How Long/short Should A Motovlog Be?

SalvageSV

Hopes he doesn't crash this month
Feb 18, 2016
643
278
43
Birmingham, AL
I ride a
Salvaged SV1000S
I just noticed the other day that YouTube has a search filter for length. There are two options aside from "any length." those are "< 4 min" and "> 20 min." So that's some decent insight into what YouTube thinks is relevant.
 

CountryBoy

Wannabie Member
Apr 7, 2016
3
0
1
68
I ride a
HD 2010 Heritage softail classic
I think on average 6 to 8 minutes, but if its a well made video and intertaining, or a review of a piece of equipment ill watch the whole video. Just my 2 cents,
Later Y'all
 

TGLambino

wows
May 21, 2016
23
5
3
28
Texas
I ride a
2003 V star 1100
I think i'm going to start keeping my videos a little shorter. My average view time is right around 3min.
 

SeeItWithSimon

Wannabie Member
Nov 21, 2013
19
7
3
Melbourne, Australia
I ride a
2016 Yamaha MT-09 Tracer (Racing Blu)
I don't know if I should be posting this in the editing section or general discussion, but my question is "How long should a Motovlog be, to keep the audiences attention?" I imagine that once you have a relationship with the audience they will sit through longer videos, but I think that generally peoples attention span are getting shorter. They want to consume information and entertainment quickly and won't sit through a longer video unless, UNLESS they are really interested in the topic.
So my question is, what have you found from your analytics and feedback from subscribers is the ideal length for a Motovlog. What is the average length of time someone will watch one of your videos? Personally I think around 5 minutes is what most people will watch. As a Motovlogger / content creator I would like 8 minutes or more to say what I want to say etc. Any thoughts?

6-7 mins is golden.
 

MOORLAND

Wannabie Member
May 23, 2016
25
5
8
104
I ride a
2006 Honda VFR800
SwissMotard nailed with "How interesting is it? Remove anything boring and then whatever length it is, is the perfect length."

I have videos at 3-5 mins that have done as well as videos at the plus 10min mark (by my measure not youtube analytics). I don't aim to be at a certain number in length. I try and make the videos engaging and interesting and if that is 3 mins or 12 mins it's alright with me. I also bounce between captions and talking and purely music videos...so my video length varies a lot because of that..

Somebody mentioned BXD's video length....weren't his early videos often really long...Like the DR200 adventures (around 20mins)... But the scenery and adventure do most of the 'talking' in those. 'California rental car' by Arsonrides is just under 10 mins and is instantly re-watchable.
One of my favorite channels is 'iohan Gueorguiev'....Most of his videos are at least 30 mins and I'd be happy if any of them were longer or had more content. He is a cyclist touring around Canada and parts of the Western northern states of the U.S. There is lots of amazing footage of scenery, plus the dude is awesome in the most humble way.

Perhaps it depends on the audience we want? If we brought people to the Channel using 'click bait' and thumbnails of ladies body parts or a motorcycle on its side or a cop etc etc etc Then I wouldn't expect those people would want to watch anything over 3 mins....
 

JonJeoprdy

Wanderer...
May 16, 2016
109
38
28
Colorado
I ride a
F800GS
I work in video professionally, and there is one basic rule. It can always be shorter.

This seams like a good motto. My last video "Dirt vs Street" I was hesitant to publish it. The video wasn't flowing very well and seam disjointed. I did another edit on it took out a few more clips and it came together well enough to post. Still not my favorite but cutting out several things really helped.

For times, I'm ranging between 6-12min. In general I like to aim for the 8min mark. I don't want my video's to get too long, and I don't need to cover book and verse about the topic. If there are points I didn't cover or questions that's a good excuse to make another video.
 

Mr AusAdventure

Adventure is as Adventure does
Sep 16, 2012
529
89
28
Gold Coast, Australia
www.youtube.com
I ride a
Suzuki V-Strom DL650 + A MTB!
I have always tried to keep mine under ten minutes, but sometimes it's just not possible so the odd one goes over. If I end up with one over ten minutes, then I usually attempt to aggressively chop bits out to get it under ten. It just seems better if the time frame is in single digits.

I ideally like to keep mine between 5 to 8 minutes, but it depends what it is. Most topic based vlogs I can get out under 8 minutes these days as I heavily chop my videos now, but bike reviews and travel videos usually go a little longer. If a tour video looks like being around 13 minutes or so, then I'll look at doing a part 1 and 2 from that particular day instead.

As for watching longer videos, I tend to only do that for the guys that I know really well and regularly watch. If I don't really know the channel, I only tend to watch short videos that I come across. Mainly just because after 4 years of doing this, I have made a lot of friends in this game so follow way more people than I have the time to keep up with.
 

