What Should I Post on YouTube? How to Find Video Ideas People Actually Want
You finally decide to start a YouTube channel.
You pick a name. Maybe you even make your first video.
Then comes the part nobody warns you about:
“Okay... what do I post next?”
You open YouTube, look at other creators, scroll through your niche, and somehow end up with either too many ideas or absolutely none.
If you've ever spent more time thinking about your next video than actually making one, you're not alone.
Recent creator discussions show the same problem. One creator said they were struggling to find video ideas because their how-to videos were getting low reach. Another creator said that even after finding a way to produce videos faster, finding subjects was still the difficult part.
So the real problem isn't always:
“I need more YouTube video ideas.”
Sometimes it's:
“How do I know which idea is actually worth making?”
And that's what we'll solve here.
Don't Start With “What Video Should I Make?"
When you're stuck, the easiest thing to do is open an AI tool and type:
Give me 50 YouTube video ideas
And sure enough, you'll get 50 ideas. But then comes the next problem:
Which one should I actually make?
I've done this myself. Sometimes I end up with so many ideas that choosing one becomes harder, and other times the suggestions just don't feel like something my audience would actually care about. That's when I realized that the problem isn't always a lack of ideas. Sometimes, I just need to understand what people are already trying to figure out.
So instead of starting with “What video should I make?”, I think a better question is:
What are people already trying to solve?
Let's say you have a beginner fitness channel. Instead of randomly making a video called “5 Exercises You Should Try,” look at the questions people are already asking:
“Why am I not gaining muscle?”
“Can I build muscle at home?”
“How many days should a beginner work out?”
“What should I eat after working out?”
Those questions give you something much more useful than a random topic. They show you an actual problem someone wants help with.
That's the idea behind the P.A.C.E. method.
The P.A.C.E. Method: A Simple Way to Find Your Next Video
I wanted a process that wouldn't feel complicated, especially if you're just starting out. So I broke it down into four simple steps:
P — Problem
Find something people are genuinely struggling with.
A — Audience
Make sure that problem matters to the people you want watching your channel.
C — Check
Look for signs that people actually care about it.
E — Execute
Turn what you've learned into a useful video.
It's simple, but it gives you somewhere to start instead of staring at a blank screen and hoping a good idea appears.
P — Find a Real Problem
One of the easiest places to start is the comments section.
Go to videos in your niche and actually read what people are saying. You'll often find questions, frustrations, and things they wish the creator had explained better.
While researching this, I kept seeing questions like “What should I post?”, “What topics should I cover?”, and “How do I find a niche?” Those aren't just comments. They're potential video ideas.
For example, if someone asks:
“I'm starting a history channel. What topics should I cover?”
You could make:
“10 History Topics That Are Great for New YouTube Channels.”
But you could also look at the problem behind the question and make:
“How to Find History Video Ideas When You Don't Know What to Cover.”
The second one feels more useful because it's solving the reason they asked the question in the first place.
So don't just collect topics. Pay attention to the problems behind them.
A — Know Who You're Making It For
A topic can be popular and still be completely wrong for your channel.
Imagine you're running a channel for beginner photographers. You notice that professional cinema cameras are getting a lot of attention, so you decide to make a video about them. It might get some interest, but if your audience is mostly beginners who are still learning how to use their first camera, you're probably not giving them what they came for.
This is where I think it's worth stepping back and asking a very simple question:
Who am I actually making this video for?
Maybe it's a beginner, a student, a gamer, a business owner, or a professional. YouTube also recommends using Analytics to look for patterns in what your audience watches and responds to, including things like topic, format, and performance.
The clearer you are about who you're trying to help, the easier it becomes to decide whether an idea belongs on your channel.
C — Check If People Actually Care
This is probably the step I'd be most tempted to skip if I were in a hurry. You find an idea that sounds good and immediately start making it.
But spending a few minutes checking it first can save you a lot of time later.
Check YouTube Search
Start by searching for the problem you're thinking about. Instead of typing something broad like “YouTube,” try something specific such as “how to find YouTube video ideas” or “how to choose a YouTube niche.”
Look at the suggestions and then look at the actual videos. Are people making content about it? Are viewers asking questions in the comments? Are the existing videos old or difficult to understand? Is there something people seem to be missing?
You're not trying to prove that your video is guaranteed to go viral. You're just looking for signs that the problem is real.
Check YouTube Trends
If you have access to YouTube Studio, the Trends tab can give you another useful view. YouTube says it can show things like top searches, breakout videos, recent videos, audience interest, and content gaps.
