YouTube Expertise Pathway: Choosing Between Standard Studio and Beta

YouTube Creator Studio vs. YouTube Studio (Beta): Which One is Better?

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

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In 2017, YouTube revealed YouTube Studio Beta , a video management and analytics dashboard that will replace the classic Creator Studio that most YouTubers are familiar with by 2021.

In this article, we will look at the new features YouTube Studio Beta has, what we can expect from it in the future, and why YouTube will eventually phase out the older YouTube Creator Studio… and whether that change will be an improvement.

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Why YouTube Is Getting Rid of Classic Creator Studio?

Data-driven YouTubers have long loved the YouTube Creator Studio. It has supplied so much information that it took this comprehensive post about Analytics to highlight all the insights. So why would YouTube change it?

Change to a popular social media platform is always worrisome to content creators because it means there will be a new learning phase forced upon them. While the Classic YouTube Creator Studio has a lot of features and functionality, the data was often hard to interpret and inconvenient to find. Many creators weren’t sure where their data was located or how to use the information presented to them.

YouTube Studio was designed to be a friendly management and analysis tool. YouTube also offers more guidance, showcasing the key metrics the algorithm uses to evaluate the success of a video more prominently. Additionally, the graphs presented offer more clarity, shortening the time a creator spends finding the information they need.

Undoubtedly, YouTube updated its Creator Studio to offer a tool that enables its users to better understand their video performance and make better content that serves YouTube’s requirements.

Intro to YouTube Studio (Beta)

YouTube Studio (Beta), for many YouTubers, is now the default. However, for the time being, creators can still switch back to the Classic view (as some of the features are still being built). YouTube’s objective is to receive data of their own by understanding how creators are using the new Studio and gaining feedback to improve upon it.

If you have any feedback, simply click on this button on the bottom left menu of the YouTube Studio (Beta) and send YouTube your thoughts.

In addition to the new layout of the tools and dashboards, YouTube Studio (Beta) will also debut 3 metrics for creators:

1. Impressions: See the total reach of all your videos or each individual video. Each time your video thumbnail and title are visible to the user counts as an impression.

2. Click-through rate: Determine how click-worthy your thumbnails and titles are, by seeing the percentage of people who click into your video.

3. Unique viewers: Know how many different people have watched your videos. This data can be used to compare the size of your subscriber base to the actual number of your audience.

Tips for Using YouTube Studio Beta Features

Now that you are more familiar with the new YouTube Studio (Beta), let us dive into what you can accomplish with all the new features.

1. Optimization Tips

In the past, there has been a lot of speculations about how creators should treat their video titles and descriptions. Well, now YouTube is letting you know exactly which area to focus on. Simply hover over any “?” icon to see the advice and click “Learn More” to go to YouTube Creator Academy to get more details.

2. Recent Video Data

See data and improvement tips for your latest video. If YouTube identifies a notable issue with your video, they will help you by offering tips, which you can click “Tell Me More” to look into.

YouTube wants you to know how your videos are performing in the first few days. In order for YouTube to determine whether your content is worth sharing, it wants to know how your audience is responding to it right away. This means, the launch of your video matters.

3. Video Analysis

In the Classic Creator Studio, you couldn’t get an aggregated view of all the important video data on one dashboard. You would have to click to each set of analytics individually and then dive deeper. This ate up your precious content creation time and made it hard to combine insights. Now with Studio Beta, you can see all the critical data in one spot. Right away, you can see how that video is performing through different factors. This will let you know where audience retention is dropping off or which traffic source is supplying most of the views.

4. Watch Time Funnel

The objective is to increase watch time, the metric YouTube puts the most weight on. With the new Watch Time Funnel, which you can find in the Analytics section under the Reach Viewer dashboard, you can see exactly at which level of your channel or wherein an individual video you will need to improve.

If the impression numbers are low, that means you need to improve how your video is being discovered by doing more research to understand what your viewers are searching for.

If the click-through rate (CTR) is low, then you will have to improve your thumbnail and title. This will better entice your audience to click. According to Google, half of all videos have an average CTR of 2-10%.

If the average view duration is not up to your standards, then you will have to improve your content itself. While it is most ideal to have all your viewers watch all the way to the end of all your videos, that is certainly unrealistic. However, 60-70% is a great number to aim towards.

5. Traffic Sources

YouTube now presents all the different traffic sources in one easy-to-find page in the Reach Viewer tab, so creators no longer have to click between them to analyze where their traffic is coming from. This new design is far less intimidating and messy. At a glance, you can now see where the majority of your audiences are coming from.

YouTube has always put a lot of value into its analytic tools, and with YouTube Studio Beta the features and design are continuously improving. Having better data and understanding of how an individual video or an entire channel is performing will help creators succeed on this ever more competitive platform.

Have you tried the new YouTube Studio (Beta)? What are your thoughts? Please let us know in the comments below.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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