It is no surprise that YouTube is one of the most used websites. In fact, over 2.6 billion people worldwide use YouTube once a month!
But not everyone uses it the same way. The best way to tell if your YouTube content is sparking income is by looking at your metrics. You don’t even have to leave the YouTube website. Instead, the metrics are located on your Channel Dashboard. For more detailed information, click the Analytics section in your YouTube dashboard!
Your personal website or blog won’t grow just sitting without a larger audience. Truthfully, the higher the views on a YouTube video, the higher chance you have of gaining new website visitors and subscribers.
When you create YouTube videos, you can link back to your website either in the description, the comments section, or your video directly. This increases website engagement as interested and curious viewers click the links.
But, how does YouTube count views?
The Secret Sorcery YouTube Uses to Count Views!
In the early 2000s, when YouTube was simple and young, the site counted views as 1 per click, but the site ran into a big problem.
Bots.
As soon as YouTube launched its paid program, pesky bots took over the site and began skewing view counts. Long gone are the days when hitting a ‘refresh’ button was enough to increase views quickly.
Now, YouTube only counts views if the ‘view’ fits two pieces of criteria:
- The user must click play on the video.
- The video runs for at least thirty seconds.
Repeating views are eligible for the total view counter, but evidence suggests only up to four of five times. But how is this information helpful? How can you improve engagement knowing how views work? What are ways you can effectively leverage YouTube for your website? It is simple; you need to understand YouTube metrics.
YouTube Metrics for Increasing Website Views
Here is the thing, if you have a YouTube account, you also have metrics. It is not enough, though, to know what they are, but how to use them.
So, what does YouTube measure?
YouTube keeps track of metrics like views, watch time, traffic source, end screen element click rate, and top tagged products.
Firstly, if you want to use metrics to succeed on YouTube and grow an engaged following, throw out the notion that your view count matters.
Higher views do not equal proper engagement. So, what does?
Watch Time! (Kind of)
Do you know how I said views don't matter? That is only kind of true.
Watch time is a super important metric because it tells you a lot about your audience's attention span. This number can tell you how long your viewers watch each video before they click away. Are longer videos doing well? What about shorter ones?
Traffic Source - Be an Audience Magnet
The traffic source is exactly what it sounds like. YouTube generates sources for traffic.
The sources can be the search bar, suggested, or from notifications and subscribers. Once you know where the source of traffic comes from, you can focus on creating inviting videos for your audience based on the source. For example, do they click because of your thumbnail? Which one's work? YouTube is captivating. You can link your website directly into the thumbnail and your description box to gain new viewers. The more enticing your video, the better. YouTube content essentially drives to your website.
End Screen Element Click Rate
Not everyone pays attention to the end screen element click rate, but they should!
If you internally link your videos to other related videos, this is a way to increase engagement and subscribers. The end screen element is the last end section of a YouTube video, or the end screen. Usually, end screens link to another YouTube video. You can link your personal website, product, or company in your end screen. The click rate depends on the thumbnail.
A New Pilot Program: Top Tagged Products
The top tagged products is a pilot program open for invite only, but more YouTubers have started tagging products in their videos and updates.
This is a perfect resource and tool for small businesses that sell a product. The metric keeps track of each time someone clicks on the tag and will arrange the tagged products from highest to lowest. It is also another revenue maker!
Final Bits of Magic
With a sprinkle of YouTube metrics dust, your website can attract new audiences, land higher on search results, and convert views into cash! It is not enough to just define the metrics. Creating eye-catching titles, videos, and end screen cards, can increase your website’s audience.
