YouTube Algorithm 2018 Playlist Series – YouTube Subscribers 2018 // Getting subscribers in 2018 is the core focus of many new youtubers in 2018 but do they understand the power of YouTube subscribers in the 2018 YouTube Algorithm?
YouTube uses the initial reactions to a newly published video as a way to ranking your video in the search and discovery algorithm. Getting more youtube subscribers in 2018 to watch your videos in the first 24-48 hours shows youtube how engaging that video is and how likely it is to retain viewers. Not only how long they watch that video but how long they stay on YouTube in general.
To get noticed on YouTube search results in 2018 its not about how to gain subscribers fast but how to get your subscribers to be active, engaged and actively sharing, commenting and communicating your videos to friends, family or more importantly YouTube.
YouTube Algorithm 2018 Playlist Series – Trending Videos Tab // Hacking The YouTube Trending Videos section can have a huge affect on the YouTube Search Algorithm and How To Grow RAPIDLY on YouTube in 2018. YouTube curates a list of the most relevant and popular videos by engagement, view velocity and view location into a powerful Trending Tab.
Getting on the YouTube Trending Tab is not something you can can learn from YouTube Tips and YouTube Hacks videos. The Trending Tab is the top 1% of the sites viral content for the last 24-48 hours. This normally includes top level creators, movie trailers, music videos and topical content.
The YouTube Algorithm is used of the spine of this feature to calculate a videos virality, its reach and in what locations to surface content. The YouTube Trending Tab is not based on the most viewed video of that day but the most shared, engaged and relevant.
The Trending Tab also have a manually curated section for Creator On The Rise and Artist On The Rise. This is a way for YouTube to champion emerging talents with smaller audiences. You need to have 1000+ subscribers to stand a chance of being selected.
YouTube Algorithm 2018 Playlist Series – Home Page // The Home Page is a YouTube Algorithm compiled list of subscribed channels, related content and suggested videos. It is important to know How To Get On The YouTube Page in 2018.
YouTube’s Home Page used to be the making and breaking factor on many early YouTuber’s careers back in the day. In the early years on YouTube the homepage was manually selected and globally viewed. YouTube Home Page in 2018 heavily influenced by the YouTube Algorithm your viewing habits and related content.
This means you have a chance to use YouTube Tips 2018 to hack the YouTube home page by teaching it behaviours to follow. Just like suggested videos, if you continue to show YouTube a pattern it will learn to replicate it. So for you to get on the YouTube home page you need to get viewer to act predictably.
Push your viewing audience to click on annotations, to watch certain related content or trap them in a Playlist. What this does is tell the YouTube algorithm that you like watching this creators videos and it will show more of them on the Home Page. Or if you link out to fellow YouTubers in your videos it will relate you to them and start suggesting your videos against theirs in other Home Pages.
YouTube Algorithm 2018 Playlist Series – Suggested Videos // A deep dive into the YouTube Search Algorithm for 2018 and How To Get Your Videos Suggested. YouTube suggests videos on the right hand side and underneath all videos. The can win you large boosts in YouTube views but how do you hack YouTube to get suggested more?
Getting on the YouTube Suggested Videos can help rapidly grow your channel but you have you teach the YouTube Algorithm what to suggest you against. The YouTube Algorithm in 2018 forms habits based on viewers behaviours. In other words, if you teach the YouTube Algorithm to expect people to watch your video and then go to a set other video, it will start suggesting that video more in future.
But how can you hack the youtube algorithm and suggested videos section? It’s simple… cards, endscreen annotations, playlist and comments. If you get your viewers to follow information cards, or guide them towards playlists and endscreen links, it shows YouTube that those videos are related in some way.
YouTube Playlists can also be a very powerful to feed the youtube suggested videos algorithm as you can set a playlist to “series” and that forces the autoplay to suggest the next video in the playlist. This build a behavioral pattern that YouTube can then track.
YouTube Algorithm 2018 Playlist Series – YouTube Search & Discovery
A deep dive into the YouTube Search Algorithm for 2018 and How To Rank On YouTube. To rank in search you need to consider your metadata – titles, descriptions, keyword tags, thumbnails, closed captions and translations.
Picking the right keywords can tags can help you teach the YouTube Algorithm what your video is about. You need to tag for the category, you channel niche and for the related phases for your video – I use TUBE BUDDY to help me – https://goo.gl/PS2RMn
Once you have a solid selection of keywords and search terms for the YouTube Search Algorithm to disgust it will them try to match your videos to other related videos. These may be your own videos, videos in the same niche or the top ranking videos in that topic. It can then assess how relevant your video is compared to others and over time it will sink or float to the top.
