YouTube Analytics — The Only Numbers That Matter

[00:00] For years, I looked at my YouTube

[00:01] analytics like a foreign language I was

[00:04] never going to learn. I'd see those

[00:06] jagged lines and those scary menus and

[00:08] just feel

[00:10] behind. But then I realized I wasn't

[00:13] looking at math. I was actually looking

[00:16] at what my audience was doing.

[00:19] So today,

[00:20] I want to take you into the four

[00:22] essential YouTube analytics that changed

[00:25] everything for me. And I promise we're

[00:27] going to do it without a single

[00:30] complicated formula. If you're a creator

[00:32] who just wants to figure out

[00:34] >> [music]

[00:34] >> their analytics so they can grow their

[00:36] channel,

[00:37] this is your translation guide. We all

[00:40] start here, right? The overview tab.

[00:42] It's the one you see when you first open

[00:44] analytics. It's that big dopamine hit

[00:46] when the views are up and that pit in

[00:49] your stomach when they're down.

[00:52] The overview is fine for a quick health

[00:55] check or if you go up to the top right

[00:59] to the period drop-down

[01:01] and select last 90 days,

[01:04] seeing if a trend is forming, right?

[01:06] But it's really a surface metric. It

[01:09] tells you what happened, but it doesn't

[01:11] give you a plan to grow your channel

[01:14] moving forward. For that, we need to go

[01:17] deeper into three specific areas of

[01:20] YouTube Studio that are the most

[01:21] important when it comes to managing your

[01:24] channel like a serious content creator.

[01:26] And those areas are the audience tab,

[01:29] the reach tab, and the engagement tab.

[01:33] Let's jump in. So what is the number one

[01:35] question creators ask aside from how do

[01:38] I get more views, when should I upload

[01:41] or more accurately publish my video? And

[01:44] that's where this first metric is so

[01:47] valuable. You get to it from the

[01:48] dashboard by going to the left side menu

[01:51] and then selecting analytics, then going

[01:53] to the top menu and selecting audience,

[01:56] then scrolling down to the card that

[01:58] says when your viewers are on YouTube.

[02:01] Now, this is the audience heat map.

[02:04] The left side are the times of the day,

[02:07] and across the top are the days of the

[02:08] week. And these bars represent the hours

[02:12] in the day. And the purple color

[02:14] represents your audience.

[02:16] The brighter the purple, the more of

[02:18] your audience is on YouTube during that

[02:20] hour. So, if I hover over the faintest

[02:23] bar,

[02:24] you see it says, "Few of your viewers

[02:27] are on YouTube."

[02:28] Now, if I hover over the brightest bar,

[02:31] it says, "Most of your viewers are on

[02:33] YouTube."

[02:35] And the medium purple here tells you

[02:37] that many of your viewers are on

[02:40] YouTube. All right, so what do you do

[02:41] with this?

[02:43] Well, you want to publish your videos

[02:45] when most of your viewers are on

[02:48] YouTube. So, during or just before these

[02:52] brightest purple time slots. After you

[02:55] publish your video, YouTube's

[02:56] recommendation engine goes to work

[02:59] testing your video with a segment of

[03:01] your audience. Now, how YouTube pushes

[03:04] out your video to the rest of the

[03:06] platform

[03:07] is largely dependent on the signals it

[03:10] gets back from that initial test

[03:12] audience. You know, things like clicks

[03:14] and and watch time and stuff like that.

[03:16] So, during these light purple high heat

[03:18] times, a lot of your viewers are on

[03:20] YouTube, which means the recommendation

[03:22] system has a larger test audience to

[03:25] work with. Not only is it a larger

[03:27] audience, these viewers are in browsing

[03:30] mode, meaning they're actively looking

[03:32] for something to watch.

[03:34] If that larger active initial group

[03:36] reacts positively to your video, it

[03:39] gives YouTube's recommendation system

[03:42] high confidence to push your video out

[03:45] to new viewers faster, which increases

[03:48] what's called view velocity. Now, if you

[03:52] upload during the faintest purple time

[03:55] slots, when few of your viewers are on

[03:57] the platform, the recommendation system

[04:00] may wait around for hours trying to get

[04:02] enough data to feel confident enough to

[04:05] push the video out. Think of these

[04:07] bright purple bars as time slots for

[04:10] your show.

