The ten numbers worth checking every week

Most dashboards show you fifty numbers. These are the ten that actually tell you what to make next — and what to stop making.

Analytics are only useful if they change what you do next. Here are the numbers we check every week, and the decision each one helps with.

The ten

• Views compared to your own average, per post.
• Click-through rate on YouTube, per thumbnail.
• Average view duration, and where people drop off.
• Share and save counts on short-form.
• Followers gained per post, not per week.
• Returning viewers.
• Comments per thousand views.
• Best day and hour to post, for your audience.
• Which formats beat your average most often.
• Your biggest outlier of the month, and why.

Compare against yourself

Other channels are a useful source of ideas, but your own average is the right yardstick for results. A video that did 3× your average is a signal to make more like it — whatever the absolute number is.