How are short video views counted on YouTube Shorts? How long can the shorts last? Should you use hashtags and re-upload content? YouTube Shorts Product Manager Todd Sherman answers these questions and more…
YouTube TikTok clone is booming! While the interest in long videos is growing strongly, the place of short videos in the application and on the platform in general is increasingly important. 
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In fact, YouTube Shorts content now generates over 50 billion views a day… Just that !
But creators continue to ask a variety of questions related to the creation and distribution of short video content. Do you also want to know more about the Shorts algorithm?
Todd Sherman, Shorts Product Manager at YouTube, provides the answers in a Creator Insider video.
Short videos are becoming more and more important on YouTube
Google attaches more and more importance to short videos, with success. Last year, the average number of channels uploaded this type of content increased by 80% every day!
This is undoubtedly one of YouTube’s priorities for 2023 and beyond. That’s why YouTube keeps rolling out new ad formats so you can monetize your content and advertisers can enjoy good reach and engagement.
Recently, YouTube Shorts ads were also added to YouTube Select.
Plus, YouTube Shorts is always adding new exciting features:
- For example, creators might use a button in their shorts to reference long-form related content on YouTube;
- Side-by-side collaboration functionality will allow short films to be shot in parallel with other creators;
- Vertical live streaming or Q&A stickers for short videos will also be available.
The algorithm for short videos is slightly different than for long content
In the Creator Insider channel video, Todd Sherman explains that YouTube’s recommendation system has also changed. As recipients and creators, we look at and create different things in short and long form.
Sherman clarifies:
“For example, in a long form, most of the time people choose which video by tapping it on the phone or clicking it on the web, and that choice gets a lot of engagement. In short, people are browsing a feed and discovering things as they proceed. This is an important difference. And this leads us to have to measure ourselves in different ways. »
YouTube likes to diversify the stream when it comes to short videos. After all, there’s a difference between watching 10-20 videos in the long version or even hundreds in the short version.
When it comes to the flow of short videos, the number of views is also an essential issue:
“What we’re trying to do with a view is code it for your intent to look at that thing, so the creators feel like that view has a significant threshold that the person has decided to look at. That doesn’t mean it’s the their favorite video, it just means they watch it on purpose. »
In YouTube Analytics you can also see if the video has been viewed or if it is appropriate to apply the “dragged” dimension. This distinction allows you to better personalize your content and potentially attract even more attention in the future.
Is there an ideal shorts length?
Sherman is sure the length of the video doesn’t really matter. The point to really think about is when you should be telling your story.
As a platform, YouTube wants to give space to videos of different lengths. However, short films must not continue to be longer than 60 seconds. After all, YouTube already has plenty of opportunities in the long-form content space to deliver longer-form content.
However, many creators are experimenting not only with the video length of short films, but also with visual representation, such as thumbnails.
While hashtags aren’t mandatory, they could carry weight, especially if the content is about a global and hot topic of the moment. So, at least consider integrating hashtags.
However, it doesn’t matter if a video is uploaded during the day. While the news is relevant to publishers, for example, download time is almost irrelevant to YouTube.
Even with a particularly large number of videos uploaded, around 5 per day, YouTube’s systems don’t give any signs of better performance.
Selon Sherman:
« […] There’s nothing in our systems that when you hit the mark of five videos or ten shorts a day, you somehow reveal a secret. That’s not how it works. »
A high posting frequency won’t help you, for example, if you post low-quality videos. Instead, you need to create and upload a high-quality video.
What if the shorts get almost no views?
YouTube is proactive in trying to find the right audience for short videos. New short video creators may also have views that are experimental in nature, as the algorithm first serves the videos to different audiences before various metrics allow for more specific serving.
When you upload short videos that just don’t get any views, sometimes you try to repost that content. Not recommended!
This is not a growth trick. YouTube may even classify many re-uploads as spam.
Use this content to learn, grow and move forward with new content.