The content-gap part caught my attention because it gets closer to the question I'm trying to answer:
what are people looking for that isn't being served particularly well?
Of course, seeing a content gap doesn't mean your next video will suddenly get thousands of views. But I'd much rather start with some evidence than simply think, “This sounds like a cool idea.”
Look at Other Creators Too
Other creators can be useful research material too. Not because you should copy them, but because their videos and comments can show you what people care about.
Let's say you find a video called “How I Started My YouTube Channel.” While reading the comments, someone asks:
“But how did you decide your niche?”
That's another problem right there.
You could turn it into “How to Choose a YouTube Niche When You Have Too Many Interests.”
That's why I wouldn't only look at views. Sometimes the better idea is sitting in the comments underneath the video.
E — Turn the Problem Into a Video
By this point, you should have a problem, an audience in mind, and some evidence that people care. Now comes the fun part: figuring out what you can actually make from it.
Let's say the problem is:
“I don't know what to post on YouTube.”
That's still pretty broad. If you dig a little deeper, you might find that the person doesn't have a niche, has too many interests, can't find topics, doesn't know what their audience wants, or is simply worried that nobody will watch.
Suddenly, one problem has several possible directions.
You could make:
How to Find Your Next YouTube Video Without Guessing
What to Post on YouTube When You Have No Ideas
How to Find YouTube Video Ideas From Your Audience
How to Choose a YouTube Niche When You Like Too Many Things
5 Places to Find YouTube Ideas Before Making Your Next Video
This is where the process started making more sense to me. I wasn't trying to come up with a completely new idea out of nowhere. I was taking something people were already struggling with and finding a useful way to approach it.
Here's a Real Example
Let's say I want to start a small gaming channel.
My first thought might be, “I'll just upload gameplay.” But that's not really giving me much to work with.
So I look at gaming videos and read through the comments. I might find people asking things like
“What's the best way to start this game?”, “Which character should beginners use?”, or “How do I beat this level?”
Now I have actual problems I can work with.
Those could turn into videos like:
The Best Beginner Strategy for…
5 Mistakes New Players Make…
I Tried the Beginner Method for 7 Days…
Compare that with simply uploading “My Gameplay #4.” The gameplay might be good, but the other titles give the viewer a reason to care before they even click.
That's the difference between simply making content and using content to solve a problem.
What If Your Videos Get Almost No Engagement?
This came up in my research too. One creator talked about putting a lot of effort into their content and editing as a student but still getting very little engagement, sometimes only one or two comments.
I can understand why that would be discouraging. You put time into a video, publish it, and then barely anyone reacts. It's easy to immediately think, “Maybe I'm just bad at YouTube.”
But low engagement doesn't automatically tell you what went wrong. It could be the topic, the audience, the title and thumbnail, the video itself, or simply the fact that you're still figuring out what your viewers respond to.
That's why I think it's better to look for patterns across your videos rather than judging your whole channel from one upload. YouTube's Analytics can help with that.
Instead of asking, “Why did nobody watch this?”, try asking:
“What can this video teach me about what I should make next?”
One disappointing upload doesn't have to mean the end of the idea.
Don't Chase Every Trend
This is another trap that's easy to fall into.
You see a topic getting millions of views and immediately think, “I should make that too.”
But something being popular doesn't automatically make it right for your channel. If the trend has nothing to do with your audience, you might get attention without building the kind of viewers you actually want.
So rather than only asking “What's trending?”,
I'd ask:
“What's trending that actually makes sense for my audience?”
A trend can give you an opportunity, but you still need to give people a reason to keep coming back to your channel.
My Simple 15-Minute YouTube Idea Routine
If I were starting a channel today and had no idea what to post, this is the routine I'd probably try first.
Minute 1–5: Find problems
I'd look through YouTube comments, Reddit discussions, my own comments, and questions people ask in my niche. The goal would be simple: write down five real questions or problems.
Minute 6–10: Check them
I'd search those questions on YouTube, look at the suggestions and existing videos, check recent uploads and comments, and use YouTube Trends if it was available to me. Then I'd remove anything that doesn't really fit my audience.
Minute 11–13: Find my angle
For the ideas that are left, I'd ask myself:
“How could I make this more useful?”
Maybe I can make it simpler, more specific, more practical, more beginner-friendly, or approach it from something I've personally experienced.
Minute 14–15: Pick one
Finally, I'd choose the idea that has the best combination of a real problem, the right audience, some evidence of interest, and something I can genuinely help with.