What is an Algorithm? How Does It Work? In this video I drill down into the YouTube Search Algorithm for 2018. What it does and how you can optimise your videos to feed the search results with Video SEO, Metadata and Keyword Tagging.
The YouTube Algorithm controls a lot of what you see in YouTube Search results in 2018. The YouTube search is built on a hidden formula that combines engagement, watch time, video views, share metrics and important data such as titles, descriptions, keyword keyphrase tags, translations and close captions.
Once it has all the data from these areas it then calculate a rank for a video within in search results and that then affects where your videos shows up – Home Page, Suggested Videos, Playlists, Autoplay and more.
YouTube Audience Development is key to increase YouTube Channel Engagement. Video Engagement and audience retention helps increase YouTube Watch Time which in turn helps boost the channels authority without the YouTube Algorithm leading to higher rankings and more subscribers.
Do you interact with your audience? Do you talk to them in the communities they build on Facebook and forums?
YouTube Algorithm Explain a search that many of us have hunted for. Explaining the YouTube Algorithm 2017 can be a can of worms. YouTube Algorithm Explained for 2017 and into 2018 means asking what is the youtube algorithm and how can I make it work for me?
What is an Algorithm? – YouTube Algorithm Explain
An algorithm is a mathematical formula conceived by geniuses to power youtube search results.
Why does the YouTube Algorithm exist?
The YouTube Algorithm is there to help filter the large volume of youtube videos into categories and search results. These videos can then be classified and related to each other and ranked based on their video SEO.
Subscribers don’t come from luck — they come from a strategy.
Gaining subscribers is harder than ever: there’s more competition, and viewers are pickier about who they follow. The good news is that the channels who grow all do the same handful of things well. This is the complete 2026 growth strategy — from giving people a reason to subscribe, to Shorts, promotion, collaboration and turning those subscribers into income.
▶️ Why your uploads aren’t converting viewers into subscribers
Why trust this? I’m Alan Spicer — a YouTube Certified Expert with two decades on the platform, six Silver Play Buttons and 500+ creators coached from zero to thriving subscriber bases.
⚡ QUICK ANSWER: How do I gain YouTube subscribers?
Give people a clear reason to subscribe by making content around a consistent theme, then help new viewers find you with strong titles, thumbnails and Shorts. Ask for the subscribe, promote your videos where your audience is, collaborate with other creators, stay consistent, and build a genuine community. Subscribers are the reward for being a channel worth following.
Why Everyone Needs a Growth Strategy
Gaining subscribers is getting harder as more creators enter the scene and viewers get pickier — nobody wants to be bombarded with content they’re not interested in. That’s exactly why a scattergun approach fails and a clear strategy wins. When you know who you’re for, what you offer, and how you’ll reach them, every upload pulls in the same direction. The tactics below aren’t a menu to pick one from; they work together as a system.
Give People a Clear Reason to Subscribe
Here’s the single biggest reason viewers don’t subscribe: they can’t tell what they’re signing up for. Subscribing is a promise — “show me more like this” — so your channel needs a consistent theme that makes that promise obvious. If someone enjoys one video, they should be able to glance at your channel and instantly know they’ll get more of what they just liked.
This doesn’t mean making the same video over and over. It means every video ladders up to a clear identity, so your audience always knows what your channel stands for. Get this right and everything else below works far harder.
Brand Your Channel
First impressions decide whether a curious viewer sticks around. A polished channel signals “this is worth following.” Make the most of YouTube’s customisation options:
A tidy channel layout with sections and featured content, so visitors immediately see your best work.
Consistent visual identity across thumbnails so your videos are instantly recognisable in the feed.
Optimise for Discovery
You can’t gain subscribers who never find you. Getting discovered comes down to earning the click and being understood by YouTube’s search and suggestion systems:
Titles that promise a clear payoff — see writing titles.
Search optimisation so the right viewers find you — see my full YouTube SEO guide.
Use Shorts to Reach New Subscribers
This is the biggest change since channels first learned to grow: Shorts are now the fastest way to get in front of people who’ve never heard of you. The Shorts feed pushes your vertical videos to brand-new viewers regardless of your subscriber count, making it a powerful top-of-funnel. Post Shorts to get discovered, then convert that attention — point viewers to your long-form content and give them a reason to subscribe. My guide to YouTube Shorts covers how to use them well.
