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It’s the first thing most people ask once they decide to try shorts. YouTube hasn’t published a magic number, and the honest answer depends on one thing: how many good shorts you can make, week after week.
Here’s how to pick a pace, why steady wins, and where all those shorts can come from.
This week’s long video
Its moments
- Story
- Clear tip
- Hot take
- Big number
- Laugh
- Lesson
- Q&A
Your week of shorts
- Mon Long video Story
- Tue Clear tip
- Wed Hot take
- Thu Big number
- Fri Laugh
- Sat Lesson
- Sun Q&A
Is there a best number?
No. Every short gets its own chance in the feed, so more good shorts mean more chances to be found. But a short that isn’t worth watching does nothing for you, however many you post.
Why steady beats a burst
Imagine twelve shorts in a month. Posted all at once, they land in your subscribers’ feeds on one day, then nothing new comes for weeks. Spread out, the same twelve keep you showing up, and you learn from each one before you make the next.
Steady 3 a week
12 days your viewers find something new
Burst 12 on one day
1 busy day, then 27 quiet ones
Start with what you can keep up
Pick a pace that feels a little easy, and step up when it does. This ladder is practical advice, not a YouTube rule.
- 3 a week A solid start
- 5 a week Once it feels easy
- 1 a day The common goal
- 2 a day Only if every one is strong
Missing a day is fine. Disappearing for a month after a burst is what hurts.
Plans by how often you post long videos
If you already make long videos, you don’t need new ideas for shorts. A one-hour video usually holds 8 to 15 moments that work on their own (a rule of thumb), so your long videos set how many shorts you can post.
A starting point, not a rule.
- A long video once a month 2–3 shorts a week 8 to 12 shorts from each video
- A long video every two weeks 3–4 shorts a week 6 to 8 shorts from each video
- A long video every week 3–7 shorts a week 3 to 7 shorts from each video
- Long videos several times a week 1 a day or more 1 or 2 shorts from each video
Can you post too many?
Yes, when quality slips. Posting every day is good if every short would make you stop scrolling. If you start posting shorts you’d skip yourself, slow down.
Too many
- Shorts you would skip yourself
- Several in the same hour
- Rushed captions and framing
Just right
- Each short worth watching alone
- Spread across the week
- A pace you can keep for months
What time to post
YouTube Studio shows when your viewers are online. Go to Analytics, then Audience, and find When your viewers are on YouTube, which covers the last 28 days.
- Pick a regular time, a little before your viewers’ busiest hours.
- Keep the same time for a few weeks, so you can compare fairly.
- Don’t chase the perfect minute: shorts often keep finding viewers for days.
Check and adjust after 2 to 4 weeks
A new pace needs a few weeks before the numbers mean anything. Then look, and change one thing at a time.
-
See which shorts worked
In YouTube Studio, compare views and how many people stayed to watch. Note which kinds of moment did best.
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Check the rest of the channel
Are Shorts bringing subscribers? Are your long videos getting more views? Shorts should help both.
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Adjust one thing
Make more of what worked, then step your pace up, or down, by one level on the ladder.
Sources