How to Make YouTube Shorts Go Viral: Proven Strategies & Tips

YouTube Shorts is a game-changer for content creators looking to get noticed fast. With its fast growth and a unique algorithm, Shorts gives you a great chance to reach millions of viewers. In addition, Shorts also allow you to make money from views and get more audience onto your full-format YouTube videos. But how exactly do you make YouTube Shorts that go viral? Let’s explore proven strategies, key factors, and real-world examples of viral Shorts. So, if you are after some viral hacks or wondering how to make your YouTube Shorts go viral, this guide is for you!

Hook Viewers in the First Few Seconds

The first few seconds of your viral Short video are really important in deciding whether people will watch your short video all the way through or just skip it. There are a few classical tricks you can use to make an impact straight off. You can use visually striking or audibly engaging elements within the first three seconds to boost engagement, start with an intriguing question, shocking fact, or eye-catching visual. And don't forget to clearly convey the value of your video right at the start. It should be obvious whether it is for entertainment, information, or inspiration.

A viral Shorts video by brittikitty quickly grabs attention by striking (in this case rather cute) visuals, namely a child with a bunny, and a catchy question, “You caught that?”, which makes a viewer stop and watch further.

Optimize the Visuals

Most people watch Shorts on their phones, so your content has to be easy to watch on smaller screens. Optimizing visuals is a crucial YouTube Shorts viral hack. Here is what you should do:

• Use vertical content (9:16 aspect ratio).
• Incorporate large text and vibrant colors to make your message stand out.
• Maintain high video quality with good lighting and clear visuals.

AI Video Cut can make this step easier for you. It can repurpose your full videos for any short-video format, including YouTube Shorts with a 9:16 aspect ratio. You can also add captions to your video to make it more accessible and choose caption style to make them attract more attention. 

Use Trending Sounds and Hashtags

Using YouTube Shorts viral tags and trending audio significantly increases the likelihood of your Short being recommended to users. It is usually pretty easy to find which audios are trending at the moment, as you hear them all over YouTube Shorts. YouTube puts them into recommended audios when you get your video ready to post. 

Same with tags. You can see them in descriptions. Using the YouTube Shorts viral tags can help your Shorts gain visibility among the general audience. Here are some of the most effective viral tags for YouTube Shorts: #Shorts, #YouTubeShorts, #Trending, #Subscribe, #ShortsTrend, #ShortsChallenge, #ShortsVideo, #TrendingShorts, #ExplorePage, #Viral. These are the general hashtags you can mix with relevant hashtags referring to the topic of your video.

Look at hashtags that people with viral videos in your niche put in the description or that might be relevant to your content. For example, if you post fitness advice, tags like #fitnessshorts, #workoutroutine, #selfcare, #exercise, #wellnessjourney, #FitnessTips, #WorkoutGoals can work with a mix of general hashtags. Try different combinations to see which works best for your channel.

Do not forget to stay updated with trending challenges and memes to align with what is currently popular. If you can get the steps right, a dance trend based on a popular song can quickly go viral. Lots of creators have made millions of views by taking part in popular challenges. It is a great way to get your content further. A great example is the rat dance and the song “Joyful” by Chess.

Encourage Engagement with CTAs

YouTube's algorithm favours content that gets lots of engagement. If you want to know how to viral short videos on YouTube, getting people to interact is the name of the game. Ask viewers to comment, like, and share, pin comments to get people talking, end with a call to action like “Follow for more tips!”. Engagement driven by CTAs strengthens SEO performance, making videos more likely to appear in search results and recommendations.

Creators like RyanTrahan and Airrack always include a CTA at the end of every YouTube Short they post.

Keep It Short and Snappy

YouTube Shorts can be up to 60 seconds long, but if you want to go viral on YouTube, the key is to be concise. Online viewers have short attention spans, so the quicker you get your message across, the more likely your audience is to stay engaged until the end. Many successful creators keep their shorts between 15 and 30 seconds to ensure that every second counts. Eliminating unnecessary pauses, filler words, or slow pacing can dramatically improve retention rates.

