Difference Between Impressions and Views on YouTube

If you would like to grow your YouTube channel, you need to understand the different metrics that show its success (or lack of it). Two of the most important metrics to consider are impressions and views. While these two metrics are closely related, they are also different. In this article, we will compare the two and show you how you can use them to grow your YouTube channel. 

What are YouTube Impressions?

YouTube impressions measure the number of times your video thumbnails are displayed to YouTube users across different sections of YouTube. Impressions are the first interaction between YouTube users and your video. They are essential in generating the first interest and encouraging viewers to engage with your video.

Your video may be shown on the YouTube homepage, suggested videos, and the search result page. For an impression to be counted on YouTube, your thumbnail should be visible to viewers for at least a second. Also, at least half of the thumbnail should be visible to the user. You should create attention-grabbing and visually attractive thumbnails that accurately represent your videos' content to improve your impression.

There are other instances that are counted as impressions. These include when a viewer:

• Sees a video in the recommended section based on what they are watching.
• Sees the video in the Up Next section.
• Sees the video thumbnail on other YouTube feeds, such as Watch Later or subscriptions.

However, these instances don't count as impressions:

• Videos embedded on other sites apart from YouTube.
• End screens and cards at the end of a video.
• YouTube videos playing in the background.
• Thumbnails that aren't seen for more than one second or at least 50%.
• Ads shown on partner sites.

Importance of YouTube Impressions

YouTube impressions are crucial as they show the creator how much YouTube is recommending their videos to viewers. A high number of impressions shows that YouTube thinks your content is useful. You should change your video SEO strategy if your videos get a low impression. 

If you have a video that is getting higher impressions than others, it means YouTube prefers such kind of content compared to the other videos. Therefore, understanding your impression numbers can be a good step in creating a video strategy.

How to See Your YouTube Impressions

The impression data can be seen by going to the analytics section of YouTube Studio. After that, look for the Reach Tab to see your impressions data. On top of the impression data, you will see other information, such as views, unique viewers, and click-through rates. All these metrics are supposed to provide insights into your video performance and audience engagement.

Another alternative is to go to the YouTube Studio and click on Content. You will see the video's analytics icons from which you can view impression counts, followed by the Reach Tab. This will show you more data, even on the source of your YouTube traffic, such as the homepage of YouTube recommendations.

Key Impression Statistics to Track

Under impressions, there are three essential YouTube metrics you should know about. These are:

• Total impressions. This metric indicates the number of times your videos have been put in the eyes of the prospective viewers. As noted earlier, it doesn't mean the person will interact with your video.
• Impression share. This figure shows the number of times your videos have been put before viewers compared with the total possible impressions. For instance, if your video had 750 potential impressions and was only displayed 500 times, your impression share was 20%.
• Search impression rate. This metric shows the number of times your thumbnails are displayed on the results page out of the possible search results. This can be a good metric for revealing how often the YouTube algorithm recommends your video. It can also help you track your SEO results if you rely on organic search traffic.
• Impression click-through rate. This metric tracks the number of YouTube impressions that resulted in views. It's a good metric that shows the effectiveness of your video titles, descriptions, and thumbnails. A video with a higher impression click-through rate will result in YouTube recommending your videos to other users.

How to Improve Your YouTube Impressions

Are you wondering how to improve your YouTube impression and jump-grow your YouTube channel? Here are a few tips:

Make Your YouTube Videos Descriptive

People use keywords to find YouTube videos. Therefore, if you want your videos to appear in the search results, use the relevant keywords in the video title and description. Use a descriptive title that tells prospective viewers what your video is about. To increase your click-through rate, use a catchy and attention-grabbing title.

Use the Right Keywords in Video Titles

As noted earlier, one of the best ways of increasing your YouTube impressions and ranking is by including the right keywords in your title. Consider your target audience when considering the keywords to use in your videos. What phrases and words would they be using to find a given video? These are the words you should include in the video titles. 

A simple way of finding such keywords is by using the YouTube autocomplete feature. Start typing on YouTube, and the platform will complete your search with commonly searched terms. Alternatively, you can use keyword research tools, such as VideoIQ.

Use Keyword-optimized Video Descriptions

The video description is also a ranking factor on YouTube. Again, this is one of the places where you should include your target keyword. This will help YouTube to know what your videos are about. However, you should avoid overstuffing the space with too many keywords, which will result in a YouTube penalty.

