Top 12 YouTube Metrics To Track

Top YouTube Metrics Your Agency Should Know 

1. Channel Metrics

A YouTube channel can be assessed like a website in various aspects. The metrics of the channel provide a general outlook of the increase and fame of your client’s YouTube profile. The following are the crucial ones to monitor.

Subscribers

Monitoring the number of subscribers is crucial as it indicates the level of interest that your videos generate among loyal followers. Make sure to keep track of this metric frequently to ensure that you are fostering and expanding your customer’s primary audience over time.

Keeping track of your subscriber metrics on YouTube is crucial as they are a reliable measure of your channel’s steady performance. Your subscribers are your loyal audience, so any rise or fall in their numbers must be monitored closely.

By utilizing this uncomplicated measurement, you can estimate the overall extent of your channel and comprehend the impact of each video towards acquiring or forfeiting subscribers. Identifying which videos or topics lead to subscriber growth can be advantageous for future content creation.

Likewise, in case a subject matter underperforms leading to a decline in subscribers, you can be certain to steer clear of it in your upcoming videos.

Having a video that boosts your number of subscribers is an effective strategy. As a result, having more subscribers increases the likelihood of your upcoming videos performing well among your committed audience or patrons.

Most Popular Videos

Analyzing the 5-10 most viewed and engaging videos can provide valuable insights for future endeavors. By evaluating the features that resonate with your audience, as showcased in these popular videos, you can replicate them to enhance future content.

Obtaining higher views, comments, and likes on your client’s video is advantageous. Utilize this knowledge to recognize the appropriate timings for posting, to prevent inundating people with uninteresting updates every day.

2. Reach Metrics

Knowing the reach metrics is crucial for a business on YouTube as it determines their brand visibility and how extensively their content is being spread. Here’s what you need to understand.

Views

Begin tracking your KPIs with views, as it is the most comprehensive metric to evaluate. If your views are increasing from one video to the next, you are moving in the right direction. However, if not, it is essential to examine other KPIs to determine if your YouTube content is achieving the desired outcomes, such as conversions. This may require pivoting or further analysis.

Remember that relying solely on views to determine success is insufficient. Even if a video has a substantial number of views, with an average watch time of only 2%, it cannot be deemed successful and other aspects such as the title and thumbnail need to be assessed.

Unique Viewers

To put it simply, unique viewers refer to unique visitors who go to your client’s website. This is a beneficial key performance indicator (KPI) because it informs you of the number of new individuals who view your videos over a period. Use it in conjunction with other metrics to evaluate the performance of your client’s videos among different subscriber segments.

If you notice that the number is not increasing as time passes, it could mean that you are relying too much on your existing audience or that your advertising strategy needs some adjusting. On the other hand, if this key performance indicator continues to remain consistent with a slower rate of growth (however, your overall views are high), it indicates that you are doing a great job in catering to your subscribers.

3. Traffic Sources

With traffic source data, you can determine the origins of your viewers on YouTube. This information enables you to comprehend the quantity of views received through searches, browsing, playlists, or suggested videos.

It is essential to comprehend the primary sources of your traffic. This will help you avoid inefficiently allocating resources towards insignificant traffic sources, and instead focus more on successful ones. YouTube Analytics simplifies this process.

Go to the Reach Viewers section to see the sources that generate the most traffic, and select a chart to access additional details. The second chart provides a more detailed breakdown of external traffic sources. You can make use of this data afterwards.

One scenario could involve discovering that a certain traffic source is not delivering results despite the investment of time and money. In such a case, reallocating those resources to a more profitable channel could limit losses. Alternatively, observing consistent growth in a traffic source might prompt additional investment into further expansion.

Alternatively, you might come to realize that a certain traffic source is remarkably effective, despite not receiving much attention from you. This gives you an excellent chance to increase your views by dedicating additional time and resources to it.

By using this metric, you can pinpoint areas where growth is possible. For example, if a video gains a high level of traction through a YouTube search, you should examine other metrics to identify the reason for this success. Similarly, if your video is discovered through a specific playlist, this presents another avenue for exploration.

4. Audience Retention

Utilize this metric to gain insight into the video’s ability to maintain audience engagement over a period of time. Moreover, YouTube will provide a comparison of this metric with other videos on the platform that have comparable running times, enabling you to evaluate video performance more accurately.

The ups and downs in this measurement can provide insight into the performance of various subtopics throughout a video. Highlight spikes as an indicator of content that resonates with your client’s audience. Likewise, keep track of dips to gain a better understanding of which topics to eliminate or modify.

5. Engagement Metrics

Understanding the type of content that appeals to a target audience is just as crucial as expanding your client’s reach on YouTube. As YouTube tends to recommend content that generates higher user engagement, tracking these metrics is vital for boosting channel growth.

Watch Time

By analyzing this important KPI, you can determine how effectively your videos fulfill their intended aim of presenting worthwhile content that keeps viewers engaged from start to finish. Essentially, a high average watch time signifies triumph and implies that your audience is sticking around to watch the entirety of your video.

When the indicators in this category are low, it suggests that there is a need for a new approach as something is not functioning properly.

6.  Likes, Dislikes, and Comments

The metrics presented are independent and assess the effectiveness of content. However, it is important to note that relying solely on these metrics for strategic decision-making or considering them as mere vanity metrics should be avoided. Instead, these figures should be utilized as supplementary indicators that contribute to the overall performance evaluation.

It is natural to want to avoid dislikes, but it is important to acknowledge that they cannot be entirely avoided. Rather than seeing dislikes as a negative indicator, it is more productive to consider them in relation to the number of likes your videos garner. This approach is more beneficial and feasible.

