Yes, posting time does make a difference when it comes to YouTube shorts. You’re going to want to post your Shorts when most of your audience is online. This boosts engagement and amplifies your discoverability by making sure that your videos actually get seen. 

Think of it this way. If you open a food truck in an area with lots of office-going people where dinner is the most in-demand meal, then you will obviously stay open during those hours. If you keep your food truck open during lunch, you’re not likely to make any business because everyone is in their office. 

Posting time on YouTube is much the same way. You need to stay open when the demand is there. And the more people that see your videos, the more the YouTube algorithm recommends your videos to others. This leads to better ROI and long-term growth.

Global Best Times To Post YouTube Shorts in 2023

Unlike traditional long-form YouTube videos, Shorts are usually less than 60 seconds in length, which makes it easy for people to browse through them on their way to work, during their lunch hours, or even when they have a few minutes of relaxation time at work. And the global best times to post on YouTube Shorts reflect this. 

Here are the best times to post on YouTube Shorts according to research from SocialPilot, Hubspot, and InVideo.

As you can see from the table above, midday during lunch hours and late evening after work hours are the most popular times for posting YouTube shorts during the weekdays. During the weekends, which are days or rest, late morning seems to do well. 

Weekdays are better for posting Shorts compared to weekends, especially Thursdays and Fridays. 

If you post educational content, they might do better during the weekdays. Comedy and light-hearted content, on the other hand, might do better during the weekends. Ultimately, the best times for you to post Shorts depends on where your audience is from, their demographic, and your niche (more on that later). So, the above table can serve as a good starting point, but shouldn’t be taken as a hard-and-fast rule. 

When Should You Actually Post YouTube Shorts?

You might be wondering.. Isn’t the previous section the same as this one? Aren’t you supposed to actually post during the best times? Well, not exactly. And this has everything to do with how the YouTube algorithm works.

On other social media platforms like Instagram, the moment you click on “post,” your content starts appearing in other people’s feeds. With YouTube, it’s not quite the same. Once you hit publish, YouTube will gather all the metadata from your video and index it, a process that can take anywhere between 1-4 hours. 

This means, your video will appear on people’s feeds and search results only after the indexing process is complete. So, websites like SocialPilot recommend posting your video a good 2-3 hours before the best posting times so that they will be recommended to your audience exactly when they come online. 

Although research does suggest that YouTube indexing can take a few hours, it’s unclear whether posting a few hours before the best times is more beneficial. We recommend that you experiment by doing both and see which works out best for you. 

Factors That Determine Your Best Time To Post YouTube Shorts

Best posting times are not a one-size-fits-all thing, and can vary from person to person. The specific best posting time for your channel depends on a number of factors:

Audience Age Groups

Depending on their age, different people come online at different times. For instance, if most of your audience consists of working people, they may be more active during lunch time or after work. If most of your audience is Gen Z, they may be browsing YouTube more during night time. 

Audience Time Zones

You may need to tailor your posting times depending on where most of your audience lives. If you live in the U.S with most of your audience living in Australia, posting at 12 PM EST doesn’t make any sense, because you will essentially be posting at a time when most of your followers are asleep. 

Audience Behavioral Patterns

People from different countries have different behaviors which can affect your posting time. For instance, people from Japan and South Korea are early risers, which means they are more likely to check YouTube early in the morning. Europeans, on the other hand, prefer scrolling through social media during midday. So, you need to do an analysis of your audience and tailor your post times according to them.

Content Type

Different content types perform well at different times. For example, educational content tailored to business professionals might do better during work hours. Food content might get more engagement during meal times since that’s when people will be looking for cooking inspo or restaurant recommendations, and entertainment content could do better after work hours when everyone is starting to unwind. 

How To Determine Your Best Times To Post YouTube Shorts in 2023

Now that we have discussed the factors affecting your YouTube Shorts posting times, here’s how you can determine when most of your audience is online.

Using YouTube Analytics

Step 1: Go to YouTube, click on your profile picture, and select “YouTube Studio.” 

Step 2: Select “Analytics” and click on the “Audience” section. 

Step 3: Scroll down a bit. You will see a section called “when your viewers are on YouTube.” Take a look at the purple graph here. The dark purple boxes are when most of your audience are active on YouTube. Use this information to tailor your posting times accordingly, and you will be good to go! 

Analyzing Competitors

If your YouTube channel is new, you might not have enough data to leverage YouTube analytics. In such cases, the old fashioned way of keeping an eye out on your competitors can come in very handy. 

Make a list of other YouTubers who post similar content and see if they have the same target audience as you. If yes, make a note of their posting times and try to post around the same time till you gather enough data for YouTube analytics to work its magic.

Before you leave, here’s an important piece of information to remember: posting time matters less than the quality of content you put out. So prioritize quality while also making use of peak hours to increase your channel engagement.