It’s not the first time that I’ve re-evaluated my online activity. While I enjoy creating maths worksheets and videos, the truth is that there just isn’t any money in it. It’s not that I’m completely money driven … but it would be nice to get a little more.
After all, Google assures me that even an obscure keyword such as ‘equation of the tangent,’ achieves 1000 - 10,000 searches per month. That’s up to 120,000 every year, with low competition.
So, how come my video only got 130 views?
It’s not that I only spent a few minutes with a scrap of paper and an iPhone. The worksheets take several hours to create, all the questions are unique and based on my understanding of the national curriculum. The method is clear, well presented, appropriate to the age group, considered and thoughtful. There’s no fluff.
Even I would like to be one of my students.
So, where now? Here’s some of the thoughts from the Internet guru’s:
‘It’s all about the titles and thumbnails’
… and to a certain extent, I would agree. It’s probably the only area where there is some level of control. I work hard to make my thumbnails more compelling. There’s a little colour, a headshot, a good title, and they are comparable with other creators.
I even try to make use of the first & second lines of text. Both are visible, and it’s a good opportunity to promote additional videos.
‘It’s all about the video’
I’m not a video editor, although I greatly admire some channels' ability to jump-cut, freeze frame and add effects. There’s a number of creators who, week after week, produce highly engaging and incredibly watchable videos. Their innovation is brilliant, and I always feel better for watching all the way through.
And I think I’m learning something.
The problem is that I’m usually learning how to increase my views, get more subscribers or go viral … and, while that’s desirable, it’s not easy to achieve with a maths video. Much as I’d want to, I’m not sure that shooting stars out of a plastic bucket will really help.
The huge majority of my students want a quick solution, so any distractions - however interesting - don’t make the cut. I did try adding small animations at one point … but it just looked silly.
Maybe a talking head approach would be better? Sitting in front of the camera earnestly making eye contact, as numbers & formulas flash meaningfully across the background? Again - sorry - the subject matter is a little more complex and not that easy to remember.
I’ve tried the odd ‘slide in’ talking head videos - appearing, with an encouraging grin, to emphasise a particular point. To be honest it just feels a little contrived.
Perhaps I should consider some scene setting? Cut away, to gaze fondly at the rising sun across a snowy tipped mountain, as it promises the dawn of a new day? Add some uplifting music and, voila!, quadratic equations have never felt so good.
Er, maybe not.
‘It’s all about the SEO’
So, the old chestnut of ‘Search Engine Optimisation’ beckons … and it’s bewildering. I understand that the algorithm has to start somewhere, and there’s a whole load of advice about best practice. Unfortunately the best I can do is create some sort of mental checklist.
To be honest I don’t really understand SEO, and am not sure whether it’s worth the effort. A green light on Yoast, or a score on TubeBuddy, is perfectly fine. Although, on the basis of 130 views, it appears my SEO efforts don’t work.
In fact, continually changing the title / description / tags / ‘canonical structure’ (is that a thing?), against a sea of constantly updating algorithms, is completely beyond me. I’m more at the stage where I make the materials to the best of my ability …. Google, YouTube etc, should just do their thing.
It’s not that I’m looking for massive engagement. Somebody once said you only need 1000 true fans. I’d be happy with that.
‘It’s all about the consistency’
This seems to be quite a common ‘secret’ to getting traction. Teach the ‘algorithm’ that I post regularly … in my case twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday, at 4.00pm. When more of my viewers are online.
Consistency is one of those things, like the thumbnail, that I can control …. and I enjoy the process. Many productivity gurus talk about ‘winning the week,’ ‘having a to do list,’ ‘being proactive’ etc. That all works for me, and I’m keen to be as productive as possible…
But the algorithm doesn’t see it that way.
‘It’s all about finding the latest topics’
There was a definite surge when I added ‘2022 exams’ to my titles / thumbnails. And that makes sense. Although, in my case, I’m not really concerned about the ‘outliers’ (that’s a proper mathematical term).
My channel isn’t about the latest political or celebrity upheaval, where views will spike enormously for a few weeks. I don’t go chasing the rainbow.
The issue is about working hard to create high quality material - and then not getting recognised for it.
There should be fairly consistent watch time across the whole year with, perhaps, a dip during the summer. Our tutoring business continues to perform well - even during the holidays - why isn’t that reflected in the views?
So, where now?
Here’s a thought.
Perhaps I’ve got this wrong.
It’s not about ‘thousands of views.’ It’s about the individual student. What if one of my videos made a difference to one person? What if that person became an engineer, artist, writer, medic or thinker?
Would that be worth all this effort?
Maybe I’ll give it another year.