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100 YouTube subs after 6 videos. Is that an indication of quality?

21 points by danielgh7 ↗ HN
I'm trying to determine if the content I'm making on youtube is actually valuable and if the growth I have so far is an indication to keep pushing, or if I should stop investing time in youtube.

The metrics I'm seeing from Youtube after posting 6 videos: * 3.3k total views * 101 Subs * 150hrs of watch time * Unique Viewers 2k * 3 total comments across all videos

I have an engineering background and I'm really not sure if these numbers are good for a new channel or if I'm wasting my time.

Additional context: I run a YC startup as a solo founder, pivoted a few times and now I think I've found initial traction. Being solo, time is super tight.

26 comments

[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 62.9 ms ] thread
arrakis2021
It’s pretty good. Can you see if most of your users are from YouTube search or Google search? You may be indexing really well and if so, then the video content might be hitting the mark foe those searches
danielgh7
64.7% external

14.1% channel pages

11.7% direct

5.1% Browse Features

2.0% Youtube Search

2.4% Others

Not too sure what to make of it, but it looks like my search indexing isn't providing much value. Thanks for raising the point I need to investigate how youtube search works a bit more

arrakis2021
“External” is the key point here That’s Google Videos index

You are ranking well for some of these videos. Have you tried searching the titles on Google?

danielgh7
I'm on the second page of google searches for a relevant search, but I doubt anyone is searching those terms since I kind of made the concept (Or I'm at least an early adopter).
cdbattags
I'd love a link to your content!
danielgh7
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfotE5RL1pfhIZ0fv2kAN9Q

Would love some honest thoughts on whether it seems like there is something actually interesting here or not. (or tips on how to improve). My biggest "improvement" to date has been using canva to make half decent thumbnails haha

tucaz
Why don’t you use a keyboard to type the text and make it actually readable?

The content might be interesting but the barrier to understand it seems unnecessarily high to the point I don’t want to invest time to figure out if it’s worth it or not.

danielgh7
I was trying to recreate the in person white boarding experience, but that probably isn't the move here since the candidates are having a ton of trouble writing legibly, making the coding portion almost useless for the video. I can't read it myself even when I'm in the environment.

I'm probably going to NIX the actual whiteboarding portion and lean more into a text based approach based off all the feedback here.

sjcoles
I can't read anything written and it doesn't seem scripted making getting through it difficult.

Technical people want concise, easy to digest, easy to search (text! not video) reference materials. A combination of long form articles with white boarding videos that were clearer in both visuals and scripting would go a long way to adding value.

danielgh7
It's definitely not scripted, these are actual mock interviews I'm conducting in a VR setting.What I'm taking away from this is that trying to recreate an in person environment isn't the goal, the goal is to create an awesome video thats easy to consume. Makes complete sense, thanks for the feedback
tucaz
I’ll offer a different perspective. If I’m looking for an answer I want a concise and straight to the point explanation.

If I’m trying to understand about the dynamics of an interview or even understand how people smarter than me get to a solution, I might want to go through the whole journey.

I guess this part comes down to an editorial decision: are you trying to offer technical solutions or are you trying to do something else?

Knowing the answer to that question might help you decide what path to take.

Someone1234
So you have several videos on mock interview questions, but instead of being able to skim the video titles and knowing which ones are that the word "mock interview" appears at a seemingly random place in the video's title.

Valid Parentheses (LC 20) Mock Interview - No Decision

VR Mock Interview- Nearly Sorted Array - Success

Coin Change - VR Mock Coding Interview - #3

Honestly the titling is just outright bad. I don't know what "LC 20" means and I didn't realize that "VR" was in reference to the animation style, and don't understand why that's important or relevant.

Putting: Success, No Decision, #3, etc in the title isn't clear what it is, or why I'd want to watch these where the candidate did NOT succeed. The whole format is just strange.

Bigger issue is I cannot read the handwriting in particular in this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OIq7G7w_30

danielgh7
Dam, this is awesome, concrete feedback. I'm only realizing right now how crappy the titles are, going to address this asap.

