a way to keep in touch with viewers.

No matter what you choose, know that Community tab engagement can be massive. In the last 28 days, we got more impressions from Community tab posts than from YouTube videos — 2.5 million versus 1.8 million. You don't want to miss out on that much 

At this point, the Community tab is too valuable to ignore. Using it will uncover deep facts about your audience, help you grow a community, and increase your channel's visibility.

Learn how to create end screens that recommend extra videos to your audience.

Want to promote your channel without ever leaving YouTube? Here are four tips for building a community and increasing your channel's visibility all in one place: the YouTube Community tab.

4 Tips to Promote Your Channel on the YouTube Community Tab

A few days ago, Ryan Trahan finished his trek across the U.S. to deliver 

, a popular YouTube creator. But he didn’t do it how most would. Instead of cranking up a car or boarding a plane, 

With $0.01 to spend, he set a goal to travel from California to North Carolina, where MrBeast lives. It took some faith — and a “go with the flow” attitude — but he crushed the challenge in just 30 days.

Even more impressive, Ryan’s videos got 

 throughout June when the challenge took place. He also gained 2.3 million subscribers and helped raise $1.4 million to end hunger through a fundraiser with 

Today, Ryan has 10.1 million subscribers and 

 on YouTube. Most of that popularity comes from his ability to turn pennies into dollars. 

Ryan Trahan’s Penny: A Catalyst for YouTube Success

If traveling on a budget of $0.01 sounds impossible, that’s because it 

. Luckily for Ryan, his original penny didn’t stay a penny forever.

His main goal was to flip the penny into a few dollars, then flip those dollars into 

Sold the ink pen to another stranger for $1

Bought a water bottle for $1, which he upsold to a stranger for $2

By the end of day one, Ryan had $42.70. Check out the video below to see how it all unfolded.

Ryan stuck to this plan for most of  the challenge. To reach MrBeast, he was walking dogs, delivering food, and doing other odd jobs to pay for transportation, lodging, and meals. His willingness to think creatively (and fast) caught viewers’ attention.

Why Ryan Trahan’s Videos Are so Popular

Ryan brings a lot of ingenuity to his content. He's making money in unique ways, living on a lean budget, and doing it all with a smile. But other than that, what makes people watch his videos?

1. They’re motivational (and relatable).

How often have you stared at a dollar and wished it were 10? Or thought, 

How can I make some extra money this week?

Well, Ryan made that happen across 30 YouTube videos. If he can take the lowest denomination of money and multiply it with creativity and grit, why can’t we all? It’s easy to leave his videos feeling inspired or at least motivated to do something great.

Most people know what a penny is and what it represents. So when you see that tiny, brown coin on Ryan’s thumbnails, you don’t have to think too hard about the video’s concept.

But to be clear, Ryan doesn’t rely on using the word “penny” in his titles. 

The dollar sign is a globally-recognized symbol

, so he writes “$0.01” instead. Viewers may not connect with the word “penny,” but they’ll immediately understand the number.

Traveling the country with one penny is an awesome idea. But you've hit a new level when you’re doing all that, plus 

This ideas works because MrBeast has millions of subscribers on YouTube. When Ryan mentions his name, he appeals to his own core audience plus viewers who love watching MrBeast.

4. He targets four YouTube niches at once: challenges, budgeting, making money, and travel.

It’s easy to look at Ryan’s channel and say he’s in the “challenge” niche — nothing more, nothing less. But after watching a few videos, you realize his content shows so much more:

Viewers might come from the personal finance, travel, or challenge corners of YouTube. So even if you don’t know who Ryan is or why he’s seeking a guy named MrBeast, there's something to love about the content he makes. 

For a deeper analysis, check out our video breaking down the secrets to Ryan’s success:

This isn’t the first time Ryan flipped a penny into a nice chunk of cash. He’s done it several times on his channel, and those videos have numerous views. This one in particular, where Ryan turns a penny into $1,000, is sitting at 16 million:

Before he was turning pennies into dollars, Ryan’s videos were a bit different. He documented his journey as a track and field athlete and posted workout content that had nothing to do with money. Over time, his views shot up when he started turning pennies into dollars.

