Does Scheduling a YouTube Video Affect Views? (Complete Explanation)

Have you ever wondered- does scheduling a YouTube video affect views? If you have, you've come to the right place.

Creating videos takes a lot of time. Since this is the case, the last thing you want to do is increase the odds of your videos performing poorly. But does something as simple as scheduling a YouTube lead to fewer (or more) views?

In this article, you will learn:

What Does Scheduled Mean on YouTube?
Should You Schedule YouTube Videos?
How to Schedule Videos on YouTube

Read on and learn whether or not scheduling a video on YouTube affects views.

What Does Scheduled Mean on YouTube?

Before we go any further, we should first define what it means when a video is scheduled on YouTube. Many people have different definitions of what it means for a video to be scheduled, which can lead to confusion when discussing the subject.

When a video is scheduled on YouTube, it is placed into private mode and made public at a specified date and time. Meaning, a video cannot be viewed by the public after it has been scheduled until it is published.

In the past, 3rd-party platforms and services had to be used to schedule upload videos. However, a few years ago, YouTube built this functionality into the platform natively. So, the need for 3rd-party platforms and services was eliminated.

With this said, it's important to remember that a YouTube channel must be verified via phone verification to unlock scheduling capabilities. Channels that are not phone verified can only upload videos in the 3 standard modes: public, private, and unlisted.

Should You Schedule YouTube Videos?

At this point, you might be wondering- should you schedule YouTube videos? Will doing so lead to more views for your videos? Or, should you upload and publish videos in a normal fashion?

Scheduling YouTube videos makes it easier to plan and publish content consistently. Also, scheduling videos allows you to publish them at the optimal time for your audience, which can lead to performance gains.

The first 48 hours are crucial for new videos. If a video is published and performs well in the first 48 hours, it will be promoted more by YouTube. Knowing this, it's easy to see how the time a video is published could have an impact on performance.

Something else that is important to note is the importance of consistently publishing new videos for growing an audience. Having the ability to schedule videos ahead of time can help tremendously when it comes to ensuring new content is published regularly.

How to Schedule Videos on YouTube

Many processes on YouTube are quite complicated. Luckily, the process of uploading videos in scheduled mode is simple. With just a few minor adjustments to the upload process, you can schedule upload videos to YouTube very easily.

Here's how to schedule videos on YouTube:

1. Go to the YouTube Studio
2. Start the upload process
3. Select the Schedule option on the visibility tab
4. Choose when to publish the video
5. Schedule the video

Let's go over this process in more detail.

1. Go to the YouTube Studio

To begin the process of scheduling a YouTube video, you must first go to the YouTube Studio. To get to the YouTube Studio, sign in to your YouTube channel and click your channel icon in the top right corner. Then, select the corresponding menu option.

2. Start the Upload Process

Upon selecting the YouTube Studio option from the menu, you will be brought inside of the YouTube Studio. From here, you must begin the upload process. You can do so by clicking the Create button at the top of the screen.

3. Select the Schedule Option on the Visibility Tab

Once your selected video begins uploading, fill out the metadata, thumbnails, etc. as you would normally. Then, navigate to the visibility tab and select the schedule option from the options list.

4. Choose When to Publish the Video

When you select the schedule option in the visibility tab, you will be given the ability to choose when you'd like your video to be published. You can select a date and time based on your needs and target audience.

5. Schedule the Video

After you have chosen the date and time you would like your video to be published, you must schedule the video. This can be done by completing the upload process as you would normally. Instead of publishing the video right away, however, the video will be scheduled.

Conclusion

You now know whether or not scheduling a YouTube video affects the number of views it gets. While scheduling a video doesn't directly affect how many views it gets, uploading videos at the optimal time (or not) can have an impact.