JBH

Wannabie Member
Jul 29, 2015
72
49
18
36
I ride a
Kawasaki Z750
Very difficult to answer ... I'd say anything longer than 10min is gonna be tough to sell unless your content is interesting or fun to watch. Watch your own video and be honest with yourself. If you get bored watching your own video it means it's propably too long, or too uneventful.
 

Hypertard

Life, the Universe and Bikes...
May 25, 2016
122
52
28
49
Oxfordshire
I ride a
BMW F800R, Husqvarna 900R
How long is a piece of string? If the subject material suits the length of video and vice versa then that is fine. There is no "perfect" length but I will switchb off a video if it gets boring no matter the length. Content is king.
 
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MOORLAND

Wannabie Member
May 23, 2016
25
5
8
104
I ride a
2006 Honda VFR800
What's the best length for a book or a short story?? Has to be content...
I recently uploaded 2 videos, one mostly views (Mt Hood Oregon) at running near 15 mins and I thought it wouldn't get as good a reception as the shorter, more content, more talking, MORE and shorter video at 9 mins...but, I've been wrong so far.
I'm really happy that my sub's appreciate the longer videos. Who our/your audience is, has to play a part in this...and who and what type of audience do we want...
 

Mikecycle

Wannabie Member
May 31, 2016
11
2
1
35
OC, Southern California
I ride a
Love all bikes, top preference are supersport 600s
I like watching 5-7min vids, the big-time vloggers can get away with 10-20min vids cuz of the following that they built, but I suppose that goes for all famous youtubers of sorts.

Just watched the Hodgetwins (non-motovloggers) eat fast-food in their car for 20min.....

.... what am I doing with my life, too much internet for today
 

Hypertard

Life, the Universe and Bikes...
May 25, 2016
122
52
28
49
Oxfordshire
I ride a
BMW F800R, Husqvarna 900R
I like watching 5-7min vids, the big-time vloggers can get away with 10-20min vids cuz of the following that they built, but I suppose that goes for all famous youtubers of sorts.

Just watched the Hodgetwins (non-motovloggers) eat fast-food in their car for 20min.....

.... what am I doing with my life, too much internet for today

What? there are videos of people eating? I must investigate...
 
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MinusF

MinusFormality
Apr 28, 2016
24
7
3
36
Greece, Thessaloniki
I ride a
Triumph Street Triple 2008
Anywhere between 6~9 minutes in my opinion, unless you are Chaseontwowheels and your edits/videos are just so clean and well put together that it simply doesnt matter!

My last video went up to ~14mins sadly because its all about showing my Top 5 "cheap" aftermarket accessories and explaining why I'd do each mod.

Doesnt really bother me to be honest, since I started Motovlogging mainly for myself to have fun and if it happens that people like my content and my flow, so be it.
 

BxPolymath

Wannabie Member
Apr 18, 2016
20
10
3
37
I ride a
Harley Davidson Street 750
I agree with MinusF, the latest video i put up was 12 minutes only because i was showcasing a new york neighborhood. Besides that, my vids range from 2 minutes to 6 minutes. It really all depends on the content.
 

YoutubIan

Wannabie Member
Apr 22, 2016
56
22
8
38
Cape Town - South Africa
I ride a
2004 Yamaha R6
As mentioned, depends on the content.
However, Id think if you just starting out, try to keep it under 5min, get more content out in short clips, and as soon as your viewer get to know you you can lengthen the videos.
 

KittenMeat

Wannabie Member
Nov 15, 2015
64
17
8
39
I ride a
Triumph Tiger 800xc
Suzuki Sv650-R
I'm trying to get the hang of cutting things shorter, but more importantly I started thinking of this:

what is the story I'm trying to tell? If I'm going to edit some clips together and make a post...what parts are and are not contributing to the dialogue or story I'm trying to tell.

It's *really* hard when I'm filming an event (like a group ride) and I can't quite figure out if there's a 'story' worth telling.

the last ride I went on was interesting, and I think the story goes above putting in "cool footage" and I'm going to try and think of the shots I need to tell the story as it's developing instead of just leaving the camera rolling and just being a bystander.
 

Moto Verse

Wannabie Member
Aug 14, 2016
59
17
8
37
Omaha, NE
I ride a
2016 Kawasaki Ninja 300 EX
Short, Sweet and to the point. But I'm not sure entirely, i switch it up regardless of how i want the video to be. The new thing these days on youtube is "Watch Time" so videos over 10 minutes seem to do better, If you can keep people's attention anyways. I just go with the flow honestly. I have some 6 minute videos and some 17 minute videos... If ppl wanna watch it all, or don't.... so be it.
 

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