How Long/short Should A Motovlog Be?

RiderSquad

Wannabie Member
Feb 27, 2016
28
3
8
31
I ride a
Kawasaki KLX
Almost all my videos are 10-20 minutes length..But my average view duration just 2:58 according to youtube Analytics..

Is that bad?
 

BbqRider

Wannabie Member
Aug 30, 2015
336
120
43
32
I ride a
Suzuki DR650
Almost all my videos are 10-20 minutes length..But my average view duration just 2:58 according to youtube Analytics..

Is that bad?

Stats can be very misleading, but I personally do tend to skip over 10+ min vlogs unless it's someone I've been following for a long time and I know I'll be entertained all the way through. 10+ minutes is just too long IMO
 

Lurch

Administrator
May 5, 2014
5,527
2,067
113
Yorkshire
I ride a
2016 Street Triple R and a 1999 Honda NT650V Deauville
Almost all my videos are 10-20 minutes length..But my average view duration just 2:58 according to youtube Analytics..

Is that bad?
Problem with that average is you don't know how many are watching to the end. If very few people are, then maybe it's too long, or not engaging enough for the duration. Not sure if you can find out this information via YT or not.
 

SwissMotard

The Swiss Motard
Sep 19, 2014
3,282
917
113
I ride a
Triumph Street Triple
Problem with that average is you don't know how many are watching to the end. If very few people are, then maybe it's too long, or not engaging enough for the duration. Not sure if you can find out this information via YT or not.
Yeah you can.

You can see for each video the audience retention graph for each video:
audience%20retention%20youtube.JPG


You can see the retention go above 100% where people re-watch sections and plummet when you get to the end card of the video.
 
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Lurch

Administrator
May 5, 2014
5,527
2,067
113
Yorkshire
I ride a
2016 Street Triple R and a 1999 Honda NT650V Deauville
So the X axis is the video timeline?

What's that under? Is there a retention menu option? Not on the pooter at the moment so no chance of getting it up on mobile!
 

SighBored

@thesighbored
Jan 18, 2015
2,662
1,235
113
Malaysia
www.thesighbored.com
I ride a
2012 Kawasaki ZX-6R
Analytics gives you an idea how your video is doing. Since every video you make has a different topic or content, it's not that easy to say how long is the ideal length.

Example:
If you see the analytics result and determine your average view time is 4 minutes and you decide keeping your videos to 4 minutes. That doesn't mean your future videos being 4 minutes will get entirely viewed.

It all boils down to the content/topic, if it is engaging, people will stick around to view it, if they don't find it engaging, they probably won't even sit through it even though it's only (for example) 4 minutes long.

Be on track with your topic, try not to drift away from it, delivery your talk on point, minimize the draggy/unimportant parts, sweet and straightforward.

That's what I feel anyway.
 

SwissMotard

The Swiss Motard
Sep 19, 2014
3,282
917
113
I ride a
Triumph Street Triple
So the X axis is the video timeline?

What's that under? Is there a retention menu option? Not on the pooter at the moment so no chance of getting it up on mobile!

Analytics > Audience Retention > Select video from "Search for content" box.

X axis is indeed time.
 
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Dark Rider

Wannabie Member
Jan 4, 2016
118
47
28
36
I ride a
Suzuki GSR 600
Hmm i try keep my vlogs to just the important information or events that happen. If its long its long, if its short its short I don't really mind.
 

Motorpsych

Wannabie Member
Feb 27, 2016
179
59
28
44
Japan, near Tokyo
I ride a
Honda VTR250
Analytics gives you an idea how your video is doing. Since every video you make has a different topic or content, it's not that easy to say how long is the ideal length.

Example:
If you see the analytics result and determine your average view time is 4 minutes and you decide keeping your videos to 4 minutes. That doesn't mean your future videos being 4 minutes will get entirely viewed.

It all boils down to the content/topic, if it is engaging, people will stick around to view it, if they don't find it engaging, they probably won't even sit through it even though it's only (for example) 4 minutes long.

Be on track with your topic, try not to drift away from it, delivery your talk on point, minimize the draggy/unimportant parts, sweet and straightforward.

That's what I feel anyway.
Thanks, this is very helpful.
 
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Lurch

Administrator
May 5, 2014
5,527
2,067
113
Yorkshire
I ride a
2016 Street Triple R and a 1999 Honda NT650V Deauville
Analytics > Audience Retention > Select video from "Search for content" box.

X axis is indeed time.
Quite a nifty thing. Picked a few of the vids with the highest view figures and it's a gentle ski slope for most! click the other thing to get the organic line and it's a bit flatter and therefore looks better :)
 

TRB

Wannabie Member
Jan 10, 2016
11
2
1
Lille, France
I ride a
2006 Honda CBF600N
It depends on a lot of things
Sometimes, I can stay 20 minutes on the same video. All you have to do is to stay interesting
 

SwissMotard

The Swiss Motard
Sep 19, 2014
3,282
917
113
I ride a
Triumph Street Triple
Quite a nifty thing. Picked a few of the vids with the highest view figures and it's a gentle ski slope for most! click the other thing to get the organic line and it's a bit flatter and therefore looks better :)

You very rarely avoid a drop at the start of about 20-30%, but you should aim for as flat as possible after that in my opinion.

