What drives views to your YouTube videos? Is it the suggested videos, the browse feature, or the power of search? Understanding your traffic sources is crucial for growth, but the “best” source depends entirely on your channel’s goals.
In this episode, we’ll break down the main YouTube traffic sources, explore strategies to boost each one, and reveal the two primary YouTube growth strategies. Knowing which strategy aligns with your objectives is key to maximizing your impact and revenue.
Which Video Makes More Money? (It’s Not Always What You Think)
Let’s look at an example. On Noelle Randall’s channel, which teaches real estate investing, we analyzed two videos:
- Video 1: Launched 102 days ago, with 91,000 views and approximately $111,000 in ad revenue.
- Video 2: “How to Become a Real Estate Agent,” with 2,200 views over 294 days and around $695 in ad revenue.
At first glance, the first video seems like the clear winner in terms of revenue. However, the second video, despite its lower view count and ad revenue, has generated significantly more money for Noelle through lead generation. By strategically targeting search traffic with valuable “how-to” content, they attract a specific audience that can be nurtured into leads for her real estate investing courses.
Understanding Your YouTube Traffic Sources
YouTube Analytics provides a wealth of information about where your viewers are coming from. The main traffic sources to focus on are:
- Search: Viewers find your content by typing keywords into the YouTube search bar (and even Google search).
- Suggested: Your video appears alongside other related videos that viewers are watching.
- Browse: Viewers discover your content through the YouTube homepage, subscription feed, and other browsing features.
- External: Traffic originates from websites and platforms outside of YouTube (with Google search often being a significant contributor).
While all traffic is valuable, search traffic is particularly powerful for lead generation because it connects you with viewers actively seeking specific information. On the other hand, suggested and browse traffic have the potential for more “viral” growth, making them ideal for channels primarily focused on ad revenue.
The Two Main YouTube Growth Strategies
Broadly speaking, YouTube growth strategies can be categorized into two main approaches, often exemplified by the philosophies of Derral Eves (author of “The YouTube Formula”) and Nate Woodbury (author of “A Hero’s Guide to Influence on YouTube”):
1. The “Viral” Growth (Derral Eves) Strategy:
- Focus: Maximizing views through suggested and browse traffic, often with entertaining or broadly appealing content (vlogs, music, entertainment).
- Pros: Potential for rapid growth, larger audience, increased brand recognition and “fame.”
- Cons: Suggested traffic is unpredictable, slow initial growth for new channels, high time commitment (often a full-time job), can be less tactical and require following trends even if they deviate from your personal interests.
2. The Lead Generation (Nate Woodbury) Strategy:
- Focus: Attracting targeted search traffic with “how-to” content that answers specific questions related to your expertise or business.
- Pros: Predictable growth through keyword research, highly efficient content creation (batch filming), potential for high revenue from a smaller, targeted audience, ability to dominate a niche quickly.
- Cons: Not ideal for local businesses (primarily global reach), may appear less impressive externally (lower subscriber counts compared to viral channels), requires a successful business outside of YouTube to effectively convert leads.
The Danger of Mixing Strategies
It’s crucial to choose one strategy and commit to it. Attempting to blend the “viral” and lead generation approaches on the same channel can be detrimental. As I experienced on my personal channel, “Nate Woodbury,” mixing broad, viral-style content with targeted, business-focused videos confused the algorithm and alienated parts of the audience, ultimately hindering growth.
Which Strategy is Right for You?
- If your primary goal is ad revenue and you create engaging, entertaining content like vlogs or music, the “viral” growth strategy might be a good fit.
- If you have a coaching, consulting, or educational business and want to generate qualified leads, the lead generation strategy focused on search traffic is likely the more effective path.
Pros and Cons in Detail
| Feature | Derral Eves Strategy (“Viral”) | Nate Woodbury Strategy (Lead Generation) |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic Focus | Suggested, Browse | Search (YouTube & Google) |
| Content Style | Entertaining, Broadly Appealing, Storytelling | How-to, Question-Answering, Educational |
| Growth Speed (Initial) | Slow | More Predictable |
| Channel Size | Potential for very large subscriber counts | Can generate high revenue with smaller subscriber counts |
| Time Commitment | Often a full-time job | More efficient (batch filming) |
| Predictability | Low (reliant on algorithm and trends) | High (based on keyword research) |
| Revenue Focus | Primarily Ad Revenue | Lead Generation for Business Revenue |
| Tactical Approach | Less tactical, follow trends | Highly tactical, based on research |
| Local Businesses | Can work for some, but not the primary focus | Generally not effective for traditional local businesses |
| External Perception | Often seen as more “successful” due to large subscriber count | May be underestimated by those unfamiliar with the strategy |
| Business Requirement | Not necessarily required to have an existing business | Requires a successful business outside of YouTube for lead conversion |
Got Questions?
This is a lot to consider! If you have any questions about these strategies or which one might be best for your channel, please leave a comment below. I’ll do my best to review and answer them.
Want to Dive Deeper into the Lead Generation Strategy?
If you feel the lead generation approach is right for you and want to learn more about the specifics, I have another episode dedicated to it called “The YouTube SEO Secret Strategy.” You can find the link right here. It goes into detail about my lead generation tactics, and it’s a must-watch if you’re leaning towards this strategy.
