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YouTube Question youtube video length
- Thread starter Matloob
- Start date
For retention it is more about content rather than watch time. If people are only watching for 30 seconds or 1 minute, extending your video from 10 to 15 minutes will not help.
I know most will suggest making longer, 10+ minute videos, but if you're just starting I'd aim for somewhere between 5 to 8 minutes and gradually improve your content each time. It is better for have people watch 2-3 minutes of a 7 minute video, rather than 2-3 minutes of a 15 minute video for the purposes of retention.
I know most will suggest making longer, 10+ minute videos, but if you're just starting I'd aim for somewhere between 5 to 8 minutes and gradually improve your content each time. It is better for have people watch 2-3 minutes of a 7 minute video, rather than 2-3 minutes of a 15 minute video for the purposes of retention.
For me, I aim to keep mine below 10 minutes long, with mostly useful stuff in them, unless I have a lot to cover on a topic, but typically the 10 minute limit works for me, but weΓÇÖre all different with different requirements, so while 10 minutes is suitable for me may not be so for other creators.
OP
OP
There is no right or wrong... as @Travel Interesante said, it's all about your content. yes longer videos undoubtedly means more watch time, you're always going to get a few more seconds/minutes on a longer video than a shorter video, BUT, if that content is not strong enough to keep viewers coming back, there's no point. and if you end up with videos of less than 20% retention, you'll fail long term.
I have a real mix of content on my channel. 20 minute videos, 10 minutes and 4-6 minutes. Shorter ones do better in the first 7 days, longer ones do better 6 months down the road...because I'm all over the SEO/Metadata side of YT. I know I can rank certain videos VERY Well. The longer ones have a far lower Retention...BUT... they'll still always pick up views.
All I will say, my own personal little thing...
Try to aim for at least 50% retention after the first 60 seconds, make that your target, then work out what you can do on the next video to get 55%... then 60% for the video after.
I've heard some people aim for +70% after the first 60 seconds. Some claim to even achieve +75%. But I've never really seen the evidence. I personally think 60% is awesome if you have a high CTR for at least 6-8%...and obviously more than 100 views. I'm talking more like 500-1000+ views minimum. +60% after 60 seconds on just 50 views should be a given.
(Over 50% retention after 90 seconds, I usually end up with about 40% retention at the end of the Video after 500+ views)
I have a real mix of content on my channel. 20 minute videos, 10 minutes and 4-6 minutes. Shorter ones do better in the first 7 days, longer ones do better 6 months down the road...because I'm all over the SEO/Metadata side of YT. I know I can rank certain videos VERY Well. The longer ones have a far lower Retention...BUT... they'll still always pick up views.
All I will say, my own personal little thing...
Try to aim for at least 50% retention after the first 60 seconds, make that your target, then work out what you can do on the next video to get 55%... then 60% for the video after.
I've heard some people aim for +70% after the first 60 seconds. Some claim to even achieve +75%. But I've never really seen the evidence. I personally think 60% is awesome if you have a high CTR for at least 6-8%...and obviously more than 100 views. I'm talking more like 500-1000+ views minimum. +60% after 60 seconds on just 50 views should be a given.
(Over 50% retention after 90 seconds, I usually end up with about 40% retention at the end of the Video after 500+ views)
That would depend on your analytics, but as long as you can keep your viewers hanging until the end, that would be fine.
I aim for 50% retention of the overall video. We've had a lot of success with that at TubeBuddy, and I have had it on my main channel. Took YEARS to do, but it's part of the process.
I think a video should be as long as it needs to be and not a second more. You also need to look at WHO your audience is and what you want them to do on that video. For example if I earn affiliate sales at a certain point in my video I don't mind it's retention being lower
There is no hard and fast rule. It's about how interesting your content is.
I still struggle to get over 30% retention, and my MUCH longer videos struggle to get beyond 10%
that said, let's say I have a 100 minute video, if I have 10% retention on that, it means at least 10 minutes has been watched. If I have a 1 minute video with 50% retention, 30 seconds of that video has been watched.
If my 100 minute video is watched 1000 times "only" gets 10% retention, that's 10 minutes times 1000 that's 6 days of watch time.
If my 1 minute video gets watched maybe 500 times (my audience seems less interested in speed drawings) and people watch half of it, that's still only 4 hours of watch time.
So I guess it depends what's more important to YouTube, that percentage of your video that was watched overall, or how long people spend on platform watching YOUR videos. I've been hearing conflicting stories of more watch time is better, or more percentage of a video means more people liked it so it'll get pushed out more. It's some complex math.
Long story short... your video shouldn't be any longer than it needs to be. If the video only needs to be 3 minutes, and you fluff it out to 10 minutes, people are going to get annoyed... Conversly, a 30 minute video might be annoying to people and you might want to reduce it down, but sometimes a video can only be reduced down so far before you start skipping important information and steps.
I still struggle to get over 30% retention, and my MUCH longer videos struggle to get beyond 10%
that said, let's say I have a 100 minute video, if I have 10% retention on that, it means at least 10 minutes has been watched. If I have a 1 minute video with 50% retention, 30 seconds of that video has been watched.
If my 100 minute video is watched 1000 times "only" gets 10% retention, that's 10 minutes times 1000 that's 6 days of watch time.
If my 1 minute video gets watched maybe 500 times (my audience seems less interested in speed drawings) and people watch half of it, that's still only 4 hours of watch time.
So I guess it depends what's more important to YouTube, that percentage of your video that was watched overall, or how long people spend on platform watching YOUR videos. I've been hearing conflicting stories of more watch time is better, or more percentage of a video means more people liked it so it'll get pushed out more. It's some complex math.
Long story short... your video shouldn't be any longer than it needs to be. If the video only needs to be 3 minutes, and you fluff it out to 10 minutes, people are going to get annoyed... Conversly, a 30 minute video might be annoying to people and you might want to reduce it down, but sometimes a video can only be reduced down so far before you start skipping important information and steps.
Each video needs to be as long as it needs to be. I have 4 minute vids and I have 30 minute vids. Each video is its own entity.
I average a little over 50% overall on retention, and I hear that is pretty good. I used to keep a close eye on watch time, and tried to adjust video lengths accordingly - to try and raise the percentage. Failed miserably ha ha. The percentage stayed the same, but watch time dropped because the vids were shorter. I know make them as long or short as I feel they need to be. My retention percentage increased, so I am happy with it.
I average a little over 50% overall on retention, and I hear that is pretty good. I used to keep a close eye on watch time, and tried to adjust video lengths accordingly - to try and raise the percentage. Failed miserably ha ha. The percentage stayed the same, but watch time dropped because the vids were shorter. I know make them as long or short as I feel they need to be. My retention percentage increased, so I am happy with it.