Ask for the Subscribe
It sounds obvious, but most creators either forget or do it badly: ask people to subscribe. The trick is timing and sincerity. Don’t beg in the first five seconds before you’ve earned it — deliver value first, then ask at a natural high point, briefly explaining what they’ll get by subscribing. Reinforce it with End Screens that prompt the subscribe as your video ends and viewers are most convinced.
Promote and Distribute Your Videos
Don’t just upload and hope. Getting your videos in front of people early builds the momentum YouTube rewards, and it puts you in front of potential subscribers beyond the platform:
Communities like Reddit, where relevant and done respectfully.
Social platforms like Twitter/X, meeting your audience where they already are.
Collaborate and Make Friends
One of the most effective growth tactics there is: collaborate. Working with a creator in your niche puts you in front of a warm, relevant audience already primed to like what you do — and it’s mutually beneficial. Be useful to their audience, make it a win for both channels, and treat it as building a real relationship, not a one-off transaction. My collaboration strategy guide shows you how to find, pitch and run collabs that convert.
Be Consistent — Everyone Loves a Regular Show
People subscribe to shows they can rely on. A sustainable upload schedule keeps your audience in the habit of watching and gives the algorithm more chances to promote you. Note “sustainable” — a rhythm you can hold for months beats a burst you burn out on in three weeks. Pick a cadence you can keep, and protect it.
Show Personality and Build Community
People subscribe to people. Your personality is what makes a viewer choose you over the dozen other channels covering your topic, so let it show. Then nurture the relationship: reply to comments, ask questions, and use the Community tab to stay connected between uploads. An engaged community watches longer, comes back sooner, and brings their friends — turning casual viewers into loyal subscribers.
Getting views but not subscribers?
On a free discovery call I’ll find exactly why viewers aren’t subscribing — and give you a plan to fix it.
▶️ Getting views but not subscribers? Here’s how to convert them
Run Giveaways (Carefully)
A well-run giveaway can give your subscriber count a burst and reward your community. The catch is quality: give away something relevant to your niche so you attract real potential fans, not freebie-hunters who unsubscribe the moment it ends. Offer a prize your ideal viewer wants, and you draw in the right people.
Play by the rules: YouTube has official contest policies, and you must follow them (plus local laws) when running a giveaway. Never make subscribing the only way to enter if it breaches those rules, and always disclose the terms clearly. Check YouTube’s current contest policies before you launch.
Turn Subscribers Into Milestones
Subscribers aren’t just a vanity number — they unlock real earning potential as you hit key thresholds:
500 subscribers — unlocks Fan Funding and Shopping features (with some watch time or Shorts activity).
1,000 subscribers — the gateway to the full YouTube Partner Program, alongside your watch hours.
Plus watch hours — 4,000 qualified hours until 31 January 2027, then 8,000 from 1 February 2027, for ad revenue.
Give people a clear reason to subscribe by making content around a consistent theme, then help new viewers find you with strong titles, thumbnails and Shorts. Ask for the subscribe at the right moment, promote your videos where your audience is, collaborate with other creators, stay consistent, and build a genuine community. Subscribers are the reward for being a channel worth following, not a single trick.
Why am I getting views but not subscribers?
Usually it’s because your videos don’t give viewers a clear reason to come back. If someone enjoys one video but can’t tell what your channel is about, they won’t subscribe. Sharpen your theme and promise, actually ask people to subscribe, add a channel trailer for new visitors, and make sure your next videos deliver on what brought them in.
How many subscribers do you need to make money on YouTube?
You can unlock Fan Funding and Shopping features at 500 subscribers, alongside some watch time or Shorts activity. For the full YouTube Partner Program with ad revenue you need 1,000 subscribers plus qualified watch hours — 4,000 until 31 January 2027, then 8,000 from 1 February 2027. Subscribers open the door; watch time and views unlock the ad revenue.
Do YouTube Shorts help you gain subscribers?
Yes. Shorts are shown to people who don’t follow you yet, making them one of the fastest ways to reach new potential subscribers. The key is to convert that reach — use Shorts to get discovered, then guide those viewers to your long-form content and give them a reason to subscribe.
How long does it take to grow YouTube subscribers?
It varies with your niche, consistency and how quickly you improve. Most channels see subscriber growth compound over months of steady uploading rather than overnight. Focus on making each video a little better and giving viewers a clear reason to subscribe, and judge your progress over months, not days.
Should I buy YouTube subscribers?
No. Bought subscribers are fake accounts that never watch, so they tank your engagement rate and tell the algorithm not to promote you. They also don’t count toward monetisation and can get your channel penalised. Always grow real subscribers who actually watch, engage and count toward your goals.
