YouTube Will Recommend Long-Form Videos to Shorts Viewers [Algorithm Update]

Are you a small creator looking to grow your YouTube channel? If so, you'll want to know about a recent update that could help you out.

As of August 18, the YouTube algorithm will consider recent long-form videos when recommending content to YouTube Shorts viewers. So instead of Shorts having no relationship with long-form videos, you could potentially use shorter videos to get views on longer YouTube content.

For example, let's say a viewer watches one of your Shorts with a whopping 50,000 views. Instead of that viewer never exploring your channel, YouTube will notice that they watched one of your Shorts and potentially recommend a longer video for them to watch (from your channel).

Todd Beaupré, director of discovery at YouTube, announced the algorithm update on Twitter.

"At VidCon, I spoke about YouTube building a bridge to better connect Shorts to long-form discovery. Today, the first lane on that bridge opened. Recommendations now consider recent long-form videos from channels the viewer watches in Shorts."

In the past, Shorts and long-form videos were less connected. They had different watch histories, which meant viewers watching Shorts wouldn't be recommended long-form videos from the same creator.

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

But now that the algorithm has changed, how will the update affect your channel?

1. You Can Use YouTube Shorts to Promote Long-Form Videos

For months, creators complained that their viral Shorts had no positive effect on long-form videos. They were no additional views, no extra subscribers, and no channel growth overall. If there was a boost, it was minuscule.

With the latest update, you could potentially use Shorts to drive views to your long-form videos — a valuable gift to small creators.

2. You Can Post YouTube Shorts and Long-Form Videos on the Same Channel

The traditional advice around Shorts was to keep them off your main channel. The general thinking was:

1. Most Shorts viewers aren't interested in long videos.
2. Views from Shorts don't seem to boost views on long-form content.

As a result, many creators made Shorts-only channels.

But the rules are changing. Shorts can send traffic to long-form videos, so putting both content types on the same channel makes sense.

Plus, you might benefit from doing so in the long run. According to Beaupré, YouTube plans to add a Shorts tab to all channels and help advertise those videos.

But is there a scenario where you shouldn't have Shorts and longs on the same channel? There is one exception.

"The principle to follow is: Same audience? Same channel. Different audience? Different channel. So, it depends on your goals. Some creators (including MrBeast) made a separate channel to experiment with Shorts but are now uploading Shorts on their primary channel," Beaupré says.

So if you're trying to reach a completely different audience with your Shorts, it's best to make a separate channel for that content.

Need a quick guide to get you started? Here's how to grow a successful YouTube Shorts channel.