YouTube Shorts Algorithm Explained + Tips to Grow in 2025
YouTube Shorts have become one of the greatest features on the app to share content, and understanding the YouTube Shorts algorithm is key to maximizing reach.
As we know, algorithms are an essential part of each social network and how content is organized for each user’s timeline.
Therefore, in this article, we are breaking down how the YouTube Shorts algorithm works in 2025, and what aspects you need to focus on to improve your content and rank higher in search results.
What is the YouTube Shorts Algorithm?
First of all, the YouTube Shorts algorithm is a formula in which the social network gathers information from each user, and then determines which content will appear first in each user’s feed.
Each social network has its own algorithm. For example, Instagram uses a separate algorithm for each section: Feed, Reels, and Stories.
The YouTube Shorts algorithm functions independently of the regular YouTube algorithm, to tell the network which content to prioritize for this section.
And why is it important to know how this works?
If you understand how the algorithm works, you can improve your content to appear among the first search results thus increasing views, interactions, and ultimately new subscribers.
How Does The YouTube Shorts Algorithm Work?
Now that you know what algorithms on social media are in general, let’s break down the YouTube Shorts algorithm in 2025, and how brands, content creators, and marketers can utilize this information to master content on Shorts.
The network uses a series of signals and “triggers” as they are called, which determine how content is organized on each user’s feed. These signals are based on different metrics based on a user’s interactions, watch history, searches, etc.
The top signals in which YouTube uses to rank its Shorts content are the following:
- Viewed vs. Swiped Away: When a video appears in a user’s feed, this metric breaks down how many users stopped to watch your video and those that kept scrolling. This is important as it can be a key indicator of which videos grab the users within the first few seconds.
- Watch time: In tangent with viewed vs. swiped away, viewing the total watch time is another important factor. The higher the watch time, the more engaged the audience is through the whole video, which is the ultimate goal of a brand or creator.
- Audience retention: This metric represents those viewers who stayed until the end of the video. Within YouTube Studio you can see a breakdown of the average view duration time, the average percentage viewed, and a chart that shows the audience retention percentage over time, so you can see which parts in your video you lost viewers.
- Watch history: This is another important factor that determines what content shows on a user’s feed. Based on what content they have interacted with, the algorithm chooses content they believe the user will enjoy. These predictions are a test to see if the user will engage with the videos or not.
- Upload frequency: Consistency is rewarded on social media platforms. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to post 10 YouTube Shorts a day, however, posting weekly is important to remain prominent in the algorithm.
- Topic relevancy: Lastly, topic relevance is a factor that will make your content more likely to appear in search results and user feeds. Posting content that contains trending keywords or topic ideas is a way to increase views and reach.
- Viewer interaction: Beyond watch time, the algorithm now considers interactive features such as comments, shares, and remixes. Encouraging viewers to engage through these actions can boost a video’s reach and performance.
- Importance of cross-platform sharing: The algorithm favors content that is shared across multiple platforms. Encouraging readers to promote their Shorts on other social media channels can enhance visibility and algorithmic favor.
YouTube Shorts Algorithm Tips to Grow in 2025
Keeping Users Engaged
This is one of the biggest struggles creators and brands face: How do I keep my audience engaged?
With an average attention span of less than 10 seconds, you have just about 3 seconds to capture your audience’s attention. The best way to do this? Start your short with a great hook that instantly grabs attention and keeps viewers watching until the end.
The algorithm considers a few things when it comes to engagement, such as the Viewed vs. Swiped Away rate, which is the balance of how many users watch your Short versus swiping away. Additionally, interactive actions such as comments, shares, and remixes now significantly impact how Shorts are ranked in the algorithm.
Viewer interaction beyond watch time now matters more than ever!
You can view metrics such as watch time, videos growing your audience, when your audience is on YouTube, and returning users to see what content your audience better engages with.
Think Audience, Not Algorithm
Since the goal of YouTube Shorts is to cater to users’ behaviors and interests, the algorithm will favor what your audience wants to see. Of course, you can’t always predict this perfectly, but when it comes to content creation, putting yourself in the shoes of your ideal audience is important.
How can you do this? Scroll through YouTube, and take note of how you as viewer interact with the platform, and what you’re more drawn to.
When we can take a step back from our own profiles, and look through the viewer’s perspective, this can help curate natural ideas and creativity.
Satisfaction Over Watch Time
‘Satisfaction’ factors into the algorithm too. When the YouTube Shorts team was developing the algorithm, they wanted to factor in behaviors like watch time, but they also understood that they needed user feedback in order to recommend content.
Therefore, the network runs recommendation surveys to ask users a few questions about a video they just watched, which they then take into consideration for choosing content.
Although watch time is important, it doesn’t encompass a user’s whole experience. With this, it’s recommended that creators think of the long-term value of their content in a way that it could be watched back six months from now or encourage viewers to come back to your channel.
New Creators Can Succeed
We have talked a lot about audience satisfaction, but how do creators that are just getting started survive without an audience? YouTube was aware of this challenge and knew there needed to be a different approach.
This is where things like: title, description, thumbnails, keywords, tags, come in handy. When the network finds users they think might be interested, they run trials to different users to see who will interact with this content.
So, if you’re a creator or brand that is trying to build your audience, do the research to see what’s trending, which of your videos have had the most success, etc. You can use analytics tools like YouTube Studio and Metricool to understand how your strategy is working, and how you can improve it.
The Future of YouTube Shorts in 2025
AI-Powered Content Creation
AI-assisted video creation is now a thing.
YouTube has introduced AI-driven video generation tools, allowing creators to produce videos from text prompts using YouTube’s Veo model. This generative AI feature is set to change how content is created, making it easier for new creators to produce high-quality videos with minimal effort.
Longer YouTube Shorts
Shorts are no longer just 60 seconds.
As of 2025, YouTube Shorts can now be up to 3 minutes long, allowing for more in-depth storytelling. Creators must now balance engaging hooks with sustaining audience interest for longer periods.
Cross-Platform Promotion
The YouTube Shorts algorithm now favors multi-platform sharing.
The algorithm now rewards content that is shared across multiple platforms. Encouraging users to promote Shorts on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Facebook can significantly boost engagement and reach.
Conclusions
As we can see, the algorithm is based on numerous different signals to determine which content will be featured and prioritized in front of viewers. It’s important to understand these signals so you can include them in your content strategy.
However, as we can also see, the network favors content that users are interested in. So whereas this formula is robotic, it favors humanity.
For more help on perfecting your YouTube marketing strategy, check out the guide below.
