Do You Need a YouTube Channel Audit? Signs to Look Out For

Is your YouTube channel not getting the results that you’re expecting? Are you doing everything you can to bring in more traffic, get more views and more leads—but nothing seems to be working?Before you throw up your hands, there are some ways to improve your YouTube channel to get the kind of results you’re looking for.It’s called an audit.Audits can be a great way to figure out what is performing well about your channel and what might not be performing well. In other words, what’s working and what’s not working.If you’ve been wondering, “Does my YouTube channel need an audit?”, it might be time to take a serious look at doing an audit.But how do you find out what signs to look for? When is an audit useful and when is it unnecessary? And what even is a YouTube channel audit?We’re digging into everything related to YouTube audits to help you figure out what you need to do to increase traffic, views and sales.

What Is a YouTube Channel Audit?

Before looking into the signs you might be due for an audit, let’s figure out what an audit is.A YouTube channel audit is when someone does a complete analysis of your YouTube channel’s performance, content and overall effectiveness. It’s a deep dive into every aspect of your YouTube channel.

A Thorough Diagnosis

An audit is kind of like going to the doctor or mechanic to see what’s wrong with something. If something isn’t performing the way you think it should, you need an expert to diagnose it and figure out what’s wrong.Audits can reveal the problem and show the solutions you need to implement to get your YouTube channel firing on all cylinders.Audits involve evaluating things like:

• Video views
• Subscriber base
• Average view duration
• Engagement ratio
• Traffic sources
• Frequency of posting
• Brand assets like your YouTube banner, graphics, logo, etc.
• Whether videos are optimized for SEO (search engine optimization)
• Length of videos
• Overall content strategy

Benefits of YouTube Channel Audits

First, an audit gives you valuable insights into your channel's performance. It helps identify areas for improvement and guides you in creating valuable content that resonates with viewers.Audits help you stay competitive on the YouTube platform, which is the second-largest search engine out there. There are an estimated 2.5 billion active users on YouTube. Audits can help you take your channel to the next level and help you grow your business and achieve your goals.Now that we’ve looked at what’s involved in an audit, it’s time to figure out the signs that could show you need one.

What Else Is Involved in a YouTube Channel Audit?

What do you get when you sign up for a YouTube channel audit?Let’s take a more detailed look.

1. Overall video content

Experts will probably start with your overall video content. They will look at its quality, relevance and appeal to your target audience. They’ll review the video’s title, description and tags to make sure they are optimized for search engines and are attracting the right viewers.This information will help you create future videos that really resonate with your target audience, driving more views and increasing engagement.

2. Optimize SEO efforts

Better SEO strategies result in higher organic traffic, boosting your channel’s growth. An audit will review your video titles, descriptions and tags to see if they are relevant for search engine optimization (SEO).People won’t watch your video if YouTube doesn’t add it to their feed. SEO is the art and science of people finding your videos.

3. Profile picture, art and banner image

Next, they will look at your channel’s visual appeal and branding elements. Things like:

• Profile picture
• Channel art
• Banner image
• Description box

Do all these elements portray a professional visual identity? How cohesive is your brand’s identity on your channel? Does your channel look like it would have a high subscriber count, or does it look less than professional? What about your thumbnails? Are they making people click or do they need to be improved?An audit will help you make sure your channel has a strong visual branding strategy to increase people’s trust in your authority.

4. Channel metrics

Another big part of auditing is looking at the channel’s metrics. Things like subscriber count, views ratio and engagement ratio are all analyzed to understand your channel’s growth and audience engagement. Traffic sources like search traffic and social media platforms are also assessed to see how well they are performing. What do the metrics say about your audience’s behavior and preferences?By identifying popular videos and analyzing audience retention, you can tailor your content to your audience and increase overall engagement on your channel.

5. Competitor analysis

Competitor analysis is another big part of a successful YouTube channel audit. By studying related channels in your industry or niche, along with their top-performing videos, you can gain valuable insights into their tactics and learn from their success.There’s nothing wrong with seeing what’s working with other channels and copying their tactics and strategies. This can also help you stay on the cutting edge of social media trends, which can be really hard to do and time-consuming.

6. Quality of your audio and video

What is the quality of your videos and audio? Low-quality audio or video can really impact the viewer’s experience and keep them from subscribing to your channel or watching future videos.Auditing your channel gives you the opportunity to review the technical aspects of your videos and improve the audio and video quality if you need to.

7. What’s Working and What’s Not

Audits focus on aspects of your YouTube channel that need work. They can help you know what to focus on when it comes to optimizing your channel. You have to first know what’s broken before you can figure out how or what to fix.But audits don’t just show you what’s wrong with your channel. (No one wants a report about everything that’s not working well!)Audits also give you insights into what’s working well—what you’re doing well and how you can leverage your channel’s strengths to get better results. Sometimes audits can shine a light on things to replicate, like high-performing videos that you didn’t realize were doing so well. Once you pinpoint the types of videos your audience likes, you can do more of that and level up your channel.

Getting a Detailed Report

Once the audit is done, you’ll get a detailed report that highlights areas of improvement and suggests a plan of action to optimize the channel's performance. You can use this report as a guide for content creation to make informed decisions and prioritize your efforts to grow your channel.The audit report is your roadmap to success and will help you set specific goals and implement a plan of action to optimize your channel.

How Do You Know If You Need a YouTube Audit?

Here are a few signs that could mean you would benefit from a YouTube channel audit.

1. You’re feeling stuck or confused

If you feel like you’re stuck or confused about what to do next for your YouTube channel, it could be a sign you need an audit.Don’t let yourself become paralyzed into inaction just because you’re not sure what to focus on with YouTube. Audits can be a great way to break yourself out of a creative rut and restart your content plan armed with new insights and strategies.

2. You’re not getting results

Another sign you’re due for an audit is if you’re not seeing the results that you would expect to see. Are you posting high-quality content and doing it frequently, but without any real results? Audits can help you figure out how to optimize your channel so you start getting more bang for your buck. No one wants to spend time, money and energy working on something that isn’t producing results. Audits can help you kickstart your efforts to get your business back on track.

3. You or your company is too stretched thin

Another reason you might want to get an audit is if you or your team is stretched really thin and don’t have the time to really focus on optimizing your channel. Don’t wait until you all have more time to get results on YouTube. Getting an audit can be a great way to delegate this work and give you a roadmap to know what to focus on.

Get Started Today

If you’re looking for support with a YouTube channel audit, our team at Raffiti Media can help. We can do the hard work for you while you focus on the other elements of your business. We partner with business owners no matter their size to help them reach the next level by leveraging the power of Youtube’s giant platform.Book a free one-on-one session with our team to see how an audit could help you crush your Youtube and content goals.