Shorts or long videos: what a new YouTube channel should make

Shorts help strangers find you and long videos make them stay. What YouTube says about each format, how to link them, and a weekly mix a small channel can keep.

Updated 29 October 2026 · 9 min read · By Videxa Editorial Team

What is a Short, exactly?

A Short is any square or vertical video up to 3 minutes long, uploaded on or after 15 October 2024. YouTube puts such videos in the Shorts category automatically. Videos uploaded before that date stay long videos, whatever their shape.

This matters more than it sounds. If you film a 2 minute clip of your Ganpati decoration holding the phone upright, it becomes a Short. Film the same clip with the phone turned sideways, in 16:9, and it stays a long video. YouTube's own advice, if you do not want a video treated as a Short, is to use a wider shape such as 16:9.

On a computer you upload a Short the same way as any video: in YouTube Studio, click Create, then Upload videos, and pick a file that is up to 3 minutes and square or vertical.

Do Shorts hurt long videos on the same channel?

No. This is the most common fear we hear from new creators, and YouTube answers it directly on its Help page: Shorts performance does not negatively impact long video recommendations. Shorts can help with audience discovery but cannot hurt your video performance.

So a Short that gets 200 views will not drag down Sunday's 12 minute recipe. Each Short is judged on how people respond to it. When YouTube shows a Short, it looks at whether people choose to watch or swipe away, then at whether they stay, using the share of viewers who chose to view, average view duration and average percentage viewed. Last, it looks at whether viewers enjoyed it, through likes and surveys after watching.

YouTube also says its system does not favour any particular format, and that there is no minimum posting schedule required for your videos to do well. That second point is worth reading twice if you have been told to post three Shorts a day.

What is each format good for?

Shorts are a door, long videos are the room. A Short reaches people who have never heard of you, in a fast feed where they decide in seconds. A long video gives someone who already chose you the time to learn something properly, see your face for ten minutes and start to trust you.

One honest note on the last row of numbers: 10 million Shorts views in 90 days is a very large number for a small channel. For most new channels in India, the watch hour route through long videos is the more realistic one. Shorts still help, because they bring the subscribers who then watch your long videos.

Can a Short send viewers to a long video?

Yes, in two ways YouTube provides, and both are worth setting up.

A related video link. After you upload a Short, you can attach one of your own videos to it. Viewers see a clickable link below your channel handle in the Shorts player. In YouTube Studio, select Content, click the Short, choose a related video from your channel and save. The video you link must be public or unlisted and follow the Community Guidelines.

Edit into a Short. You can cut up to 60 seconds of one of your public long videos into a new Short, from the video's watch page through Remix, then Edit into a Short. Shorts made this way link back to the original video. YouTube notes that this works only on public long videos you uploaded, not on private, unlisted or claimed ones, and that you cannot add Audio Library music to Shorts made this way.

How many Shorts and long videos should a small channel make?

As many as you can keep up without burning out. YouTube says there is no minimum posting cadence needed to perform well, and suggests choosing what works for your audience and your own wellbeing. A rhythm you can hold for six months beats a burst you drop after three weeks.

Here is a plan many solo creators with a job or college can manage. Treat it as a starting shape, not a rule.

1. One long video a week

   Pick a fixed day, such as Sunday. This is your main piece: the full recipe, the complete phone review, the whole trek vlog. Aim for a length that matches what the topic really needs.

2. Two Shorts cut from it

   Pull the single best moment and one quick tip from the long video. Post them on, say, Tuesday and Thursday, and set the related video link to the full video each time.

3. One Short that stands alone

   Something that makes sense with no context: a 30 second answer to a question from your comments, a before and after, a quick myth check. This is the one most likely to reach total strangers.

4. One quiet day to look back

   Spend ten minutes in YouTube Studio comparing this week's videos with your own last few, never with big channels. Our beginner's guide to YouTube Analytics shows what to look at.

If even this is too much, drop to one long video every two weeks and two Shorts. Consistent and small is fine. The Academy lesson Shorts and long videos, working together walks you through making your first linked Short this week.

Should my Short be 30 seconds or 3 minutes?

Only as long as the idea needs. Three minutes is the limit, not a target. YouTube's ranking for Shorts looks at average view duration and average percentage viewed, so a tight 35 second Short that people watch to the end is usually better than a 2 minute one they leave halfway.

A quick test before you upload: say the point of the Short in one sentence. If you cannot, it is probably two Shorts, or it belongs in your long video.

How do Shorts and long videos earn money differently?

They are paid from separate places. Long videos earn from ads on the watch page. Shorts earn from a shared pool of ads shown between videos in the Shorts feed, which is divided among monetising creators by their share of engaged Shorts views, and creators keep 45% of their allocation. YouTube has also said that from 1 February 2027, a channel needs at least 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days to earn Shorts feed ad and YouTube Premium revenue in a month.

To join the YouTube Partner Program in the first place, you need 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 qualified public watch hours in 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days. Watch hours from Shorts in the Shorts feed do not count toward the 4,000. The full picture, with rupee examples, is in our posts on YouTube monetisation requirements in India and how much YouTube pays in India.

Since the view counting change, can I compare old and new Shorts?

Carefully. Since 24 August 2026, YouTube counts a view the moment a video starts to play, for Shorts, long videos and live streams alike. Your newer videos may show higher view counts than older ones for the same real interest. When you compare a Short from before that date with a newer one, look at average view duration and the share of viewers who chose to watch, not only views.