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YouTube Analytics: 12 Metrics you should know

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saher ansari
YouTube Analytics: 12 Metrics you should know

In order to make the most out of your YouTube channel, you have to learn how to use YouTube Analytics to the optimum. When you want to grow your presence and create content that is appreciated by people, you need to know your audience’s behavior. And that’s where YouTube analytics comes to your rescue.

 

You might sometimes feel that analytics are boring, but it can immensely help you in molding your content strategy and attracting more people to your YouTube channel. From total video views to the number of unique viewers, from finding out audience demographics to seeing your most liked content - you can find every little detail using YouTube analytics.

Here are some of the many metrics that you need to put your focus on.

 

 

  • Video views and watch time:

 

 

The most obvious way to measure your success on YouTube is through the number of views and watch time. When a viewer watches your video for a minimum of 30 seconds, it is counted as one view. Watch time is the total amount of time that your audience spends watching a video.

 

  • Average view duration:

 

 

Your watch time divided by the number of views will give you the average view duration of a video. The same metric is also given in percentage form. A high average view duration indicates that people are engaging with your content and helps in the overall ranking of your channel.

 

  • Impressions:

 

 

When people search for a term and see your video thumbnail while scrolling through the suggestions, it is counted as an impression. The number of clicks and views received through impressions is also shown as the click-through rate. When your click-through rate is high, it means that people are attracted enough by the titles and thumbnails of your videos to go further and watch.

 

  • Unique viewers:

 

 

When a person views your video 5 times, the views will be counted as 5, but the unique viewer will be counted as one. Compare this data with the total views that you get to have an idea of how many times people are re-watching your content.

 

  • Traffic source:

 

 

Want to know where your viewers find your video? You can check that here. ‘Traffic source’ metric breaks the sources of video views into 5 categories-

  • YouTube search
  • YouTube channel pages
  • External sources (website embeds and other links)
  • Suggested videos
  • Browse features (Homepage and subscription feed)

 

  • Geography:

 

 

When you are targeting the audience of a particular country (or countries), keep a check on this metric. Here, you will be able to find out from which country you are getting more views. Consider adding subtitles in your videos so that the language barrier can be removed.

 

  • Viewer age and gender:

 

 

Along with the geographical location, you should also check the age group of your channel’s audience. Adopt a flexible strategy that can cater to the needs of different age groups. 

 

  • Subscription status:

 

 

If you wish to know how many views are coming from your subscribers and non-subscribers, you can check that through this metric. In case you witness considerable views coming from people who have not subscribed, try to convince them to subscribe to your channel in the videos itself. Provide more valuable and relatable content to increase your subscribers.

 

  • Subscription source:

 

 

Through this data, you can find out the source from where people are subscribing to your channel. The sources are categorized as follows-

  • YouTube search results
  • Your YouTube channel page
  • YouTube watch page
  • Closed accounts (decrease in subscriptions by removal of closed and spam accounts)
  • Other sources (website embeds and links)

 

  • Device type:

 

 

What device is your audience using while watching your videos? Using this metric, you can see the percentage of people that watch your videos on-

  • Mobile phones 
  • Computers (Laptops and desktops)
  • Tablets
  • TV (Smart TVs and set-top boxes)

 

When you make a video, try to test it using different devices and make sure that small elements are visible properly.

 

  • Likes and dislikes:

 

 

After the number of views, the likes and dislikes received are used for measuring the success of a video. When you have a huge number of likes, it makes your video rank higher in search results.

 

 

  • Comments and shares:

 

 

A comment section is a place where your audience shares their opinions about your video. Keep a close check on them. Reply to all of them if possible to keep your audience engaged.

 

Also, see the number of shares, so that you can know whether people like your content enough to recommend in their friend circle.

To sum up,

 

Use this gold mine of YouTube analytics to develop an in-depth strategy and improve your performance. All these analytics together might make you feel overwhelmed at first, but it can give you the most valuable insights about your audience on YouTube.

 

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