How Long Should a YouTube Outro Be? (Complete Explanation)

Have you ever wondered- how long should a YouTube outro be? If so, you've come to the right place.

For many years, content creators did not use outros in their videos. However, this changed when they discovered how powerful an outro could be. With this said, if an outro is too long or too short, issues could arise.

In this article, you will learn:

Should You Have Outro for YouTube?
How Long Should an Outro Be?
What Should Be In a YouTube Outro?

Read on and learn how long a YouTube outro should be.

Should You Have Outro for YouTube?

Before going over the ideal length for an outro, we must first address whether you should have an outro for YouTube or not. After all, there's no point in working on an outro for your videos if it would be better not to feature one.

An outro on YouTube gives you the ability to feature a call-to-action, which will help you better engage viewers. Whether you point viewers to more videos, or an external website, being able to feature a call-to-action is a great perk of using an outro in your videos.

When viewers are watching your videos, you don't want to distract them with an unnecessary call-to-action. Since this is the case, using an outro can allow you to feature a call-to-action to viewers without distracting them.

Put simply, you should have an outro for YouTube. Not using an outro will cause you to miss out on converting viewers to subscribers, website visitors, or repeat viewers. Missing out on these opportunities will lead to slower channel growth.

How Long Should an Outro Be?

So, how long should an outro be? Is there an ideal length? Or, can you use any length of outro you want? After all, many content creators on YouTube seem to use different lengths for their video outros.

The ideal length for an outro on YouTube is 8 to 10 seconds. However, outros can be as long as 20 seconds. You want to give viewers enough time to digest your call-to-action, but you don't want your outro to go on for too long because viewers will lose interest.

It's important to remember that every audience is different. Also, certain types of CTAs might require a longer duration to direct at viewers. So, you will need to do some experimentation to determine which length works best for you.

At the end of the day, you don't want end screen elements to overlap with your videos and distract viewers. To avoid this, you must ensure that your outro is not too short. Either use an outro that is over 8 seconds long, or consider not using one at all.

What Should Be In a YouTube Outro?

At this point, you might be wondering- what should be in a YouTube outro? Should you tell people to subscribe to your channel or watch some more videos? Or, maybe directing viewers to your website would be better?

What is featured in your outro will depend on your goals. If your focus is on growing an audience on YouTube, feature a CTA telling viewers to subscribe to your channel. On the other hand, if your goal is to generate leads, tell viewers to visit your website.

Remember, you don't want your outro to drag on. Determine what your primary focus is, and craft a CTA that reflects this focus. Viewers will not subscribe to your channel, visit your website, leave a comment, send you an email, etc, etc. at the same time.

Many content creators feature a text call-to-action. Meaning, they feature words on the screen telling viewers what they'd like to do. This isn't a bad way to do this, but consider featuring a verbal CTA to engage viewers better.

Conclusion

You now know how long a YouTube outro should be. While every audience is different, the best length across the board has proven to be between 8 and 12 seconds, with a maximum of 20 seconds. Ensure your outro is around this length, and don't forget to use a strong CTA.