YouTube Analytics

YouTube analytics allow you to measure the success of your YouTube marketing efforts. You can use them to monitor your progress toward achieving specific goals like growing subscribers or increasing video views, and identify what works and what flops.

Marketers can track just about everything from the YouTube Studio dashboard, from YouTube channel analytics right down to real-time video metrics. But just because you can track everything, doesn’t mean you should. Especially if you don’t know how to translate raw data into meaningful information.

YouTube Metrics

YouTube analytics tools let you measure just about everything. But it’s not enough to simply record numbers. We breakdown what each YouTube metric measures, why it matters, and how it fits into your overall performance outlook.

YouTube Channel Metrics

Chart your overall channel performance, identify average trends, and get a snapshot of what works best with these YouTube channel metrics.

• Subscribers:

The number of people who have subscribed to your YouTube channel. From the overview section of the YouTube analytics dashboard, you can see how many subscribers you’ve gained over a selected period. Hover over (or tap) the icon to see how this figure compares to your typical subscriber growth.

• Realtime views:

The number of views your last published videos have received in the past 48 hours. This metric is a good way to track the performance of a YouTube Live or YouTube Premiere or recently published video.

• Top videos:

A snapshot of your top performing videos based on views, over a given period. By adjusting the timeframe, you can identify your all-time best performing videos. Or, opt for a shorter time period to see if certain videos have resurfaced.

• Channel Views:

The number of views your channel amassed over a given time period. Beside this metric, hover over (or tap) the icon to see how it compares to the average amount of views your channel receives.

• Channel Watch time:

The total amount of time, in hours, people have spent watching videos on your channel over a given period. You can also compare this stat to your average watch time, by hovering over or tapping the icon.

Audience metrics

Use YouTube audience metrics to understand who watches your videos. Use these insights to inform your content and community management strategies.

• Unique viewers:

An estimate of the total number of people who watched your videos over a given period. Unlike channel views, this metric does not include multiple views from the same person.

• Average views per viewer:

An average of the number of times a viewer watched videos on your channel. This metric includes both views of multiple videos, and multiple views of the same video.

• When your viewers are on YouTube:

A bar chart that displays the days and times most of your viewers are on the platform. Use this info to schedule uploads at optimal times. If you have an active Community Tab, make sure an admin is available to create posts and respond to comments at this time.

• Audience demographics:

Take into consideration the age, gender, and location of your audience on YouTube. This information can help you plan content geared toward viewers, or create content for a segment your current audience is missing. Look also to see if viewers are using subtitles, and what languages are most used, so you can accommodate accordingly.

YouTube Discovery Metrics

How good is your YouTube SEO? Learn how people are discovering your videos, on and off YouTube, and adjust your promotion, algorithm, and keyword use accordingly.

• Impressions and CTR:

An impression is recorded each time someone sees the thumbnail for your video. Impressions click-through rate measures the percentage of people who clicked on the thumbnail to view your video.

A high click-through rate is a good indication your thumbnail and keywords are effective. But you’ll need to check watch time and average view duration stats to see if your video seals the deal.

• Bonus:

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• Tip:

Look for similarities between videos that have high or low click-through rates. Do they have anything in common?

• Traffic Sources:

See where and how people are finding your videos. YouTube traffic sources include search, browse features, playlists, and suggested videos—all of which are powered to varying degrees by the YouTube algorithm.

Other sources include Direct URL or External. Click on each source to see a breakdown and drill down further. If you were expecting to see more traffic, consider these tips to promote your channel.

• Tip:

See if people watched your video on YouTube or embedded on a website. Go to the Reach tab and click Advanced Mode. From there, click the More dropdown menu below the date, and select Playback Locations.

• Top YouTube search terms:

Under Traffic Source: YouTube Search, you can see the top search terms that led people to your videos. This should give you a good indication of whether your SEO strategy is effective or needs to be tweaked in some areas. If a video is searched for often, consider adding it to a playlist to help people discover your related content.

YouTube Video Metrics

Whether a big production or a no frills livestream, it’s worthwhile to track individual YouTube video metrics. When you click on a video, you’ll land on a similar dashboard with Overview, Reach, Engagement, Audience, and Revenue tabs only all the data pertains to the video in question.

• Views:

The number of times your video has been watched, including repeat views from the same person.

• Video subscribers:

The number of people who subscribed after watching your video. This metric provides one of the strongest indications that your content connected with viewers. On the flip side, you can also see the number of subscribers lost with a certain video, too.

• Watch time:

The cumulative amount of time people have spent watching your video (or videos). Click See More to have a look at how this figure changes over time. Has your watch time been consistent since you published the video, or are there spikes you can correlate to specific events?