Any big dips or downward slopes and you know something is not right.

Not sure what you mean by organic as both absolute and relative audience retention are organic.
 

Lurch

Administrator
May 5, 2014
5,527
2,067
113
Yorkshire
I ride a
2016 Street Triple R and a 1999 Honda NT650V Deauville
Whatever the second option was that shows a line that doesn't dip as much :)

I've only picked a few vids, biggest drop (except end card0 is within the first bit, then it's a gentle slope.
 

Rath Rides

Wannabie Member
Mar 11, 2016
54
16
8
32
I ride a
2006 Polaris Outlaw 500 (ATV)
topics been covered quite well really already, but I'll add my 2 cents.

on my old channel I kept videos around the 8 minute mark. had a lot of viewers only watch for 3, maybe 4 minutes. So on my new channel i'm going to cut things shorter, keep footage tighter together and weed out the less interesting stuff. To try and keep videos around the 4 to 5 minute mark. I figure maybe that will keep viewers watching for the whole video.

And hey, shorter videos just means you can have more of them, and save footage for later videos!
 

SalvageSV

Hopes he doesn't crash this month
Feb 18, 2016
643
278
43
Birmingham, AL
I ride a
Salvaged SV1000S
I work in video professionally, and there is one basic rule. It can always be shorter.

Like many have said, the content will dictate the length. That's why feature films can run 70+ min and we don't lose interest. But the key is that the 75 min film started in post at 100+ min.

I say do your first edit and then rewatching the entire video. Did you repeat things? Go off topic? Is that cool shot really that interesting for that long?

I usually end up with an initial edit around 5 or 6 min, then cut another 30+ sec off with more review, just tightening things up.

As for gaining new viewers and retaining them, 5 min is an important mark, as is 10. Under 5 and you'll get more of the "browsers" just looking for content. Under 10 will be enticing to people specifically looking for motovlogging content.
 

Motorpsych

Wannabie Member
Feb 27, 2016
179
59
28
44
Japan, near Tokyo
I ride a
Honda VTR250
I work in video professionally, and there is one basic rule. It can always be shorter.

Like many have said, the content will dictate the length. That's why feature films can run 70+ min and we don't lose interest. But the key is that the 75 min film started in post at 100+ min.

I say do your first edit and then rewatching the entire video. Did you repeat things? Go off topic? Is that cool shot really that interesting for that long?

I usually end up with an initial edit around 5 or 6 min, then cut another 30+ sec off with more review, just tightening things up.

As for gaining new viewers and retaining them, 5 min is an important mark, as is 10. Under 5 and you'll get more of the "browsers" just looking for content. Under 10 will be enticing to people specifically looking for motovlogging content.
That's very interesting! Probably the most practical advice so far. Thanks.
 

F4celess

Cold
Dec 20, 2015
548
362
63
31
I ride a
Yamaha Fazer
Any opinions on adding skip annotations to the vids?

I did it recently on my 2nd video because there was 6 mins of talking about the bike while driving the truck I hauled it with before I actually revealed it. So I made it easy to skip to the point.
 

SalvageSV

Hopes he doesn't crash this month
Feb 18, 2016
643
278
43
Birmingham, AL
I ride a
Salvaged SV1000S
Any opinions on adding skip annotations to the vids?

I did it recently on my 2nd video because there was 6 mins of talking about the bike while driving the truck I hauled it with before I actually revealed it. So I made it easy to skip to the point.
I'll do it if the content dictates it. I recently did it on my exhaust installation video as it made sense to have a skip to the sound clips. Some viewers just want to hear it and don't care about the install.

I'd suggest that, in your example, you look out for having too much exposition. If the video is about the new bike, keep the build up to 45 sec or so and load it up with the walk around, first ride, initial impressions, etc. Put all the transport in a separate vid if it's good enough to use. That way you don't have a reason to skip.

As an example, I recorded a vlog while heading to do the exhaust sound comparison. I'm keeping that for a vlog post rather than putting it in with the install, which was already a 12 minute video.
 

OOTOWJ

Wannabie Member
Mar 28, 2016
16
0
1
31
I ride a
91 Honda CBR250 RR
I've always thought the length of video should be based off the quality of either scenery, topic or general mayhem your doing. If its just burp and fart noises then it doesn't need to be as long as a perfect ride through the beach with great scenery.

I'd say 3-5 minutes for those 'reaction' vlogs and about 7-10mins for blogs that have heaps going on (scenery, well constructed topics ect).

Just my 2 cents :)
 

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