Shorts Analytics: The Only Metrics that Matter

Ignore vanity metrics. Focus on signal metrics that drive distribution and decision metrics that guide your next video.

Signal Metrics

• 5s retention: baseline required for competitive distribution
• First-hour views: velocity vs. your channel baseline
• Save/comment ratio: content utility and discussion quality

Decision Metrics

• Topic win rate: % of posts per topic beating baseline
• Hook win rate: variant performance across videos
• Posting window win rate: time blocks that outperform

7-Day Experiment Cadence

1. Pick one variable (hook, title, posting time).
2. Run 3–5 controlled tests.
3. Adopt the winner for the next week; iterate.

Build your dashboard with these KPIs, then optimize your content engine with a retention blueprint and posting windows that fit your audience.