YouTube Tips What is a Good Retention Rate?

[Stanley | Team TB]

Brought this back from Vidsummit, in my opinion the single most powerful bit of data I've seen in a long time. This comes directly from a presentation given by YouTube staff and reflects the Retention rates of the Top-10% of videos for each length.

For example: If you make a 30 minute video you need to get at least a 50% retention rate in order for that video to be in the top-10% of 30 minute videos.

This is very general information and your niche/audience as well as your CTR are going to have a very real impact on your video performance regardless of watch time... but these are the numbers to aim for when you are trying to put yourself in position to be successful on YouTube.

 

[Damon]

Nice! I often say less than 50% retention is a failed video for my channel.

 

[Laserfunfacts]

That is an interesting metric to achieve. Especially if it is videos that people already like and trust and their algorithm has been top-notch. I will consider those analytic when pushing content. Thanks!

 

[Laserfunfacts]

Nice! I often say less than 50% retention is a failed video for my channel.

Interesting channel about fishing. I see it is a popular sport. They say you teach a man to fish and he never goes hungry. It seems every day you got go fishing or you will go hungry.

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

Nice! I often say less than 50% retention is a failed video for my channel.

I agree... I've always aimed for 'above 40%.' But I knew there was a difference depending on video length and it's nice to see some actual data. I will say that 50% for a 30 minute video is going to be TOUGH. 80% on a 3 minute video is sooo much easier to hit.

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

Interesting channel about fishing. I see it is a popular sport. They say you teach a man to fish and he never goes hungry. It seems every day you got go fishing or you will go hungry.

Well said!

 

[Vince Alvino]

That's interesting, my hobby/Youtube channel is about Amateur radio. We are about 0.02% of the US population and less worldwide. Most people don't even know about it. I keep my videos between 3 and 10 minutes and hit the 50% mark with a quarter of my 36 videos so far. Should I remove videos that fall short of 50% even if they get some views?

 

[Damon]

No, don't remove videos. Leave them up. They will add to the overall success of your channel in the long run.

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

@ham radio Absolutely don't remove them. For starters YouTube does not care about your overall channel view percentage, especially when you have videos which span so many different lengths, topics etc. But as Damon said there is a LOT of value in having that library and even videos with underperforming retention rates provide value.

 

[Theory Guitar]

That's interesting, my hobby/Youtube channel is about Amateur radio. We are about 0.02% of the US population and less worldwide. Most people don't even know about it. I keep my videos between 3 and 10 minutes and hit the 50% mark with a quarter of my 36 videos so far. Should I remove videos that fall short of 50% even if they get some views?

Yeah 100% do not remove them! I am also a ham radio operator I love the hobby.

 

[BunnyBlue]

I think I removed 2 or 3 videos that had been on my channel a year and hadn't passed 50 views... Other videos have passed 5000 views so I decided to dump the poor ones... Bad choice?

 

[MattCommand1]

I think I removed 2 or 3 videos that had been on my channel a year and hadn't passed 50 views... Other videos have passed 5000 views so I decided to dump the poor ones... Bad choice?

I am from the school of thought that EVERY video has value even if they are not viewed much. Because they are part of a larger library as @Stanley OrchardBuddy pointed out. They are part of our history and experience good or bad.

I got some real stinkers in terms of overall views. But I am still proud of the videos I produced and stand by them because I tried to do a good job and I think they provide positive value into the world. If only 4 people care enough to watch them, then so be it. I learn from it and move on. But I stand by them.

Unless it is some really egregious reason that is not in the public interest or reflects negatively on you, I would certainly not remove the video especially if you have not yet hit 4,000 watch hours. To me, every little watch minute helps the cause.

 

[Waqar Anwar]

Thanks for good information

 

[groovy horrror scifi]

I've found with some of my videos which are hit and miss in terms of views that the retention rate near the beginning drops so it suggests I need to change something there.
My vids are less than 30mins so 50% retention rate is going to be a challenge !!.
Worth doing though .
As for taking vids off I'd also advise just keeping them on because there might only be a few who are keen on those particular videos but they are also potential viewers/subs for your channel so definitely keep them on.