How to Get Views on YouTube Shorts for a New Channel

Getting your first views on YouTube Shorts can feel like shouting into an empty room, but it doesn't have to be. Breaking through the noise is about understanding how the Shorts algorithm works and giving it exactly what it wants: content that people can't help but finish. This guide breaks down actionable, no-fluff strategies to get your videos seen, even when you're starting from zero subscribers.

Grasping the YouTube Shorts Algorithm

Unlike traditional YouTube, where subscribers and search are king, the Shorts algorithm is built entirely around discovery. Its one and only job is to put the right video in front of the right viewer at the right time. For a new channel, this is a massive advantage. You don't need a built-in audience, you just need to make a good Short. The algorithm shows your video to a small test group. If they watch and engage, it shows it to a bigger group, and so on.

To succeed, you need to focus on two core signals of viewer satisfaction:

• Watch Time &, Average Percentage Viewed: This is the big one. If people watch your 15-second Short for an average of 14 seconds (93% AVP), you're sending a powerful signal that the content is rewarding. If they loop it and watch for 30 seconds, that's even better. High watch time tells the algorithm to push your content out to more people.
• Engagement: Likes, comments, and shares are confirmatory signals. They support the watch time data by indicating that viewers not only watched but also actively enjoyed the content enough to interact with it.

The metric that tells you if you're failing is "Viewed vs. swiped away." If a high percentage of viewers are swiping away in the first one to three seconds, that tells the algorithm your content isn’t resonating with the test audience, and it will stop showing it to more people. Your mission is simple: get people to watch until the end, and ideally, watch it again.

The First Three Seconds Are Everything

In the relentlessly fast-paced Shorts feed, you don't have time for a slow build-up. The viewer’s thumb is always hovering, ready to flick to the next video. You have about three seconds - max - to capture their attention and prove your video is worth watching. This introduction is called the "hook," and it's the single most important part of your Short.

How to Craft an Unskippable Hook:

• Start with immediate motion. Static shots are doom for a new channel. Begin with action, whether it's a person moving, a product being unboxed, or text animating onto the screen. The very first frame should be dynamic.
• Pose a question or make a bold claim. Use on-screen text to create instant curiosity. For instance, "This is the one mistake everyone makes when brewing coffee" or "Think you know how to clean your keyboard? Think again." Give the viewer a reason to see the answer.
• Open with the “payoff.” Conventional storytelling wisdom says to save the best for last. On Shorts, do the opposite. Show the incredible final result of a building project, the delicious finished cake, or the shocking conclusion to a story, and then show how you got there.
• Use sound to stop the scroll. An unusual, satisfying, or surprising sound can make someone pause instantly. Think ASMR sounds like a keyboard clacking, a loud POP, or a familiar but out-of-context sound effect.

Analyze your own viewing habits. The moment you stop scrolling a Short, break down what made you stop. Was it the text on the screen, the sound, or a specific visual? Reverse-engineer what works on you and apply it to your own content.

Create "Loop-Worthy" Content

An average view percentage of over 100% means that, on average, people are watching your video more than once. This is the holy grail for YouTube Shorts because it pumps your watch time stats through the roof. The easiest way to achieve this is by creating Shorts that loop seamlessly, making it hard for the viewer to tell where the video ends and begins.

Here are a few ways to create a satisfying loop:

• The "Perfect Loop": This works best for animations, satisfying factory videos, or any content with a highly repeatable action. Edit the video so the very last frame is identical to the very first frame. A video of a ball rolling perfectly back to its start point is a great example.
• The Hidden Loop: Use a fast camera movement, a whip pan, or an object passing in front of the lens to mask the cut. For example, if you're transforming a room, you could end the video by whipping the camera away from the finished room, then cut it right where you begin the video by whipping the camera toward the unfinished room.
• The Audio Loop: Carefully edit your background music or a prominent sound effect so it transitions flawlessly without a noticeable break. This can trick the viewer's brain into thinking the video is longer than it is, keeping them on the page.

Ride the Wave: Leveraging Trends and Sounds

For a new channel, trends are a discoverability engine. When you use trending audio, you're inserting your video into an existing conversation that the algorithm is already pushing to millions of people. It’s an effective way to get your content in front of eyeballs that would otherwise never see it.

