Okay, let’s look at the four types of YouTube search strings.

The first one is “Relevance.” When calling for videos to add to your site, the default is relevance. If you don’t indicate any, this is the results of the search.

I suggest you click on one of the Halloween links to the right in orange as the sites randomly change the front page. Do it on all four so you can evaluate the differences for your own use.

This particular site, as with the other three that will be shown here, has a search box so you can look for specific Halloween content you want to see. Heck, you can search for anything you want. You will only get “clean” content though. You can check it out by doing an ‘adult’ search. You shouldn’t get any results unless YouTube has yet to evaluate it. I have implemented the “safeSearch” query YouTube provides so the content should be fit for all to view.

Let’s look at a Halloween costume site that uses the default string:

HalloweenGoblins.com

To view the videos that have the most view, this next site is an example. The most view certainly does not mean the most recent popular vdeos as this count is from the time it was uploaded. This could bring up a video for a Halloween costume from years ago…and nobody will be caught dead wearing it now. Now for the “View Count” query:

GhostsGoblins.com

Sometimes people update their videos with new or more recent content. Being able to sort by this method can keep the content fresh with updated information or videos. This works good for Halloween costumes as they change year to year and the author may have a lot of views. Now for sites that have videos that have recently been updated.

GhostlyGoblins.com

Finally, and important to some…rating. If you want to retrieve the highest rated videos, which can actually be quite old. It is fun to look at old Halloween costumes too. If you want the newest videos, this may not be for you:

GhostlyBoo.com

So, go quick and buy lots of Halloween stuff…if you like the goblins that is.

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to query YouTube.

Have a great day.

Joseph