Like, Share, Subscribe

YouTube is by far the largest video sharing site—nothing even comes close to it. To get views, one of your main goals will be to rank in YouTube’s searches without putting in more effort than your initial promotion. You need to create videos people actually want to watch and like. But why does every blogger want likes?

What Do Likes Do On YouTube?

YouTube’s algorithm has taken an approach to rank videos that’s similar to Google’s approach. Instead of just using the basic information an uploader provided with a video, it also looks at how users interact with your content. The simple concept behind it is that if users are indicating they really like your video, it’s probably a good one to show to more people. Naturally, the algorithm ranks it higher.

Actually, there are a few major areas of user feedback YouTube can consider when evaluating a video:

  • Overall views – From YouTube’s perspective, if a video is getting a lot of views without its help in the search rankings, it must be good.
  • Rating (thumbs up and down) – Users can also rate a video by giving it a thumbs up or thumbs down. The higher this ratio is, the better.
  • Views to subscribers – If a content is really good, a lot of people who view it will click the “Subscribe” button underneath. Similarly, no one will subscribe after watching a bad video.
  • Views to favorites or social shares – Just like with subscribing, people will also share a video only if they like it.
  • Comments – If a video is inspiring a lot of comments, it may be good. YouTube can’t put much weight on the comment count since comments could be negative too.

What Happens When You Like a Video on YouTube?

Why Do YouTubers Ask for Likes?

Liking a video is a quick way to let a creator know that you enjoy their work. If you’re signed in, liking will add it to your ‘Liked videos’ playlist.

If you’re not the biggest fan of a video, disliking it is one of the ways to show your opinion. Keep in mind that if you want to report inappropriate content, you should flag the video instead.

Why Do YouTubers Ask for Likes?

How do likes help YouTubers? Likes and dislikes have no direct effect on the money earned for a video, but it does affect search ratings, and thus the views a video gets indirectly. The major thing is that to continue creating content that your audience enjoys, one needs to know exactly what they enjoy. And the like buttons are a very easy way to say “I want to see more of this”.

Search results on YouTube are based on two primary factors (and many mysterious others):

  • how well your video’s metadata (title, description, keywords) fits the user’s query;
  • how much your video has engaged users already (likes, comments, watch time).

It means that likes and dislikes will push the video higher in search rankings, so let’s say there are 2 YouTubers showing the same video. The guy got more likes, when people search for these videos, will be higher in the search relevance.

In other words, engagement is extremely useful for rankings. Any engagement (even dislikes) will help the video get out to more people so your channel can grow.

The number of times someone likes a video is mostly out of your control. However, you can increase the likelihood that someone will like your video by directly requesting each viewer to do so. Typically, YouTube content creators find success by doing this at the end of the video, either verbally or in the form of a caption.

By emphasizing the need to inspire as many thumbs-up as possible may result in featuring your video on “Popular On YouTube” channel section.

Conclusion

YouTube is a fantastic marketing opportunity for businesses interested in content marketing. Even though bloggers and streamers don’t get paid for likes, they are still in need of your thumb up in order to promote their channel and videos in to be in the top.

About the author
Avatar
Alice Metzger
Editor-in-chief, Blogger, TikToker
Alice has spent the last 5 years writing professionally for various websites, as well as supervising a team of content contributors.
A proponent of allowing people to take industry gatekeepers and middlemen out from the equation, Alice supports niche social media influencers and dedicates her time to promote a sustainable lifestyle and work-life balance.

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