Optimum Video Length

13 years ago

I like to keep tutorials between 3 and 5 minutes, but many of mine go over time allotment too. If you keep the content coming and the tutorial on pace and on topic, the length of the video has less relevance.

When you think you are done editing, go back and "Cut the Fat" again. You'll be surprised how much you can take out of a video while improving it.

ScreenFlow Tutorial: 5 ways to cut the fat in...

Also, your drop off rate will ALWAYS be disappointingly short in analytics.

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PVReymond

13 years ago

You have to test.

On the other hand, it depends on where people watch your
video..

- Youtube

- Your website

Maybe on Youtube they prefer shorter videos but on your site
they prefer longer ones so test and don't forget that the
place where they watch the video is an important factor.

Keep pushing to the front and make it happen!
PV Reymond

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Daniel Thomas

13 years ago

There's no optimal length.
In Boxing, or MMA, 5 minutes are an eternity!
Doing things you like, 5 minutes is nothing, try saying "I'll read a book for 5 minutes" or "I'll have a beer for 5 minutes", time flies by.

I'm guessing you have to understand why people leave after 5 minutes, perhaps optimize the content, not the length.

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Jesus Perez

13 years ago

Wistia has some great analytics regarding this topic. Enjoy...

Does Length Matter? It Does For Video: 2K12 Edition

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Rbtmarshall

13 years ago

long enough to get the point across and lead the viewer to the desired action

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Gary Ning Lo

13 years ago

Provide maximum value in the shortest time possible.

For me Youtube videos under 6 minutes works best.

Cheers,

Gary

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stoltingmediagroup

13 years ago

I don't believe there's such a thing as an "optimum video length".

The length of a video can differ depending on your target audience,
and the content within the video.

I like to watch videos on YouTube, such as TV documentaries that I may have missed.

An interesting 1 hour documentary will keep my attention.

An uninteresting low budget looking marketing video recorded using some cheap webcam and mic, or worse, those annoying whiteboard sparkol videos, get about a few seconds of my time.

See my point?

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damondietz

13 years ago

5 minutes is too customarily too long. I would say 1-3 minutes.

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jeff09 13 years ago

Originally Posted by damondietz

5 minutes is too customarily too long. I would say 1-3 minutes.

Visitors will watch video if it is less than 5 min.
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stoltingmediagroup

13 years ago

Just some examples:

I have a video online that is: 12:58 Long. It has 126,123 Views
(One hundred and twenty six thousand+)

Then I have a video that is: 8:51 Long. (shorter than the above) It only has 11,113 Views

Then I have a video that is: 0:58 Long It has 32,556 Views

I have just under a thousands videos online ranging from 1 second to 1 hour +,
with viewing stats all over the place.

So do those stats tell me that the longer or shorter my videos, the more or less it's watched?

Nope! It tells me that anyone that preaches time frames to others need to stop!

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Arnold Stolting - Stolting Media Group
"I LOVE The Song! The Vibe Is Positive And Firm!" - Kymani Marley. (Son of Bob Marley).
"Very High Quality!" Jeremy Harding - Manager / Producer. Sean Paul.
"They Are FANTASTIC!" - Willie Crawford.

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John Romaine

13 years ago

Originally Posted by stoltingmediagroup

Just some examples:

I have a video online that is: 12:58 Long. It has 126,123 Views
(One hundred and twenty six thousand+)

Then I have a video that is: 8:51 Long. (shorter than the above) It only has 11,113 Views

Then I have a video that is: 0:58 Long It has 32,556 Views

I have just under a thousands videos online ranging from 1 second to 1 hour +,
with viewing stats all over the place.

So do those stats tell me that the longer or shorter my videos, the more or less it's watched?

Nope! It tells me that anyone that preaches time frames to others need to stop!

Using views as a measure of what's ideal is simply incorrect.

Views is nothing more than a vanity metric.

What's important is engagement times. This is viewable within the analytics of your account within Youtube.

Longer videos are more likely to display significant "drop offs", than shorter ones.

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stoltingmediagroup

13 years ago

Originally Posted by John Romaine

Using views as a measure of what's ideal is simply incorrect.

Views is nothing more than a vanity metric.

What's important is engagement times. This is viewable within the analytics of your account within Youtube.

Longer videos are more likely to display significant "drop offs", than shorter ones.

I would think that "boring" videos are more likely to display significant "drop offs" than none boring ones, as opposed to longer versus shorter.

In my niches, most music videos are watched to the end, even if they are 5 minutes or longer. Not too many viewers leave a music video halfway. Same with our sound fx videos, etc. I can see however that IM'ers who are trying to promote IM products can have a hard time trying to keep an audience interested in watching beyond 30 seconds.

