I?m going to format this month?s update slightly different because the real story for this period is in the numbers not what I did during the month.
What I did do was to simply attempt to post a video a week. I didn?t do that because most of my time was dedicated to finishing off my upcoming book (sign up at the bottom of this article to find out more about when that comes out), but I did manage to post three, same as I did last month.
Some semblance of consistency and here?s how that affected my numbers:
This Month's Numbers
? Total views for period = 5581 ? 47% increase
? Total subs added = 60 ? 28% increase
? Total subs lost = 16
? Total subs = 368 ? 14% subs growth
? Total Watch Time = 6383 ? 48% increase
? % views from Search = 27% - 29% increase
? % views from Suggested = 14% - 84% increase
So after the overhaul and having a couple of months with more consistency in the upload schedule the uplift in these numbers is something worth noting.
Of course in absolute terms the growth is miniscule in comparison to larger channels (and where I want this channel to ultimately be) but the trends in growth cannot be overlooked and this month has seen a number of records broken:
Views and Watch Time
Both of these had an increase of almost 50% month on month and this is down to a couple of reasons. Firstly as my footprint on the platform grows (40 videos as this point) there is simply more of my stuff to be watched and grow views and Watch Time.
Secondly, I am using Cards and End Screens more effectively to drive viewers to watch more than one video.
And finally I?ve had a relative hit for the channel - the ?How to change your YouTube URL? video that I posted last month. This had over 1800 views and accounted for about 30% of views on the channel.
This is also one of my ?B Format????? videos so I?m really pleased that they are being well received despite my own reservations about them.
Percentage of views from Search
With a record 27% of views coming from Search results this month, I am really happy to see this rising as it is one of the metrics I am actively trying to influence and grow.
Most of these views came from people searching for my URL video. Here?s a screenshot of the most searched terms that people found my channel by this month:
Much of this is down to the optimization of my Tags and you can see exactly how I tag my videos and learn to do it the same way by checking out my guide here.
Percentage Of Views From Suggested Videos
This is the improvement that I am most happy about. The number of my views from Suggested have floated between 2.5% and 5% for most of this project, rising to 7.6% last month and almost doubling this month to 14%.
Being a Suggested Video relies on a number of factors but are usually a sign that you are running your channel with a good overall YouTube optimization strategy. I still have a lot to do in terms of cleaning up my older videos but know that my videos have been uploaded in an optimal way since the re-launch.
The beautiful thing here is that I am being suggested not only from my own videos but from other people?s videos too, a sure sign from YouTube that you are doing something right:
From day one of this challenge I have tasked myself with growing Search and Suggested video views because I believe that long term they are the healthiest, most consistent and most sustainable way to run a YouTube channel. Seeing these two metrics grow is heartening although I would like to be growing subscribers at a much faster rate.
Next time, on Serial the Race to 1k Subscribers.