How to fix a stuck YouTube channel?

Wondering how to fix a stuck YouTube channel? I’m here to help you identify the snags holding your channel back. From understanding analytics to improving watch time and subscriber count, learn the strategies to boost your channel’s growth.

If you’re looking for ideas for getting UN-stuck on YouTube, I’ve got you covered!

Discover the tweaks you need to revive it and start seeing faster growth! Let’s breathe new life into your content and business!

VIDEO: Get Your S-L-O-W Channel UNSTUCK

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Recognizing the Signs of a Stuck Channel

How to fix a stuck YouTube channel? First, understand what it means for your channel to be “stuck.” Are you struggling with stagnant subscriber growth, low view counts, or declining watch time? Identifying the specific areas where your channel is underperforming is the first step toward improvement. YouTube’s analytics can be a valuable tool here, providing insights into your channel’s performance compared to previous periods.

If you are stuck, when you open your analytics, you have the down arrows – and it’s helpful for YouTube to give us the arrows, to provide us with those indicators because it’s comparing your metrics to your metrics.

The Importance of Consistency and Improvement

Consistency is key in the world of YouTube. If you want to fix a stuck YouTube channel, regular uploads keep your audience engaged. It signals to YouTube’s algorithm that your channel is active. However, consistency alone isn’t enough. It’s crucial to continually refine your content and eliminate any roadblocks that might be hindering your growth. This could involve tweaking your video titles, thumbnails, or even the content itself to better align with viewer interests.

I teach this concept inside my 30 Days to Thriving YouTube channel course—this “3×4 Method”. The idea is to make 12 videos in the same amount of time.

Everyone wants to make high-quality videos, and maybe you enjoy all that tech stuff. I do too—believe me, I do! But I also want to maintain consistency and grow my business.

If you’re struggling to find time to create the videos you want, in the way you want, because your process involves too many moving parts, the 3×4 Method can help. It allows you to take a step back and figure out: What 12 topics could you create that are easy for you to film by simply talking to the camera? This approach avoids the need for extra b-roll, multiple camera angles, and all that other time-consuming stuff.

Making longer videos doesn’t have to mean spending way more time creating them. This is something I’ve successfully implemented on my channel.

Analyzing Your Analytics for Hidden Snags

Your YouTube analytics can reveal a lot about what’s working and what’s not in fixing a stuck YouTube channel. Look for patterns in your data that might indicate why your channel isn’t growing as expected. Are there specific videos that perform better than others? What topics resonate most with your audience? By understanding these trends, you can focus your efforts on creating content that is more likely to succeed.

As of the time of this recording in late 2024. One of the biggest snags that I see happening with my clients, students, and members of Video Brand Academy is when you’re mixing short content and long-form content. It’s really not working out for people – I don’t know how else to say, ‘Please stop doing that.’

The focus is on figuring out how healthy views are being obtained on both long-form and short-form videos. From what has been observed—for myself, my clients, my students, and anyone whose analytics have been reviewed over the last 365 days or longer—it has been shown that long-form views appear to cancel out short-form views in terms of gaining momentum in the algorithm.

The Role of Watch Time and Viewer Retention

Watch time is a critical factor in YouTube’s algorithm for fixing stuck YouTube channels. Longer videos that keep viewers engaged can lead to more watch time, which in turn can boost your channel’s visibility.

YouTube provides a 30-second retention metric in the analytics for each video, which can be very eye-opening. It allows you to see if people are dropping off quickly. This makes your first 10 seconds, 30 seconds, and even the first minute incredibly important.

I’ve improved my 30-second retention by having a short hook and getting right into the content. I don’t do a lot of overexplaining in the intro. I don’t have a long segment where I introduce myself, and I don’t use a logo animation or anything like that. Diving straight into the content, and that seems to work pretty well for me.

But that’s just my approach—it fits my personality and the way I choose to tackle the problem. It has worked for me, and it might work for you too.

If your watch time is fine, then your watch time is fine—you don’t need to change anything. But if your watch time is not fine, for example, if you have 10% or even 20% viewer retention, you’ve got to get that number up somehow.

My go-to recommendation for anyone—whether they’re a client, student, member, or part of Video Brand Academy—is this: go and look at your top 10 videos currently performing on your channel. You can find this in your analytics. Scroll down a bit, and you’ll see your top 10 videos from the last 28 days.

The Impact of Shorts and Long-Form Content

Mixing short and long-form content on your channel can sometimes lead to mixed results. If your long-form videos aren’t gaining traction when you try to fix a stuck YouTube channel, it might be worth evaluating how your shorts are impacting your overall channel performance.