Consider asking yourself the following queries if your video has garnered a significant number of dislikes:

• Do the title and thumbnail accurately represent the video’s content?
• Is the content relevant to my target audience?
• Does the video have poor production quality?
• Are viewers disagreeing with what is being said in the video?

Checking your comments is one of the most effective approaches to uncover possible problems. At times, you don’t have to exert effort in utilizing your Sherlock Holmes abilities since the solution is evident to the eyes. The audience’s direct feedback is unparalleled.

Algorithms will be stimulated and your video’s value to forthcoming viewers will be demonstrated by advancements in these measurements. Despite the fact that YouTube eliminated the public display of “dislikes,” it is still preferable to have more likes than dislikes.

7. Shares

Although it falls under the same category as the aforementioned, a share indicates a significant level of trust from viewers in your client’s video, making it crucial to keep a close eye on this metric. By tracking the number of shares, you can identify the topics and formats that are most appealing to your target audience.

Similar to optimizing for YouTube SEO, the act of sharing your videos on social media can greatly impact their success. Through the use of analytics tools on YouTube, you can track how your videos are being shared across different social platforms. YouTube Analytics provides data on the number of shares your channel and individual videos have accumulated over a certain period.

8. Engagement

This KPI presents a combined view of how much engagement your client’s videos receive from viewers. To gain a broader understanding, utilize this measurement to determine the overall count of likes, dislikes, comments, and shares.

If there is a high engagement, it indicates that something is effective. By doing so, YouTube algorithms will naturally show your video to a larger audience in both organic and advertisement campaigns. However, it is important to note that there is frequently a direct relationship between high or low engagement and other KPIs.

9. Real-Time Report

With real-time reporting, you can instantly track the number of views your videos get as soon as they are uploaded. You have access to data from the previous 48 hours and the last hour, which can be viewed across your whole channel or for individual videos.

In addition to being intriguing, these YouTube measurements can also be useful. By using YouTube’s live report feature, you can identify surges in traffic and link them to current occurrences.

Suppose you share a new video on Facebook, but there’s no increase in views. Later, after 20 minutes, you share the same video on Twitter and observe a sudden surge in views. This indicates that your Twitter followers are more interested in that particular content than your Facebook followers.

Assuming that this pattern continues, it can be concluded that your Twitter followers are more inclined towards video content than your Facebook followers. Armed with this knowledge, you can take advantage of their interests. Additionally, you might notice an unexpected increase in views. If that happens, some investigation may reveal that your video has been shared by a prominent blogger or influencer.

Subsequently, you may involve both them and their followers to capitalize on the surge of attention.

10. Impressions Click-Through Rates

To begin with, let us comprehend the factors in action:

• Impressions: An impression is when one of your video thumbnails shows up on a YouTube user’s screen. Data on impressions can help you understand which videos were distributed most by YouTube and what made them successful. For instance, you may be able to determine if a certain format or format is more successful or that has unusually low or high impressions reach. 
• Impressions click-through rate (CTR): Impressions click-through rate shows you the percentage of impressions that turned into views. In other words, it shows how many of the people who saw your thumbnail clicked on it.

With YouTube Analytics, you can easily access a graph that displays the conversion rate of impressions to views, and also the correlation between views and watch time.

The click-through rate for impressions evaluates the effectiveness of your video to persuade individuals to click and view it.

If your video has a high click-through rate, it indicates that your title and thumbnail are effective, and that the content is relevant to YouTube viewers.

11. Card Click-Through Rates

In-video panels known as cards can be personalized to prompt viewers to take a particular action. These cards are applicable to videos, playlists, surveys, links, and endorsing other channels.

With YouTube Analytics, you can see the click-through rate for every card, which can aid in pinpointing the most effective CTAs for your audience. It’s worth incorporating more of these successful CTAs in upcoming videos.

12. Subscriber Rate

Monitoring the number of subscribers on your YouTube channel is essential as it provides a reliable measure of your channel’s consistent performance, given that they are your regular audience. Any fluctuation in your subscriber count should be carefully tracked.

By using this uncomplicated measurement, you can evaluate the complete coverage of your channel. Additionally, it allows you to comprehend how every video adds to obtaining or dropping subscribers. If you notice that a particular video or subject leads to gaining subscribers, you can capitalize on it.

Likewise, should a subject underperform and result in subscriber loss, it is advisable to steer clear of it in subsequent videos.

How Often You Should Track YouTube Metrics and KPIs

It is important to focus on enhancing your understanding of what works and what can be enhanced through YouTube metrics and KPI tracking, even if your videos are successful. Determining the frequency of tracking YouTube data should take into account certain factors.

• The schedule for your client’s publication and advertising campaigns.

• How the future content decisions could be influenced by the particular KPIs you are monitoring.

• What is considered acceptable or typical for every specific client industry or market.

During the period of an ad campaign, it is recommended to check in on a daily basis or at least once a week based on the timeline of the campaign and the capacity to modify assets. Editing a subpar video might consume significant time and hence necessitate more frequent inspections.

It is important to exercise patience with certain KPIs. To measure long-term growth and engagement, subscriber count is a critical indicator that requires ample time for testing and analysis. Similarly, engagement metrics and the amount of time watched may need to be monitored for several weeks or months before making any significant strategic changes on YouTube.

This is an example of what a schedule could look like:

1. Continuous observation on a daily basis

2. Carrying out weekly evaluations and making minor modifications, such as implementing the findings of A/B testing.

3. Monthly assessments and tactical modifications will be conducted in accordance with metrics 1 and 2 and benchmarked against the set KPIs.

4. Quarterly evaluation in comparison to significant client Key Performance Indicators.