How is my channel doing?

How do you know if your videos are doing well? YouTube Analytics can help unlock your path to success.

• Grow a healthy channel

  YouTube Analytics is like a control panel that can give you both a bird’s-eye view of what’s working on your channel and disclose deeper insights that have been shown to be vital for your channel’s growth. Not sure where to begin? Consider focusing first on a few key statistics (that interest you) such as views, watch time or subscribers. Do the trend lines go up? Are the numbers what you expect? Try reviewing just a couple of reports first to gauge if you’re on course, then dive deeper to see how easy changes to your channel can help move you closer towards a goal.

  Tip:

  • Use your analytics on the go.

• Why your viewers matter

  If you want to grow a channel on YouTube, getting an audience to watch your videos is critical. When you can hone in on what your viewers love and hook them  in so they want to come back and watch more, you may see increases in watch time. A loyal community of viewers may also help promote your videos to new viewers through their own social networks, and give you instant feedback on what they do and don’t like. It takes time to build up these relationships, but it can be rewarding as your channel grows.

  Tips

  • Use the Demographics report to learn who your viewers are (you can get stats like their age, gender and even where they’re watching from).

• Your four key questions answered

  Curious on how you can measure success with YouTube Analytics? Here are a few key questions to get you started.

  • How is my channel doing? You can check your watch time, views and subscribers to see if you're making progress against the goals that you set.

  • Who is watching and what are they interested in? Find out more about the people who watch your videos to give you insight on how to tailor your creative and promotional strategies to more effectively reach them.

  • How engaged is my audience with my videos and channel? Are they sharing and liking it? See how much your viewers watch and what piques their interest within each video.

  • How much money am I making with my channels, and are they meeting business goals? Determine which of your videos generate the most revenue, when your channel makes the most money and more.

• Get the most out of YouTube Analytics

  There are three main parts of the YouTube Analytics dashboard:

  • Real-Time – See how many people are watching your channel and views on the top few videos with estimated real-time views. This is especially helpful when you want to see how a newly uploaded video did. More details here.
  • Watch time reports - Watch time is the total number of minutes that someone watches of your video. Watch time is a key success metric on YouTube, and videos are ranked by how much watch time they have. Videos with higher watch times are likely to show up higher in search results and recommendations. In these reports, you can break down how many minutes people are watching, some information about who these viewers are, where they're discovering you from and what parts of your video keep their attention or cause them to leave. Click for more tips on optimising watch time.
  • Interaction reports – See how viewers respond to your videos – do they like or dislike them? Which ones got them talking in the comments that were shared with their friends on social media or added to a playlist on their channel? Did they click on additional features that you've added to your videos, such as cards?

  Tips

  • You can use real time to see how many viewers you have watching right now.
  • See your top 10 trending videos.
  • Learn which videos are being shared the most.