Putting Your Growth Strategy Together
Gaining subscribers isn’t about one clever hack — it’s about stacking the fundamentals: give people a clear reason to subscribe, brand your channel, get discovered through search and Shorts, ask for the subscribe, promote and collaborate, stay consistent, and build a community that feels like home. Do these together and your subscriber count climbs steadily and durably — and before long you’re hitting the milestones that turn a channel into a business. Start with the one you’re weakest at today, and build from there.
Watch time was always the secret to growth. From 2027, it’s also your ticket to getting paid.
YouTube is doubling the bar for new creators to 8,000 qualified watch hours from 1 February 2027. That makes audience retention the most valuable skill on the platform — it drives your reach and your monetisation. This supercharged guide shows you exactly how to build watch time in the new 8,000-hour world.
▶️ How to get 8,000 watch hours on YouTube — the 2027 update
Why trust this? I’m Alan Spicer — a YouTube Certified Expert with two decades on the platform, six Silver Play Buttons and 500+ creators coached to monetisation and beyond.
⚡ QUICK ANSWER: How do I increase my YouTube watch time? Hook viewers in the first 15-30 seconds, hold retention with tight editing and open loops, and deliver on your title’s promise so you attract the right people. Then bank more hours by making longer, bingeable content, chaining views with playlists, Cards and End Screens, and going live (archived streams count). Watch your retention graph to find and fix drop-offs. It’s how you win reach — and, from 2027, how you hit the 8,000 hours to monetise.
Why Watch Time Matters More Than Ever in 2027
Watch time — the total time people spend watching your videos — has always been YouTube’s favourite signal. The platform’s whole business is keeping people watching, so it promotes the videos that do exactly that. High retention tells YouTube “people love this, show it to more of them.” That part hasn’t changed.
What has changed is the stakes. From 1 February 2027, new creators need 8,000 qualified watch hours (over a rolling 365 days) to join the YouTube Partner Program for ad and Premium revenue — double the old 4,000-hour requirement. So watch time is no longer just a growth lever; it’s the gate to getting paid. Master it and you win twice. For the full rules, see my 2027 monetisation requirements and how to hit 1,000 subs and 8,000 watch hours.
What Counts as “Qualified” Watch Time
Before you start racking up hours, know which ones actually count. Not all watch time is equal in YouTube’s eyes:
Counts toward your 8,000 hours
Doesn’t count
Public long-form videos (incl. podcasts)
YouTube Shorts (separate 20M-views path)
Archived live streams
Private, unlisted or deleted videos
Real viewers watching your public content
Paid, ad or artificial/bot views
The big one to remember:Shorts do not count toward watch hours. Shorts feed the separate 20-million-views monetisation path. If you’re going for the 8,000-hour route, your effort belongs in long-form and live content. More on this in qualified watch hours and views.
What 8,000 Hours Actually Looks Like
Eight thousand hours sounds enormous — but it’s very achievable once you see the maths, and it reveals the single most important lever you have. 8,000 hours is 480,000 minutes of watch time. Here’s how many views that takes, depending on how long people actually watch:
Average view duration
Views needed (per rolling year)
3 minutes
~160,000
5 minutes
~96,000
8 minutes
~60,000
12 minutes
~40,000
20 minutes
~24,000
Look at the leverage: doubling your average view duration halves the number of views you need. That’s why everything below matters — every extra minute you keep someone watching brings the 8,000-hour goal dramatically closer.
Hook Them in the First 15-30 Seconds
Most viewers who leave, leave early. Your opening is where watch time is won or lost, so treat the first 15-30 seconds as the most important part of the whole video. Skip the long intros, the “hey guys, welcome back, don’t forget to subscribe” — get straight to the value or the promise. Tell people what they’re about to get and why it’s worth staying, then start delivering immediately. Win the opening and the rest of your retention curve starts from a much higher place.
Hold Retention Across the Whole Video
Getting them past the intro is step one; keeping them is the game. The techniques that work:
Cut every second of dead air. Tight editing is the highest-leverage retention tool there is.
Change the pace. Vary your shots, energy and visuals so the video never feels flat.
Use open loops. Tease something coming later (“in a moment I’ll show you the fix”) to pull viewers forward.
Signpost the value. Remind people why staying is worth it at natural drop-off points.
Here’s a subtle watch-time killer: attracting the wrong viewers. If your title and thumbnail promise one thing and the video delivers another, people bail within seconds and your retention tanks. Set accurate expectations, then over-deliver on them. The viewers you attract should be exactly the ones who want to watch to the end — that alignment is one of the most underrated watch-time levers there is.
