What is the Best Time to Post YouTube Shorts
Virlo Team
Discover the best time to post YouTube Shorts to boost views, gain traction, and grow your audience quickly.
May 15, 2025
Timing is everything when it comes to posting YouTube Shorts. Sure, you can crank out and post as many Shorts as you want. But if you're going to get the most out of your efforts, you need to pay attention to when you post. For instance, experts say that posting YouTube Shorts when you have a good number of viewers already on your channel to watch them can help boost your videos' performance. This guide will help you get the most out of your YouTube Shorts ideas by identifying the best time to post them to achieve your goals, such as attracting new subscribers, boosting your traffic, and identifying viral trends for short-form content.
One way to boost your YouTube performance is to use Virlo's virality analysis tool. This valuable resource provides insights on trending topics to help you achieve your objectives, such as identifying viral trends for short-form content.
Table of Contents
Importance of Posting YouTube Shorts at The Right Time
Maximize Reach and Engagement: Posting YouTube Shorts When Your Audience Is Online
To get the most out of your YouTube Shorts, you'll want to publish them when your audience is most active. Posting at these peak times helps increase your reach and engagement by boosting the likelihood that your subscribers will see and interact with your content shortly after you publish. The quicker your YouTube Shorts get attention after posting, the better. Not only does this help create a strong connection between you and your audience, but it also signals to YouTube's algorithm that your content is valuable and boosts your chances of appearing on the platform's suggested feeds.
Foster Faster Growth with Strategic Timing
Strategically timing your YouTube shorts will accelerate your channel's growth. You build a pattern that your audience and YouTube's algorithm recognize by consistently posting at optimal times. This consistency keeps your current subscribers engaged while attracting new viewers, helping your channel grow more rapidly.
Get Better Visibility on YouTube
Visibility is crucial to the success of your YouTube Shorts. Posting at optimal times helps ensure that your content is more likely to appear in viewers' feeds and recommended sections. This increased visibility can lead to higher view counts and a more significant overall impact.
Enhance Your Return on Investment (ROI)
Posting your YouTube Shorts at the right time increases engagement and growth and enhances your return on investment (ROI). By reaching your audience when they’re most likely to engage, you ensure that your content efforts are paying off, whether regarding views, likes, or monetization.
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What is the Best Time to Post YouTube Shorts
YouTube Shorts can be a great way to grow your audience quickly. But like any other type of content, its performance can be affected when you post it. So, when are the best times to post on YouTube Shorts? Assorted research suggests that most users are most active during specific periods throughout each day, and can vary depending on the day of the week; so while these are general recommendations for YouTube Shorts posting, it's even more beneficial for you to observe and evaluate your particular target audience to collect even more valuable data!
General Posting Time Recommendations
Mornings (9 AM - 11 AM)
Posting in the morning gets your content out early, which can be discovered throughout the late morning as users check in.
Lunch Hours (12 PM - 2 PM)
This is a standard time for work or school breaks, and audiences often look for quick bursts of entertainment during this period.
Evenings (5 PM - 8 PM)
After work or school, many people use this time to unwind by consuming content, whether they're watching on a commuter train or bus, or chilling out after arriving home.
The Best Overall Times
Regardless of the day of the week, some times are universally popular with viewers (according to Social Pilot's 2024 research monitoring over 50K accounts); these recommended times to post your YouTube videos are from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and again from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Day by Day Suggestions
Mondays between 9 am - 11 am and again after 6 pm
Monday is the start of most people's work or school week, and they have limited time for leisure. People are slowly detaching from the weekend, so they will likely watch videos in the morning before work or school.
Tuesdays between 11 am - 2 pm, and again after 7 pm
The week is rolling forward, with daytime remaining busy, so early evening is the better choice for posting YouTube Shorts on Tuesdays.
Wednesdays between 2 pm - 4 pm and again after 8 pm
People are still in the thick of work/school on Wednesdays, so while midweek fatigue is driving people to a little YouTube distraction in the afternoons now, evenings are still your best bet.
Thursdays between 9 am - 12 pm and again after 5 pm
Everyone's starting to get distracted by the fact that the weekend is right around the corner, so there will be more social media scrolling as the weekend approaches.
Fridays between 2 pm - 5 pm and again between 7 pm - 9 pm
The weekend has begun, and people are ready for entertainment, whether sneaking peeks at YouTube Shorts during work or relaxing at a coffee shop, scrolling on their phone.
Saturdays between 10 am - 12 pm and after 6 pm
People wake later in the morning and check out YouTube shorts before their day off kicks in; evenings are leisure time and perfect for video viewing.
