YouTube Creator Studio is the go-to for brands and influencers managing their YouTube accounts.
It’s a great starting point if you want to understand your YouTube analytics and align your content with your overall strategy.
Today, you can rely on the platform to help you with channel management and creating engaging content. And when it comes to leveling up your strategy, there are plenty of third-party software options to help you oversee your entire YouTube strategy.
However, Creator Studio remains the best place to start when you’re getting used to YouTube and starting to think about professionalizing – and monetizing – your content.
This guide will walk you through the basics of YouTube’s analytics platform, the features that are available, and the core YouTube channel analytics that will help you master it all.
What is YouTube Creator Studio?
YouTube Creator Studio is now known simply as YouTube Studio. It’s essentially YouTube’s built-in analytics software, publication platform, and monetization studio. Brands and influencers can control their entire YouTube account from here.
You can see metrics like watch time, views, and subscriber growth. Brands rely on this data to make better strategy decisions.
You also get tools for customizing your channel’s appearance and organizing your videos. Using relevant keywords in titles, descriptions, and tags is crucial for enhancing discoverability and search engine optimization (SEO). This is particularly important if you need to stand out against the competition.
Why every creator should use YouTube Studio
Using YouTube Studio is really important for growing your channel and improving your content. It acts as your command center for operating the most important parts of your channel. While it’s not perfect, brands and influencers can address:
- Content
- Analysts
- Trends
- Communities
- Copyright
- Monetization
… and much, much more.
This is why you need to use the Studio. By monitoring your channel's performance through regular checks of analytics and the dashboard, you can see which videos perform best and when your audience is most active, streamline your workflow, and manage comments.
Now, many users eventually evolve beyond YouTube Studio’s capabilities and opt to manage their channel via powerful third-party software, like Brandwatch.
Still, the Studio is a great place to get started if you’re new to YouTube.
How to access YouTube Creator Studio
Accessing it is really easy. All you need is a Google account. Here are the steps to access the Studio both on desktop and via your phone.
Signing in to your YouTube account
To get started, go to youtube.com or download the YouTube Studio app, and click the "Sign In" button. Enter your Google account email and password. As we mentioned earlier, if you don't have a Google account then you'll need to create one first.
Once signed in, you'll see your profile picture in the top right. Click on it to open a dropdown menu.
From here, select "YouTube Studio" to enter the Creator Studio dashboard.
Mobile access through the YouTube Studio app
YouTube has a dedicated app for the Studio that needs to be downloaded separately from your usual YouTube app. It's available for both iOS and Android and, once installed, is again accessible via your Google account.
You can upload videos, track analytics, and moderate comments all from the app. What's more, you can get instant notifications, which is useful if you're constantly managing your account.
The app lets you edit video titles, descriptions, and thumbnails directly from your phone, and check your real-time analytics.
It doesn't offer as much detail as the desktop version, but it's really good for doing basic management jobs.
Key features of YouTube Creator Studio
Now you know how to get onto the Studio, it's time to look at the core features that are available in the software.
Dashboard overview
Your dashboard is effectively your Studio homepage. You can assess your channel’s performance, see which videos, Shorts, and livesstreams are performing well, and track your audience stats.
It’s a good place to get a snapshot of your account’s health and you can customize the dashboard to bring up stats that matter most.
However, the main point of the dashboard is to house all the tabs associated with YouTube Studio, so you can jump into more detailed analysis elsewhere.
These tabs are:
- Content
- Analytics
- Community
- Subtitles
- Copyright
- Earn
- Customization
- Audio Library
- Settings
- Send Feedback
YouTube's audio library offers free music and sound effects for video creators, emphasizing the legal usage of these audio files in monetized content.
Content management
“Content” is the top tab for a reason. It’s your go-to place for organizing videos, live streams, and playlists. You can upload pre-edited videos and add titles, descriptions, and thumbnails in bulk.
You can also add subtitles, set age restrictions, and manage copyright claims. Schedule content for when your audience is most likely to be online and begin to monetize your videos.
You can pretty much manage everything from this tab, although it’s often easier if you shoot and edit your videos on another platform, using third-party software. Incorporating high-quality music into your video content can significantly enhance production value and viewer engagement.
Audience engagement
It's a lot easier to engage with your audience when you use YouTube Studio as your central hub. For a start, you can manage comments on videos and ensure they're right for your audience. Filter them by video, pin important ones, and hide inappropriate remarks to keep on top of everything.
You can then connect with users via the comments section and use the Community tab to post updates, polls, and images to keep fans engaged between uploads. Influencers are especially good at doing this.
