PostEaseThe short answer
The best source of YouTube ideas is your own channel: the questions in your comments, and the moments in your retention reports where viewers stayed or rewatched. Beyond that, pick a content pillar (teach, show the work, prove it, be a person) and a searchable question in it. YouTube is where people look for answers: in Sprout Social’s Q2 2026 survey of 2,250 social media users, YouTube was the only platform among the top three places to search for every generation.
Make each idea something viewers value watching, not only clicking. YouTube says it recommends on watch time weighted by how much viewers valued it, and on satisfaction surveys, rather than views alone.
Twenty ideas, by pillar
Each idea can be a single video or the start of a series.
| Idea | Pillar | Why it works on YouTube |
|---|---|---|
| A full how-to for the question your customers ask most | Teach | Searched for, and found for years |
| The beginner’s guide to your field | Teach | Every newcomer searches for it |
| Mistakes to avoid, ranked | Teach | Lists hold viewers to the end |
| A comparison: this versus that, tested | Teach | Answers a buying decision |
| Answer one comment in a whole video | Teach | The demand is already proven |
| Build, make or fix something start to finish | Show the work | The finished result is the payoff |
| A week of the work, honestly | Show the work | Curiosity about a job they do not do |
| Your setup, tools and why | Show the work | Searched for by people starting out |
| Behind a launch or a big project | Show the work | A story with stakes |
| A customer’s journey, with permission | Prove it | A result viewers can picture for themselves |
| A challenge: 30 days of something, with results | Prove it | Viewers stay to see if it worked |
| Testing advice that everyone repeats | Prove it | A clear question and a real answer |
| Results revisited a year later | Prove it | A follow-up for earlier viewers |
| Why you started, and what you would do differently | Be a person | Builds the reason to subscribe |
| What you got wrong this year | Be a person | Honesty holds attention |
| A question-and-answer from comments | Be a person | Rewards the viewers who stayed |
| Your opinion on a change in your field | Be a person | Timely, and invites discussion |
| A long video cut into three Shorts | Any | Sends Shorts viewers to the long one |
| A series with numbered parts | Any | Viewers come back for the next |
| Updating your most-watched old video | Any | Proven demand, current answer |
Find ideas in your own data
Open YouTube Studio’s audience retention report for your best videos. YouTube Help describes spikes as moments viewers rewatched or shared, and top moments as stretches where almost no one dropped off. Whatever happens there is something your viewers want more of: a topic, a format, a kind of explanation. Your comments add the questions, word for word, that people would type into search.
Pillars keep a channel recognisable
Three or four pillars, rotated, let viewers know what the channel is for, which is what makes them subscribe. They also keep ideas flowing: instead of “what video next?”, the question is “which pillar is next, and what question in it?”. Check them against results every few months and give more slots to the pillar viewers watch longest.
Where Shorts fit
Shorts are where most views happen now: Metricool’s 2026 study of 799,718 YouTube videos found the Shorts feed drove more than 61% of organic views in its sample, and channels posting about 5 Shorts a month had long videos averaging 46% more views than the study’s overall average. Cut Shorts from each long video, one idea each, and point them at the long one.
How often to publish
AIR’s 2026 study of 18,000 channels found the best rate varied by niche, from 2 to 5 long videos a month in most niches to 20 to 40 in gaming and kids’ content, and that a predictable schedule mattered more than volume. Pick the low end of your niche’s range, publish on the same days, and keep a list of ten ideas ahead.
Questions
How do I find YouTube video ideas?
Start with your comments and your retention reports, then the questions people search for in your field. Sort ideas into three or four pillars so there is always a next one.
What kind of YouTube videos get the most views?
Ones viewers value watching to the end. YouTube says it weighs watch time by how much viewers valued it, and satisfaction surveys, not views alone.
What are YouTube content pillars?
Three or four recurring themes a channel makes videos about, such as tutorials, behind the scenes, results and personal stories. They tell viewers what the channel is for.
Should I make Shorts or long videos?
Both. In Metricool’s 2026 data, channels with a few Shorts a month had stronger long videos than channels with none, but very high Shorts volume did not help.
Sources
- Sprout Social, Social media is now the primary channel for brand crisis response, new research finds, June 2026.
- Metricool, YouTube trends 2026: what 799,718 videos tell us about views, Shorts, and watch time, July 2026.
- AIR, How many videos per week on YouTube: data study by niche and channel size, June 2026.
- YouTube, On YouTube’s recommendation system, September 2021.
- YouTube, Measure key moments for audience retention, checked October 2026.