Last week, when YouTube limited the amount of analytics in its demographic data report, it announced that it is giving creators three new metrics, which will help measure how videos perform. The site is also launching a redesigned reporting dashboard and will move YouTube Studio from out of beta, and to the default hub for creators.
The new metrics are – impressions, impressions click-through rates and unique visitors.
- Impressions measure how many times a video’s thumbnail has been viewed (not the video, but the thumbnail image of the video). “Impressions tell you the potential reach of your content on YouTube, since each impression is an opportunity to earn a view,” product managers Assaf Reifer and Ezequiel Baril write on YouTube’s Creator Blog.
- Impressions click-through rate is the percentage of impressions on the video thumbnail that turn into an actual view, helping creators determine which video thumbnail images and titles are pulling the highest view rates.
- Unique viewers reflects the estimated number of people watching a video over a period time. “You can use this data to compare your audience size to your subscriber base, and identify videos that helped reach a wider audience,” Reifer and Baril write.
YouTube says, that for the time being, only a small number of users will have access to the new metrics. When it comes to the YouTube Studio hub, everybody will have access to it within the coming weeks.
First announced last June, YouTube Studio was in beta for a number of months. Creators will have the option to switch back to Studio Classic from YouTube Studio. But, if users switch back, YouTube says that they will not have the new metrics available to them for a couple weeks after YouTube Studio becomes the default.
The newly refreshed YouTube Studio dashboard will have three new features:
- A snapshot of the most recently uploaded video
- Personalized content recommendations based on your channel’s needs
- A news feed that is designed specifically for the YouTube creator community.
According to YouTube, the new dashboard will be rolling out to all channels over the next couple of weeks, with new features coming.