Then I'd stop researching and actually make it.
Now Let AI Do the Heavy Lifting
This is where I think AI becomes much more useful.
I wouldn't start by asking:
“Give me 100 YouTube ideas.”
I'd give it something I've already researched.
For example:
“My audience is beginner YouTubers. I found these five questions in YouTube comments. Help me turn these problems into practical video ideas.”
Now the AI has something real to work with instead of having to invent everything from scratch.
This is also where ALwrity can fit into the process. Its YouTube workflow brings several parts of content creation together, including scripts, titles, descriptions, and turning videos into blog content.
Start With Your Idea
Once you've found a real problem, you can use ALwrity's AI YouTube Script Writer to develop it into a script.
You can give it your topic, audience, video length, structure, use case, and tone. So instead of starting with a completely blank page, you have something to work from and edit.
For example, if your idea is “How to find YouTube video ideas when you have no ideas,” the tool can help you build that into a more complete script.
Then Work on the Title
After the idea and script are clear, ALwrity's AI YouTube Title Generator can help you come up with different title options based on the topic and audience.
For the same problem, you might get options like:
How to Find Your Next YouTube Video Without Guessing
What to Post on YouTube When You Have No Ideas
Stop Running Out of YouTube Video Ideas: Try This
The useful part for me is that I can look through the options and choose what actually fits my video. The tool gives me options; I still make the decision.
Don't Forget the Description
Once the video is ready, ALwrity's AI YouTube Description Generator can give you a starting point for the description. You can provide the video details, audience, and tone, then edit the result before publishing.
Turn One Video Into a Blog
There's another part of this workflow I found interesting. Your video doesn't necessarily have to be the end of the content.
If you've already made a YouTube video, ALwrity's YouTube-to-Blog Generator can help turn that video into a blog article.
So one idea can potentially move through a whole process:
Research → Video idea → Script → Title → Video → Description → Blog
And that's where I think AI makes more sense than simply asking for a huge list of random ideas. You do the thinking and research first, then let AI help you move faster.
The Biggest Thing I Learned
When I first started looking into this, I thought I'd end up with a simple list of ways to find YouTube ideas.
But the more I looked at creator questions, YouTube's own tools, and the way people search for things, the more I felt that the real problem was slightly different.
Creators aren't always running out of ideas. Sometimes they're running out of confidence in their ideas.
You find something you're interested in, but then the doubts start: Will people care? Does this fit my channel? Has everyone already made it? Should I make something else?
That's why I like the P.A.C.E. approach. It gives me a way to slow down and check an idea before spending hours making it.
Problem. Audience. Check. Execute.
You don't need to predict which video will go viral. You just need to stop making completely blind guesses.
So the next time you're sitting there thinking, “What should I post on YouTube?”, don't immediately search for another list of 100 ideas.
Start with one real problem someone is already trying to solve. Check whether it matters to your audience, find your angle, and then make something useful from it.
Find the problem. Check the interest. Create the video. Learn from what happens.
That might give you your next video. And if you keep doing it, it might give you your next ten, twenty, or even fifty.
Ready to Find Your Next YouTube Video?
You don't need 100 random ideas.
You need one good problem worth solving.
Find what your audience is asking, check whether people care about it, and then turn it into something genuinely useful.
And once you've found your idea, let ALwrity help you take it from idea → title → script → published content → blog.
Stop guessing what to post. Start creating what people are already looking for.
FAQs
What should I post on YouTube?
Start with problems, questions, or topics your target audience already cares about. Check YouTube searches, comments, competitor videos, and Trends to find ideas instead of guessing.
How do I find YouTube video ideas?
Look at what people are asking in your niche. You can find ideas through YouTube comments, Reddit discussions, search suggestions, competitor videos, and your own YouTube Analytics.
What should my first YouTube video be about?
Your first video should introduce something useful to your target audience. Pick a simple problem you understand and create a video that helps solve it rather than trying to make something viral.
What should I post on YouTube when I have no ideas?
Go back to your audience. Find questions they're asking, check what similar creators are covering, and look for gaps or unanswered questions. One real problem can often become several video ideas.
How do I know if a YouTube video idea is good?
A good idea should fit your audience, solve a real problem, have some evidence of interest, and give you something useful to say. You can't guarantee a video will go viral, but researching the idea can reduce the guesswork.
Really well-written and easy to follow! The P.A.C.E. method makes finding video ideas feel so much less overwhelming. Thanks for sharing such a practical guide!