[04:12] Pick one or two of these bright purple

[04:14] time slots, depending on how frequently

[04:16] you upload, of course.

[04:17] Then plan your video creation workflow

[04:20] so that you're able to publish to these

[04:23] brightest or prime time slots.

[04:26] Now,

[04:27] upload time doesn't determine if a video

[04:30] is going to take off or not, but it can

[04:33] accelerate the process.

[04:35] But you can publish to the largest, most

[04:37] active segment of your audience all you

[04:39] want. It's pointless if they don't watch

[04:42] your video. And that brings me to the

[04:45] one analytic that is the

[04:48] gatekeeper to all the rest. And that is

[04:51] impressions click-through rate, often

[04:53] referred to as CTR.

[04:56] Click-through rate is the number of

[04:58] viewers

[05:00] who clicked through your title and

[05:01] thumbnail to watch your video out of all

[05:04] the viewers that were shown your title

[05:07] and thumbnail. And it's expressed as a

[05:11] percentage. Now, you can see the average

[05:13] click-through rate for your entire

[05:14] channel over a period of time, if you

[05:16] want to, but I don't find that useful.

[05:19] Looking at an individual video's CTR is

[05:22] much more instructive because

[05:24] it tells you if this specific thumbnail

[05:27] and title worked for this specific

[05:30] topic. And that's information you can

[05:31] use for your next video. So, to see an

[05:33] individual video's CTR,

[05:36] back here in the YouTube Studio

[05:38] interface, I'll go back over to the left

[05:41] menu

[05:42] and select content.

[05:44] And by default, that shows all your

[05:46] videos.

[05:47] So, to see the CTR for an individual

[05:49] video, you hover over the video you want

[05:51] to look at in the list.

[05:53] And from the icons that appear, select

[05:55] the one that looks like a bar graph.

[05:57] And that's the analytics for this

[06:00] specific video.

[06:02] And now I'm in the analytics dashboard

[06:04] for this specific video.

[06:07] Now, to see this video's click-through

[06:09] rate, on the top menu, I select reach.

[06:13] So, here we are in the reach area. All

[06:15] right, for this walk-through of the

[06:17] essentials

[06:19] analytics, the essential analytics,

[06:21] we're going to focus on the

[06:23] funnel-shaped graph on this card right

[06:25] here.

[06:26] This is the most accurate reflection of

[06:29] how the YouTube algorithm is interacting

[06:31] with your packaging, you know, your

[06:33] title and your thumbnail.

[06:35] So, let me break down how to read this

[06:36] thing.

[06:37] So, at the top are the impressions.

[06:40] Okay? This number

[06:42] represents every time YouTube put this

[06:45] title and thumbnail in front of someone

[06:48] on the home page,

[06:50] in search, or in suggested videos.

[06:55] Now, below that, as we sort of squeeze

[06:56] down in the funnel,

[06:58] this is the percentage of people who saw

[07:01] that title and thumbnail and actually

[07:03] decided to click through to watch the

[07:04] video.

[07:06] Now, a lot of people ask, and I ask,

[07:09] "What's a good number? What's a good

[07:10] CTR?" Well, from my research,

[07:13] you want to aim for 5%.

[07:16] Okay? If you're under 2% for your CTR,

[07:22] you're essentially invisible.

[07:24] If you're over 8% for your CTR, you

[07:27] found, you know, a winning formula. It's

[07:30] working for you.

[07:31] But, remember, CTR is a moving target.

[07:34] As your video reaches more strangers,

[07:37] the reception gets colder.

[07:39] Not as many uh people click through,

[07:42] and that CTR number will naturally drop.

[07:46] So, click-through rate, CTR,

[07:48] think of it as how well your marketing

[07:50] is getting

[07:52] butts in the seats of your theater.

[07:55] So, now that you have butts in the

[07:56] seats,

[07:57] your next task is to keep them there.

[08:00] And how well you do that is measured by

[08:03] our next metric, and that is average

[08:06] view duration. Average view duration,

[08:08] AVD, is really all about everything that

[08:11] happens after

[08:13] the viewer clicks the play button. It's

[08:15] about the quality of your storytelling

[08:19] and your editing.

