What factors does the YouTube algorithm consider when ranking videos?

YouTube's ranking algorithm focuses on two main goals: satisfying user intent and promoting engagement. Here's a breakdown of how it achieves those goals:

**Relevance:**

* **Keywords:**  Your video's title, description and tags are analyzed for keywords to understand the content and match it with relevant searches.
* **Search behavior:** The algorithm considers past searches by users and what videos were clicked on for those searches.

**Engagement:**

* **Watch time:** The total time viewers spend watching your video is a major ranking factor.
* **Engagement metrics:** Likes, comments, and shares all indicate a positive reception and can boost ranking.
* **Click-through rate (CTR):** How often viewers click on your video thumbnail after seeing it in search results.
* **Session watch time:** Not just watch time of your video, but how long viewers keep watching after yours (indicates overall satisfaction).

**Other factors:**

* **Video metadata:**  Length, upload date, and view count can also influence ranking to some extent.
* **Channel authority:** Established channels with a good reputation may get a slight ranking boost.

By considering these factors, YouTube aims to surface the most relevant and engaging videos for users' searches.