How Often to Post YouTube Shorts + Best Times to Post YouTube Shorts

Consider you've hit a viral trend for YouTube Shorts. You create your first short, and the views start pouring in. So, you make another YouTube short. Before you know it, you're pumping out YouTube shorts like an assembly line! But then you hit a wall. You've exhausted your YouTube Shorts ideas, and the view count drops. 

If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Many creators experience the same thing when they get into a groove creating YouTube Shorts. But unlike traditional video content, these bite-sized videos have a short lifespan. To maintain momentum and ride the wave of a viral trend, you must post consistently and frequently. 

This guide will help you establish a solid posting schedule by answering the question: How often should you post YouTube Shorts?  One easy way to identify how often to post on YouTube is to use Virlo’s virality analysis tool. This simple tool quickly reveals the trending YouTube Shorts' data to identify viral trends and create your own Shorts that capitalize on the momentum.

Table of Contents

• Benefits of YouTube Shorts

• How Often to Post YouTube Shorts

• Best Time to Post YouTube Shorts

• How to Make Viral YouTube Shorts in 10 Simple Steps

• Go Viral with Virlo's Virality Analysis Tool

Benefits of YouTube Shorts

Ride the Wave of a Growing Short-Form Video Platform

YouTube has existed long enough to become a crowded space for brands to market themselves. In comparison, YouTube Shorts is still in the early stages of development and presents businesses with an opportunity to get in early and capture an audience. 

In July 2023, YouTube Shorts reached over 2 billion monthly active users, a 33% increase from the previous year. Almost 80% of YouTube users watch Shorts, and by creating short-form video content for YouTube, you can captivate viewers and enhance your visibility on the platform.

Strengthen Your YouTube Presence with Shorts

Shorts and long-form videos are all published on the same YouTube page and integrated into the main app. As well as showing up in Google search results, Shorts also appear in users’ regular YouTube feeds, notifications, and subscriptions, making it easy to maximize your reach and strengthen your YouTube presence. 

As YouTube product manager Pierce Vollucci explains, channels that incorporate both Shorts and long-form videos perform better overall than those that invest solely in long-form. Vollucci states, “The channels that made Shorts seem to be growing faster. We anticipate that audience demand for short-form content is here to stay.” 

For small businesses, this translates to offering audiences a mix of content types. If you already have a strong audience from long-form videos, consider Shorts as an ad for your main channel—one that can be placed in front of more viewers before directing them to your longer videos. 

Boost Your SEO Visibility with YouTube Shorts

YouTube is owned by Google, so its long-form videos and YouTube Shorts can dominate the video search results. This is excellent news for small businesses looking to boost their search engine visibility and reach relevant audiences searching for keywords and queries related to their brand. 

Just like long-form videos, SEO rules also apply to YouTube Shorts. Be sure to add relevant keywords to the title and video description to ensure your short-form content appears when your target audience searches for similar videos and is specific and appropriate to the keywords used. 

Repurpose Your Existing Short-Form Video Content

The beauty of YouTube Shorts is that it allows you to repurpose existing short-form vertical videos from Reels and TikTok, saving you valuable time that can be used to create more video content. 

By repurposing these vertical videos as YouTube Shorts, you can continue to consistently appear on social media, maximizing the value of your videos and boosting your brand’s reach. 

Unsure what short-form videos to repurpose for YouTube Shorts? 

Consider these tips

• Repurpose top-forming videos: Use analytics to get the data on your top-performing videos. The Reels that generated the most engagement should be the ones you prioritize cross-posting first. 

• Jump on a trend: If you recently posted a TikTok or Reel with trending audio, use it on YouTube Shorts to see how it performs on a new platform. 

• Focus on high-performing content themes: Top performers on YouTube Shorts include educational videos and tutorials, humorous videos, and user-generated content. Lean into these content themes when looking for videos to report from TikTok and Instagram Reels. 

Gain Access to YouTube Shorts Monetization Programs

Though YouTube Shorts initially weren’t part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), monetization options were announced in late 2022 to allow creators to earn money from their short-form content. 

To be eligible for YouTube Shorts monetization, you must have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers. In addition, you need either 10 million public Shorts views in the last 90 days that are valid or 4,000 public watch hours of long-form videos in the previous 12 months. 

The former is recommended for those looking to focus primarily on the growth of YouTube Shorts, as watch hours from Shorts in the Shorts Feed don’t count towards the watch hour threshold. 

YouTube has also introduced an expanded program for new creators and those with smaller followings, allowing you to monetize through fan funding and YouTube Shopping. You can apply for the program if you have 500 subscribers, three public uploads in the last 90 days, and three million public Shorts views in the previous 90 days. 

