If anyone wants to make a living off of YouTube and go full time, they have to understand the importance of watch time. But what is watch time? In essence, watch time is the amount of time people spend watching your videos. It is affected by things like the length of the videos and their quality. For example, a short one-minute video will only generate a watch time of one minute per view if the viewer watched it all the way through. Similarly, a video can be half an hour long, but if everyone clicks off in the first few minutes, then the watch time on that video will be terrible.
What does watch time have to do with earnings?
It is often advised to up-and-coming YouTubers that they should focus more on the watch time than the number of views. It’s said that even if you are going to buy youtube views, make sure that the seller provides full watch time, as that is the real helpful part.
The connection between watch time and earnings is pretty logical and straightforward. More watch time means that the viewer is watching the video for longer, which in turn creates a lot more opportunity for midroll ads. These midrolls are especially more valuable, as a viewer is more likely to stick through an ad if they are already invested in the video that the ad appeared on.
Ways to improve watch time:
There is no particular method of increasing your watch time. Every type of content works differently and has to face different challenges. But this doesn’t mean that there aren’t any universal methods that you can follow to achieve better results. Here are the most notable ones.
Post at the right time:
Sure, posting a video whenever it’s done is tempting. But, if you want your viewers to watch the whole thing, post it at a time when they are most likely to be free. Take a page out of traditional T.V broadcasting and follow the prime-time rule.
Use playlists:
Playlists are a great way to make sure that the viewer stays on your channel and spends more time watching your catalog of content.
Use end cards:
Not everyone is going to be looking for a playlist. So, for those people, use an end card to redirect them to some other video of yours.