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Arnold Stolting - Stolting Media Group
"I LOVE The Song! The Vibe Is Positive And Firm!" - Kymani Marley. (Son of Bob Marley).
"Very High Quality!" Jeremy Harding - Manager / Producer. Sean Paul.
"They Are FANTASTIC!" - Willie Crawford.

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John Romaine 13 years ago

Originally Posted by stoltingmediagroup

I would think that "boring" videos are more likely to display significant "drop offs" than none boring ones, as opposed to longer versus shorter.

But what you might consider boring, might be fascinating to someone else.
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- stoltingmediagroup 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by John Romaine
  
  But what you might consider boring, might be fascinating to someone else.
  
  This is very true! And this is exactly the point I made earlier.
  I may not watch that fascinating IM video for longer than a few seconds,
  but I "will" sit through a 1 hour documentary on let's say, quantum physics.
  Go figure.
  
  Thanks
  
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  Arnold Stolting - Stolting Media Group
  "I LOVE The Song! The Vibe Is Positive And Firm!" - Kymani Marley. (Son of Bob Marley).
  "Very High Quality!" Jeremy Harding - Manager / Producer. Sean Paul.
  "They Are FANTASTIC!" - Willie Crawford.
  
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techbul

13 years ago

I think I read somewhere that anything over 7 minutes won't be watched until the end unless it's really good.
A good idea might be to break that tutorial up in smaller videos.

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John Romaine

13 years ago

5 minutes or less is ideal.

Engagement drops off big time if you go over this.

If you have 20 minute videos, split them up into 4 x 5 minute videos.

You will get better engagement times, and much more "spread" of your content - which means more eyeballs and potential traffic.

Make sure you watermark your videos and drive traffic back to your own properties.

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MonitorScout

13 years ago

Very Good I really like the topic.

Yes we often say that video promotion is the best method to drive traffic to your blog but we never mention that how long it's length should be?

Based on my personal experience and a through research I can say that the length of video should be less than or equals to 3 min. This length is considered as the optimum length in making a video.

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zenxseo

13 years ago

YouTube tutorial videos 5 to 6 minutes
but yes if its showing something that people love to learn and you are adding some fun on it its ok if you have longer
but its good to make it 1st part 2nd part 3rd part

and at the 1st 30 sec its good to show people what they will learn from tutorial

for promotional videos 1 minute to 2.30 minutes max

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Igor Fridrihs

13 years ago

It depends. If you can catch attention and keep people curious enough they can watch even 25 minutes video.
Go to your Youtube Video Manager - Analytics - Audience retention and you can easily find Average View Duration. So you'll get idea about your video immediately.

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blackrabbit

13 years ago

Some solid advice in here guys - thanks. I guess the secret is to test, test, test! I have noticed that the retention seems to dip after the 5/6 minute mark especially when discussing complex topics eg functional threshold power in cycling.

Another method I am going to test is to add a roundup or summary at the end of each video to just reinforce what was covered.

Next step is to workout where is best to start the soft pitch in the video.

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Housestacks 13 years ago

I have not started making videos yet and plan to in the near future. When I endeavor in something I try to get all the information I can.

I think here is the big trick. The money is in the list. Get their attention. Get them interested. Get them to desire. Get them to take actiong.

This all could and should be done within a few minutes. The action should be signing up to your ar.

Longer vids should be in your account for them to know you are an authority on the subject.

My 2 cents.
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troy23

13 years ago

I have a stack of tutorial videos on YouTube since YouTube began and they bring in good Adsense month after month without fail. All my videos are of varying length......some as short as 2 or 5 minutes, others can go for 15 minutes. I don't think there is any particular recommended length - give value and convey what you have to in the time that suits best.

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RockNRolla

13 years ago

From a personal point of view, I think you can only REALLY judge a video on it's content. If you have an awesome video that is 20 minutes long then I am going to happily watch it until the very end. To say a poorer video at 5 minutes in length is more liekely to keep someone watching til the end is nonsense.

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thedog 13 years ago

Sound advice here. Really depends on the video. I produce videos promoting clients sites and services, these are around 1-2min, that's all they need to be, they're like a snappy radio ad, no need to be anymore than 1-2 min.

For an instructable video, then, of course, you'll need a bit more time.

That said, I really don't like when these type of videos are filled with a lot of filler rambling... short intro and get to the point.

People have a very short attention span these days, also no lengthy intro's too, I've seen videos that take almost 30 seconds to get going.
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Optimum Video Length

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