How Did Architecture Month Go? And What’s Coming Up in September!

July 2017 Roundup and What’s Coming Up in August!

Hi all – this is my second month posting a roundup. I find this to be very useful for me to look back on what worked and what didn’t so I can plan for the next month.
As most of you know, I focused on architectural tutorials for SketchUp in August, and it was very successful! As you know, SketchUp is used by many architects for architectural design, so this is one of their target demographics, so they like to promote content that teaches how to use SketchUp for architects. I found that they quickly shared out any content I made about using Layout, for example.

What Worked in August

• Layout tutorials – I finally started creating Layout tutorials, and they were very well received.
• I did a much better job making sure all my new videos got posted to my site as well so I could get traffic back to my site
• I started posting my new tutorials to Pinterest, which is helping me get some traffic as well
• Website traffic is up about 10% – still trying to break onto the first page of Google for “SketchUp tutorials” – this would make a HUGE traffic difference
• Preparing weekly emails ahead of time – I started creating and scheduling my weekly email on Sunday for sending out on Tuesday. That way I’m not having to try to get that done during the week.

What Didn’t Work

• My social pages aren’t developing much growth – probably because at the moment I’m just posting new videos, not using them as an interaction platform.
• I like my new web page layout, but it feels a bit like a tube site. I’d like to figure out a way where I can communicate directly with people to make the site a little more personable.
• My affiliate income was very low this month – I need to re-focus this area somehow.
• I’m still struggling with Thursday extension videos – they require more preparation and I’m not getting there during the week.

Now let’s get into some analytics –
Here’s my traffic numbers for my various networks in August

YouTube Analytics

YouTube continues to be my largest traffic source – I was almost at 100,000 views in August!!!!!!
Watch Time: 378,664 Minutes
Views: 97,087
Video Likes: 2,865
Video Dislikes: 31
Comments: 232
Subscribers – Up 1,591 to 11,280
I blew past the 10,000 subscriber point in August – right now I have over 11,000 subscribers!

Most Popular Videos Overall (I’ll link to these below)

My Top 10 Free SketchUp Plugins in 2017 – 6,878 Views
Modeling Tensile Structures with Soap Skin and Bubble – 5,260 Views
Creating Hexagonal Lattice Shapes in SketchUp – 4,064 Views
Creating a Frame and Skin Structure in SketchUp – 3,539 Views
Creating Floor Plans from Images in SketchUp – 3,299 Views

Website Analytics

Unique Users – up from 3,640 to 4779
Pages/Session – Up from 1.34 to 1.43 (note – I assume this is due to changing my site layout)
Bounce Rate – Up from 62.65% to 65.95%
Email subscribers – +87 – Total 1,097
Backlinks to Site – 1,852

Other Social Analytics

Facebook Likes – +28 – 1,048 Likes

Twitter Followers – +52 – 715 Followers

Pinterest Followers – +8 – 76 Followers

Patreon Supporters – +0 – 14 Patrons

Instagram Followers – Currently not actively posting or tracking

Affiliate Sales

I think it’s important to list the affiliate extensions that I’ve sold copies of down below. These are extensions that, if you decide to purchase them, I receive a commission. They, in addition to Patreon support and adsense from my YouTube videos, are how I pay for new extensions, how I’m going to pay for a 3D printer, and how I keep the lights on here at the SketchUp Essentials. As I said above, at the moment, I’m not going to list the exact money I’m making on these (unless a LOT of you are really interested in that), but I do want to be transparent on how I’m paying to keep the website up and running.

BoolTools2 – 1 Copy

Profile Builder – 0 Copies

Placemaker – 0 Copies

SketchUp and Layout for Architecture – 0 Copies

Artisan – 0 Copies

Skatter – 0 Copies

SketchUp to Layout – 0 Copies

DoubleCut – 0 Copies

Estimator – 0 Copies

August Goals and Look Ahead

1. Revamp playlists on YouTube to be more specific, with fewer videos to make them more watchable.
2. Start linking to the tutorials page that’s ranking high on Google from both my front page and from my YouTube videos to drive more traffic
3. Increase affiliate program sales – maybe bring back Sunday affiliate program tutorials?
4. I’d like to stay involved in 3D, maker, and other events in Colorado, partially for networking and partially just to bring more interesting stuff to the channel. Goal is to attend 1 live event in September, whether it’s for 3D modeling, maker movement stuff, or other cool things that SketchUp can apply to.

In September, I’m going to focus on woodworking at The SketchUp Essentials, meaning I’m going to try to create SketchUp tutorials that focus on helping woodworkers. However, since this is a bit more of a niche topic, I’ll probably only do 2-3 woodworking tutorials per week, and use the remaining days to create tutorials on other topics.
Leave a comment below and let me know if you use SketchUp for woodworking!
I’m constantly amazed by the amount of positive support I receive when I post a new video. I love responding in the comments and talking with the people watching my videos. If you have the time, leave me a message on a YouTube video – I love talking with you!