About those suggestions for upload schedules...

[Crown]

I keep reading that gamers should upload daily, vloggers 2-3 times a week, comedians once a week, etc.... (correct me if I'm wrong)

I get that uploading regularly and sticking to a schedule increases viewership, but who came up with those "rules"? I don't watch gaming videos so I'm baffled why it is recommended for gamers to upload daily (considering the videos are also pretty long, aren't they?). Do subscribers really watch every video every day?

Personally I've found that I can get tired of a person really quickly if they upload too often and their face is everywhere, which is a shame. Also, I'd prefer 1 really good video a week instead of 3 mediocre ones (recent example: Emma Blackery increased her uploads and I'm less interested in her newer videos and get a bit tired of her.)

I guess for me, ideally someone should upload every 5 days - but that's an odd number and you can't say "New video every ...." which is also really important!

I'm interested in reading your opinions/preferences!

I agree - I always read "gamers should upload daily" and no-one really questions it. "Because all the other gaming channels do it" without questioning it doesn't cut it for me. If people like your videos, they will watch them and they will be ok about waiting a week for the next one. In fact they will go out of their way to watch it if it is better than all the daily uploaded videos.

I don't watch gaming channels but some of the most successful gaming channels I've seen from YTtalk members were from channels who didn't upload daily. One of the most successful ones, a Russian channel actually made a tutorial thread about why less frequent uploads was a better strategy. [DOUBLEPOST=1415201104,1415201056][/DOUBLEPOST](moved to the strategy forum )

 

[Adam_Fitz]

It's definitely up to the person running the channel to determine their own schedule according to their content

Id never be able to be a youtube gamer, uploading everyday, editing everyday, playing the same games everyday
Id burn out soo fast

 

[Sabrina]

If you do Let's Plays and such you practically need to upload daily or you'll fall way behind others

Thanks for explaining this! I never thought about it... so basically, if you don't keep up, the competition will be further along in the game?

It depends on the content creator for me.
Some people I can only enjoy watching from now and then, but some other people I might enjoy to watch on a daily basis.

You're right. There's one person, if he did a 24/7 livestream, I'd watch it.
But as a creator you obviously can't expect your audience to love you that much, so I'd be careful to upload too often. I wouldn't want anyone to get sick of me.

I'd just say upload a QUALITY video as often as you can. [...] I think the minimum you should be uploading is once a week.

Agreed!

@WolfWraith Thank you so much for the explanation. It's been a complete mystery to me for such a long time...

"Because all the other gaming channels do it" without questioning it doesn't cut it for me.

I think the people here have explained it well that it depends on the type of gaming video. But yes, maybe, if you want to stand out, you need to do it differently...

 

[TundraZer0]

"Gaming" channel here. I upload bi-weekly. My favorite kinds of videos are scripted, comedic reviews, and it's not even close to feasible to upload any faster. Honestly, it usually takes me around 2.5-3 weeks for one of those videos, but that's why filler was invented. lol

 

[Keyao Films]

Totally agree with what the majority of people are saying here. I can understand why you would need to post a minimum of once a week to keep relevant, but sometimes, like ourselves, we post once a month because of other commitments.
However, the quality is always better when we spend time on our videos, rather than rushing one out just to meet a schedule and having a lackluster joke of a video. In the future we could stick to one a week schedule if all we do is make videos and not have other jobs, but for now, we're just having fun with it, and so should everyone else who is making videos for the fun of it.

 

[Sabrina]

but for now, we're just having fun with it, and so should everyone else who is making videos for the fun of it.

Yeah, I know how much work you put into your videos! Obviously if someone doesn't care about growing their channel they can upload whenever they want. But so many people have said that uploading regularly makes a huge difference in terms of getting more views/subs.

 

[Keyao Films]

Yeah, I know how much work you put into your videos! Obviously if someone doesn't care about growing their channel they can upload whenever they want. But so many people have said that uploading regularly makes a huge difference in terms of getting more views/subs.

Yeah I know what you mean. We have felt growth on all ends. January of this year, we tried posting a video a week, the quality of the videos were not that bad, because all we did that month was work like crazy on them and we did get a big rise in views and subscribers.
HOWEVER, within the last 4/5 months, we have posted a video once a month, and one of those video is now our most watched sketch, and another one got us 30+ subscribers within a few days of posting it.

Honest opinion; always go for quality, I would rather have small amount of views on something I'm proud of, rather than a whole bunch of views on something that makes me cringe every time I watch it.

 

[Lightsen]

I'd just say upload a QUALITY video as often as you can. If it takes you 3 days to make a good gaming video (with good commentary, editing, effects, etc) then only upload every 3 days. Don't crank out mediocre videos just for the sake of uploading, since people are going to watch them and think they suck. That being said, I think the minimum you should be uploading is once a week. After a week people will start forgetting about you. There are exceptions, such as if you make extremely high quality and time consuming videos like some animators that may spend months making new videos. If it's literally impossible to upload weekly, then just upload whenever you can. But for most people, a week is plenty of time to make a new video, even multiple videos.

^^^ Agree wholeheartedly (btw thanks for mentioning us animators! its a tough time to try and make a schedule)

It's all about quality. I watch GameGrumps, and they upload 3+ vids a day. They are a working team, with plenty of resources to manage that workload, and have a fixed schedule. I watch most of their vids daily. I cannot watch another channel that uploads that regularly however, especially if it is another lets play channel, I wouldn't have enough time to see everything and as a viewer, I would fall behind.

There's a let's player I also watch, who works on his own and has a small sub base, But I love his vids. He only uploads once a week or so, but I look forward to every video.

I don't view one as better than the other, and although with more regular videos you get more money, id rather have quality over quantity. Generally only the bigger channels can really manage the heavy workload.

 

[Cybs]

But so many people have said that uploading regularly makes a huge difference in terms of getting more views/subs.

Its what we are used to. Greys Anatomy's is on every wednesday night at 20:00, Game of Thrones every thursday night, etc. If you manage to stick to a schedule, your channel starts to feel more like, well, a channel. People will know, its thursday! This evening there will be a new upload from SabrinaKom!!

Thats the one thing I'd love to change about my own channel. Get a schedule and stick to it. But because I'm working fulltime thats hard to do. I'm already putting in 2 to 3 evenings a week working on my website and channel. So I'm happy if I can upload something every other week and sometimes week.

 

[Sabrina]

Its what we are used to. Greys Anatomy's is on every wednesday night at 20:00, Game of Thrones every thursday night, etc.

I know that's what they say, but do people really go online / check out YouTube at a specific day and time just to watch a specific YouTuber? I never do that, I hardly even know people's upload days. But I do notice when they miss a week and I prefer regular uploads because then they appear more like a "friend" to me...