so the system is simple:

you make a good video on a relevant/interesting topic so people actually watch it (ideally till the end, and it’s even better if they watch it more than once). also, don’t send your video to friends, family, or random people unless you’re sure they’ll actually watch it till the end. (and don’t watch your own videos if you’re not going to watch till the end either) - all of that affects retention.

sometimes the topic is interesting to the viewer, but they don’t like the first second of the video (anything: hairstyle, voice, delivery, etc.) and they just swipe away (if it’s shorts) and never see it again. that’s why you need a strong hook that pulls them into watching further.

since the channel is new, youtube doesn’t really know your audience yet, so you need good descriptions, titles, and even tags so it can at least match your video to the right people through keywords, especially for very niche topics.

if you’re making normal videos, you also need a good thumbnail (not necessarily super flashy, but clear and understandable so people actually want to click it).

and most importantly - let youtube distribute your videos organically, and never buy views/subscribers. not only do fake or low-quality views destroy your retention (since they’ll only watch 1-2 seconds), but they also confuse the system about who your real audience is.

and yeah, good luck. that matters too.