Need Advice What is your upload schedule strategy?

[AmeliaBolger]

I've published 12 videos in my first month on YouTube. It has pretty much been 3 videos a week, however I have no set upload schedule.
I've just been getting on with editing and upload as soon as I've finished.

I'm lead to believe that the algorithm prefers a regular schedule.

1) Do you believe this is true in your experience?
2) What is your upload schedule and do you think it has helped to grow your channel?

 

[BootySweat4491]

I haven't really gotten to a place where I can say definitively yet. All I know is my work schedule doesn't really allow for me to say that I will have x video uploaded on y day of the week. Instead, I know I want to upload 4 videos a week, and whatever days I get those done is what I can work with.

I would also be curious to know if YouTube actually cares whether you upload on the same days and times every week.

 

[Kevin Cross]

Again, my son treies to stream at least 5 videos per week but has no set schedule as such! it would be interesting to know if this affects the algorithm in any way shape or form.

 

[TubeBuddy]

I'm lead to believe that the algorithm prefers a regular schedule.

The algorithm follows the audience, so people like schedules, but what matters more is that your new videos perform better than your previous videos. You can have a schedule, but if all the videos don't perform well it doesn't matter that you have a schedule.

I just know who my idea audience is and do keyword research to see what people in that field need, so I can help earn their trust by answering their questions, and keep growing by being helpful

 

[kalaspuffar]

I would say that scheduling a time or day is not required but could be beneficial for your community. If someone subscribes to your channel, they will have an expectation. And if they see that you upload every Sunday, for instance, they will start expecting a video at that time. The first views are important, so if you can find a community of people that will wait for your release and watch is the first hours, that could boost your visibility.

But content is king, so you still need to produce things your community expects and want to see more. So if you start by adding videos when you can, that is ok, and when you find a rhythm that you can keep, then you create a schedule. I'm usually done with a video a day or two before I have to publish. In that way, you can fix any late issues during that buffer time.

And having a couple of videos ready and schedule will also make your production less stressful. But depending on if you have a channel that covers current events, then that strategy is not viable, and releasing when you're done is the most appropriate. I hope this helps.

Best regards
Daniel

 

[Ameen]

I upload a video a week but at no specific day and it seems to work well , I think it's how you optimise the video and advertise it ..

 

[Tito Tim]

I don't know if the algorithm likes a schedule, but I know that I do.
I was having problems for a while that 3 out of 5 videos would flag as not appropriate for ads. All would clear after I filed a dispute. So I started uploading everything as unlisted to give it time to flag or not. During this, I also went on a week long vacation to Boracay, Philippines - and made 7 or 8 videos. I ended up with about 10 videos ready at one time. I did not want to dump those all out at one time.

That was when I learned how to schedule videos.

I do not always have a lot scheduled but I do try to have a few in advance. I was posting 3 days a week, but after a year or so lowered it to 2 a week. I like the schedule feature because I know what day & time the videos will go public, and I can keep an eye on comments. Also, if I get a month ahead of myself I can easily take a week or two off and know I am still on schedule.

Right now the scheduling has helped. I have been locked in my house for 6 weeks and have not run out of content. Monday (27APR) will be my last scheduled vid - unless I get busy ha ha.

There used to be a feature telling us the time that most of our viewers were online, 'best time to upload'. Not sure if that was an old YouTube studio or a TubeBuddy feature, but I have not seen it since the Studio beta came out. YouTube just announced that they will be adding a chart showing what day & time gets the most views. That does not necessarily mean it is the best time to upload, but I used it as a guide (for me it was weekdays 8 AM CST, 9 PM here in the Philippines).

Scheduling may or may not be noticed by the algorithm, and judging from viewers comments, I do not think they know I post at regular times (even though I have talked about in videos). But it has helped me to stay focused. I do not want this hobby to feel like a job, but the regular schedule helps keep me from getting too lazy. It keeps me productive, yet also gives me breathing room if I need it.

 

[BaldBoldBear]

I'm in exactly the same boat as you, with myself I'm uploading every other day but in all honesty that is becoming quite difficult so I may stick to 2 videos a week so that i have more time to focus on my edit/content and not rushing myself. But staying consistent has definitely helped me grow my channel, as a gaming channel, the game I am currently posting has been completed and posted everywhere on YouTube so that is the reason why I'm trying to upload so quick however I guess it'll be better to really spend more days on your content instead of worrying to upload so frequently.
I'm no YouTube guru lol. But uploading regularly or ever other day or so has given the video room to breathe on the platform but then you gotta think about what you are capable of really and if you can keep going with 3 videos a week consistently for a long period of time otherwise 2 videos is still quite a lot too.

 

[AurigaDave]

I think once you have an established channel, having a regular upload schedule is good, as you serious subs know when to expect new videos'. however while you are building I can understand why you would upload more regularly..it also allows for programs like TB to see when your audience look at your films.
Also depending on your content, you may need to upload erratically to tie in with events

 

[Damon]

I'm a fishermen. I make fishing videos. The fish don't care about YouTube's algorithm or my schedule. They keep their own schedule as to the times of the month/year they will bite. I upload whenever I upload.

1. Currently I'm upload once or twice a week. I have uploaded as many as four to five times a week.
2. It has helped me grow my channel in that my channel doesn't go by the number of videos I post every week.

Again my people want to watch fishing videos, not tutorials or me talking vlogs to the camera. They want to see fishing. They want to see documentary-film level content. That takes time to produce. It all depends on your audience, what they want to see, and the logistics producing the content they want.

For instance if someone is making Antarctica videos. Antarctica doesn't care that it's winter time. You can only get down there in the summer. That's very different than doing beauty videos or gaming videos. So this talk about a schedule goes out the window depending on your niche.

 

[RobertHyman]

The people that have subscribed to you will see your upload on their "Recommended" list when they log into YouTube so it doesnt matter when you upload. If they hit the "Bell" they would get notified anyway and then watch when they can. For me, if you want to build a little buzz, try doing a "PREMIER". Upload the video and then schedule the premier 24 hour later. This info will pop up on the recommended list so they can see its premiering. Then you can watch it live as it premiers and chat with people watching it. Its kind of like streaming without streaming lol. Helps build buzz. MHO

 

[Carpot]

I really think it depends on your videos. Currently, I am making videos of a game which was just released and is quite popular at the moment. Because I play this game almost daily, I also upload content with it daily as long as there is this puplic interest in it.

 

[testacct]

I upload a video a week but at no specific day and it seems to work well , I think it's how you optimise the video and advertise it ..

this is like new idea to me ... tnx

 

[blackbeltsecrets]

I've heard lots of different views about this and ultimately I think it doesn't matter. What I think matters is whether people engage with your content because I've had massively different upload schedules over the last few years but it comes down to whether people watch and engage with your videos