Why Watch time is more important than views!

[Aegislasher]

For most of us when we search on YouTube we are searching for something specific and when we find it we watch the entire video...normally we watch the first few that pop close to the top...however normally those are big name channels with a lot of subs.

So how does a small channel pop up on the top of that search ...it doesn't, unless it's something super specific to what you are searching... It's a tough game but us smaller channels have to understand that we need to eat the scraps that the big fish aren't eating until we are fat enough and big enough to fight those other big fish...if that analogy makes sense lol

that is true! patience is the key

 

[offbeatbryce]

if it's someone I like I will watch the whole video. Sometimes I will just browse and watch bits and pieces.

 

[CramBeats]

well, watchtime is ofc very important, but the problem for a music channel like mine is that many people just sklp through the tracks and see if they like it. But if they like it they often listen to it completely..but ofc i can't crreate music that everyone always loves ^^

 

[Rae Talks]

It's weird but the longer the video, the more I tend to watch. I'm more likely to watch an entire 15 minute daily vlog than I am a 5 minute one. (Although, I do tend the watch the whole video in general).

 

[Brinkbabe91]

Even though this has been said alot on these forums I think it is always good to restate this sort of things for any new people thanks

 

[Jake Shipe]

I completely agree, and sub4sub is just dumb. It bothers me when people ask for it. I just tell them if I like your content, I'll subscribe, and if you like mine, then I would hope you would subscribe to me too.

 

[TheSwedishTraveler]

Yeah, the ads come up after a few seconds (if you monetise them of course). so the runtime does matter.

 

[Wadj0s]

Usually, I watch the entire video and sometimes in background when it's a long video. But I agree, watch time is important, viewers are in second positions.

Anyway you need viewers to get more watch time ^^

 

[subversiveasset]

For most of us when we search on YouTube we are searching for something specific and when we find it we watch the entire video...normally we watch the first few that pop close to the top...however normally those are big name channels with a lot of subs.

So how does a small channel pop up on the top of that search ...it doesn't, unless it's something super specific to what you are searching... It's a tough game but us smaller channels have to understand that we need to eat the scraps that the big fish aren't eating until we are fat enough and big enough to fight those other big fish...if that analogy makes sense lol

This is such a big point. It's very difficult to rank in that first page for general/short keywords, because you simply can't optimize your SEO enough to overcome the actual watch time analytics that larger channels can build.

But for long-tail keywords/more specific terms that big channels aren't necessarily chasing, you can optimize your metadata for these things and get an early-posting boost for SEO reasons.

 

[ChrisLegend]

Watch time is a thing that is so hard to retain especially with the attention span of people nowadays. Something that I've noticed in my channel as of late is that it keeps on decreasing. I definitely need to switch my videos up and make them more captivating with those quick cuts, etc.