There are also tools within the platform to manage your channel memberships. This is where you begin to elevate your account and be more professional with its usage.
Analytics
Brand managers often access YouTube Studio for the first time because they're curious about their audience. Well, it's a great place to learn all about the people who watch your videos.
You can get analytics on a wide range of demographics, learn when your viewers are online, and track audience behavior.
We'll look at the analytics capabilities a lot closer in the next section of this guide.
Using YouTube Studio analytics
By now you know about the Studio, how to access it, and what it's generally used for. Now it's time to dig deeper into the analytics capabilities of the platform – and also explain its limitations.
Performance overview analytics
Brands and influencers can access performance overview analytics at any time. These are the key metrics that you tack to your dashboard and show how well your account is progressing.
The core metrics are:
- Views
- Watch time
- Subscribers
These all cover the last 28 days. From there, you can click on other tabs, including “Content”, “Audience”, and “Trends” to look at ever more meaningful data.
Things to look out for here include spikes in views or subscribers to identify successful content. Pay attention, too, to which videos are driving the most watch time. This can help you spot trends and themes that resonate with your audience.
If you’re a monetized account, then the performance overview can also show how much estimated money you’ve earned from your videos. To join the YouTube Partner Program and monetize your channel, you must meet the eligibility criteria, including a minimum number of subscribers and watch hours, and comply with YouTube's monetization policies. It goes without saying that this is really important, especially if you’re an influencer.
Engagement metrics for content evaluation
The "Content" tab is where you'll find all your engagement metrics that will often define your future content strategy. You need data on watch time, average view duration, likes, shares, and other forms of engagement to understand what content your audience likes.
You might discover that viewers click away from your videos at a certain point each time. Or you might notice that people watch your full videos but rarely click on another one on your playlist.
Whatever it is, the "Content" tab is where you'll learn about your successful and unsuccessful videos.
Audience metrics to understand your viewers
The "Analytics" tab is where you get to truly understand your audience. Now, YouTube offers a fairly robust dataset on audiences, which means you can understand your viewers well.
Demographics like age, gender, and location are all available. You can also see when your viewers are most active and schedule posts to align with them. You can also see what other videos and channels your audience watches, which can inspire new content ideas or potential collaborations.
Going beyond YouTube Studio
YouTube Studio is a great place for brands and influencers to begin learning about their channel, their videos, and their audience. In fact, you can't really succeed on YouTube without using the platform.
However, over time it's likely that you will grow beyond the Studio's capabilities and start looking for additional tools to help. These tools mainly focus on data insights and content creation.
YouTube's audio library and data insights
There are third-party tools – like Brandwatch – that offer way more data than what's available on YouTube Creator Studio. For example, you can understand audience sentiment behind your videos and how your content is perceived by users on other social media platforms. Develop a firm understanding of your audience demographics and benchmark your account with your competitors.
Perfect your consumer research practices with Brandwatch, engage with users via the platform, and strike up influencer partnerships all from one place.
YouTube content creation
Editing videos on YouTube isn't easy, particularly if you're a brand that needs the best software to get their audio, graphics, and visuals just right. It's therefore worth investing in video software or using external video production companies to make sure your content is the best it can be.
You can then use the Studio for optimizing videos once you have the content ready to publish. Just make sure you do the best job you can on the videos themselves.
Frequently asked questions
Using YouTube Creator Studio is the best way to get started, if you need to manage your channel and ensure it operates professionally. While this guide serves as an introduction to the Studio, below are some answers to common questions that may not have been addressed directly above.
How do I access YouTube Creator Studio on my desktop?
Accessing on desktop is easy, but remember you need a Google account.
- Go to YouTube.com and sign in using your Google account
- Click your profile picture in the top right
- Select "YouTube Studio" from the dropdown menu
This will take you to the main Studio dashboard.
Are there any costs associated with using YouTube Creator Studio?
No, YouTube does not charge for use of its Studio platform. You don't have to pay anything to access its features for managing your channel and videos.
Can I manage my YouTube channel settings through YouTube Studio?
Absolutely. The aim of the Studio is to provide users with a single point of access to manage their content, their analytics, and their account settings. You can do it all by clicking the "Settings" button on the left sidebar.
What features does YouTube Studio offer for video analytics and reporting?
YouTube provides detailed analytics for your videos and channel via the Studio platform. Core features here include:
- Views, watch time, and subscribers
- Audience demographics and locations
- Traffic sources
- Top performing videos
- Real-time view counts
Use the "Analytics" tab to access these reports and track your channel's performance.
