By Alex Rivera, YouTube Creator & Digital Strategist
For three years, I chased the YouTube Shorts algorithm, trying every trick in the book with my channel of 50,000 subscribers. Views were a rollercoaster. Then, in September 2025, something broke. My phone buzzed with a Google Search Console alert. I opened it, expecting nothing new, and my jaw hit the floor. My YouTube Shorts weren’t just getting views from the Shorts feed; they were showing up in Google Discover.
I had to be sure. I checked my YouTube Studio analytics. The source was clear: “External -> google.com / discover”. A handful of my Shorts were being served directly to millions of people on their phone’s home screen, right alongside articles from The New York Times and ESPN.
This wasn’t a fluke. Google had fundamentally changed how it sees content, and I had accidentally stumbled upon the new playbook.
If you’re a creator who feels like you’re shouting into the void, this guide is for you. I’m going to share the exact strategy I developed to master the new cross-platform algorithm, a strategy that is now my most powerful tool for audience growth.
The September 2025 Update: What Actually Changed?
For years, we treated our content platforms as separate kingdoms. We made videos for YouTube, wrote articles for our blog, and posted images on Instagram. The big change is that Google no longer sees them as separate.
On September 17, 2025, Google announced a massive revamp of the Discover feed. Here’s the core of what you need to know:blog
- Discover is Now Multi-Format: The feed isn’t just for news articles anymore. It now surfaces YouTube Shorts, Instagram posts, and X posts right alongside traditional web content.searchenginejournal+1
- You Can “Follow” Creators: Users can now follow a creator or publisher directly from a card in their Discover feed. This is a monumental shift. It means Discover is no longer just a traffic source; it’s a subscription platform.ppc
- Google Sees YOU as the “Entity”: This is the most important concept. The algorithm now understands that the person who created the YouTube Short is the same person who wrote the blog post. It connects your content across platforms, and if a user shows interest in one piece of your content, Google is now highly likely to show them your other content, regardless of format.
My YouTube Shorts started getting Discover traffic because users who had previously read my blog posts were now being shown my videos. Google made the connection. This isn’t just about video SEO anymore; it’s about building a cross-platform brand that Google’s AI can understand.
The Content Formula for a “Cold” Audience
The Shorts feed is a “warm” audience—they’re already on YouTube looking for videos. Google Discover is a “cold” audience—they’re just browsing their phone. Your content needs to be engineered differently to succeed there.
High-Performing Discover Shorts: Key Attributes
| Element | What Fails in Discover | What Works in Discover | The Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Hook | A slow intro or inside joke. | A bold claim, a surprising statistic, or a direct question in the first 2 seconds. | You must immediately signal value to someone who has no context for who you are. |
| The Topic | Niche tutorials for experts. | Broad-appeal topics framed with a unique, personal angle. | Discover targets broad interests (e.g., “productivity,” “healthy recipes”), not niche long-tail keywords. |
| The Value Prop | Entertainment only. | “Edutainment” – Teaches one simple, valuable thing in an entertaining way. | Google’s mission is to organize information. Even in a short-form video, it prioritizes content that is helpful. |
| The CTA | “Subscribe for more!” | “Read the full guide on my blog” (mentioned verbally & in the description). | The goal is to use the Short as a top-of-funnel discovery tool to drive traffic back to your owned platform (your blog/website). |
My Shorts-to-Discover Content Recipe:
- Start with a Solvable Problem: I identify a common pain point for a broad audience (e.g., “my phone is always dying”).
- The “One Thing” Rule: I structure the entire Short around teaching the viewer one single, memorable thing. Not “5 tips,” just “the one setting you need to change.”
- The First 3 Seconds: I script my first sentence to be a hook. Examples: “You’re using your iPhone wrong,” or “Here’s a Google Docs trick I guarantee you didn’t know.”
- Visual Storytelling: I use on-screen text, quick cuts, and screen recordings to show, not just tell.
- The Cross-Platform Bridge: In the last 5 seconds, I verbally say, “I have a full guide with more tips like this on my blog.” The link is always the first line in my description and pinned comment. For more on this, see my Short-Form Video SEO Playbook.
Technical SEO for YouTube Shorts
You can’t add meta tags to a YouTube video, but you can give Google’s algorithm powerful signals to help it understand what your Short is about and who to show it to.
