As people started uploading more videos, YouTube released a set of rules for payment. If you are a potential YouTuber and want to upload content but the rules scare you, then we are here to guide you. In this article, we’ve brought all the ways to increase public watch hours on YouTube.
YouTube is the most popular video content platform catering to many types and genres of videos. Posting online video content became trendy and YouTubers started earning well. These new guidelines will make your vlogs or videos uploads profitable to you. Remember, more watched hours and more subscribers will help your channel to get monetized.
You could receive payments only if you have 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours in the past 365 days. This disappointed many established YouTubers. It also became tough for newcomers who found it hard to meet these criteria.
Small vloggers and mini-clip content creators that made people giggle weren’t workable. Highlights of any videos that people posted had to be popular. This led to a lot of stress and competition, and many YouTubers came out in open protest against this. Some took breaks and some stopped posting content.
Public watch hours represents the number of time people spent watching those videos. This should amount to 4000 hours of viewing if you want your channel to get monetized. YouTube did this to reduce the people getting paid and to generate popular content. Raising the bar ensures quality content, and YouTubers had to work twice as hard now. This also eliminated dead channels and casual video uploads.
Ways to Increase Public Watch Hours On YouTube
You should try these methods to increase public watch hours on YouTube to get your YouTube channel monetized.
Check the stats for your watched hours
The first step is finding out where to check watched hours. Open your YouTube account and check your Creator Studio. Select the Analytics in the left-hand menu, and opt for “The last 365 days.” at the bottom of the window that appears.
This tells you how many minutes people spent watching your videos during that time frame. Your target is 4,000 hours which is equal to 240,000 minutes. So if you see this, it’s a step in the right direction!
If not, don’t get discouraged, read on to boost your public watch hours!
Make sure the timing is right
One good way to boost the watch time is to post videos at the right time. Doing this will make your video show up in the suggested feeds when people are scrolling on YouTube. This leads the video to get watched more, which increases watch time!
Normally, people tend to check YouTube mid-afternoons during generic lunch break times. Posting it then also leads to the video being indexed before 8 pm, which is the peak viewing time. Post early on the weekends. Avoid the busy Mondays and post any time when there is not a lot of internet traffic.
Don’t Underestimate Playlists
One tip to generate view hours is by using playlists. If a viewer starts with your video and watches the next few videos in the playlist that are yours, that will also increase the watch time.
To use this feature, make sure all your videos are on playlists. So if you are a content creator, make sure you make Playlists with your other videos to increase the view times.
Use YouTube Cards Or Watch More features
You can redirect the viewers to watch more of your videos with this feature. It helps you add an on-screen link anywhere in your video. Put a card around that view time to redirect your viewer to other related videos. The target is to keep them on your channel or playlist as this works out in your favor.
While using End Slates, use the same technique and redirect them to longer videos and playlists. Always ask the user to subscribe or add the link below.
Include a Teaser or Trailer
People have very little attention span while watching YouTube. If the content is not interesting, people will turn off the videos immediately. This can be observed when the view time on your video shows a large drop after a few seconds of your video. It’s disheartening, but it’s okay.
You can reduce this by including the best footage and clips at the beginning of your video, like a teaser. This makes them curious and hooks them further.
You might have observed this style in food videos where they show shots of the beautiful dish or they show funny moments in a compilation video. After this, they introduce their logo and title.
Sometimes giving them an update on what your video is about would keep them engaged. Some YouTubers also say, “Watch till the end for this..” and then add an attractive offer or giveaway at the end. These are great ways to keep the viewers attracted.
Keep the thumbnail and content consistent
Sometimes the thumbnail and title will be very attractive and the content may not match it. This leads to quick turning off of the video leading to lesser view hours. Let the thumbnail and title represent exactly what the video has. This makes the viewers trust you and watch the video till the end and look for more content of yours. These guidelines don’t permit attracting viewers but rather keeping your viewers watching more.
Keep an eye on the stats
Analyze your stats from time to time to keep track of how the viewers are watching your videos and where you could improve. YouTube Analytics is the best thing you can rely on for this.
When you are building a channel, higher watch time is the goal. Subscriber numbers and likes can change and be easily manipulated. It’s not an indicator for growth, but more watch hours are. Keep checking which type of videos earned the most watch time. And also check which type of content do people prefer and start building your future videos around that topic.
If YouTube rules have put a damper on your dreams, don’t let it stop you. Level up your channel content to its standards and give your best to it.
Yes, YouTube Live stream increases your watch hours.
To get more YouTube views, you have to create compelling content, encourage viewers to subscribe, promote your other videos with the YouTube Cards feature, add a watermark to your videos, etc.
Yes, Hashtags can improve the video’s discoverability on the YouTube.