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How Often to Post YouTube Shorts

How Often Should You Post YouTube Shorts? The More, the Merrier

To maximize engagement and views, aim to post YouTube Shorts 2-4 times per week. Consistent posting keeps your audience engaged and signals to the algorithm that your channel is active. There’s no magic number for daily YouTube Shorts posts — it varies among creators. 

Upload at least 2-3 per week for growth; quality > quantity always; stay within YouTube's upload limits — usually around 7 Shorts per day; optimal posting time for most channels: 5 PM to 10 PM on weekdays; consider audience behavior for effective scheduling. You can check this in your YouTube dashboard; experiment with different timings and content, and see what sticks.

One or Multiple YouTube Shorts per Day?

YouTube Shorts are brands’ best friend, and YouTube channels are brands in their own right. This trendy content format can expose your channel to new and more engaged audiences. That said, how do you decide how often to post? YouTube’s algorithm sometimes acts in mysterious ways, and, as previously mentioned, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. 

So, How Many?

A good starting point can be YouTube’s limit on the number of notifications subscribers receive (3 per day with a 24-hour cooldown period). If you post a 4th video in a day, your subscribers won’t be notified. You can spread out these uploads throughout the day to cover most time zones if you have an international audience. If you ask Reddit, "How often do you post YouTube Shorts?" they’ll tell you you should post at least 2-3 Shorts weekly. This lower number can still get you tons of views since quality is more important than quantity.

Quality Over Quantity

But what does quality over quantity mean? If your viewers don’t like what they see, they’ll scroll past your content faster. Faster scrolling means lower retention, thus decreasing your retention. YouTube’s algorithm will consider this data and evaluate your content’s quality based on it. Low retention means people don’t like the content, and the algorithm will push it less. Posting quality content will also lead to higher viewer loyalty, so you will grow in subscribers looking forward to your future posts.

Best Time to Post YouTube Shorts

Timing Is Everything: The Best Time of Day to Post YouTube Shorts 

The optimal time of day to post long-form content and shorts on YouTube is when most viewers are on YouTube. So when would that be? For YouTube, it’s mostly after work hours, when people are at home, unwinding. 

Here’s an exact breakdown of the best times of day to post for each day of the week: 

• Monday: between 6 pm and 9 pm 

• Tuesday: between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. 

• Wednesday: between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. 

• Thursday: between 6 pm and 9 pm 

• Friday: between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. 

• Saturday: between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. 

• Sunday: between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. 

As you can see, the best times to post Monday through Friday are after work and before bedtime. On the weekends, when many people’s schedules are mostly free, the best times to post are in the afternoon and early evening. 

Weekdays or Weekends: Which Is Better for Posting YouTube Shorts? 

If you’re not posting your YouTube Shorts daily, you want to maximize your content by posting videos on YouTube on the best days of the week. 

Generally, the data shows that the best days of the week to post YouTube Shorts are: 

• Monday 

• Tuesday 

• Wednesday 

• Thursday 

During those days, people were looking to consume short-form content. This may be on their commute to and from work, while they’re waiting for their coffee or lunch, or yes, during their work hours when they take short breaks. 

As expected, weekends, including Fridays, often have lower engagement because people might be preoccupied with other plans and engagements. 

The type of content you want to post on your Shorts can also vary depending on the day of the week. Consider: 

• Weekdays: Informative and educational content might do better Monday through Friday, as people may be alert and more into work and a self-improvement mindset. 

• Weekends: People are looking to relax, so the best content for the weekend may be lighthearted, inspirational, or purely entertaining. 

Is It Better to Focus on Quantity or Quality When Posting? 

Many content creators struggle to answer the question: How often should you post on YouTube Shorts? Some people are in the camp of “quantity over quality”, while others believe that the quality of the videos is more important than how frequently you post. 

The general advice for YouTube Shorts is this: If you’re looking to grow your account rapidly and you’re interested in going viral with your videos, then posting more frequently, two to three times per day, might be better to accomplish your goals. 

If you’re a small creator, this number can look intimidating. But the good news is that you don’t have to post that frequently to grow. Some experts believe that focusing on quality over quantity is better if you’re interested in developing a loyal audience interested in your business. 

Find a frequency that works for you and lets you be consistent with your videos. But always keep in mind that posting YouTube Shorts at least three times per week is recommended for the best results. 

Don’t Forget to Consider Your Audience’s Location 

If your business has an international audience, you must consider time and countries when determining the best time to post on YouTube Shorts. 

