Even though this isn't in the "reviews & channel feedback" section, I think it should be. With that said, I'm going to leave my two cents.
I am a new YouTuber that started my channel mid October, so I am not claiming to be some YT know-it-all. However, I am a researcher and fast learner. A sponge for YT info if you will. My comments below are just my opinion and only offered to possibly help you grow your channel.
I see a few things wrong with your approach. Mainly #1
I get great Thumbs-up-to-views ratios (10%!!!!! You won't see that anywhere but my channel)
I get a good comments-to-views ratio (I have a recent video with MORE comments than views! Ever see that before?)
Some of the best complements I see on Youtube are on MY videos.
And don't say "your niche is too obscure"(vegan with a little conspiracy/political talk. They DO go together). A person in my niche just reached 100 million views. Some vegan videos reach 100,000 to 1 mil
Keep in mind, It's easy to find faults, but I can find faults with popular channels. Trust me, in my community, my videos are great.
1. The biggest one that stands out to me is your attitude towards YouTube in general. As seen above in your quotes, you come across as an all knowing YouTuber that makes no mistakes, does everything right, then asks where are my damn views. You insist what you are doing is perfect, yet not seeing results. So there are obviously some flaws in your game that need to be found and worked on a bit. It's the nature of the beast.
This type of attitude won't get you far. If you are really in it to "make it big", you should always be trying to new ways to promote your self, try new video ideas, new editing style, tweak SEO, create giveaways, ANYTHING! I am not saying you aren't doing any of these things, you may be doing all of them. But, when I look at your channel, I don't see these amazing thumbnails you speak of, and perfect SEO you have done. I see flaws right away.
2. Your banner image is bad. It's not inviting, it doesn't give the viewer any idea of what your channel is about or what they can expect from watching your videos. It's also not mobile optimized and looks bad on these devices.
3. Channel logo is blurry and pixelated. I like the shot you were trying to go for and it works. You just need a more clear photo to use.
4. Thumbnails
Thumbnails - Mine speak for themselves. Just look. They get so good, I'm sure the problem is - People aren't seeing the thumbnail, because youtube doesn't give me much visibility.
I'm going to disagree with you 100% on this. I looked at your thumbnails and most don't stand out to me. There is also no "branding" involved in any of your video thumbnails. None of your thumbnails make me WANT to click them.
5. Branding - There is no correlation between the vegan channel theme you are going for and your logo, banner or thumbnails. You need to create content that stands out, titles, thumbnails, CTA's, etc. Create that "branding" so viewers can distinguish your content from the rest.
6. You say you have done SEO and it doesn't work? I wholeheartedly disagree. I am a web developer/ internet marketer and SEO is key. Google algorithms aren't in place just for sh*#s & giggles. You obviously made some mistakes with your SEO and you should continue tweaking your content to reflect these ups and downs you're seeing.
7. My girlfriend is extremely health conscious and subscribes to many health blogs and vegan channels. Upon seeing some of your videos, especially the "Where's FREELEE? the Banana Girl disappeared from the net", she was not only confused by your content and end goal of the videos/channel, but said you come off a little creepy in your videos
Again, these are just my opinions and thoughts on where I see faults and why your channel isn't getting views. Take it for what it's worth and maybe some will sink in.
Good luck!
On a large scale, Danisnotonfire's last 3 videos have >1 million views and 10% likes. On a small scale, my own channel (check Socialblade if you must.)
