absolute best time to post on YouTube in 2023
First, let’s clear this up. It is not universally the best time to upload videos on YouTube. Your business, your goals and the viewing habits of your audience will determine when you post on YouTube.
Picking the right moment to release new videos will boost engagement and give your content the push it needs to become a trend.
How do you decide the best time to publish on YouTube?
This article will show you:
- Make an educated guess based on existing research
- You can refine your posting schedule by considering the demographics of your audience
- Use YouTube analytics to determine the best time to upload new videos on YouTube
Let’s get started.
What time should you upload videos on YouTube?
The short answer to this question is yes. YouTube’s algorithm puts relevance and the viewer experience above all else. The success of your YouTube channel depends more on your quality content and how you optimize your posts, than on what time you post.
Posting at the right moment can start a snowball of viewers.
How does that work? Imagine you have timed your post to appear when your audience is most likely on YouTube. A few dozen more people view your video because of your timing. Some of them even give it a “like”. This early engagement shows YouTube that your video is worthy of sharing and increases the reach of your post.
While other aspects of your content may be more important, choosing the right time and day to upload videos on YouTube could have a positive impact on their success.
What is the best time of day to upload on YouTube?
YouTube is different than other social media platforms in a few ways. These differences will affect the way you schedule your videos.
The length of an average YouTube video exceeds ten minutes. This is much longer than the short clips featured on platforms such as TikTok.
The majority of people prefer to watch longer videos during their free time. Schedule TikToks during midday, when people can take a break from work. However, YouTube videos should be targeted outside of normal work hours.
YouTube’s search algorithm is more similar to Google Search than any social media platform (YouTube, after all, is owned by Google). It takes some time for your content to be indexed.
While Instagram updates appear instantly on your feed, YouTube videos are not seen by the majority of people until an hour later. To compensate for the delay, it’s smart to post on YouTube between two and three hours prior to your peak viewing times.
According to research, what is the best day and time to post on YouTube?
Remember how we stated that people are more likely to watch YouTube videos after regular work hours? There’s now research that supports this.
Here are the best times of day to post videos on YouTube.
- Monday: 2 to 4 pm
- Tuesday: 2 to 4 p.m.
- Wednesday: from 2 to 4 pm
- Thursday: 2 to 4 p.m.
- Friday: 2 to 4 p.m.
- Saturday: 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
- Sunday: 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
These times are set to allow YouTube’s algorithm to index videos for a few hours. A video that is posted at 3 pm will be viewed by viewers at 5 pm.
Google confirms this information, stating that YouTube viewing trends follow T.V. Trends in watching. People watch YouTube videos during prime time.
Hubspot’s survey of more than 1,000 marketers confirms this. The two most popular times for posting on YouTube were 3 p.m. – 6 p.m., and 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
A previous report from Federated Network Research concluded that the best time to upload videos to YouTube was in the early afternoons of weekdays or the late mornings of weekends.
You can imagine that the timing of Live YouTube videos will be very important as people are likely to tune in when you’re recording.
What is the worst possible time to post a video on YouTube?
The worst time to post on YouTube is early in the morning and early in weekdays. This is because people are focused on school and work during this time.
This may not be true if your educational content helps people to do their job better. You may find that your business-to-business material performs best on Tuesday afternoons.
When you plan your YouTube posting schedule, it’s important to take into account your audience.
Youtube posting times based on audience demographics
Not everyone watches YouTube videos simultaneously. Take some time to find out when the people who matter most to you are likely to watch.
Time zone
Where is the largest concentration of your viewers in the world?
You can use your local time zone to post if you are promoting a local service business that serves a few zip codes nearby.
What happens if your headquarters is in Los Angeles, but the majority of your customers are in New York? If you want to reach your clients on the east coast, then you’ll have to set up for the Eastern time zone.
Consider where you audience lives, and adapt your YouTube posting schedule to suit.
Age and occupation
It pays to upload videos to YouTube when viewers have the time to view them. This downtime will vary depending on the audience’s age, and their job.
If your videos are aimed at young professionals, the best time to post is around 3 pm on weekdays. If your videos are meant to help stay-at home parents, then you may want to post earlier in the day.
Imagine what your ideal viewers’ day would be like and post just a few hours before they have their free time.
Content type
The same person can watch different content at various times during the day. What you post can help you determine the best time to post.
Imagine that your videos show accountants how they can tackle complicated tax codes. You’ll likely get more engagement during business hours. If you’re sharing health tips with novice runners, CPAs who love to run may wait until the end of work to view.
It’s important to upload your videos so they are available at the time when they will be most useful.
Use analytics to determine your YouTube posting schedule
YouTube tells you exactly when and where people view your videos. You’ll be able to determine the best time and day for posting once you begin publishing regularly.
You can find two helpful places in the YouTube Analytics report. The choice you make depends on the amount of audience data that you have gathered.
Option #1: the “When your viewers visit YouTube” graph
You can easily find out when your YouTube viewers are online by looking at the graph.
This graph shows you the time that people are currently viewing your videos on YouTube. The graph is based on data from the past 28 days. The darker the purple color, the more viewers are browsing YouTube at the time.
Scroll down to find your graph by going to YouTube Studio > Analytics.
The graph will only appear on your Analytics dashboard if you have sufficient viewer data to display. No worries if you don’t. Use option 2.
Option #2: Realtime graph
Realtime graphs show you the number of viewers per hour over the past 48 hours. You can also find it on your YouTube Analytics dashboard.
It takes more effort to use this graph, but you can always access it (even if your data is not very recent).
You’ll keep an excel spreadsheet with the hourly data over a period of a month. Look for patterns between each day of the week and hour.
This method allows you to re-do the audit whenever your content changes. This audit will help you determine the best time to upload videos to YouTube if you have added new types of content or changed your target audience.
When is the best time to upload videos on YouTube?
Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions about YouTube posting schedules.
What is the importance of posting on YouTube?
You can, but only after you have already created relevant content which your audience enjoys. You can increase engagement by posting at the right moment. This will encourage YouTube to share more of your video. If the content or topic is not interesting to your audience you will tell YouTube to stop sharing it.
When is the best time of day to upload YouTube Shorts?
YouTube shorts is a form of video that lasts up to 60 seconds. Although Shorts are similar to TikToks in format, they still appear when people browse through their YouTube feed. Like their longer-form siblings Shorts are most popular outside of regular working hours. Post Shorts on the same days and times as your longer videos.
How often should I upload videos to YouTube?
You should post on YouTube every week. Consistency is important. You can gain more YouTube subscribers quickly by posting on YouTube at least once per day.
Uploading videos on YouTube at the right time
Every little boost is helpful in the world of Video Marketing. You should take advantage of the simple fact that shifting your YouTube video posting time by an hour can help.
Remember:
- YouTube is used outside of normal working hours, unlike other social networks.
- To refine your YouTube posting schedule, consider your audience demographics
- You can use your YouTube analytics to determine the best time for you to post.
- Posting relevant content your audience will love is the most important thing to do.
The article When is the absolute best time to post on YouTube in 2023 first appeared on WordStream.