This proves a timeless piece of advice we always share on YouTube: 

. After all, you never know which videos will do well (or not) until you post them on your channel.

Taking the time to figure that out (like Ryan did) helps you find your “thing” on YouTube and grow your channel much faster.

Want more success stories? Here’s how a mysterious “counting channel” got 100,000 subscribers in three months.

Video creator Ryan Trahan used a single penny to cross North America in 30 days. That challenge brought millions of viewers to his YouTube channel — and here’s why.

How Ryan Trahan Got a Billion YouTube Views Turning Pennies into Dollars

We live in a fast-paced world, which means your opinions won’t always age well. They can sound offensive, off-topic, or downright cringey when you read them several weeks later.

But don't worry. It's easy to find your comments on YouTube, then edit or delete them as you see fit.

 on the history type panel (right side of the page).

Next, you'll see a panel showing your YouTube comment history. Scroll through the comments and identify the ones you want to edit or delete.

1. To delete a comment, return to the YouTube comments panel (steps shown above). Find a comment you want to delete and click 

2. On the next page, click the three dots beside your comment and select 

1. To edit a comment, return to the YouTube comments panel (steps shown above). Click on the video containing the comment you want to change.

2. Next, YouTube will send you to the video watch page containing your comment. Click the three dots beside your comment and select 

How to Review YouTube Live Stream Comments

Now that we’ve taken care of regular comments, let’s review the ones you've left on live streams.

1. Return to the history type panel (steps shown above) and click 

2. Browse your previous live chat messages. Delete or edit them the same way you would a regular YouTube comment (steps shown above).

2 Drawbacks of YouTube’s Comment Review Tool

On the surface, this tool does what it promises and allows you to review and delete comments. But here’s the catch (and it’s a pretty big one): 

If you want to do any of this with ease or speed, you’re out of luck.

Filters and search parameters to narrow your results.

If your goal is to dig through years of comments to find the embarrassing ones, it won’t be easy or efficient. However, this is the way to go until there's a better way to see your comments on YouTube.

Did you know you can also see who posts the most comments on your YouTube videos? Here's a short guide to show you how.

If you post lots of YouTube comments, you might want to review or delete them now and then. Here’s how to search your comment history and make those changes.

How to See and Edit Your YouTube Comment History

There are plenty of ways to find trending TikTok sounds, but not all of them are enjoyable. It takes time to scavenge YouTube for hot songs. Spotify playlists aren't updated fast enough. You could skim the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but then you're limiting yourself to U.S. music — and most importantly, 

Instead of finding TikTok trends, your best bet is to have them curated for you. No deep web searches. No stumbling through Reddit pages or outdated "top 10" articles. Just the hottest TikTok sounds at your fingertips.

Here are six helpful resources for your search.

 curates trending sounds and music in one simple app. All you have to do is download the app, choose your interests, and 

There are over 100 playlists, so you'll never have to search for TikTok music. Simply tap on a playlist and browse the

 for a specific topic. Those genres include comedy, gaming, sports, beauty, and more.

But if you want to find sounds outside your niche, you can also browse by country, track length, and popular creators.

Do you want to find trending music on TikTok (without doing too much work)? These apps and websites will curate the best TikTok sounds for you.

Posts Written By Lydia Sweatt

Why Some YouTube Shorts Don't Attract Long-Form Viewers [Algorithm Update]

YouTube Partners with Shopify to Help Creators Sell Merch

How to Do a YouTube Channel Audit: A 10-Step Checklist

4 Tips to Promote Your Channel on the YouTube Community Tab

How Ryan Trahan Got a Billion YouTube Views Turning Pennies into Dollars

How to See and Edit Your YouTube Comment History

6 Easy Ways to Find Trending TikTok Sounds

How to Test a YouTube Video Idea Before You Start Filming

vidIQ Viral: Your Guide to Trending TikTok Sounds and Music

How to See the Most Replayed Scenes from Your YouTube Video

Why Clickbait Is Actually Good for Your YouTube Channel

Why Do Thousands of Gaming Channels Fail on YouTube?