Different countries and cultures consume content slightly differently. For example, countries like Japan or South Korea, which are early risers, might consume content earlier in the day than, let’s say, Spain or Italy, which tend to have more lively evenings. 

Europeans might be more interested in consuming content during lunchtime, between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.. In the United States, the most popular times are between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., which is likely based on U.S. longer work schedules. 

Ultimately, your Analytics will show the best times to post in your time zone, and sometimes, the best time to post might be 3 a.m. for you just because the majority of your audience lives around the world. In this case, scheduling your content can be super helpful. 

You can then post new videos even in the middle of the night without compromising on missing out on the best times to post for your audience, who might live in entirely different time zones from you. 

The Bottom Line on When to Post YouTube Shorts 

Let’s summarize the results and look at the best times to post on YouTube Shorts. Generally, the best days of the week to post are: 

• Monday 

• Tuesday 

• Wednesday 

• Thursday 

On those days, the best times to post are between 4pm and 10pm. Also, the type of content you post on weekdays matters, and people are more receptive to educational and informational content. 

Regarding frequency, it’s best to post at least three times per week, at the minimum, up to two to three times per day if you have the bandwidth for it and can stay consistent with your posting schedule. 

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 environment. 

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 when to post and 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.

How to Make Viral YouTube Shorts in 10 Simple Steps

1. Use Virlo for Finding Trends for YouTube Shorts

Virlo aids short-form content creators in deciphering the secret to virality. Through AI-powered trend analysis, our platform merges creator insights with advanced analytics to pinpoint winning content patterns, successful audio/video combinations, and optimal posting times that help your content stand out in today’s fast-moving social environment. Virlo is perfect for independent creators eager to build a sustainable side business. 

It takes the guesswork out of content strategy by analyzing the latest viral trends and helping you understand when to post and what combinations of elements drive engagement. Whether you’re just starting or looking to optimize your existing content, Virlo enables you to navigate the ever-changing algorithms to increase your chances of going viral. Go viral with Virlo’s virality analysis tool.

2. Craft an Eye-Catching Title

Optimizing the title or caption of your Short is just as important as making the video itself engaging. Use the title as a hook to keep viewers watching the Short until its end. Different kinds of language work for various audiences, so you must experiment with this. 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 grab 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 play 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 seamless 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 video. 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 have to 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 make your Shorts more discoverable and should be part of your YouTube Shorts strategy. Do some research, 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. Jump on Trending Music 

With YouTube Shorts’ built-in Sound tool, creators can add popular songs from major labels to their videos without getting penalized. Whenever appropriate, consider featuring trending music in your Shorts to improve their chances of going viral. Pick a song that matches closely with what your Short is about.

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Go Viral with Virlo's Virality Analysis Tool

Building a following on YouTube is no easy task. The more content you have, the better your chances of attracting new audience members and keeping them engaged. This is especially true for short-form content like YouTube Shorts. Each new video you post increases your chances of getting discovered on the platform and going viral. Regularly posting YouTube Shorts can also boost your channel’s overall performance. 

When you publish a new Short, it can quickly attract views and engagement, which increases your channel’s ranking and visibility. This can lead to more exposure for your other videos, helping you grow your audience and creating consistency in your content strategy.  Short-form content is also easier for audiences to digest. Posting consistently can help keep your audience engaged while developing more long-form content for your channel.  

How Often Should You Post YouTube Shorts?  

There’s no hard-and-fast rule for how often to post YouTube Shorts. However, like most social media platforms, the more you post, the better.  Aiming for at least one Short per week can help you establish consistency and attract an audience. 

From there, you can work up to two or three per week, if not daily. If you want to see what your channel and audience can handle, you can experiment with posting multiple Shorts daily. Your goal should be to post as frequently as possible to keep your audience engaged while creating quality content.  

Finding the Right Schedule for Posting YouTube Shorts  

Instead of focusing on an arbitrary number of Shorts to post weekly, pay attention to what works for you and your audience. Establishing a routine for posting YouTube Shorts can help you stay organized and create better content. Your Shorts naturally fall into specific themes or topics as you work toward a consistent schedule. 

This will help you create engaging content that appeals to your target audience and boost your performance on the platform.  The more you post, the better you will get at creating YouTube Shorts. Your audience will also appreciate your consistency and may even look forward to your uploads.  

Get Help with Your YouTube Shorts Strategy  

Creating and posting YouTube Shorts can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re just starting. Tools like Virlo can help you take the guesswork out of your short-form content strategy by providing valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t. 

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