If you’re putting out long-form videos—20 minutes long, with all this time and effort—and then you open your analytics only to find that it’s all the shorts showing up, it can be disheartening. But remember, that list is only looking at views. It’s showing your top 10 videos in terms of views, not the subscribers they’re bringing or the total watch time they’re contributing. It’s just about views.

While that’s amazing—it’s one of the reasons YouTube is so powerful for growing an audience as a business owner—if those topics don’t align with your newer video topics, there’s a disconnect. Your newer topics aren’t getting traction in the algorithm because your older videos are attracting people with entirely different interests.

So even though your channel is getting views today, it’s on topics unrelated to the content you’re currently publishing. This means the time and energy you’re putting into your new videos isn’t translating into growth for your channel. That’s why you see the down arrows in your analytics. That’s why it feels like your channel is stuck or even “dead” and needs to be revived.

Optimizing Thumbnails and Titles for Click-Through

Another common snag for people is what’s going on with their thumbnails. This can be frustrating because thumbnails can sometimes feel like an insignificant part of the YouTube process.

Thumbnails and titles are your first chance to grab a viewer’s attention. A compelling thumbnail paired with an intriguing title can significantly increase your video’s click-through rate. Use your analytics to identify videos with high impressions but low click-through rates, and consider updating their thumbnails and titles to make them more appealing.

Thumbnail strategy is like a whole pseudo-science—it is a science! There’s a lot of psychology at play. One of my favorite snags to look for isn’t necessarily your overall click-through rate on your channel or even the click-through rate of each video. Instead, go to your advanced analytics and look at each video’s Impressions.

Impressions represent the number of times your video has been shown to people—whether on a homepage, in search results, or in the sidebar. When you find videos that have a lot of Impressions (relatively speaking—compared to the rest of your videos), take a closer look at their click-through rates.

Rather than trying to improve all the thumbnails on your channel or redesigning every thumbnail in Canva, focus only on the thumbnails for videos that are currently receiving a high number of Impressions. These are the ones that are still getting eyeballs today.

Put your effort into improving those thumbnails because they are the ones where it will pay off—they’re the videos people are already seeing.

Leveraging Keyword Research for Better Impressions

If your channel is struggling with low impressions, keyword research can be a game-changer. Identify topics with high search volume and low competition to create content that will discover new viewers.

When your channel is stuck—if you’re seeing down gray arrows for everything—and you feel like your click-through rate is okay, your thumbnails are okay, and you’re doing everything right (everything the gurus say), yet your watch time is good, your 30-second retention is solid, and people aren’t getting bored, the next step I’d recommend is looking at your Impressions.

This is actually one of the simplest things to tweak. Start by doing some keyword research to identify topics, keywords, and search phrases in your niche that are generating search volume.

Look for terms that people are searching for but that don’t have much competition. When you find those, you’ve got a Golden Ticket topic—what I like to call the “low-hanging fruit.” These are topics with lots of searches and not a lot of videos covering them.

If you’re struggling with impressions, the easiest thing you can do is create videos targeting those keywords.

Tools like vidIQ and TubeBuddy can help you find these “golden ticket” topics that can drive more traffic to your channel.

Conclusion: Taking Action to Get Unstuck

Reviving a stuck YouTube channel requires a combination of consistency, strategic improvements, and a willingness to adapt. By analyzing your analytics, optimizing your content, and experimenting with different formats, you can overcome the snags holding your channel back. Remember, growth takes time, but with persistence and the right strategies, you can get your channel back on track.

How do we figure out how to get your channel unstuck, how to get your gray down arrows into green up arrows? I have something that will show you that. I give out inside Video Brand Academy called ‘Fix My Channel Flowchart. It’s like a decision tree, I can just go through this decision tree and figure out where the biggest snag is, where’s the – what’s the biggest thing holding you back

If you’re interested in getting your hands on the Fix My Channel flowchart that’s inside of the YouTube roadmap, check the Video Brand Academy waitlist so that you’re first in line to know when the doors are open again. I’m excited for the doors to be open again probably one more time before the end of the year so that you can get your channel unstuck and breathe some life into it.

If you have an online business with a course, program, or any other kind of offer, and you’re not currently generating consistent sales on autopilot, I’d like to introduce you to the hands off youtube funnel that has made me over $20k on a $147 course! That way, you too can make consistent sales of your offer, with the beauty and simplicity of organic, evergreen traffic from YouTube! Start here with my free “AIT Method” training.