A video can serve many purposes, and YouTube is the dominant platform for people to post videos to. However, with a basic YouTube account, you can only upload videos up to 15 minutes long. If you want to know how to be able to upload longer videos on YouTube, this guide will help you do so.

Are longer videos better for YouTube?

In many instances of media consumption, shorter is usually better. However, research is finding that longer YouTube videos are actually ranking better than shorter videos. Dying are the days of short vine videos, and coming are the days of 20-minute plus videos. According to Statista, "Long-form video (20+ minutes) accounted for 54 percent of total video consumption on smartphones in the first quarter of 2018, up from just 29 percent two years ago."

The increase in length of videos can be traced back to things like beauty tutorials and hacks that typically last around 45 minutes. YouTube is also rewarding users who create longer content because it means they can put in more advertisements. This means that they are making more money. Most creators are trying to create videos that last around 20 minutes.

How to upload longer videos to YouTube

If you are wondering how to upload long videos on YouTube, you have come to the right place. Once you make a YouTube account, you are able to automatically upload videos of up to 15 minutes. However, you need to become verified in order to upload videos that are longer than 15 minutes. To become verified, follow these steps, and then you will know how to upload videos longer than 15 minutes on YouTube.

Note that your maximum file size is 256 GB or 12 hours.

On a computer

  • Go to this site: https://www.youtube.com/verify.
  • Once on the site, you will follow the steps to verify your account. You can get your verification code through a text message or a phone call.
  • You will also want to make sure your browser is up to date.

On Android

  • Go to the YouTube app.
  • Click on the create button at the bottom of the screen and click on upload a video.
  • Click on record or pick a video longer than 15 minutes.
  • Pick a title for your video, write the description, figure out your setting, and then click Next.
  • You will then follow the steps to verify your account. You can get your verification code through a text message or a phone call.

On iPhone and iPad

  • Go to the YouTube app.
  • Click on the create button at the bottom of the screen.
  • Click on record or pick a video longer than 15 minutes.
  • Pick a title for your video, write the description, figure out your setting, and then click Next.
  • You will then follow the steps to verify your account. You can get your verification code through a text message or a phone call.

Conclusion

A basic YouTube account will allow you to upload videos up to 15 minutes long. However, if you wish to upload a video longer than that, you will have to go through the YouTube verification process. The process varies slightly between a desktop computer, Android, and iPhone/iPad, but none of the processes are that difficult. It will benefit you to create longer videos because YouTube tends to promote longer videos because they can put more advertisements in them. It is much more likely your video will be organically found if it is longer than 15 minutes.