Make Longer, Bingeable Content
Remember the maths: a longer video with strong retention banks far more hours per view. So once you can hold attention, lean into longer formats — but only if the content earns the length. Never pad; a bloated video just drops your retention and the algorithm punishes it. Better still, build series that people binge one after another, which stacks watch time across multiple videos in a single session. See my series strategy for bingeable content.
Chain Views With Playlists, Cards and End Screens
Watch time isn’t just about one video — it’s about keeping someone on your content across a whole session. Three tools do this:
Cards point viewers to a relevant next video at the right moment — see Cards strategy.
End Screens send finishers straight into another video — see the End Screen strategy.
Note: if you’re following older advice that mentions “annotations” for this, ignore it — YouTube removed annotations in 2019. Cards and End Screens replaced them, and unlike annotations they work on mobile.
Go Live — Archived Streams Count Toward Your Hours
Live streaming is one of the fastest ways to build watch time, and it’s badly underused. A single live session can keep viewers watching for a long stretch, banking big chunks of watch time at once — and crucially, archived live streams count toward your qualified watch hours. That makes going live a genuine shortcut toward the 8,000-hour goal.
▶️ Using live streaming to increase your channel watch time
Finally, stop guessing where you’re losing people — YouTube shows you exactly. Your audience retention graph reveals the precise moments viewers drop off: a slow intro, a boring stretch, a tangent that lost them. Find those dips, work out what caused them, and fix that pattern in your next video. Do this consistently and your retention — and your watch hours — climb steadily. See using YouTube Analytics for growth and, if your numbers are sliding, watch time dropping: proven fixes.
Want the fastest route to 8,000 hours?
On a free discovery call I’ll audit your retention and build you a watch-time plan aimed straight at monetisation.
Watch time is the single biggest signal YouTube uses to decide which videos to promote — if people watch a lot of your video, YouTube shows it to more people. From 2027 it matters even more, because monetisation requires 8,000 qualified watch hours. So watch time now drives both your reach and your ability to earn.
How many watch hours do you need to monetise on YouTube?
Until 31 January 2027 you need 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 qualified watch hours over 365 days (or 10 million Shorts views over 90 days). From 1 February 2027 the watch-hours requirement doubles to 8,000 qualified watch hours (or 20 million Shorts views), while the 1,000-subscriber mark stays the same.
Do YouTube Shorts count toward watch hours?
No. Shorts views are counted on a separate path — the 20 million qualified Shorts views option — not as watch hours. Qualified watch hours come from your public long-form videos and archived live streams. So if you’re chasing the 8,000-hour route, focus on long-form and live, not Shorts.
What counts as qualified watch time?
Qualified watch hours come from watch time on your public long-form videos, including podcasts, and your archived live streams, over a rolling 365 days. It excludes private, deleted, paid, ad and artificial activity. In short, real people watching your real public content is what counts.
How do I increase audience retention?
Hook viewers hard in the first few seconds, cut every second of dead air, and use pacing changes and open loops to keep them curious. Make sure your title and thumbnail set accurate expectations so you attract the right viewers, and study your retention graph to find and fix the moments where people leave.
Do longer videos get more watch time?
They can. A longer video that holds attention banks far more watch hours per view than a short one, so longer, well-retained content reaches the 8,000-hour goal faster. But length only helps if you keep people watching — never pad a video, or your retention drops and the algorithm notices.
Does live streaming increase watch time?
Yes, significantly. Live streams keep viewers watching for long stretches, adding big chunks of watch time in one session. And because archived live streams count toward qualified watch hours, going live is one of the fastest ways to build toward the 8,000-hour threshold.
The Bottom Line
Watch time has quietly become the most valuable thing on YouTube. It decides how far your videos travel and, from February 2027, whether you can monetise at all. The good news is that it’s entirely within your control: hook people fast, hold their attention, deliver exactly what you promised, make content worth bingeing, chain views across your channel, go live, and let your analytics guide every improvement. Focus here above everything else and you’ll build the 8,000 hours — and the audience — that turn a channel into a business.
A note on the figures: the 8,000 qualified watch hours requirement applies to new YouTube Partner Program applicants from 1 February 2027; the current 4,000-hour rule applies until 31 January 2027, and existing partners are grandfathered. View-count examples are illustrative maths (8,000 hours = 480,000 minutes). Always check current requirements in YouTube Studio.
