YouTube Subscribers Or Views Or Likes – Which Is More Important?

YouTube is great platform for creators to monetize their special skills, talents, experience, expertise and any other thing that users might find valuable. YouTube utilizes advanced algorithms to evaluate the popularity of a YouTube channel. Payment for ad impressions and ad clicks are accordingly calculated.

For creators who are just starting their YouTube journey, such things can seem a bit complicated. There are often questions about what is more important, YouTube subscribers, views or likes. Are YouTube subscribers more important than YouTube views? For better clarity, let’s analyze each of these in detail.

YouTube Subscribers – This is probably the most important measure of the popularity of your YouTube channel. There are various reasons for it. The number of subscribers reveals that people like your videos and are looking forward to seeing more from you. The higher the subscriber base, the better it will be for brands to advertise their products or services. Brands can gain wide publicity via a YouTube channel that has 1 million subscribers, as compared to one that has only 100,000 subscribers. In most cases, a YouTube channel with higher subscribers is likely to generate more ad revenue.

YouTube views – This not only considers the clicks, but also the time users spend watching the video. This is done to discourage things like clickbait. In the background, YouTube algorithms also determine if the video is watched by a real human or a machine. There have been cases where creators were found to be using automated software to generate more views. From creator’s perspective, views can work as a feedback mechanism. They can provide an insight as to which type of content is most preferred by users.

YouTube likes / dislikes – This again is a mechanism to discourage clickbait. YouTube likes is also a factor for calculating ad revenue. Whether the video was liked by a real human or by an automated system also needs to be checked. From creator’s perspective, YouTube likes are a mirror to the popularity of a particular video.

The basic purpose for YouTube subscribers, views and likes/dislikes is to encourage genuine creators while discouraging unscrupulous ones. It also comes into play when calculating ad revenue. YouTube does not reveal its algorithms, so it’s difficult to accurately assess which one is more important. Moreover, geographical factors also come into play.

As a creator, you probably cannot ignore any of these three factors. If you are targeting a full-time YouTube career, subscribers, views and likes are all equally important. They are essentially interlinked and no individual aspect can be ignored.