YouTube explains why channels are performing slower. How to answer the question “Why is my viewing time shortened?”
This information is made available on Creator Insider’s YouTube channel to help users analyze the performance of their video and channel.
If your YouTube channel’s watch time has gone down, here are some things you can do to better understand what’s going on.
How to diagnose a sudden drop in YouTube channel watch time
To find out why your channel’s playback time is suddenly decreasing, the first thing to do is to find out if it is a single video or if it is multiple videos.
A popular video may experience a shorter playback time, resulting in a decrease in the total number. Note that the most recent downloads usually peak in the first few days.
If you notice a decrease in playback time a few days after uploading a new video, that’s completely normal. Unless the problem is limited to a single video, then your channel should be looking for other things.
Confirm the visibility settings
Search your videos and make sure their visibility is always public.
Sometimes an accidental switch from public to private can result in a sudden decrease in viewing time.
Check complaints
Check claims against your videos, e.g. B. due to possible copyright infringement. A claim can block the visibility of a video in one country or in multiple countries.
How to diagnose a gradual shortening of viewing time
A reduction in viewing time can occur suddenly, but it can also be a gradual trend over weeks or months. If your YouTube channel is slowly starting to watch time, ask yourself the following questions:
• Has anything changed?
Changes to the style of thumbnails, titles, and channel content can lead to dramatic changes in performance.
• When did the performance decrease?
Expand the date range of your data to better understand typical channel performance. The fall can be part of a normal pattern.
• Is seasonality a problem?
Seasonal changes can affect the time users spend on YouTube. For example, we know that the display time across the website decreases during the holiday season.
• How often do you download?
Changing the download frequency can have a direct impact on watch time as viewers get used to consuming a certain amount of content on a channel each week.
A key segment of the data to be verified is the viewing time between subscribers and non-subscribers.
A decrease in view time among subscribers indicates that there is an issue with your content targeting.
YouTube suggests looking at data about your niche on Google Trends. This data shows people’s interest in various topics, which is taken into account by YouTube’s recommendation algorithm.
When people aren’t interested in a particular topic, similar videos are less recommended on YouTube.
Alternatively, data from Google Trends can be used to find out what interests users at the moment. Moving your content into these topics can help extend the viewing time of your channel.
