Vlogging is becoming really big in the world of food blogging, but did you know you can help increase the number of views just by being savvy about when you post to YouTube?
Sally shares these simple tips…
There are lots of deflating moments in life: realising you’ll never marry John Cusack; creating yet another Pinterest-fail – and posting a kick-ass video on YouTube that nobody watches.
Today we’re sharing some insights into the BEST time to post your YouTube content to maximise the chances of it being seen. Now bear in mind, timing is only a part of the story – your YouTube views also rely on other factors like:
- How good the title and thumbnail are
- The tags you use in your video description
- How many playlists your video is added to
- How many subscribers you have
- Whether your subscribers have notifications on
But timing matters.
What Time should I post on YouTube?
Generally speaking the best time of day to post during the WEEK is between 2 and 4pm. Sounds counter-intuitive, because many of your favourite YouTubers post in the evening, right?
That’s fine if you’re a big YouTube star with a million subscribers. But if you’re a smaller fish (or more of a tiny single-celled bottom dweller, like me) then you need to think smart.
Traffic on YouTube is highest in the evening – from around 8pm to 10pm. Posting at 3pm means your video has time to be indexed by YouTube, and start showing up in search results and recommended videos at peak viewing time. It’ll also be showing up in your subscribers’ accounts when they log on in the evening. Whilst we mention subscribers – do ensure you have subscribed to Tots 100 and Tots 100 founder Sally Whittle.
Things are a little different on the weekend, though – then, more people are on YouTube through the afternoon, so we recommend posting around 11am on a Saturday or Sunday to capture that audience as well as the evening viewers.
What Day Should I Post on YouTube?
With similar logic, the best days to post on YouTube are days when traffic is likely to be highest – generally, Internet traffic – and this includes YouTube – is low at the start of the week, when we’re all pretending to be productive at work, or school, or college.
From the middle of the week people have more free time, and less demands on their time – meaning you’ll get the best figures generally by posting on Thursday or Friday evening – if not, go for Saturday or Sunday.
When will I earn most?
YouTube advertising can be a great source of income if you monetise your channel – reported figures from ad networks suggest the worst time for advertising rates is May to August. September is pretty good, but the best months for earning potential are October, November and December.
This makes total sense if you think about it – people are more likely to be indoors and they’re also probably planning their big annual shopping spree in the run-up to Christmas. Lots of brands want to advertise at this time of year, so rates are higher.
If you’re going to do a month-long daily vlog, or a special series then, your best bet is to schedule it in the last quarter of the year.
In summary then, to get the best audience and earning potential, we suggest posting content to YouTube on a Thursday or Friday afternoon, and focusing big vlog campaigns on the final quarter of the year – so, bring on Vlogmas – who’s in?
We have put together a post of ten great food vloggers here and don’t forget to let us know how you get on if you try any of Sally’s suggestions.
