What is The Ideal YouTube Video Length?

Wondering what the most recommended YouTube video length is? Wonder no longer!

The truth is, there’s no such thing called the perfect length. You have to find what works best for you based on the kind of content and viewer you’re targeting. However, there are still things to learn about the length of a YouTube video for a higher ranking.

Without further ado, let’s get started on this article!

Why YouTube Video Length Matters?

The video length matters because viewers have distinct intentions when they come to YouTube.

Some want a brief answer to satisfy their curiosity about everyday life, whereas others need a detailed, carefully explained solution that takes much longer than a couple of minutes to deliver.

Some viewers caught themselves watching an entire 30-minute video on how to store burger buns and still have the tenacity to watch more! At the end of the day, they realized they’ve just spent more than 5 hours watching YouTube. We call it The YouTube Rabbit Loop.

Try to find out the type of audience that will most likely watch your videos to plan better content and make long enough videos to attract viewers.

Even though this seems rather counterintuitive as people’s current attention spans are short these days, longer videos equal more Watch Time.

Essentially, the ideal video length is just long enough to cover all the information you wish to deliver to the audience without padding the video with fluffs.

Don’t make long videos just for the sake of it. Viewers will soon notice your intention to expand the Watch Time without actually offering anything informative. Eventually, the view count will decrease.

Keep in mind that developing content with longer videos is recommended, but don’t always force it if you can’t cleverly deliver what the audience wants to see and hear.

How to Find the Best Video Length for Your Channel

There are three methods to find the best video length for your YouTube channel. Check them out!

Estimate the Average Length of High-ranking Videos

To do this, go to YouTube. Then, seek the keywords relating to your targeted content.

Look for the four videos with the highest-ranking of the search results (the four first ones that pop up), and calculate to find the average length of top-ranking clips.

Theoretically speaking, this isn’t the most scientific method to find the best length for your video, but it’s the quickest and easiest way to capitalize on what works.

From this, you will have a clue how long watchers spend watching certain topics.

Take A Look at The Average View Duration on Your Account

Enough with the external factors; let’s check out your channel’s insight.

Go to YouTube Studio, then click on Analytics on the left corner of your display.

In this section, you’ll find many useful metrics relating to your YouTube channel, one of them is the graph showing the view fluctuation on your clips. Remember to adjust the time to get the latest data.

Now, let’s say you have a view duration of 4 minutes, 10 seconds. This figure means your subscribers and non-subscribers are willing to stick around for approximately 4 minutes.

Once you’ve had a specific benchmark to follow, you can plan out future content and put valuable information in a reasonable manner in accordance with the right time frame.

Also, don’t forget to look at the traffic sources to find how long non-subscribers are willing to watch your video, especially if you managed to have a clip show up on the Trending page or be a Suggested Video.

Examine Your Subscriber Growth

Ultimately, what your subscribers want is what matters most.

When you examine your subscriber growth, you’ll see whether they want to see longer or shorter videos. Remember YouTube Studio? Let’s go back there. Then, click on Subscription Status to see the percentage breakdown of your viewers.

This time, pay close attention to non-subscribers. The goal here is to turn non-subscribers into loyal fans, so take note of the change of viewers when you decide to produce longer or shorter content.

If you continuously encounter increases in views, it can be a good signal to escalate the length of your videos and see where it goes. 

Read more: How to get more subscribers on youtube? 13 ways for beginners

What is The Perfect Length for A YouTube Video?

Massive studies have revealed that 10 minutes is the ideal video length. But why ten but not any other number?

People are quite frantic in their attention. Some get antsy when they sit around for too long. They tend to click on one video, and before you know it, they get distracted by some other videos.

However, 10-minutes is more or less a magical time where people are ready to switch to something else.

What is more, YouTube encourages creators to make videos of at least 10 minutes or longer to include mid-roll ads. If your clip is anything shorter than 10 minutes, you’re only permitted to put a single ad at the beginning.

But really, don’t stuff your videos with fluffs to reach the 10-minute mark.

When you make your video longer than it needs to be, viewers will soon notice that you’re only fluffing, which results in an adverse impact on your audience retention and your chance to be nominated on Suggested Videos.

If you have more than one thing to say, and 10 minutes isn’t enough to cover everything, consider splitting your video into two or multiple parts if needed. Having multiple six to ten-minute videos all connected, with circular video viralocity, is the sweet spot.

At the end of the day, it should be the viewer’s intent to determine the length of your YouTube videos. There is no optimal video length anyone can prescribe for you. Target what viewers seek to see and take advantage of what you already have to offer.

Rather than asking, “What is the perfect length for a YouTube video?” use your analytics and ask, “How long does MY video need to be?” Topics vary, video styles differentiate, and audiences alter.

Still, it is advisable to make videos longer than 2 minutes. After some thorough research on top-ranking videos, hardly any videos less than this length have reached any success on the platform.

If you must create a video that is shorter than 2 minutes, consider producing a YouTube Short. YouTube Short is the new trend that boosts your chance of going viral and widens your exposure among millions of users on YouTube.

Here’s a tip when you produce content for your audience: test long-form content after you’ve built trust and authority among your fans.

People can be listening to your video as a podcast or when they drive; the key point to this is, they’re willing to stick around. The same thing won’t work for someone who hasn’t developed authority yet.

So, answer your question for as long as they need to be, but also as to the point as possible. Once you’ve built trust and validation, you now have a reason to build a longer content form for the extended Watch Time, which exponentially growth hacks your channel.

Do Longer YouTube Videos Make More Money?

In a way, lengthy videos do have more revenue. Even though there is no minimum length for monetizing your videos, try to make your video at least 8 minutes to insert mid-roll ads for optimal earning.

Economically speaking, you will want to place as many ads in your videos as possible. More ads mean you get to make more money. However, viewers won’t be happy to be interrupted in as little as minutes watching your content.

Understandably, you’d want the most of your videos by adding as many ads as possible.

After all, YouTubers are also entrepreneurs, and their channels are a form of business. We understand the grind, but it is unacceptable for strong-arming content creators to inflate runtime for the sake of Watch Time, and of course, money.

It appears to be unfair to not only the viewers but the YouTubers themselves. 

They feel pressured having to reach that 10-minute benchmark in return for a fraction of their earnings (Monetization content on YouTube entails a 45/55 split in ad revenue between YouTube and the content creator accordingly).

To Sum Up

Your YouTube video length plays an important part in growing your YouTube channel; bear this in mind to create content in accordance with it. Plus, you don’t have to be attached to a certain length. Be more flexible over your video length, and you will thrive!

Thank you for reading.