Per-video performance: impressions, CTR, and watch duration

Channel analytics shows the weather; per-video analytics explains it. Open a video's analytics from Studio → Content to see how that one video is doing.

The three diagnostic numbers

• Impressions — how often your thumbnail was shown to someone. Low impressions mean a discovery problem (topic, title wording, or the video is simply new).
• Click-through rate (CTR) — of the people shown the thumbnail, how many clicked. Low CTR with healthy impressions means the title/thumbnail pair is not earning the click — fix those first (see the titles and thumbnails lessons).
• Average view duration — how long people stay. A sharp early drop means the opening under-delivers on the title's promise; a steady slope means the video holds attention.

Diagnose, then act

• Impressions fine, CTR low → new thumbnail, sharper title.
• CTR fine, duration low → the video's first 30 seconds need work next time.
• Both fine, views low → the topic itself has a small audience; decide if it is still worth serving well.

Change one thing at a time where you can — otherwise you never learn which change worked.