Viewed vs. swiped away: the number to beat
For every Short, YouTube Studio shows how many people in the Shorts feed chose to watch it and how many swiped away. That split is decided almost entirely in the opening second or two, which makes it the clearest measure of your hook.
The analyzer's hook score predicts it before you publish. It looks at whether the Short opens on movement, a face, a spoken line or on-screen text, and finds the exact moment it really gets going. Anything before that moment is usually worth trimming.
Replays count now
Since 31 March 2025, YouTube counts a Shorts view every time a Short starts or replays. The older "engaged views" number is still in advanced analytics. Either way, a Short that loops cleanly, where the last line runs back into the first, earns more replays than one that ends on a dead frame.
Shorts can be up to 3 minutes
Since October 2024, square and vertical videos up to 3 minutes count as Shorts. That's room for a fuller idea, but not a reason to pad. The hold estimate shows whether people are likely to stay for the whole thing, and the edit plan marks the slow stretches to cut.
Keep text clear of the Shorts interface
Shorts puts your title, channel name and subscribe button along the bottom, and the like, dislike, comment, share and remix buttons down the right. The analyzer flags every second where your on-screen text sits underneath them. If you cross-post, pick Reels and TikTok too and it checks all three layouts.
Want a quick pre-publish routine? Read how to tell if a video will go viral.