[08:20] And all of that hard work, all those

[08:22] hours, all that sweat you put into

[08:25] making that video

[08:27] can be reduced down to one simple graph

[08:30] in YouTube Analytics. It's kind of sad

[08:32] when you think about it that way. And

[08:34] that graph is the audience retention

[08:37] graph. And each one of your videos has

[08:40] one. To see the audience retention graph

[08:42] for this particular video, I go to the

[08:44] top menu

[08:46] of video analytics and select

[08:49] engagement.

[08:50] And then I scroll down to the audience

[08:52] retention card. And there is the

[08:55] audience retention graph.

[08:57] And above it is the video in question,

[09:00] and it's in a player that's directly

[09:03] connected to the retention graph.

[09:05] So, how do we read this? Well, let's

[09:07] look at the graph from left to right.

[09:10] You'll see this pink shaded area here.

[09:12] This area represents the first 30

[09:15] seconds of your video.

[09:17] So, this, in my mind, is the most

[09:19] critical part of the graph.

[09:22] When you see that cliff at the start of

[09:25] your graph, don't panic.

[09:27] Okay? You're not failing.

[09:29] You're just witnessing the great

[09:32] filtering that happens at the beginning

[09:34] of every video. Even the big creators

[09:36] experience this.

[09:38] This represents, you know, people who

[09:40] weren't going to stay in the first

[09:41] place. They were just clicking around

[09:43] or, you know, they started watching and

[09:44] their DoorDash arrived and they had to

[09:46] go. You can't worry about that.

[09:49] What you need to worry about

[09:51] is where the graph lands after 30

[09:55] seconds because

[09:56] that tells you how good the intro to

[09:59] your video was.

[10:01] If I hover down the graph here

[10:04] and stop at that 30-second mark, you'll

[10:06] see the pop-up has a percentage. That's

[10:09] the percentage of viewers still watching

[10:12] the video after 30 seconds. So,

[10:15] you might be asking, "What's a good

[10:16] number?"

[10:17] >> [snorts]

[10:17] >> What's a good number? What's a bad

[10:18] number?

[10:20] Well, if the percentage of viewers

[10:21] remaining after 30 seconds is between

[10:24] 40% and 50%.

[10:27] Your video intro is

[10:29] kind of weak.

[10:31] 60% to 70% is a good intro.

[10:35] Over 75% retention after the first 30

[10:38] seconds is an outstanding intro.

[10:40] And you can check the first 30 seconds

[10:43] of your video

[10:45] watch it back by hovering over this

[10:47] little I icon above the graph

[10:50] and from the pop-up selecting play clip.

[10:53] So, a few days ago I received this

[10:55] comment and then you can review your

[10:57] intro to see what you can change to have

[11:00] a higher retention or make note of what

[11:02] you did in your intro to score such an

[11:05] outstanding retention rate.

[11:08] Now, after the 30-second mark

[11:11] your goal is to keep the graph as level

[11:14] as possible. Why? Because this graph

[11:16] represents the people still watching

[11:18] your video, the people still in the

[11:20] theater.

[11:22] This graph sloping down means people are

[11:25] leaving the theater and if you hover

[11:26] over the graph

[11:28] and follow it along, you can see

[11:31] the percentage of people still watching

[11:34] dropping off.

[11:35] Again, the goal isn't to keep 100% of

[11:38] the remaining people there. That's

[11:41] practically impossible. The goal is to

[11:43] keep the line as flat

[11:46] as possible for as long as possible.

[11:49] So, for a 10-minute video, for example,

[11:52] if you have 35 to 45% of people left at

[11:55] the end, still there,

[11:57] you've done an incredible job holding

[12:00] their attention. Now, if you're seeing

[12:03] 10 to 15% retention by the end of the

[12:06] video,

[12:07] you lost their interest in the middle

[12:09] somewhere and they've trailed off.

[12:11] Happens in a lot of my videos. Now,

[12:12] these little bumps in the graph

[12:14] represent viewers actually rewatching

[12:17] that section of the video. So, it might

[12:20] be worth scrolling over to those areas

[12:23] of the graph

[12:24] and playing them back to see what you

[12:26] did there. And you can do that by

[12:28] clicking on the graph just before the

[12:30] bump there

[12:32] and hitting the space bar

[12:34] to play back. Now, for this video,

[12:37] listen, at the end of the day, don't let

[12:38] a average view duration number define

[12:41] your worth as a creator, okay? The

[12:44] retention graph is not a report card as

[12:47] many creators see it. It's actually an

[12:50] invaluable tool

[12:52] for improving your craft as a

[12:54] storyteller

[12:55] and YouTube creator. So, those three

[12:58] metrics are the bedrock of any credible

[13:01] YouTube growth strategy.

