Joe OviedoA few days ago, on a call about a YouTube channel, we were talking about what to produce next. There were ideas for series and a business question behind them: what could we offer people who find these videos that would actually help them afterward?
We came back to an idea we'd discussed before: look through the back catalog and test better description links or end screens on a few older videos.
That changed the question. We'd been thinking about what to shoot. Now we could also ask: What are the videos we've already made doing today?
I like to start there when a channel has been publishing for a while. A new series may be worth making. Before asking the team to write, shoot, and edit more, though, I want to see which videos are still doing useful work and where the viewer's experience ends.
What I'd look for in the catalog
I'd start with videos that still get views. One might have done big numbers at launch but see little traffic now. Another might have a modest lifetime total but keep appearing when someone searches for a specific answer.
The second interests me more here. I want to know what question brought that person in and whether the video answers it. Only then do I ask what else they might need.
Imagine an older video about pricing a consulting engagement. Someone who finds it through search probably has a specific problem: they need to put a price on something they already know how to do. If the video explains which costs to consider, a simple pricing worksheet might help them do the math. Another useful step might be a video showing how to present a quote.
An invitation to book a sales call could be premature. Sending them to a page of every service you offer leaves them to work out what fits. A good next step feels like the question they'd ask if you were still talking.
Sometimes the path just needs a fix
When a video is still useful, I go through it like a visitor. I watch, open the description, and click. Does the link still work? Does the page pick up where the video left off? Can I use the resource on my phone? Does the end screen continue the conversation?
Those details are easy to overlook from inside a business. You know what your programs are called and how they fit together. Someone arriving through a two-year-old video doesn't.
On the call we discussed testing changes to existing videos. We didn't have results to attribute to those changes. I'd start with a few videos that answer related questions, send viewers to a relevant destination, and use distinct links to see where visits came from. If someone signs up or asks for a conversation, we can trace that journey rather than stop at the view count.
I'd still read the results carefully. If there are views but no clicks, I'd look at the invitation and where it appears. If people click but leave the page, I'd open the page before rewriting the video. With too little data, I'd keep the question open. Changing five things at once makes it harder to see what helped.
When I would film something new
The catalog can also show you a gap. Maybe several videos help people recognize a problem, but none help them compare options. Or there's a good video for someone ready to hire help and nothing explaining what to expect from the process. That's a reason to film: you know where the new video fits and which question it answers.
I took an order of operations from that call: see what people are still finding, follow the path we've left for them, then decide what's missing.
The next time a team asks what I'd film, I'll start by opening the channel and asking: If I found one of your best videos today, would I know what to do next?
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