Best times to upload to YouTube
YouTube is one of the first online video sharing websites/platforms on the internet; becoming a YouTuber has become one of the biggest millennial/Gen Z craze.
But YouTube is more than an online video sharing platform, it is largely a numbers game. To achieve ‘success’ on the platform YouTubers should learn the algorithm.
How do I know when the best time to upload is?
Depending on where in the world your audience is the statistics and engagement will vary/depend.
However, you can keep up with your YouTube Analytics to study your channel’s peak times. You should also be aware of your channel insights (your subscriber count) with websites like YouTube Subscriber Counter, YouTube Realtime, and Social Blade.
One website suggests that the best time to upload to YouTube (if you are targeting an American audience) is during 2 and 4 pm CST or EST on a weekday.
They state that the reason for uploading in the day time versus the evening is so that Google (and YouTube) indexes your videos. Depending on where your audience is in the world, they will get the upload notification; if they are in your time zone then they will watch the video during their lunch break or after school/work.
A website called boosted recognizes that users from India, Brazil, Russia, China and the United Kingdom are on YouTube on Wednesdays and the weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). So a YouTuber might consider uploading from 5 pm-10 pm on Friday and Saturday. The best times to post on Sunday was 11 am or 5 pm.
As aforementioned you must go through your YouTube analytics to get a good grasp and insight into what time your audience is active. You can schedule and plan when to post accordingly. If your audience is active at 5 pm then upload at 3 pm or 4 pm so that the video will show up on their YouTube homepage.
In Summary
- Go to YouTube Studio, check the analytics section and look for the “When your viewers are on YouTube” report;
- Narrow in on the day(s) with the darkest purple bars;
- Schedule and plan when you will post your videos (daily, weekly and monthly);
- Upload your video accordingly;
- Play around with the algorithm – find the best day, time and how often you should post dependent on the engagement in your insights.
You should consider scheduled updates…
Planning your video content helps you save time and maximise the content you are uploading on your account.
After drafting, recording and editing your content you should plan and schedule how and when you will be uploading the videos. At this point, you will have knowledge about when your audience is online.
You can schedule your videos by:
- Uploading your video;
- Adding the details about your video – title, thumbnail, playlist, description etc;
- There will be an option to ‘select schedule’ – to save and publish your video with the date and time you intend the video to go live;
- Click schedule and get an email or notification informing you that your video has been scheduled for upload!
Why is it important for me to know when to upload on YouTube?
YouTube is still a business and should be treated as such; it is important to note the best times to upload and post on the platform to know the best days and times to engage with your audience.
If you don’t post at the right time on YouTube then you may risk missing out on growing your audience and taking advantage of the algorithm; we cannot emphasise enough how important it is for you to study the YouTube algorithm to succeed at being a YouTuber.
Aspiring and established YouTubers alike should consider business plans and structures to help them find ways of growing their brand. Learning the best time to upload is one potential way of growing their brand.
