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What is the best length for a vlog? There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question and it largely depends on the type of content you are creating. News and politics vlogs tend to be longer than beauty and lifestyle vlogs, as more in-depth analysis is required in order to present the content in an educational way. It also depends on the audience that you are aiming at. Younger people may have shorter attention spans than those who are over fifty, and they could have distractions such as homework, social media, part-time jobs and other TV and YouTube viewing habits.

In previous chapters, we’ve looked at vlogging experts such as Zoella, Alfie Deyes, Tanya Burr, Jim Chapman, ThatcherJoe and Caspar Lee, and picked out things they have in common. We can do the same to work out how long our videos should be. Go to your favourite vlogger’s channel and pick out five videos at random. You should notice that they’re not all the same length. Sometimes they’re as short as two minutes and at other times they can go on for as long as five minutes. One of the benefits of vlogging is you can stop when you run out of things to say. You’re not on TV, filling a timed link between segments, so there is no pressure to talk for a specific length of time. It’s good to keep viewers on their toes as there’s more chance they will get bored if your vlogs always follow the same rigid format.

Were you bored at any time while watching one of your favourite vloggers’ videos? The answer should be no, as this is what separates professional vloggers from amateur vloggers – they know when to shut up. If they don’t have anything to say, then they’ll make a short video, and if they know they can keep someone’s attention for a longer period, they’ll let the video run on. During the editing process, they’ll review the video objectively and cut out any waffle. Whether their vlogs last two minutes or five minutes, everything they talk about during that time is relevant to the video’s storyline.

Very few videos made by your favourite vlogger will be longer than five minutes in duration. This is because it’s hard to keep people’s attention when they’re watching YouTube, and the longer a video lasts, the more likely it is that viewers will get distracted and switch off. Video analytics service Wistia has closely monitored some top YouTube channels and found that, on average, videos lasting four to five minutes result in fewer than 60 per cent of viewers watching the entire video, against 75 per cent for a one- to two-minute video. The most successful vloggers are aware that, if they want their viewers to stick with them until the final call to action, they need to keep their videos short and sweet.

Enter ‘popular on YouTube’ into Google, and the first result will be a YouTube channel featuring the week’s most popular videos – from movie trailers to cute animal videos. I’ve monitored this channel carefully over three months, and I’ve noticed that most of its videos tend to be two to three minutes or three to four minutes in length. There are very few longer than four minutes, and even fewer longer than five. Keeping videos short and sweet works for anyone making content for YouTube, not just vloggers.

So how do you keep videos short and to the point? If you’ve ever switched a camera on and talked down the lens, you’ll know how easy it is to go off-subject. As you talk about one topic, it might lead you to think of a similar experience, and you might mention it even though it’s not strictly relevant to the storyline of that vlog. It’s easy enough to cut this out during the editing process, but wouldn’t it be easier if you didn’t get distracted in the first place?

I’ll let you into a little secret: most vloggers script their videos. This helps them to stay on track during filming, meaning less work during the editing process. You may argue that you want to vlog about your daily life and capture people’s reactions to things as they happen, and that having a script will make your footage appear artificial and rigid. This doesn’t have to be the case, as there are different levels of scripting. Some vloggers might write a full script, whereas others will just have a vague plan written in bullet points. But they’ve all thought about what elements their videos will contain.

This is largely because interesting and funny things don’t happen that often in life. You may have a fun-packed Friday where you grab lunch with a friend, go shopping, indulge in some beauty treatments and hang out with your mates at a party, but what happens if Monday is no more action-packed than going to school or work, then eating dinner? People will only want to watch your videos if they are more exciting than their own lives. It’s a good idea to take time out at the start of the week to plan some activities, then you can space out these activities and be confident that you’ll be able to produce an entertaining video each day. John Carle, Director of Network Development for Collective Digital Studio, which manages US vloggers, explains: ‘The most recent stat I heard was that there are three hundred hours of content being uploaded every minute to YouTube. But at the same time, the amount of content watched by the majority of the audience is microscopic in comparison. So it really does come down to whether you are making something that is connecting with your audience. If you’re connecting with that audience, they’ll keep coming back to you regardless of the other two hundred and ninety-nine hours.’ The way to connect with your audience is to keep them entertained and captivated by the fun you’re having in your videos.

While you’re planning what to do each week, think about some funny anecdotes or facts related to each topic. What are you trying to communicate to the viewer by letting them into that aspect of your life? What does the activity mean to you and why? You’ll be tempted to say ‘umm’ and ‘errr’ if you start filming without an idea of why you’re shooting, and this makes you look stupid. If you ramble on about a subject without saying anything useful or interesting about it, then you’ll look shallow. People aren’t interested in watching you if you’re not better than them in at least some way, and they’ll switch off if they feel they are more articulate than you.

Having a script does not lead to extra pressure to learn lines. When you’re vlogging, you can pause the camera as much as you want to look over your script. It doesn’t matter even if you mess up a line, as there are no costs involved in retakes. It’s not like TV, where retakes require rehiring actors, hair, make-up and camera crew. You can film shots as many times as you want on however many days you want until you get the shot with the right amount of energy and enthusiasm. Some people will argue that the first take is the most ‘natural’, but what if you wanted to improve on the natural you? Sometimes you’ll have more enthusiasm in your voice and a more energetic tone in the second or third take. Keep going until you know you have something you’re proud of.

Have you ever written a script before? I find the process becomes easier if you divide it into three steps. If you want to keep your planning loose and more improvised, you can stop after the first step. Many experienced vloggers stop after step two as they have a lot of relevant things to say about their subject matter after years of making videos on the same topic. However, try all three steps if you’re new to vlogging as it will make you feel more prepared and give you confidence in front of the camera.