WRT the handwriting: I may end up switching to a typed format since its supported in workrooms and everything is remote nowadays anyway.

My thoughts with watching the failures: it helps to see what doesn't work during an interview.

Ex. So many people jump straight into coding before even thinking about the problem or asking clarifying questions. This is a big red flag during interviews. It might make the value prop clearer if I add some commentary over the failures to explain what went wrong and why.

I'm still trying to suss out whether it makes sense to post the failure vids, so thanks for pointing that out

sema4hacker
Even if your content is "valuable", it won't get significant views and subscribers and shares unless it's ENTERTAINING. The key to doing that on YouTube is to have a live talking head host that looks good and sounds good. People keep going back to a particular channel because they connect with the personality of the host appearing on camera. Drop the animations and do it live. If you're not smooth/funny/friendly/clever/personable/handsome etc enough on camera, then use a friend or family member that is. Unfortunately, sexist as it is, the optimum host for fast channel growth is a young good-looking woman.
danielgh7
My videos are definitely lacking personality, thanks for the tip this resonates.

I guess its time for a hair cut and a shave(About a month into trying to grow my hair out)

slightwinder
> Even if your content is "valuable", it won't get significant views and subscribers and shares unless it's ENTERTAINING.

Isn't entertainment a value?

> The key to doing that on YouTube is to have a live talking head host that looks good and sounds good.

I think VTubers want to have a word with you.

> Unfortunately, sexist as it is, the optimum host for fast channel growth is a young good-looking woman.

Yet most of the successful youtubers outside of beauty&family-content are males, aren't they?

But of course, you don't need to be the next Mr Beast to be successful on youtube. Everyone needs to find their own way and niche.

danielgh7
The VTuber point is pretty awesome. TBH I'd be way more comfortable behind an avatar, I might invest in a rig. I have some experience in live videos (used to work on FB Live and Horizon Venues) so this might be something I can pull off
keiferski
I wouldn’t make any assessments based on only 6 videos. Every successful YouTuber that I’ve seen has been in it for the long haul. They seem to commit for a significant amount of time (a year, at least) and publish new content constantly, usually every day. After awhile, the views views add up and your audience grows.
larrykubin
No, you need to be patient, persistent, and keep making content. I just crossed 50K subscribers and 3 million views for a Python for Finance tutorials channel (https://youtube.com/parttimelarry).

You are well ahead of my pace so far. It looks like you just started in December and it's only January.

I documented my stats on Twitter:

End of Year 1 (2019) (first 5 months July-December 31). 100 subscribers.

https://twitter.com/PartTimeLarry/status/1211790724259176449

End of Year 2. (2020) 10,000 Subscribers.

https://twitter.com/PartTimeLarry/status/1337845070515466240

End of Year 3. (2021) 50,000 Subscribers.

Keep going if you have the time and good things will happen. In Casey Neistat's 10 Million video, he says the hardest thing is getting the first 10,000:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY7_XJ1WUqk

danielgh7
Thanks for the encouragement and sharing your experience. Patience and iteration seems to be the key here. Congrats on 50k
A3mercury
I would echo the part about continually making content. Releasing videos at consistent intervals and at the same time, say every Monday at 8:00am, is suppose to make you “look good” to YouTube and can boost your reach.
ipaddr
The number of subs is great but the total views and watch time might be too low to meet google's minimum. I spent the lockdown getting a channel from nothing to over 1,000 in 9 months or less. My strategy was long content and a lot of content at least 3 times daily 45/60 minutes. To achieve 1,000s or 10,000s with one video involved timing and great matching keyword intent with photo.

500 views per video is not bad. It's better than average but you literally need to do 100,000 a month to make a few dollars. The 100 subscribers tells me you have an audience ready hopefully to buy. Get them off youtube on to your own platform asap

danielgh7
Based on everyones input, posting consistency seems to be paramount. Time is super limited so I struggle a bit with posting too much but I'm starting to find a flow with recording, slight editing, and posting.

Would love to see your channel if you are open to sharing it.