[13:03] Meeting your audience where they're at,

[13:05] that's the audience heat map. Getting

[13:07] butts into the seats, that's the

[13:09] click-through rate, the CTR. And of

[13:11] course, keeping as many butts in the

[13:14] seats till the end of the movie, and

[13:15] that's average view duration, the

[13:18] retention graph. All vital.

[13:21] However,

[13:22] if you only watch one chart, one metric

[13:27] in your analytics for the next 6 months,

[13:30] make it this next one. I get to this

[13:32] metric by going back out to the main

[13:34] area so that I see the left-hand

[13:36] navigation menu.

[13:38] Then I select analytics.

[13:41] And in the overview section here, I'll

[13:42] go down just below the graph and select

[13:46] the see more button.

[13:49] And that brings me into advanced mode.

[13:51] Now, don't be afraid. I'm not going to

[13:53] go into this too deeply, but I am going

[13:55] to go over to the breakdown menu.

[13:57] And from the drop-down that says

[13:59] content, I'm going to select that and

[14:01] I'll scroll down to the audience section

[14:04] and select new and returning viewers.

[14:08] This chart is the actual heartbeat of

[14:12] your channel now.

[14:14] This blue line represents new viewers to

[14:16] your channel. So, these are people

[14:17] meeting you for the first time.

[14:19] This green line represents returning

[14:21] viewers, your loyal community.

[14:24] So, this is my new and returning viewers

[14:26] graph over the last 28 days. I can see

[14:28] how the two lines are kind of separated

[14:31] at the beginning of the graph and then

[14:33] are climbing together over here almost

[14:36] in sync.

[14:38] When the two lines move together like

[14:40] this, it's a very good sign. It means my

[14:43] new videos are bringing in new people,

[14:45] but the new videos are also keeping my

[14:48] existing viewers coming back for more.

[14:51] This is what sustainable growth looks

[14:54] like now on YouTube.

[14:56] Now, if your blue line is way up here,

[14:59] but your green line is barely above the

[15:01] baseline, your videos are hitting the

[15:03] algorithm. You're getting new people in.

[15:05] That's great, but you're not building a

[15:07] viewing habit. Viewers aren't coming

[15:10] back. So, you have to think about how

[15:12] you can bring people back and that can

[15:14] be, you know, scripting, production,

[15:17] topic selection, all kinds of things I

[15:19] talk about in other videos. If the

[15:21] opposite is happening, the green line is

[15:23] way up here, but the blue line is

[15:26] hovering near the bottom, you have an

[15:28] extremely loyal following, but no one

[15:31] new is being invited and or showing up

[15:34] to your party.

[15:36] Your channel

[15:38] will eventually shrink because you

[15:39] aren't reaching new audiences. So, you

[15:42] probably want to start by looking at

[15:45] your packaging, your titles, and your

[15:46] thumbnails. The goal is to have the blue

[15:50] and green lines moving up together.

[15:53] That's your growth engine. You're

[15:55] attracting new viewers and turning them

[15:58] into returning viewers. You're building

[16:02] a viewing habit, and YouTube is looking

[16:04] at that very fondly right now. Now, you

[16:07] notice to find the new and returning

[16:10] viewers data, I jumped into the advanced

[16:12] mode of YouTube Analytics.

[16:15] Really, that's where the real magic is

[16:19] buried. That's where you can see exactly

[16:22] why a video failed or why it went viral.

[16:24] Which specific video turned a viewer

[16:27] into a subscriber

[16:29] and much more.

[16:30] I'm currently finishing a video that

[16:31] demystifies the advanced analytics mode.

[16:35] Hit subscribe so you don't miss that

[16:37] explainer.

[16:38] It truly is the missing piece of the

[16:41] puzzle.

[16:42] If that video is already live, I'll link

[16:44] to it right here. If not, make sure

[16:46] you're subscribed because you aren't

[16:49] going to want to miss the pro side of

[16:52] YouTube Studio.

[16:53] I'll see you in the next one.