Where to Find Trends:

• Scroll the Shorts Feed: This is the most straightforward method. Pay attention to which songs, audio clips, or formats you see and hear over and over again. When you see an arrow icon pointing up next to the sound's name, that's YouTube’s signal that the sound is officially trending.
• Check the YouTube Music Library: When creating a Short inside the YouTube app, tap the "Add sound" button. YouTube often showcases currently trending and popular songs right on the main audio picker page.

How to Use Trends the Right Way:

Don’t just copy what everyone else is doing. The best strategy is to adapt a trend to your specific niche. If a trending sound has people showing off their cars, how can you use it for your cooking channel? Maybe you showcase your spice rack. If a trend involves a dance, how can you apply it as a financial advisor? Maybe you point to on-screen text about common money mistakes. Applying a popular trend to an unexpected niche is a fantastic way to stand out.

Optimize Every Short for Discovery

While the Shorts feed is the primary driver of views, don’t neglect basic on-page SEO. People use the YouTube search bar to find Shorts, and strong metadata gives the algorithm extra context about your video, helping it find the perfect audience.

Crafting a Smart Title

Your title should be short, attention-grabbing, and include target keywords. Think about what a user would type to find content like yours. Instead of “A cool garden idea,” try “3-Second DIY Vertical Herb Garden #shorts.” This is descriptive, offers a clear value proposition ("DIY," "Vertical Herb Garden"), and uses the all-important `#shorts` tag, which signals to YouTube that your video belongs in the Shorts ecosystem.

Writing a Helpful Description

Your description is a prime spot for more detail. Briefly explain what the video is about in one or two sentences, incorporating relevant keywords naturally. After that, add a few highly relevant hashtags. Mix broad and specific terms. For the herb garden example, you might use:

#gardening #diyprojects #urbanhomestead #gardeningtips

Don’t Forget Tags

Tags are often ignored for Shorts, but they’re still a valuable piece of data for YouTube. Go to the "Tags" section in your video details and add 5-10 specific tags that are relevant to your topic. Think about keywords as well as common problems your video solves. For our gardening example, tags could be "how to build a vertical garden," "small space gardening," "balcony garden," and "DIY planter box."

Consistency Will Accelerate Your Growth

For a brand new channel, quantity can lead to quality. Every Short you post is a data point. It’s an experiment that tells you what hooks, topics, and styles resonate with your target audience. You can't learn anything if you only post once a week.

Aim for a minimum of one Short per day when you’re starting out. If you can manage two or three without burning out, even better. The key to maintaining this cadence is to batch-produce your content. Dedicate a few hours on one day to film and edit 10-15 Shorts. This frees you up for the rest of the week and ensures you always have content ready to go, allowing you to feed the algorithm consistently and get faster feedback on what's working.

Analyze Your (Small) Data

Don't be discouraged by low view counts in the beginning. Even a video with 500 views has valuable data. Go into your YouTube Studio and look at the analytics for individual Shorts.

Audience Retention

This graph shows you the exact second viewers are dropping off. Is there a big vertical drop in the first two seconds? Your hook isn’t working. Is there a long, steady decline in the middle? Your content isn’t engaging enough to hold attention. A flat line close to 100% is the goal. Use this feedback to ruthlessly refine your intros and editing pace.

How Viewers Find Your Shorts

This report tells you where your traffic is coming from. For a new channel, you want to see an overwhelming percentage coming from the "Shorts feed." If most of your views are from "Browse features" or "Channel pages," it means only your few existing subscribers are seeing it. The Shorts feed is your path to reaching new viewers and going viral.

Final Thoughts

Getting views on YouTube Shorts as a new channel is a process of rapid experimentation and learning. You have to grab attention immediately, hold it until the very end, and create a content engine that allows you to post consistently. By optimizing your hooks, analyzing your retention data, and giving the algorithm clear signals about who your content is for, you can turn your zero-subscriber channel into a thriving community.

Once your YouTube Shorts start taking off, staying consistent across other platforms becomes the next challenge. We built Postbase directly for creators and marketers who are juggling short-form video on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reels. It allows you to visually plan your entire content calendar and schedule videos everywhere at once, from one clean dashboard. This way, you can spend more time making amazing content and less time fighting with different apps.