Sundays around 9 or 10 am and after 5 pm
Like Saturday, leisure time is in full force, starting later in the morning and running all day. However, with many people having to wake early on Monday, you might want to post your YouTube Shorts a little earlier in the evening. Posting consistently during these peak hours can help you maximize the engagement potential of your content. But again, as we mentioned earlier, each target audience varies. It’s crucial to analyze your audience and your YouTube analytics to refine the best times for your YouTube Shorts upload schedule!
How to Find the Best Time to Post YouTube Shorts
1. Check Your YouTube Analytics for Audience Data
Start by accessing your YouTube Studio. You can do this by clicking your profile picture in the top right corner of YouTube and selecting YouTube Studio. From the left menu, navigate to Analytics, where you’ll find all the key data about your channel’s performance.
2. Explore the Analytics Dashboard
You’ll see several tabs with essential insights:
A snapshot of your channel, including total views, watch time, and subscriber growth.
Content
Performance data on your videos, such as CTR and audience retention.
Audience
The most useful tab for learning the best times to post on YouTube is the one that shows when your viewers are active.
Trends
Popular videos and content trends.
3. Find Out The Best Times To Post On YouTube
Click on the Audience tab. Here, you’ll find insights like:
Returning Viewers
People who watch your content regularly.
Unique Viewers
The number of individual users watching your videos.
Subscribers
Your total subscriber count and growth trends.
4. Analyze the Audience Insights
Scroll down, and you’ll see more detailed metrics, including:
Gender and Age
Who’s watching your content?
What Your Audience Watches
Other channels and videos your viewers are engaging with.
Formats Your Viewers Prefer
Whether they’re watching Shorts, long-form videos, or live streams. You’re looking for the “When Your Viewers Are on YouTube” section. This chart shows exactly when your audience is online.
5. Take Action on Your Findings
Now that you know when your viewers are active, the best times to post on YouTube are a few hours before peak times. This gives your video time to be indexed and pushed by YouTube. Start testing different times and track watch time, views, and engagement to see your channel’s best times to post on YouTube. If you have a global audience, schedule posts based on the majority time zone or experiment with different times. Virlo helps short-form content creators crack the code of virality through AI-powered trend analysis. Our platform combines creator insights with advanced analytics to identify winning content patterns, optimal posting times, and successful audio/video combinations that help your content stand out.
Perfect for independent creators looking to build a sustainable side business, Virlo takes the guesswork out of content strategy. We analyze the latest viral trends and help you understand not just when to post but also what combinations of elements drive engagement. Whether you're just starting or looking to optimize your existing content, Virlo helps you increase your chances of going viral. Go viral with Virlo's virality analysis tool.
15 Tips to Go Viral on YouTube Shorts
1. Use Virlo to Find Trends for YouTube Shorts
Virlo helps short-form content creators crack the code of virality through AI-powered trend analysis. Our platform combines creator insights with advanced analytics to identify winning content patterns, optimal posting times, and successful audio/video combinations that help your content stand out in today's fast-moving social landscape. Perfect for independent creators looking to build a sustainable side business, Virlo takes the guesswork out of content strategy. We analyze the latest viral trends and help you understand not just when to post but also what combinations of elements drive engagement. Whether you're just starting or looking to optimize your existing content, Virlo helps you navigate the ever-changing algorithms to increase your chances of going viral. Go viral with Virlo's virality analysis tool.
2. Give it an Attractive Title
Optimizing the title/caption of your Short is just as important as making the video itself engaging. Consider using the title as a hook to keep viewers watching your Short until its end. You’ll need to experiment with this since different kinds of language work for various audiences. That said, it’s a good idea to keep your title short and punchy and use words that resonate with your audience.
3. Make the First Few Seconds Count
Come up with a compelling hook to get your viewers’ attention within the first few seconds of your video. Avoid clickbait, though! Nothing makes a viewer swipe to the next YouTube Short faster than a clickbait video. It’s a great idea to brainstorm a few hooks before filming your Short, and to make sure you experiment with different kinds of hooks across your videos.
4. Create the Perfect Loop
YouTube Shorts are played on a loop by default. If the viewer doesn’t swipe to the next Short video, they will see the same Short again for the second time, or even more times. A perfect loop will help make your Shorts look crisper. When filming and editing a Short, create a smooth loop to encourage multiple views.
5. Re-Hook Your Audience
It isn’t enough to create a strong hook for the beginning portion of your Short. Despite the short length of the video, you need to keep viewers engaged throughout its duration. Ideally, you should aim to re-hook your audience every three to five seconds, whether with a trending sound, text, or other visuals.
