We often hear from creators that it’s easy to feel stuck on a content creation “hamster wheel”. From getting stuck to coming up with new ideas to wondering if you are creating the content your audience actually wants to see… we can help you figure out where you’re getting stuck and teach you how to make deductions from your analytics on your own.

Here are 5 analytics you need to study to get back on track and grow sustainably on YouTube.

  1. Average percentage viewed and audience retention. You can find average percentage viewed on your channel overall and audience retention data on each individual video. This data is so valuable because you can see exactly where your viewers are watching your video and where they’re dropping out of your video. This is where we can tell if our current video structure is working or not because you can actually see if your viewer is engaged and if they’re skipping around because you’re talking too much. :) If you feel like your videos aren’t going very far, this is one of the first places you should be looking in your analytics. We recommend having 50% retention per video for the majority of your video (so at least half of your viewers make it to your end screens). Also, notice any dips and what is happening in your videos when people drop off. Analyze several of these and see if you can find any patterns in your retention graphs.
  2. Impressions and impression click through rate. These analytics can help you analyze how your titles and thumbnails are performing. Everyone’s niche will have a different version of what’s “healthy” for their impressions and impressions CTR. For example, Jimmy Fallon will get far more impressions than a knitting channel. You can always do some research and see what the highest performing video in your niche is to try to get an idea of what a normal impressions rate is.
  3. Groups and comparison feature. This is one of the most powerful tools you can use in your YouTube Studio. Grouping your videos together can help you A/B test, compare videos, figure out what thumbnails/titles are performing better, and even what videos are bringing in subscribers and which ones are losing your subscribers. .
  4. Traffic sources. Not only can you see other videos your channel is watching through your traffic sources, but you can see other channels as well – which is great for you to be studying and see what’s leading them to your videos/channel. This can help you understand viewing habits/patterns and even give you new topic ideas! This is definitely an underutilized feature creators aren’t doing much with, so take advantage of it.
  5. Clicks per end screen element shown. This analytic shows you how many times a viewer saw your end screen and how many clicked on it. This is a LONG TERM strategy. It takes time to change your end screen or call to action strategy to notice a change here, but once you do make a change, these videos will compound on each other and lead your audience to binge your content (which is a GREAT viewing signal to YouTube) and YouTube will start to promote your content more to that type of viewer.

I’d recommend listening to the full podcast episode Lennon and D’Laina did on this above if you want to learn more about what to do with these analytics and how to strategize what to do next based on your data.

It’s seriously an analytics master class, so go listen.

Thanks for reading!

Keep changing lives,

Tim

P.S. If you’re still feeling a little stuck around what to do with your channel or aren’t sure what all the data in your analytics means, we’d love to create some clarity for you. Myself or one of our Certified YouTube Growth Strategists would love to hop into a 1-hour call with you and give you actionable steps to get “unstuck” and move forward with clarity on your channel. .