Must-Have Technical Optimizations for Shorts in Discover:
| Element | The Old Way | The New Discover-Optimized Way | Why It’s Critical for Discover |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thumbnail | Let YouTube pick a frame. | Create a custom, high-contrast thumbnail with a human face and minimal text. | In the Discover feed, your Short is competing with professionally designed blog thumbnails. A custom thumbnail dramatically increases CTR. |
| Title | “Funny cat video #shorts” | “This AI Cat Toy Actually Works (I Tested It) #shorts” | The title needs to function like a blog headline, creating curiosity and promising value for a cold audience. |
| Description | Empty or just hashtags. | A 1-2 sentence summary of the video’s core value proposition, followed by a link to a related article on your blog. | This description text is indexed by Google and helps it understand the “entity” connection between your video and your other content. |
| Hashtags | #fyp #viral #funny | #AI #Productivity #TechTips (Topical & Specific) | Use 3-5 specific, topical hashtags that align with Google Search entities. This helps Google categorize your content correctly. |
My 3-Hook Framework for Shorts
To get picked up by Discover, your Short needs a powerful hook. I’ve tested hundreds and found that they all fall into one of three categories.
The 3-Hook Framework for Viral Shorts:
| Hook Type | The Premise | Example Short Idea | Why It Works for a Cold Audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Data-Backed Hook | Start with a shocking or surprising statistic that establishes a problem. | “77% of phishing attacks now use AI. Here’s how to spot one in 5 seconds.” | The data immediately establishes credibility and creates urgency. It promises a solution to a proven problem. |
| The Contrarian Hook | Take a common piece of advice and argue the opposite. | “Everyone tells you to use a password manager. Here’s why I stopped.” | This creates immediate curiosity and intrigue. People want to know why you disagree with the consensus. |
| The Transformation Hook | Show a clear “before” and “after” state. | “My desk used to look like this… now it looks like this. Here’s the one product I used.” | This is a powerful visual story that promises a clear, desirable outcome. It’s the foundation of all great marketing. |
By building your Shorts around one of these proven hooks, you dramatically increase the likelihood that a user will stop their scroll and watch your video, sending a powerful positive signal to the algorithm. For more on content strategy, see my guide to breaking through content saturation.
Mistakes That Kill Your Shorts Views
I’ve made all of these mistakes. Avoid them at all costs.
- Watermarks from Other Platforms: Posting a video with a TikTok or Instagram Reels watermark is the fastest way to get your video suppressed by the YouTube algorithm.
- No Captions: Over 80% of social video is watched with the sound off. If you don’t have burned-in captions explaining what’s happening, you’ll lose most of your audience in seconds.
- The “Slow Burn” Intro: You have less than 2 seconds to capture someone’s attention. Don’t waste it with a fancy logo animation or a slow, cinematic opening. Get straight to the hook.
- Low-Quality Video & Audio: Grainy, poorly lit video or muffled audio will kill your watch time. Your phone is good enough, but make sure you’re near a window for light and using the built-in voice memo app for clean audio.
- No Clear Point: A video that is just a random collection of clips with no clear narrative or takeaway will have a low completion rate, signaling to the algorithm that it’s not valuable.
Tracking Your Success and Scaling Up
How do you know if this is actually working?
- In YouTube Studio: Go to
Analytics > Content > Shorts. Look at the “Traffic sources” card. If you see “External” as a growing source, click on it. If “google.com” is a top driver, you’re on the right track. - In Google Search Console: If you have your YouTube channel connected to GSC, you can see performance data. Look for a “Discover” tab under Performance. If you don’t see it, it means you haven’t received significant Discover traffic yet. When you do, you’ll be able to see which Shorts are getting impressions and clicks.
My Scaling System:
- Find Your Winners: Identify the 1-2 Shorts each month that got the most views from external sources or brought in the most subscribers.
- Create a “Spoke”: Take that winning Short topic and create a long-form, in-depth blog post about it. This is your “spoke.”
- Create a “Sequel”: Create a new, slightly different Short that answers a common question from the comments of the first one, and make sure it links back to your new blog post.
- Repeat: This creates a powerful flywheel. Discover shows your Short -> Viewer goes to your blog -> Google sees the user is interested in your “entity” -> Discover shows that same user your next Short.
Conclusion: Your Exact Next Steps
The integration of YouTube Shorts into Google Discover is the single biggest opportunity for organic growth for creators in 2025. By treating your content not as individual videos but as interconnected parts of a single brand, you can leverage Google’s own desire to connect users with creators they’ll love.
Here is your homework. Do this tomorrow.
- Pick one successful video or article you’ve already created.
- Create a 60-second YouTube Short that teaches the single most valuable lesson from that content.
- Start the video with a powerful hook from the framework above.
- In the description, write one sentence summarizing the value and add the link to your original article.
- Publish it.
That’s it. That is the first step in building a cross-platform content engine that the new Google algorithm is designed to reward.
