Want to start a vlogging channel? Learn these popular vlog ideas from big YouTube channels to get you started.
With 2.6 billion active channels on YouTube, you might feel intimidated by starting your own channel. In addition to simply creating a channel, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes: filming, editing, and, most importantly, finding topics. Without topics for vlogs, you can’t have a video in the first place. Save time in your content creation process by studying already popularized vlog ideas from successful “day in the life” vlogging YouTubers.
Methods
To find the best topics for vlogs, I gathered a corpus of titles from two vlogging channels: Mai Pham which has 2.7 million subscribers and alia zaita with 330K subscribers. These two channels upload a similar style of content in the YouTube industry, which are “day in the life” vlogging videos. They showcase anything from what they do in a day, record food content, share products, and everything else in between.
Because trends change quickly, I only collected titles from the 30 most recent videos from both channels (i.e., 60 titles total).
Then, I split the titles into 11 topic categories. (You can find these categories with their respective codes in the codebook shown below.) I verified my coding by having an independent coder also categorize the data, which resulted in perfect reliability: the Cohen’s kappa coefficient passed with 1.00, and the percentage agreement between the two of us passed with a score of 100%.
Since these two YouTubers have a striking difference in their number of subscribers, I divided the views on each video by the number of subscribers on their channels to find the ratio of views to subscribers. Then I averaged the results to consolidate the data on the graph. The results with the best topics for vlogs were surprising.
Analysis
The smaller channel’s (alia zaita) best topics for vlogs are fitness, moving, and lists. Overall, the smaller channel had a larger views-to-subscribers ratio, even though the videos received fewer views than the bigger channel. The best performing video had a views-to-subscribers ratio of 64%, which may mean that many of the smaller channel’s subscribers are returning to the channel to watch the vlogs.
On the other hand, the bigger channel’s (Mai Pham) best topics for vlogs are GRWM, cleaning, and self-care. This channel had a much lower views-to-subscribers ratio than the smaller channel, with a ratio of 50%, which may mean that comparatively fewer of the subscribers are returning to watch the vlogs.
However, just because the ratio is much lower does not mean that the bigger channel is getting fewer views. It may simply mean that more people not subscribed to the channel are watching the videos. A potential explanation for these results could be that the more subscribers you get, the more your videos will be viewed by those who aren’t subscribed to you.
What These Results Mean for You
Building a viewership is crucial to starting your vlogging channel, but first decide what your goal is for your channel. Is it to get your subscribers to watch your videos? Or is it to get more views in general—from subscribers and non-subscribers? Whatever your goal may be, learning what topics are currently being used in the industry and what topics are driving engagement can help you get a head start on your vlogging channel.
What Topics Are YouTubers Vlogging about?
If you’re having difficulty coming up with a topic to vlog about, take inspiration from these two already established “day in the life” vlogging channels. The content creators have been in their specific vlogging industry for a while and have the best topics for vlogs figured out after much trial and error.
While figuring out which topics drove the most views-to-subscribers engagement, I also found that both the smaller and bigger YouTube channels' most created vlog type is a list (a list of things a video will cover). In the data sample, 27 out of 60 vlogs collected were lists, suggesting that this type of topic is most popular in the “day in the life” vlogging industry.
What Topics Drive Engagement in Vlogging Channels?
The results reveal an interesting finding: specialized vlog topics perform better when it comes to engagements. For example, the smaller channel receives most of its engagement from the topics fitness and moving. Conversely, the bigger channel receives most engagement from the topics GRWM and cleaning.
If you notice the chart, the smaller channel doesn’t have vlogs created under the topics GRWM and cleaning, and the bigger channel doesn’t have vlogs created under fitness and moving. These competing channels are specializing in certain topics and capitalizing off the engagement, meaning they keep creating videos in their niche topics.
Find Your Niche Vlogging Topics
Although starting a YouTube channel is difficult, it’s possible to grow your channel. As you get started on your vlogging experience, try out the most common topics for vlogs, analyze which topics work best for your “day in the life” vlogging channel, and specialize in your niche topics.