If you create video content for YouTube, you want to know how well it performs and what impact it has on your audience. But how can you measure your video content's performance on YouTube? In this article, you will learn about some key metrics and tools that can help you track and improve your YouTube strategy.
One of the most basic indicators of your video content's performance is how many views and how much watch time it generates. Views show how many times your video was played, while watch time shows how long your viewers watched your video. These metrics can help you understand how popular and engaging your content is, and how it affects your channel's ranking and monetization. You can find these metrics in the YouTube Studio dashboard, under the Analytics tab.
Watch time (or video retention) is one of the most important figures to keep track of if you are active on YouTube. Whilst video views show an appetite for the general topic of your video, a strong watch time signifies that your audience are engaged with the content that you have published. Keep a close eye on this metric across your videos and actively test different openings, video lengths and other elements within your content to see what works best as your audience grows.
Another way to measure your video content's performance is to look at how your viewers interact with it. Engagement metrics include likes, dislikes, comments, shares, and subscribers. These metrics can help you gauge how satisfied, loyal, and involved your audience is, and what kind of feedback they give you. Retention metrics show how much of your video your viewers watched, and at what point they dropped off. These metrics can help you identify what parts of your video are most interesting, boring, or confusing, and how you can optimize your video length and structure. You can find these metrics in the YouTube Studio dashboard, under the Analytics tab, or in the Audience retention report.
Using reporting will help to identify what is resonating well for your audience. An important element of YouTube that many people forget is community management; ensure that you are keeping conversation going with users who are actively engaging with you as this is an opportunity for you to build a relationship with your audience. By building a strong relationship with your audience, you have a greater potential to aid your organic reach through videos being shared between social circles.
Another way to measure your video content's performance is to look at where your viewers come from and who they are. Traffic sources metrics show how your viewers found your video, whether it was through search, suggested videos, playlists, external sites, or other sources. These metrics can help you understand how discoverable and relevant your content is, and what keywords and topics attract your viewers. Demographics metrics show the age, gender, location, and language of your viewers. These metrics can help you understand who your target audience is, and how you can tailor your content to their preferences and needs. You can find these metrics in the YouTube Studio dashboard, under the Analytics tab, or in the Traffic sources and Demographics reports.
If you are just starting and not quite sure what niche you should focus on, try several videos in topics you want to create content about. After that check the stats mentioned above and select one that is most relevant to you. Relevant meaning serves the purpose of uploading - lead gen, exposure ect
Another way to measure your video content's performance is to look at how it contributes to your business or marketing objectives. Conversions and goals metrics show how many of your viewers took a desired action after watching your video, such as visiting your website, signing up for your newsletter, buying your product, or downloading your app. These metrics can help you evaluate how effective your content is at generating leads, sales, or loyalty, and what kind of return on investment it provides. You can find these metrics by using Google Analytics and setting up goals and events for your YouTube channel and videos.
To access and analyze the metrics mentioned above, you can use YouTube Analytics, the official tool provided by YouTube to help you monitor and optimize your channel and videos. YouTube Analytics offers various reports, charts, filters, and insights that can help you understand your performance and audience behavior. You can also use other tools, such as TubeBuddy, VidIQ, or Social Blade, to complement YouTube Analytics and get more data, features, and suggestions for your YouTube strategy.
Whilst measuring your content performance is key, it's important to take action wherever appropriate. Having access to detailed reporting is fantastic for managers of YouTube channels but you must take strategic action in order to see benefits from what is working/removing what isn't.