A viewer asked this – “Hi Tim. Love your videos. Question here. Under Channel Settings Advanced at the bottom, there’s something called the Google Analytics Account ID. What does it do? Is it any different than YouTube Analytics? Should we use it? Thanks”.
Yes, you should use it and I’ll tell you why. But first of all, for those of you who might not know what Google Analytics is, it’s basically Google’s system that people use to track all the traffic that goes through their domain website. It shows you how much time people are spending on your website, where they’re coming from, how they’re finding it, what they’re searching for– all their activity. It shows you a ton of information. What YouTube gives you the ability to do is actually use that tool, Google Analytics, for your YouTube channel.
Now, your YouTube Analytics is a little different because that tracks a lot of different metrics across all your videos across your entire channel. What the Google Analytics ID does is only allow you to track the traffic and the interaction of people or what people are doing on your actual channel page. It doesn’t extend into Watch pages or into Playlists or anything like that– only your channel page.
And I recommend that everyone set this up and use it because– well, one, it’s free, but two, it’ll also show you a lot of data that your YouTube Analytics doesn’t show you. For example, how are people finding your channel? Your YouTube Analytics will show you how people are finding your YouTube videos, but how are they actually getting to your channel base? Which is your top referring video to your channel? Or what are people searching for in Google that are leading to your actual channel? Or how loyal are some of your viewers? How often do they come back to your channel page, and when they get there, how much time are they spending there? You’ll also be able to see what countries people are coming from, what languages they speak, their desktop screen resolution, what browsers they’re using.
1.To set this up for your channel, first go to google.com/analytics, and set up your Google Analytics account.
2. You’ll have to give them a little bit of information. Just type in your channel name you want to track it by, your YouTube URL, and then also select a category that applies to what content you create there.
3. Select your time zone.
4. Give your account a name.
5. You will get a number called a Tracking ID, and it usually starts with UA dash, and then gives you a bunch of numbers. Copy that entire number. Then, go back to YouTube. Go to your Channel Settings and click on Advanced.
6. And then down there at the bottom, you’ll see Google Analytics Account ID. Copy that tracking ID into that box. Click Save, and you are good to go.
If any of you guys currently have Google Analytics set up with your YouTube channel, I’d love to hear from you how you use it and what you use it for. What kind of information you find to be valuable and helpful in your Google Analytics for your YouTube channel? Comment with all that below and help us out and everyone else who’s watching this video and trying to figure it out. And if you have a question that you’d like me to attempt to answer in an upcoming YouTube Q&A, you can either comment below or send me a video of yourself asking the question. There’s a link in the description text below this video right here on YouTube where you can send that video to me. And I’d love to actually put your face here and your video here and actually feature you and your question.
And finally, if this is your first time here, I’d love to have you subscribe. Every Thursday, we do some YouTube Q&A just like this. On Tuesdays, we take a look at the recent updates of this platform and the news in the online video space and talk about the implications that it has for us as creators. And then on Wednesdays, we talk about some YouTube tips and ideas, just some suggestions, just, again, to help you guys here really change lives with the video content that you’re making. So thank you for letting me be a part of that. And I will talk to you guys next week!
http://www.google.com/analytics/
SUBMIT YOUR VIDEO QUESTION
1. No music nor sound effects.
2. No text nor logos.
3. Keep it brief.
4. Include your name and channel URL in the “message” field.
5. Upload your video here