YouTube has brought about many opportunities. It is not only a tool for entertainment but also for marketing. Therefore, if you have a channel, there is a need to know how you can keep your viewers watching your content for a longer period. That means increasing your public watch hours to meet the threshold for monetization. You need to fine-tune your videos to increase views and hence YouTube watch time.
Understand What YouTube Watch Time is
Until recently, the primary ranking factor was the number of views of your video. Now the most important ranking factor is watch time. You can think of watch time as audience retention, which is the total amount of time viewers spend watching the videos. Thus, if you can increase the watch time, your channel will likely grow, and your videos will be recommended. The following are the proven ways of increasing YouTube watch time.
Create Playlists
You can guide your viewers to enjoy a longer viewing experience by creating playlists. The good thing about playlists is that your potential viewers can watch your quality content. You can do this by organizing your videos in an interesting sequence. In this way, viewers are likely to watch the videos you have. This will boost the watch time and increase your YouTube rankings. Remember to optimize the playlists by using the end and start time functions.
When you utilize the playlist function, it is advisable to remove your video introductions. In this way, you can avoid boring the viewers. Remember that YouTube allows you to add related videos to increase the watch time.
Choose Correct Thumbnails and Titles
The truth is that thumbnails and titles of the video can greatly impact your video rankings and views. These give insights into the video’s content. Ensure you use them correctly as they can increase YouTube watch time. You can find suggestions in the Creator Academy. Start by selecting an image that reflects the content of the video. In this way, viewers can tell what to expect.
Use Cards in the videos
There are different ways you can use cards. Cards make it easier to link your video to other videos in your channel. You can think of them as free tools to promote playlists and related videos. The tactic is quite effective when the card is added.
Use Long-Tail Keywords
You can easily beat your competitors when you use long-tail keywords. It is easier to find keywords by using YouTube suggestions. When you type a word in the search box, you will get suggestions. You should note that these are not just suggestions, but rather what people are looking for on YouTube. Thus, you can use these suggestions as ideas to create content. It is advisable to check your competitors and see the types of videos they are creating.
You should note that search engines crawl texts and readable content they find online. Also, they consider other things such as user experience, links, and site’s load time. However, the process is quite different when it comes to YouTube. That is because videos are different from articles and are complex to process. Thus, your YouTube Watch Time is quite important.
