Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
The month of June was a bit slow for both the blog and the YouTube channel. But based on the numbers, I have a strong feeling July is going to be far better. That’s next month, though. Let’s take a look at what June was like for WriterSanctuary.
And while both platforms could have done better, they could have also done worse. Even though some of the numbers are less than ideal for June, I’m still progressing forward.
Visitor Traffic
So, I’m comparing visitors by looking at the number of views for both the blog and the YouTube channel. This number relies on who visited each piece of content.
One of the discrepancies for this comparison, however, is how YouTube videos also show in Google search results. In fact, Google makes up 36.9% of all external views for the YouTube channel.
Unfortunately, written blogs do not show up on YouTube. Already, the YouTube channel has an advantage over the blog.
YouTube Channel
In June, the channel had 2,179 views. This is more than 300 less than it had in May at a 10% decline. It’s a bit disappointing, and I’m going to look at the videos to see which ones are bringing the number down.
But in total retrospect, I didn’t make as many videos this last month. This could hurt the numbers a bit considering that I lost subscriber views from uploaded videos.
In fact, I only published five videos in June. Which is considerably less than the 14 I did back in May.
WriterSanctuary.com
The blog also lost visitor counts in June by 161! So, only 652 visitors came into the website. There’s a lot of different factors to take into account why this number dropped.
First of all, I had nearly double the number of visitors from YouTube in May. And since I didn’t create as many videos in June, this could have influenced fewer visits to the blog.
I only had 29 visits from YouTube in June as opposed to 41 visits in May.
On the upside, though, more people are exploring the content once they visit. In fact, May only had 1.78 views per visitor while June accumulated 1.88. It’s not much, but it’s still an improvement.
Audience Retention Rates
Audience retention measures how long a person is reading or viewing content. The more time they spend engaged with content, the better.
And to be honest, I’d rather have high retention rates as opposed to visitor count. I want people to absorb the content and learn something from my experiences.
Besides, high retention rates will help influence both the YouTube and Google algorithms for search. So, starting with making something that is high-quality is better in the long run.
YouTube Channel
This last month, viewers spent an average of 3:07 per video. This is 13 seconds less than it was back in May!
Again, I’ll have to go through and see what videos are getting less love this past month. Maybe using the Canon camera will make a difference in quality and help bring those numbers up?
WriterSanctuary.com
In stark contrast to the YouTUbe channel, the blog saw a considerable increase in retention. In June, people spent 4:10 on average going over my content. That is more than 30 seconds longer than it was in May!
Even the bounce rates on the blog have dropped significantly. I wonder if the content is reaching a higher degree of people interested in freelance writing, Textbroker and WordPress.
What About Click-Through Rates?
So, click-through rates are one of the major contributors to visits. This involves having good titles, descriptions and thumbnails. The CTR is similar for YouTube and blog content because people focus on what they see.
In this case, it’s titles and descriptions for blog posts and titles and thumbnails for videos.
YouTube Channel
The average CTR for the YouTube channel was resting at 5.4% in June. This is 0.1% lower than it was back in May. Again, a lack of videos in June may have modified this number a bit.
I still need to go through and adjust some of the older videos to see if I can help increase their CTRs. I just haven’t had the time lately.
But this is something that needs to be done if I want to improve the channel. Well, that and making more videos.
WriterSanctuary.com
In June, the blog increased CTR to 3.3% as opposed to the 2.6% it saw back in May. This is a considerable increase for the website, especially since I only produced 5 articles.
The increase in CTR, even though I did nothing to improve titles and descriptions, goes to show that Google is sending search results to more interested parties.
Even though I had 10,000 fewer impressions, the content that was delivered in search results was clicked on more often.
Top Performing Content
Something new this month is taking a look at top performing content. I am curious to see if it’s the same posts month-in and month-out.
For the WriterSanctuary blog, the top article was “11 Textbroker Writing Sample Tips to Help You Succeed.” However, I am confident that it will slip to number two next month. The 300-word sample page is seeing some heavy access in the last few weeks.
On the YouTube Channel, the top video was “8 Textbroker Writing Sample Tips to Help Land Clients.” Coincidentally, this video has an 11.2% CTR but only 2:09 average duration. So people are clicking on it, but not really watching the video.
Monetization Opportunities
I’m still looking for viable ways to monetize either platform. Sure, I have Adsense running on the blog. However, the site only made $3.06. Out of the three blogs I own, it’s the lowest income.
I did add a donation button to the blog from BuyMeACoffee.com. It’s more of an experiment than anything. I was curious to see how well it works to drive income.
Since a lot of YouTubers I watch use donation systems like ko-fi.com and BuyMeACoffee, I decided to start adding it to the videos.
If I get monetized support from those who like the content, it helps me afford newer plugins and recording gear.
Aside from that, I am still toying with the idea of pushing affiliated links on the blog and YouTube videos by reviewing those specific products. After all, I will not support something I don’t use myself.
We’ll see…
Future Improvements
Ok, so now that we had a look at the numbers, what can I do to improve them? Right off the bat, the quickest answer is “effort.” I was lacking in June for both the YouTube channel and the blog. And the numbers show it.
YouTube Channel
I need to get back into producing at least three videos a week like I was. At that rate, I was gaining subscribers and watch time at a far better pace than just the five I did.
The Textbroker content is still the highest-performing videos. Unfortunately, not a lot of people search for “Textbroker.” Don’t get me wrong, having a good CTR on those videos is great. But the term just isn’t very popular.
I would like to push out more WordPress and content writing videos. I just don’t want to alienate the subscribers who joined from Textbroker content. On the other hand, learning content writing will help those Textbroker viewers.
WriterSanctuary.com
Like the month before, it’s all about content. Writing five blog posts per month just isn’t going to cut it. I need to push more out that is helpful to those wanting to learn freelance writing.
It’s not like I have writer’s block. I could write for days about writing, Textbroker and WordPress. I just need to sit down and start producing some content.
Need More Effort
With the exception of figuring out a lower view time on videos, it seems most of my decreases in June revolve around effort. If you’re not producing content, no one is going to absorb it.
I need to get into a more professional mindset and dedicate myself to increasing content value and delivery. Especially now that I have almost 200 subscribers on YouTube and people exploring the website more often.
For July, let’s focus on more than 10 videos and more than 5 blog posts.
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