• Audience retention:

See how far people made it through your video. The audience retention report provides you with an average view duration. It also shows you where the views drop off. Notice a big dip? Watch your video to try to understand why people may have left around a specific mark.

• Tip:

Retention will always gradually decline, so focus on abrupt drops. If you see peaks, they indicate viewers are re-watching certain parts of your video.

YouTube engagement metrics

See how and what people are engaging with on your channel. On desktop, engagement metrics can be found under the Engagement tab. On mobile, tap on the Interactive Content tab.

• Likes and dislikes:

While often considered vanity metrics, likes and dislikes can give you a sense of what people thought about your video. If a video receives a lot of dislikes, set aside some time to read the comments and analyze people’s sentiments. Comments are another form of engagement, and can be an invaluable source of qualitative data.

Tip:

Under the Watch Time chart on desktop, click See More to see how many times your video has been shared.

• Card and end screen reports:

If you’ve added interactive content to your videos, these reports will give you an idea of the elements that work best. Have a look at your Top cards and Top end screen element types overall. To see how often people clicked on a card or end screen of a specific video, look at Clicks per card shown and End screen element click rate.

Find definitions for specific card and end screen metrics here.

Top playlists: See what playlists are in high rotation. Track your most popular playlists, total views, average view duration, and watch time. Take a look at Playlist starts and Playlist exit rate for more detail on engagement. To improve overall retention, YouTube suggests putting the videos with the highest retention upfront.

Tip:

Add relevant popular videos from other creators to your playlists to improve discoverability and retention. See what playlists your videos have been added to in traffic sources.

The Overview tab shows you key metrics for your channel. The main graph shows watch time, views, and subscribers. If you’re in the YouTube Partner Program, you’ll also see your estimated revenue over the last 28 days.

In this tab you’ll also see 4 reports:

• Top videos: Your videos ranked by views.
• Realtime activity: Your performance over the last 48 hours or 60 minutes.
• Latest videos: Your performance from your 10 latest videos.
• Typical performance: A comparison of your latest video to your channel’s typical performance.

Reach

The Reach tab shows you your music’s overall reach. The main graph shows how many people saw an impression of your videos or videos containing all or most of your song across YouTube, and how many people then clicked through to watch the videos.

In this tab you’ll also see reports for:

• Traffic source types: Where viewers found the videos on YouTube.
• Top external sources: Traffic from websites and apps that have the YouTube video embedded or linked to.
• Impressions and how they led to watch time: How many people saw the video on YouTube and who then went on to watch the video.
• Top YouTube search terms: Search terms that led viewers to the videos.

Engagement

The Engagement tab shows you what your viewers are watching. The main graph shows you the total number of watch minutes, and on average, how long viewers spent watching one of the videos.

In this tab you’ll also see cards for:

• Top videos and playlists: Videos and playlists featuring your music with the most watch time over the last 28 days.
• Top cards and end screens: Your top cards and end screens over the last 28 days.

Audience

The Audience tab shows you who’s watching. The main graph shows your returning & new viewers, unique viewers, and subscribers.

In this tab you’ll also see reports for:

• Top geographies: Your audience by geography. Data is based on IP address.
• Top subtitle/CC languages: Your audience by subtitled language. Data is based on usage of subtitles/CC.
• Age and gender: Your audience by age and gender. Data is based on signed in viewers across all devices.
• When your viewers are on YouTube: Your audience’s online activity across your channel and all of YouTube. Data is based on your viewers across all devices in the last 28 days.
• Other videos your audience watched: Your audience’s online activity outside of your channel. Data is based on your viewers across all devices in the last 7 days.
• Other channels your audience watched: Your audience’s online activity across other channels on YouTube. Data is based on your viewers across all devices in the last 28 days.

Revenue

The Revenue tab is only available to creators in the YouTube Partner Program  and will show data only for videos uploaded by you.

 The Revenue tab helps you track your earnings on YouTube. The main graph shows how much you’re estimated to earn, the number of videos that are monetized, and your estimated average gross revenue per thousand plays.

In this tab you’ll also see reports for:

• Monthly estimated revenue: How much your channel has earned in the last 6 months. For ongoing months and months without finalized payments, revenue is estimated and subject to change.
• Top-earning videos: Videos with the highest estimated revenue for the time period.
• Revenue sources: How you’re making money with YouTube.
• Ad types: The format of the ad and its buying platform. This breakdown is only available for YouTube ad revenue and impression-based metrics.
• Transaction revenue: Estimated net revenue from transactions, such as paid content and Super Chat, deducting any partner charged refunds for the selected date range and region.