There is no universal best time to post on YouTube. But the best time to post your YouTube videos and Shorts definitely exists. Let’s find out how to figure it out!
Does YouTube Upload Date and Time Matter?
Knowing the best times to upload a YouTube video is important as it's better to post when your viewers are most active. This is the way to get more immediate likes, comments, and views from your subscribers and loyal fans.
The more views, likes, comments, and watch time you get within the first 48 hours the more engaging YouTube sees your content. This can help promote your video to more people, even those who aren't subscribed to your channel.
You need to remember that YouTube is a search engine. So, even if you post a video at the perfect time, it may not rank as high as you wish if your titles and descriptions are not optimized. To make this right, check out our latest articles about the YouTube algorithm and this complete YouTube SEO guide.
What is The Best Time to Post on YouTube?
You may see tens of articles out there saying they know the best time for you to post on YouTube, while everyone of them state different things. Some say it's better to post your video in the morning so that the video has enough time to grab attention, others claim something like every day is good, or post on Friday to Wednesday, or Sunday is best. It creates a bit of chaos, don’t you agree? The truth is that your best time to post on YouTube is something that only you can figure out and we’ll show you how to do it based on two core principles:
- Taking advantage of YouTube Analytics to figure out your prime time
- Looking into your demographics
So, be ready to calculate the best time to upload your YouTube videos. Let's start with Analytics!
YouTube Analytics Hints the Best Time to Post
You can find the best time and day to post videos and Shorts by checking out the data in YouTube Studio. It shows user activity for the last 28 days, including the busiest hours during the week.
Important: This method might not work for small channels. But if you're just starting out on YouTube, keep reading for some tips to help you find the best time to upload.
If you do have enough traffic on your channel, go to YouTube Studio:
- Click on your YouTube profile picture in the upper right corner.
- From the Studio dashboard screen, click on Analytics in the left navigation pane.
- From the main analytics screen, click the Audience tab (at the top).
On this dashboard, you will see a new module labeled “When your viewers are on YouTube”.
To clarify, this is not specifically about your subscribers. These are statistics for all YouTube users who watch your videos. You will find a graph similar to the one below.
The best time for your video to be available for viewers is the time marked with dark purple stripes, the so-called peak hours. A lighter shade means a small number of users. But this is not the best time for you to upload, because of the YouTube algorithms. So, what time is better to choose instead?
Upload Your YouTube Videos 2 Hours Before Your Peak Time
YouTube takes time to index your video. So, after you upload it, your video will appear on people's home screens or in search results in a couple of hours.
That's why it's a good idea to upload your video 2-3 hours before the best time for posting on YouTube. That way, when your audience is online, your video will be more likely to show up in their search results. This can be much more beneficial for your YouTube channel
Most probably you’ll have several days with dark purple marks. If you are uploading YouTube Shorts, you can surely try to upload them at the best time everyday. With long videos it’s almost impossible. In this case you can go for a day that is right before the next 2 most intensive ones. Most views usually come in the first 2 days, so aim for those peak times.
How to Find the Best Time to Post for Small YouTube Channels?
As we said, channels with less than 1000 views per day do not have access to the YouTube Analytics report about the best time to post videos, as there is not enough information to identify such trends. When this happens, YouTube will display this message: “Insufficient data to display this report”. What to do then?
In this case, you can start experimenting with the average best time to post. We’ve analyzed data about the times to upload on YouTube provided by companies like SocialPolit, QuickFrame, Buffer, and it is safe to say that you can start by posting between 8 to 11 am (EST) on weekends and from 12 to 3 pm (EST) on weekdays.
Another way is to find your best time manually. In YouTube analytics, go to the 'Review' tab and look on the right-hand side for 'Real time.' It shows how many views you've had each hour in the last 48 hours. If you keep track of this data in a spreadsheet for a month, you'll see when your audience is most active during the week.
Your YouTube Demographic Define the Best Time to Post Videos and Shorts
When choosing the time, you need to focus on demographics. You can see where your audience lives by country in YouTube Analytics.
This data can help you figure out when your potential viewers are available to watch your new YouTube videos. You can also set videos to start in a different time zone, for instance, the time zone of your largest audience.
Find this information in the same place where you viewed the best times to upload. Go back to YouTube Studio, then to Analytics, and go to the Audience tab.
You will see information about the most popular regions - a list of countries where your videos are viewed more actively.
In the Audience section you can also find info about subtitles like in what foreign languages your content is watched, and the percentage of viewing time for each language. Also info about other channels, and videos that are interesting to your followers.
Based on views of the countries and subtitles selected by subscribers, you can think about how to adapt the content for people who don’t live in your time zone. If you notice that more users from other countries watch your channel, then plan your time when uploading a video that will be more convenient for them.
Data to Keep in Mind While Choosing Time to Upload on YouTube
Of course, each YouTube niche has its own nuances, whether it's for longer videos or YouTube Shorts. However, there's something that remains relatively consistent over time, and that's general human behavior. Audience behavior can be quite predictable, especially considering that a large portion of YouTube users fall within the working-age demographic.
This causes the views to be lower in the early mornings on weekdays, picking up during lunch breaks and late afternoons. Video views on YouTube usually increase as the week progresses, reaching a peak on Fridays before decreasing over the weekend.
The least favorable times to post on YouTube are typically between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. when most viewers are asleep. The bottom line is to think about the people who watch your channel and understand their behavior.
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Exceptions: When Shouldn't You Waste Time Picking a Perfect Moment to Post?
Sometimes you don't need to pick the ideal moment to post a video when it comes to something very popular. For example, when Apple announces a new iPhone or Netflix releases a trailer for a new season of a highly-rated series.
Trust us, viewers won't wait until the end of the work day or the weekend! They will see the release date and time when you upload a new video to your channel, and will almost immediately run to watch a trailer or an announcement about a new product or new movie.
Go ahead and test each option. Adjust and experiment if you don’t see improvement for some time, and always remember that YouTube takes time to index videos as well. Don’t neglect devoting more time to a strategy. And remember to check that everything is right before clicking the Upload button.
