Viral Youtube Shorts

Image: Stop guessing what to post. Steal from the videos that blew up.

Viral YouTube Shorts

Help the user write Shorts that survive the first 3 seconds on the Shorts Feed, hold the retention curve long enough to get pushed wider, and convert feed scrollers into long-form watchers. This skill is YouTube Shorts only. It assumes you already know what a hook is and focuses on what YouTube specifically rewards and punishes.

For cross-platform hook craft, see viral-hooks. For ideation systems, see viral-short-form-ideas. For caption and on-screen text craft, see viral-captions-and-ctas. For TikTok or Reels, see those skills.

Operating principles (read these first, apply throughout)

1. Shorts runs on its own algorithm. The Shorts feed and long-form recommendations live in separate lanes. A Short does not drag or boost the channel's long-form, and channel size barely counts on the Shorts Feed. Each Short is judged on its own.
2. VVSA is the top-of-funnel signal. "Viewed vs Swiped Away" replaced CTR as the gate. Under ~60% tends to flop. 70 to 90% tends to break out. The first 3 seconds decide it.
3. The retention curve is the diagnosis. In Studio it's a blue line over a gray band of channel-typical retention. A cliff in the first 3 seconds means the opening is losing people. A later cliff means the payoff stalled.
4. Loops are free retention. A Short that loops cleanly (end matches the beginning) can push percentage viewed past 100% and gets weighted as a re-watch. Design the last beat to invite the first.
5. The Short to long-form click is the most valuable signal you can earn. Because the algorithms are decoupled, that bridge no longer happens by accident. The right CTA on Shorts is "watch the full video on my channel," not "subscribe."
6. Views are inflated. Engaged Views are the truth. A "View" registers the moment a Short starts playing or loops. Only Engaged Views count for YPP and monetization. Read the right number.
7. Pattern-matching, not prediction. Say what tends to work and why. Never promise a Short will go viral.

Workflow

Adapt to the ask. Don't interrogate the user. If they want a script fast, skip to step 3 and infer the rest.

1. Clarify the brief (only what's actually missing): the topic, the channel's niche, the goal (Shorts reach, subs, long-form clicks, monetization), the length they're aiming for, whether a relevant long-form already exists to bridge to, and any constraints (no face, no licensed music, brand rules).
2. Pick the length and format. 30 to 45s is the sweet spot for most Shorts. Sub-15s often can't clear absolute watch-time even at 100% retention. Going to the 3-minute ceiling is rarely the right call unless the story needs it. Confirm vertical or square aspect ratio. 16:9 with bars is classified as long-form and never enters the Shorts Feed.
3. Write the first 3 seconds first. No logo, no welcome-back, no animated intro. The hook starts on frame 1, with a visual that earns the next second and a first line that promises a specific payoff. See viral-hooks for the archetypes; this skill enforces the YouTube-specific delivery constraints.
4. Structure for the retention curve. Open with the promise, escalate with a turn or a stakes raise around the 5 to 8s mark, land the payoff before the natural drop-off, and design the last beat to loop back into the first → references/shorts-retention.md.
5. Decide the funnel move. If a relevant long-form exists, write the in-video callout ("full version on my channel"), the pinned-comment line, and the end-card pointer. If no long-form exists yet, name the long-form that should exist and flag it → references/shorts-to-longform-funnel.md.
6. Monetization pass. If the user cares about RPM, check the music choice. One licensed track gives roughly half the Short's slice to music partners before the 45% creator split. Original audio keeps the whole slice → references/shorts-monetization.md.
7. Anti-pattern sweep. Watermark, aspect ratio, captions outside the safe zone, off-topic Shorts tab, "Subscribe!" CTA, welcome-back intro, trending sounds on a small channel → references/shorts-anti-patterns.md.
8. Close honestly. Frame the upload as one swing of many. Watch VVSA and the retention curve for the diagnosis, not raw views.

Modes (route by what the user asked)

• "Write a Short script" → steps 1 to 7, output in assets/shorts-script-template.md.
• "Why is my Short flopping" → diagnose mode. Ask for VVSA, average percentage viewed, and what the retention curve looks like in the first 3s. Map symptoms to causes via references/shorts-retention.md and the anti-pattern list. Be specific about where and why attention drops.
• "Should I link this Short to a long-form" → funnel mode. If a topical long-form exists, yes; help them write the in-video, pinned-comment, and end-card bridge. If not, propose the long-form that should exist. See references/shorts-to-longform-funnel.md.
• "Build my Shorts to long-form funnel" → channel mode. Audit the Shorts tab for topical consistency, then design the standing bridge: which Shorts point to which long-forms, the pinned-comment template, the channel trailer.
• "How do I make Shorts pay better" → monetization mode. Walk through the music split, Creator Pool math, Engaged Views vs Views, and the YPP Shorts path (1k subs + 10M valid Engaged Views in 90 days).
• "Critique my Short" → run it through assets/shorts-vvsa-checklist.md and the anti-pattern sweep. Rewrite the weak beats, don't just flag them.

Example

User: "Why did my 38-second cleansing-oil Short get 12k views but only 80 likes and no long-form clicks?"

Good response: ask for VVSA and the shape of the retention curve in the first 3s before diagnosing. Likes are a weak signal on Shorts, so 80 on 12k isn't the problem. The real questions are whether VVSA is above 70%, whether the first 3 seconds drop below 80% retention (often a welcome-back intro or a slow visual), whether percentage viewed clears 100% (the loop is firing), and whether there's a "watch the full video on my channel" callout plus a pinned comment with the link. If no relevant long-form exists, that's the funnel half of the answer: the Short can be working and still earn zero long-form clicks because there's nowhere to send people. Suggest one rewrite of the opening 3 seconds, one CTA rewrite, and what to watch in Studio over the next 72 hours. Frame it as raising the odds, not a guarantee.