6. Create Consistently
Whenever a new platform — or a feature like YouTube Shorts — gets released, content creators will pour themselves into testing it out and figuring out how to make it a part of their strategy. But all too often, these creators give up after a few attempts that don’t go far. If you want to go viral with Shorts, you must create them consistently. That can be one video a day or one a week, but just make sure you stick with them. That’s the only way you’ll start seeing results!
7. Use Relevant Hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to make your Shorts more discoverable and should be part of your YouTube Shorts strategy. Do some research and see what hashtags top creators in your specific niche use or what hashtags are featured in viral videos, and include them in your content.
8. Post Your Shorts at the Right Time
While there’s no hard-and-fast rule for the best time to post on YouTube Shorts, you can follow some general tips. According to research from HubSpot, most marketers post YouTube content between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m on Thursdays, Fridays, or Saturdays. That’s generally a good time to post. But if you have a big enough audience, you can check YouTube Analytics to see when your subscribers will most likely be on the platform. Post at those times for the best chance of going viral.
9. Learn from the Competition
Ever heard the saying “great artists steal?” It has been attributed to everyone, from Russian composer Igor Stravinsky to Steve Jobs, but the whole saying goes like this: “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” The difference? Copying would mean just taking what the competition’s doing and doing the same thing. “Stealing” means finding out what works and putting your spin on it — injecting your creativity into an established format or trend. Doing this should be an essential part of your research.
10. Create a Series
One-off Shorts are great, especially with a strong hook and the perfect loop. But do you know what’s even more engaging? A series of Shorts. A series can keep your audience returning for more, with a natural sequence they can follow from one content piece to the next. You can break down more complex topics into multiple bite-sized, short videos by making your Shorts into a series. And if you include something like “Part 1” in the video title, people will know they should keep checking in to see the rest of your series.
11. Look Out for Other Viral Trends
Besides trending music, keep an eye out for trending topics and viral video trends. Creating a great YouTube Shorts video inspired by a specific trend of the moment is a great way to attract new viewers. Just be careful not to blindly follow trends to keep up with what’s in. When incorporating trends in your Shorts, be sure that they are relevant to your content in one way or another.
12. Try Different Types of Content
Just because your YouTube channel is dedicated to your podcast doesn’t mean all your Shorts must be clips of your longer content. Similarly, even if you’re a Let’s Play creator, that doesn’t mean every Short has to be a snapshot of your best gaming moments. No matter what kind of creator you are, there are many ways you can connect with your audience — and the rest of YouTube — with Shorts, film behind-the-scenes content showing your setup or tidbits of your personal life. Summarize longer videos and link back to the original video. Share updates about your travels or any time off you take. Try different things and see what sticks.
13. Drive Your Audience to Other Content
Creating Shorts is one of the best ways to funnel people toward other types of content. Use pinned comments to direct viewers to additional content, like another Short that serves as a part two to the video, or your channel’s long-form content. Whatever you point viewers to, it’s easier to pull them in if there’s some kind of connection between the two pieces of content.
14. Promote Your Content
To get your Shorts in front of as many viewers as possible, promote your content on YouTube and beyond. You can share snippets of your Shorts on YouTube Stories and other social media platforms like Instagram Reels.
15. Engage With Other Creators
Too many creators think they’re on their own, and any views their Shorts get have to come at the expense of another content creator, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. With YouTube Shorts getting billions of daily views, there is more than enough. Collaborating with other creators is a great way to get your content in front of a different audience, which means more views for your videos!
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Go Viral with Virlo's Virality Analysis Tool
Going viral on YouTube Shorts is no easy task. Getting your content in front of millions of people takes more than luck. Instead, it takes an understanding of the current trends that drive engagement. YouTube Shorts is a short-form video platform where creativity and trends reign supreme. Like TikTok, you can find massive success on YouTube Shorts by using the app to gain exposure for your passions or even start a business.
However, to reach the point where you can leverage YouTube Shorts for your goals, you first need to go viral. While there’s no guaranteed method for getting on the YouTube Shorts or any other short-form video algorithm, analyzing the current trends and creating content that aligns with them can increase your chances for success. Virlo helps short-form content creators crack the code of virality through AI-powered trend analysis. Our platform combines creator insights with advanced analytics to identify winning content patterns, optimal posting times, and successful audio/video combinations that help your content stand out in today's fast-moving social landscape.
Perfect for independent creators looking to build a sustainable side business, Virlo takes the guesswork out of content strategy. We analyze the latest viral trends and help you understand not just when to post but also what combinations of elements drive engagement. Whether you're just starting or looking to optimize your existing content, Virlo helps you navigate the ever-changing algorithms to increase your chances of going viral. Go viral with Virlo's virality analysis tool.
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