YouTube Growth Guides
Publishing, audience and recommendations: how to start, when to post, why views drop and what the evidence says about the algorithm. These guides keep what YouTube states apart from what creators report, and mark what nobody outside YouTube can know.
20 guides
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Growth & Algorithm6 min read
How to See Dislikes on YouTube: What Is Still Visible
Can you see dislikes on YouTube? Who can still see the exact count, what the API returns since December 2021, and what browser extensions really show.
Hiddendislike counts since November 2021
Growth & Algorithm7 min read
YouTube Play Buttons: Silver, Gold, Diamond Requirements
YouTube Play Buttons explained: the subscriber milestones for Silver, Gold, Diamond and Red Diamond, who is eligible, how to redeem one and how rare each is.
19,691of our tracked channels have passed each award tier
Growth & Algorithm13 min read
YouTube Community Posts: Requirements and How They Work
YouTube Community Posts explained: who can post today, the post types and limits, where posts show up, comment moderation, and what the Analytics report shows.
No minimumsubscribers needed to post, per YouTube Help
Growth & Algorithm13 min read
Best Time to Post YouTube Shorts: What Our Data Shows
We tested 1,710 Shorts from 64 channels: no posting hour or weekday reliably beat the rest. See the numbers, the limits and how to test your own schedule.
1,710views vs typical Short by upload day: no clear winner
Growth & Algorithm16 min read
How to Go Live on YouTube: Requirements and Limits
How to go live on YouTube: the age and verification rules, the 50-subscriber mobile bar, encoder settings, latency, archives, limits and how live streams earn.
50subscribers needed to go live from a phone
Growth & Algorithm14 min read
YouTube End Screens and Cards: How to Add and Use Them
YouTube end screens and cards: the rules from Help (25 seconds, 4 elements, 5 cards), how to add them, what the reports show, and how common trailers are.
5–20 sthe window an end screen runs in
Growth & Algorithm12 min read
YouTube Subscriber Count: How It Is Rounded and Updated
How YouTube rounds subscriber counts, in steps of 10 to 1,000,000, why the count changes, and what hidden counts mean, with our data on 17,887 channels.
123Kcounts rounded down to three significant figures
Growth & Algorithm11 min read
How Often to Upload to YouTube: A Data-Backed Answer
How often to upload to YouTube: what YouTube says, what 83 channels show, the Partner Program upload rules and how to pick a schedule you can keep.
Consistencyof quality over frequency, says YouTube Help
Growth & Algorithm8 min read
How to Compare Two YouTube Videos Fairly
How to compare YouTube videos fairly: which public numbers to use, the traps in views per day, and a worked example on three real videos.
Views/dayputs videos of different ages side by side
Growth & Algorithm8 min read
How to Compare YouTube Channels Without Fooling Yourself
How to compare YouTube channels with public data: what a side-by-side shows, a worked example with three real channels, and the traps of age and rounding.
3 channelsside by side, from the Data API
Growth & Algorithm8 min read
How to Find YouTube Video Ideas and a Niche
Where to find YouTube video ideas and a niche: Studio's Trends and Audience reports, our look at who charts in each category, and what none of it proves.
3 sourcesof video ideas inside YouTube Studio
Growth & Algorithm9 min read
How to Get Your First 1,000 YouTube Subscribers
What 1,000 subscribers means for the Partner Program, why there is no free shortcut, what YouTube advises, and what small channels' views look like in our data.
1,000subscribers to open ad revenue
Growth & Algorithm10 min read
How the YouTube Algorithm Works, According to YouTube
What YouTube says its recommendation system looks at, what it says it does not do, how Shorts differ and how to read your own numbers, with every claim sourced.
2 goalsof YouTube's recommendation system
Growth & Algorithm8 min read
YouTube Playlist Analytics: Public Numbers vs Studio
What a YouTube playlist's public numbers show, a worked example on a real 16 video series, and which playlist metrics only the owner sees in YouTube Studio.
100 videosread from each public playlist
Growth & Algorithm5 min read
How to Audit a YouTube Channel in 15 Minutes
Which numbers a quick channel audit should look at, how to read outlier videos, and where the limits of a recent-uploads check are.
15 minto audit a channel's recent uploads
Growth & Algorithm5 min read
Why Did My YouTube Views Drop? A Diagnosis Order
The reasons YouTube Help gives for falling views, and a step-by-step order for working out which one applies to your channel before you change anything.
Views ↓the ordinary causes YouTube Help lists
Growth & Algorithm6 min read
Best Time to Post on YouTube: What the Evidence Says
YouTube says publish time is not known to affect long-term performance. Here is when it does matter and how to read your own channel's posting history.
No magic hourpublish time is not known to matter long-term
Growth & Algorithm5 min read
How to Start a YouTube Channel in 2026: Step by Step
Create the channel, choose a name and handle, learn the Partner Program bar and set up the basics. Each step is checked against YouTube Help.
6 stepsto create a channel in Settings
Growth & Algorithm5 min read
What Is a YouTube Shadowban?
A shadowban is a community term for a sudden drop in distribution. What YouTube documents, what usually explains a drop, and how to test before you assume.
Unofficiala community word YouTube Help does not use
Other topics
Free tools for this topic
The tools these guides send you to, ready to run on your own channel or video.
- YouTube Channel AuditPosting cadence, engagement rate, title/tag hygiene and which recent videos are over- or under-performing.
- YouTube Channel ComparisonCompare 2 or 3 channels on subscribers, views and output.
- Best Time to Post on YouTubeSee which days and hours a channel's uploads got the most views.
- YouTube Video ComparisonCompare 2 to 5 videos side by side on views, engagement rate and more.