Every creator obsesses over CTR (Click-Through Rate) and AVD (Average View Duration). We stare at our thumbnails and edit our hooks until we go crazy.
But there is a "Ghost Metric" that YouTube cares about deeply, yet rarely shows you explicitly on the dashboard: Session Time.
And the easiest way to boost it isn't making better videos—it's replying to comments.
What is Session Time?
YouTube's goal is simple: Keep people on YouTube.
They want a user to open the app and stay for 45 minutes, not 4 minutes.
If your video causes someone to close the app (boring content), the algorithm penalizes you. If your video causes someone to watch three more videos (great content), the algorithm rewards you.
But here is the hack: A "Session" isn't just watching.
The "Ping-Pong" Effect
When you reply to a comment, three things happen:
- The viewer gets a notification (on their phone or desktop).
- They click that notification to read your reply.
- They are now back on YouTube.
You just started a new session for that user. You brought them back to the platform.
YouTube loves creators who bring people back. It’s a positive signal that your channel is a destination, not just a stopover.
If you have 100 comments and you reply to 0, you generated 0 return sessions. If you reply to 100 comments, you potentially triggered 100 return visits to your video.
This traffic also tells the algorithm: "This video is still active. People are still discussing it." This can revive older videos that have flatlined.
Why "Hearting" Isn't Enough
Many creators just "heart" comments because it's fast.
While a heart sends a notification, it doesn't invite a conversation. It’s a period, not a question mark.
A reply—especially one that asks a follow-up question—invites the user to reply again. Now you have a conversation. Now you have a user spending minutes typing, reading, and staying on your video page.
This dwells time counts. The activity counts.
The Scale Problem
The problem, of course, is time.
Replying to 500 comments takes hours. Most creators give up, or they only reply to the first 10 comments and ignore the rest.
This is where having a system matters. You don't need to write a novel for every person. You need a workflow.
We talk about this in our 5-minute daily routine, but the core principle is: don't let the queue die.
Even replying to comments from 3 weeks ago works. In fact, it might be even better. It brings a user back to a video the algorithm had forgotten about, giving it a fresh pulse of activity.
Quality over Spam
Warning: Do not just spam "Thanks!" 500 times.
YouTube is smart. If you act like a bot, you will be treated like a bot.
The replies need to be authentic. They need to vary. They need to be human.
The algorithm can detect spammy behavior. But it can also detect genuine community interaction. Real conversations drive real session time.
The Strategy
- Don't ghost your own video. The first 24 hours are critical, but the "Long Tail" is where the session time hack really works.
- Reply to older comments. Go back to last month's video and answer some unanswered questions. Watch the real-time views bump up slightly as those users return.
- Ask questions back. "Glad you liked it!" ends the session. "Glad you liked it! What was your favorite part?" extends the session.
You are working hard to make the video. Don't stop working once it's uploaded. The comment section is your second chance to trigger the algorithm.
Want to trigger more return sessions without spending your whole day typing? Engage Suite helps you clear your comment backlog and keeps the conversation going, signaling to YouTube that your channel is the place to be.