Use Well-optimized Thumbnails

Since the thumbnail is the first thing people see in the search result, you should ensure it is well-optimized and eye-catching. Besides, this is one of the most critical factors determining whether people will click on your videos. Avoid using stock photos and instead use high-quality images with a human face. Use attention-grabbing text in your thumbnail to give viewers an idea of what they should expect after clicking on the thumbnail.

What are YouTube Views?

YouTube views refer to the number of times a YouTube user has watched your video for at least 30 seconds. This means that views are essential to measure engagement and viewer interest in your videos. A higher viewer count suggests YouTube users are interested in your videos.

The number of views a video gets is influenced by various factors such as the quality of the videos, publishing time, relevance of the video, social media promotion, and use of the correct keywords and tags.

Key View Metrics to Track

The view metric will show how viewers interact and engage with your videos. They are, therefore, an essential metric for measuring the effectiveness of your videos and making data-driven decisions. Here are the critical view metrics you need to track if you will increase your YouTube views.

Total views 

This shows the number of times your videos have been clicked on and viewed for at least 30 seconds. This is a crucial metric to track for channels depending on organic traffic.

View rate 

This metric measures the impressions that resulted in views. It shows the percentage of people who clicked on a video after it was put before them.

Average watch time 

The metric shows the average time that people watch your videos. To calculate the average watch time, you should divide the video total time by the number of video plays, including replays.

It is a good metric to show how engaging your videos are. If your video is below five minutes, a 50% to 70% watch time is good. But if your video is longer, a 40 to 60% watch time is good enough.

How to Increase the Average Watch Time of Your Videos

Here are tips for increasing your YouTube watch time.

Use a compelling hook

Chances are that out of your impressions, some people will click on your videos. Your job should be to ensure that these people watch the video. How do you do that? Start your video with a hook: something that gives them a reason to watch the video.

Be brutal with your editing

You have probably heard that YouTube prefers longer videos to shorter ones, so you try to make your videos as long as possible. You add a lot of fluff to your videos to make them longer. Unfortunately, this can negatively impact your views, resulting in a low average watch time. 

To increase your watch time, you need to be brutal with your editing to cut out any part of the video that doesn't add value to your viewers. Doing that will result in a punchier video that viewers will be hooked to.

Tell a story

For a long time, stories have been known to draw the interest of an audience. It is no different on YouTube. When creating a YouTube video, consider yourself as a storyteller. Before you click on “record,” think of a plot.

Encourage viewer interaction

Ensure that your viewers feel like they are part of the video. You can ask them to interact through comments, likes, and shares. This way, they are likely to be fully invested in the video. But even as you do that, create stunning YouTube videos.

Give value to your viewers

It's one thing to create a captivating YouTube thumbnail that encourages your viewers to click on the video. But does the video deliver on its promise in the title and thumbnail? If the video doesn't deliver what the viewer expected, they will leave before watching it.

Are Impressions and Views the Same Thing?

No. As noted earlier, impression refers to the number of times a video thumbnail is put before the eyes of a prospective viewer. The impressions become views when the person clicks on the video and views it for at least 30 seconds.

However, the user often will not click or interact with your video, or they may click it and stop watching before 30 seconds are over. In that case, it remains an impression if they only saw the thumbnail without interacting with it. When considering the success of your YouTube videos, it is essential to consider impressions and views.

How to Use YouTube Impressions and Views in Your Marketing Strategy

While impressions and views are vital metrics to rank your YouTube videos, they represent different stages of the viewer's journey. By checking impressions and view data, you can understand how your videos are performing and improve them.

For instance, if you notice that you are getting a significant number of impressions and low views, it means people are seeing your videos and aren't getting inspired to click. This could be due to several reasons, such as poor-quality thumbnails. You may want to experiment with different kinds of thumbnails to solve the issue.

Use enticing visuals, texts, and colors in your thumbnail to improve your click-through rate. Ensure that the video's title includes the keywords your audience is searching for and answers the search query in your videos. In a competitive YouTube query, your titles should include a unique value proposition and a hook.

Final Thoughts

YouTube impressions and views are important metrics as they show how well YouTube and viewers receive your videos. A high impression means your videos are well-optimized for YouTube. Similarly, a high number of views is an indication that many YouTube users love your videos. By understanding and leveraging these two metrics, you can increase your YouTube viewership and subscribers and take your channel to the next level.