Marketing How-To: The Best Time to Post on YouTube

As a video content creator, you may be wondering: what’s the best time to post on YouTube? And that’s not surprising.

Creating quality content is challenging. Even after creating a high-quality video, getting people to view that content is even harder. But, that doesn’t have to be the case for you.

Fifteen years ago, co-founder of YouTube, Jawed Karim uploaded the first video on the streaming platform. Today, YouTube has grown to become more prominent than other social media and every other website except Google.

The video streaming platform has over 2 billion active users. What’s more, various content creators upload over 500 hours of content to YouTube every minute. That’s a 40 percent increase since 2014.

All these creators are competing for a share of YouTube’s 5 billion daily video views.

With so much competition, how do you make your videos stand out? That’s where this post comes in.

This article explores the best time to post on YouTube and how to see your live subscriber count. You’ll also learn some general tips to make your content better.

When is the Best Time to Post on YouTube?

In general, the best time to upload your video to YouTube during weekdays is between 2 and 4 pm CST or EST (the most densely populated, internet-active time zones).

You may be thinking it’s a little too early because YouTube traffic is highest in the evening between 7 and 10 pm CST/EST.

The reason for posting earlier is that, just as Google indexes blog content, YouTube does the same for videos. Posting your video a few hours earlier will allow your video to be indexed. That way, they’ll up in search results.

Weekends are different. A lot of people are active on YouTube in the afternoon. For then, you’ll want to post your videos earlier between 10 – 11 am EST or CST.

As we discussed for Instagram, you should also check your YouTube Analytics to know your channel’s peak times.

How to Check Live YouTube Subscriber Count

Checking your live subscriber count can be particularly useful for content creators who stream live content to YouTube.

It allows them to see in real-time when they gain or lose followers. This way, they can quickly tell what makes them gain followers, lose subscribers, and perform in general.

Checking your live subscriber count is simple thanks to several online tools. Some of these tools are YouTube Subscriber Counter, YouTube Realtime, and Social Blade.

Simply pick one, and you’re good to go.

Optimize Your YouTube Video Metadata

Knowing the best time to post on YouTube is not enough to generate a million views for your videos. Other factors to consider before publishing your video include:

• Creating a catchy title
• Writing a compelling description
• Proper descriptive tags
• Finding an awesome thumbnail

Above all, you should stay consistent. Users return to your channel because they like what you’re producing. So, changing your formula or subject could push your subscribers to another content creator.

Wrapping Up

It’s essential to post at the right time and optimize your video metadata. However, these actions might not be enough to sway the YouTube algorithm.

According to a report, 70 percent of what people watch on YouTube is determined by its recommendation algorithm. So, what do you do?

It’s simple. Create the most engaging videos that your audience would enjoy watching. Also, request for engagement actions — comments, likes, and even dislikes.

Finally, consider using annotations and playlists to link your videos.

Read More: 5 YouTube SEO Tools to Improve Your Rankings