YouTube or YT Shorts are quite similar to TikTok videos, Instagram reels, Facebook stories, and WhatsApp statuses, but they aren’t identical.
You can upload numerous videos daily on TikTok, FB, Instagram, etc. So, should you also upload as many YT Shorts in one day as you want?
You should upload a maximum of 3 YT Shorts in one day. If you upload a longer video on your channel, you should factor that in when deciding how many YT Shorts to upload. If you upload 1 normal video, reduce the number of YT Shorts for the day.
YouTube doesn’t restrict you to a specific number of YT Shorts you can upload daily. However, there are a few unavoidable factors that influence the number of YT Shorts you should upload daily.
Read on to know why you shouldn’t exceed over 3 YT Shorts in one day.
Why You Should Upload a Maximum of 3 YT Shorts in One Day
YouTube channels and content creators are diverse, and so are their audiences. Many content creators upload 1 YT Short a week, while some post only once a fortnight.
Some channels don’t post more than 2 or 3 YT Shorts per month. But users can also upload multiple YT Shorts a day.
That begets the question: how many YT Shorts should you upload in one day? This question is slightly vague, so let me break this down into 2 different questions to give you better clarity:
- How many YT Shorts should you upload in one day to gain maximum traction? There’s no particular number, as I will explain later in this guide.
- If you have a backlog of YT Shorts in editing, should you upload as many as you can when they are ready? No, you shouldn’t upload more than 3 YT Shorts in one day.
Here’s why you should not upload more than 3 YT Shorts in one day.
YouTube’s Subscriber Notification Limit for Every Channel
YouTube doesn’t restrict the number of videos or Shorts you can upload in one day. However, the platform limits the number of notifications subscribers receive in 24 hours. That limit is 3 per channel.
According to YouTube, this policy is based on an internal assessment that subscribers tend to turn off their notifications if they receive too many, whether in a short span of time or in the queue.
Thus, your YT Shorts won’t have notifications for your subscribers if you upload more than 3 in one day. This can negatively impact your view count per Short.
Additionally, this notification limit isn’t solely for YT Shorts and also includes your regular videos.
So, if you upload 1 normal video in a day, you have only 2 notifications left for YT Shorts in the same 24-hour span.
Furthermore, YouTube doesn’t send notifications for Shorts to subscribers that don’t watch the shorter videos regularly. So, you’re already confined to notifying only those viewers that watch YT Shorts. And if you can’t alert these subscribers, your YT Shorts won’t get enough traction.
Therefore, if you have a backlog of YT Shorts, upload them such that they don’t exceed YouTube’s notification limit per 24 hours.
How Many YT Shorts You Should Upload in One Day
Now that I’ve addressed why you must not upload more than 3 videos in one day, including YT Shorts, you are probably wondering about how many you can or should upload in 24 hours.
The number of YT Shorts you can upload each day depends on your audience’s preferences.
Different audiences have differing demands. Additionally, they aren’t active at the same time, and there are viewing patterns to consider.
Here’s the first set of factors you must assess to decide how many YT Shorts you should upload in one day:
- Number: Does your target audience watch videos on loop every 24 hours? In that case, you can upload more than 1 or 2 YT Shorts in one day.
- Time of the day: Every niche audience has prime times on YouTube. If you upload YT Shorts at those hours, the higher the chances that your viewers will watch the videos.
- Day of the week: The number of YT Shorts you should upload in one day cannot be the same throughout the week. There are active and inactive days for all target audiences.
Before considering the uploading frequency and timing, you have to prioritize the attributes of a video. Your YT Shorts must be:
- Unique
- Flawless
- Engaging
- Complementary
Every new short video should add value to your channel while being unique and complementing the other content you have. These demands are unlikely to enable you to create or upload many YT Shorts in one day. Let me dive deeper.
Every YT Short Must Be Flawlessly Edited and Presented
Though the YouTube notification limit allows you to upload up to 3 YT Shorts a day, this shouldn’t be a yardstick for how many Shorts you should upload. In fact, you shouldn’t upload any Shorts unless they are flawlessly edited and presented.
YT Shorts don’t disappear – rather, they stay on the Shorts shelf on your YouTube Channel and are visible to your subscribers unless you choose to pull them down.
So, all your YT Shorts should be perfect.
Can you create, produce, edit, and present numerous flawless videos every day?
Forget the video quality or editing. Consider the thumbnail, for example, which influences your click-through rate. Even now, creators struggle with blurry thumbnails for their regular videos. And YT Shorts have vertical and horizontal displays complicating the thumbnails.
YT Shorts don’t appear identically on smartphones and tablets with vertical displays as they do on laptops and desktops with a widescreen aspect ratio.
Uploading is a cakewalk, but production and editing aren’t. YT Shorts take less time to produce and edit, but you still need to take the time to achieve perfection.
You Must Have Time To Assess Each YT Short’s Engagement
Even if you can create, produce, and edit 2 or more flawless YT Shorts in one day, you shouldn’t upload them as frequently if you don’t have the time to assess each video’s engagement.
YouTube’s highlighted comments may simplify interactions for content creators or channel owners. However, you will still need time to interact with all the comments. Then there’s the overall engagement and analytics, including views, likes, and shares that you will have to assess.
Taking the time to assess the engagement on your YT Shorts makes it easier for you to determine what content to create in the future. Your upload schedule should also consider the time you’ll need to look at engagement analytics.
Your Regular or Longer Videos Cannot Take a Backseat
YT Shorts aren’t monetized and don’t count for revenue per mille (RPM) or YouTube Partner Program (YPP). So, your priority should be your regular or longer videos that generate revenue.
Besides, if you upload too many YT Shorts in one day, week, or any duration, your subscribers may be a tad perplexed about your channel or brand. You don’t want your existing audience to think that the channel is only about YT Shorts. Then, you may start losing subscribers.
Content creators or channel owners know how difficult it is to build a winning personal brand on YouTube. The only scenario when you should prioritize YT Shorts over regular videos is if your audience demands such content.
Final Thoughts
You shouldn’t upload over 3 YT Shorts in one day. There’s no minimum requirement for YT Shorts. Even the YouTube Shorts Fund offers eligibility if you upload at least 1 YT Short in 180 days. So, choose a frequency based on your viewership and what you can deliver flawlessly.