With AI Video Cut, you can easily choose the optimal video length for your short videos and repurpose longer content to go viral in the YouTube Shorts format as well. You can follow simple steps and get your videos in just a few moments.

Post at the Right Time

Timing can significantly impact whether your content ranks as a viral short video. Posting your Shorts at the right time makes sure they pop up in users’ feeds when they are most likely to engage. To do so, you need to look at your audience’s behaviour and adjust your posting schedule to fit that. You can do it by using YouTube Analytics to see when they are the most active, which is usually in the evenings and weekends.

However, the important thing is also which countries you are targeting, as time zones can be quite different. You can also try posting at times when there's less competition, like early mornings or late at night, to help your video gain traction before it gets buried under new uploads. If you experiment with different posting times and keep an eye on the results, you can adjust your strategy to maximise visibility.

Develop a Series

A one-time viral short is great, but a series keeps audiences returning for more. This is one of the best Shorts viral tricks because it fosters viewer anticipation and builds long-term engagement. People are more likely to come back and subscribe for more if they know there is a continuation of a story, challenge, or theme they enjoy. If you make content like an episode of a TV show, people will get into the habit of watching your shorts, and you will get more people watching and interacting with them.

Another key aspect of creating a successful series is the use of strategic hooks. End each Short with a cliffhanger or tease the next episode with phrases like “Part 1” or “Stay tuned for the next one” to create curiosity and make viewers want to check back for updates. This not only keeps your regulars hooked but also makes it more likely that your videos will be recommended to new viewers, as YouTube tends to show content that gets people to come back to the site again and again.

Many famous YouTubers create a series of similar videos or divide storytime into several parts. Consistency in theme and niche further strengthens this strategy. Whether your Shorts revolve around a specific type of challenge, a unique storytelling style, or a recognizable branding element, maintaining a common thread across multiple videos helps establish familiarity.

For example, Jasonolofsen regularly makes videos about being social in New York, which gain significant amounts of views and engagement.

Analyze and Adapt

Staying up-to-date with the latest trends and algorithms is essential for planning your content strategy. This is a major YouTube Shorts hack. Try to identify which Shorts perform best and then replicate their structure, either by looking at your own videos or trending ones in your niche. Keep an eye on watch time and retention rates to make your next videos even better. It is also a good idea to check how different styles work on your audience to see what they like. 

What Kind of Shorts Go Viral on YouTube?

It is really important to know what kind of content is most likely to go viral if you want to succeed. Some of the recently successful categories are:

• Entertainment: challenges, pranks, various trends, comedy, and skits. This type of content accounts for 17% of all views. Storytelling videos with Minecraft parkour, carpet washing, or other background videos are also in this category. 
• Food and cooking: recipes, tutorials, food challenges. The recent Dubai chocolate trend has already shown us how popular food content is and what it can lead to.
• Animals and pets: funny videos, reaction videos, advice, and educational videos. Cat videos have been known to be the most popular content since the very start of YouTube as a video hosting platform. This is still true - people love animal content.
• Transformation Videos: makeup transformations, home makeovers, fitness journeys. People love to see impressive results and the process of changing to the best versions.
• Video Games: gameplay highlights, trending new releases, funny stream moments. Games trending at the moment constantly change, so try to stay tuned. The rapid switch from the popularity of Lethal Company to R.E.P.O. is an excellent example of how quickly gaming trends can change.

These categories do really well because they can entertain, educate, or evoke an emotional response. If you are a creator looking to cash in on these trends, then it is all about being authentic and shareable to get the most out of it.

Keep experimenting, analysing performance, and adapting your content to stay ahead in the continually evolving world of YouTube Shorts! AI Video Cut can help you concentrate on finding ideas for your videos without hours of exhausting editing, and repurpose your content for a short format.