Why Has My YouTube Channel Stopped Growing?

Often, I'm asked the question: "Why has my YouTube channel stopped growing?" It can be quite difficult to diagnose why your YouTube channel has stopped growing. However, some common issues are present on many channels that see a decline in growth. Diagnosing these issues is crucial to helping your channel grow again.

If your YouTube channel has stopped growing, chances are there are issues present. Common issues present on channels that stop growing are a decrease in upload frequency, audience stagnation, failure to adjust, seasonality, and lack of effort. All of these issues contribute to a decrease in channel growth.

It's no secret that growing a YouTube channel is difficult. However, if things are done the right way, then growing a channel becomes is. When issues are present on a channel, however, it will struggle to grow (or keep growing). Diagnosing present issues is crucial to getting your channel out of a rut so it can continue to grow.

My YouTube Channel Stopped Growing

If you've ever said to yourself: "My YouTube channel stopped growing- what's the problem?" then you aren't alone. Many content creators see a decline in the growth of their channels. While this can be disheartening, it's important to remember that there are often issues present that cause a decline in channel growth.

Common issues that cause channels to stop growing are:

• Decreased upload frequency
• Audience stagnation
• Failure to adjust
• Lack of effort

Let's break down each of these issues in more detail.

Decreased Upload Frequency

The fastest way to increase the growth rate of a YouTube channel is to upload more videos. On the flip side, the fastest way to decrease the growth rate of a channel is to upload fewer videos. When fewer videos are uploaded to a channel, often the channel sees a decline in growth.

To fix this issue, the best thing to do is increase upload frequency. Even 1 more video each week can go a long way. There are examples of channels uploading less and seeing increase growth, but this only happens when the quality of the videos being posted increases dramatically.

Audience Stagnation

Sometimes, people get tired of watching videos from the same channel. When this happens, they tend to become more inactive. If your YouTube channel has been around for a while, chances are that there might be some audience stagnation issues present. This often happens when content hasn't been adjusted in a long time.

Depending on the type of videos you create, dealing with audience stagnation can either be difficult or easy. Niche-specific channels struggle more to freshen-up their videos, but more general channels like vlog channels have an easier time. Whatever the case may be, freshening-up content can help with the issue of audience stagnation.

Failure to Adjust

Many things have changed on YouTube over the years. Viewers expect different types of videos than they did a few years ago. When a channel fails to adjust to the demands of its audience, this often results in decreased channel growth. A channel must adjust if it wishes to see continued growth year after year.

It's important to remember that changes don't only happen on the video side of things. Certain metrics, such as click-through rate, have become more important in recent years. Since this is the case, adjustments also need to be made by channels looking to see continued growth on the optimization side of things.

Seasonality

Put simply, certain topics are more popular are certain times throughout the year. Christmas videos, for example, will be more popular in December than in June. Channels that upload seasonal content often see a decrease in growth during periods where there is a lack of interest in their niche.

If you are in a seasonal niche, you should publish more content during the peak of the season to off-set losses during non-peak times of year. For example, if you make videos about Christmas, you should upload a new video every single day for the month of December, as this can help you accumulate a large number of views to offset the down periods.

Lack of Effort

Sometimes, the reason a channel stops growing is due to a lack of effort. Often, this happens with content creators who have achieved success in the past. They believe that because something worked 3 years ago, it will work now. Unfortunately, this is not the case- things change all the time on YouTube.

Whether it be a lack of effort in regards to creating videos or to optimizing videos, laziness leads to a decrease in channel growth. A channel owner must put in the effort to follow best practices- even if they have achieved success in the past. Failure to do so will result in the continuing decline and slow growth for the channel in question.

What Are The Easiest Issues to Fix

You might be wondering- out of the 5 issues I listed above, what are the easiest ones to fix? After all, the sooner you fix these issues, the sooner your channel can start growing again. Keep in mind, certain issues might be easy for you to fix, but difficult for other creators to fix. Every YouTube channel and creator is different.

The easiest issues to fix are:

• Decreased upload frequency
• Failure to adjust
• Lack of effort

Why are these issues the easiest to fix? These issues are the easiest to fix because they are all things you can directly control. No algorithms can determine how often you upload videos, or how much effort you put into operating your channel. Fixing these issues is as simple as choosing to do what is necessary.

Conclusion

Has your channel stopped growing? Chances are, there might be some issues present that affect many channels with a declining growth rate. The sooner you diagnose and fix the issues, the sooner your channel will begin to grow again. Remember, nothing will change if you don't make the needed adjustments- your channel will continue to see a lack of growth.