As a content creator, you want to make sure your videos are interesting and engaging so that viewers will want to watch them for longer. One way to check how engaged your audience is with your videos is to look at the average view duration.
On YouTube, average view duration is the amount of time a viewer spends watching your video divided by the total number of views for the video.
What Is a Good Average View Duration on YouTube?
An average view duration between 70% and 80% of the total video length is considered a good average view duration on YouTube.
If your average view duration is lower than 70%, you may want to consider improving your content or making it more engaging. If your average view duration is higher than 80%, you may be doing something right and you should continue doing that.
The ideal average view duration on YouTube is between 2 and 5 minutes. This gives you enough time to deliver your message and keep people engaged.
It is very common to lose viewers after the 5-minute mark or halfway as viewers might have got what they wanted from your video or may have lost interest.
Factors That Affect Average View Duration
The average view duration on YouTube can be affected by a number of factors, including:
Topic of your video
A good average view duration on YouTube can vary depending on the type of content you create.
For example, if you create educational videos, your viewers may want to watch the entire video to learn everything they need to know.
On the other hand, if you create entertainment videos, your viewers may only watch for a few seconds or minutes because they’re just looking for a quick laugh.
Length of your video
The length of your video can also affect the average view duration. In general, shorter videos have a higher average view duration than longer videos because viewers are more likely to watch an entire short video than a long one.
This is why it’s important to make sure your videos are the right length for your topic and audience.
If you try to cram too much information into a short video, your viewers may not stick around until the end.
On the other hand, if you have a long video, viewers may get bored and stop watching before it’s over.
Quality of your video
Another factor that can affect the average view duration is the quality of your video. If your video is poorly produced, it’s likely that viewers will stop watching it before the end.
To ensure that your videos are high quality, invest in good equipment and editing software. In addition, make sure your videos are well-lit and clear so that viewers can see and hear everything that’s going on.
Your target audience
The average view duration on YouTube can also be affected by your target audience.
For example, if you’re creating videos for a younger audience, they may have shorter attention spans and be more likely to stop watching before the end of your video.
On the other hand, if you’re targeting an older audience, they may be more likely to watch your entire video because they have more patience.
As you can see, there are a number of factors that can affect the average view duration on YouTube. When creating your videos, keep these factors in mind so that you can create content that will keep viewers engaged from beginning to end.
How to Increase Average View Duration on YouTube
There are a number of things you can do to improve your average view duration, including:
1. Make sure your videos are well-made and engaging
First, and most importantly, you need to make sure your videos are high quality and engaging. If your videos are boring or poorly made, people will not want to watch them.
Make sure your videos are well-edited, have interesting content, and are visually appealing. If your videos are good, people will want to watch them for longer periods of time.
2. Keep your videos short and to the point
Second, you should try to keep your videos short and to the point. People have short attention spans, and they are more likely to watch a video that is shorter in length.
People will get bored and click away if your video is too long. Try to keep your videos within 5 to 10 minutes if possible.
3. Create an amazing introduction to your video
Your video’s introduction is critical in keeping people engaged. You need to make sure your introduction is interesting, catches people’s attention, and sets up the rest of your video.
A good introduction will make people want to watch your video until the end. A bad introduction will lose people’s interest and they will click away.
4. Target your videos to a specific audience
You need to make sure you are targeting your videos at a specific audience. If you try to appeal to everyone, you will end up appealing to no one.
Narrow down who your target audience is and make videos specifically for them. When you know who your audience is, you can make videos that they will want to watch and that will keep their attention.
5. Use annotations and calls to action in your videos
It would help if you also use annotations and calls to action in your videos. Annotations are like notes you can add to your videos that pop up at certain times.
You can use annotations to promote your other videos or encourage people to subscribe to your channel. Calls to action are simply asking people to do something, such as watch another video or subscribe to your channel.
Both of these things will help keep people engaged with your videos and coming back for more.
6. Use YouTube analytics
You should also use YouTube analytics to track your progress. YouTube analytics is a free service that lets you see how your videos are performing.
You can use YouTube analytics to see how many views your videos are getting, how long people are watching your videos, and where your traffic is coming from.
YouTube analytics can help you see what is working and what is not. You can use this information to make changes to your videos and get more views.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why does average view duration affects search rankings?
Average view duration is a metric that YouTube uses to determine how engaging your videos are. The longer people watch your videos, the more engaged they are considered to be.
YouTube uses engagement as a factor in its search algorithm, so if you can increase your average view duration, you may also see an improvement in your search rankings.
2. Can I delete a video if it has a low average view duration?
You can delete a video if it has a low average view duration, but this is generally not recommended.
If you delete a video, you will lose all the data associated with that video, including views, likes, comments, and shares. This data can be helpful in understanding why your video did not perform well and making changes to improve your average view duration.
It is usually better to leave the video up and try to make changes to improve your average view duration.
3. How to calculate average view duration?
Average view duration is calculated by dividing the total number of minutes watched by the total number of views.
For example, if your video has been viewed 100 times and people have watched a total of 10 minutes, your average view duration would be 10%.
Final Words
Following these tips, you should be able to improve your average view duration on YouTube. Keep in mind that it takes time and effort to build an engaged audience, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results immediately. Stick with it and keep creating great content.
