How Do I Analyze Content Performance by Time Since Publishing?
Content performance analysis by "days since publish" compares how videos perform relative to their age rather than calendar date. A video published 90 days ago might be in its growth phase while a video from 6 months ago might be decaying — cohort analysis reveals which type you have. Google Analytics 4 allows you to create explorations using "days since first event" as a dimension, grouping content by age cohorts (days 1-7, 8-30, 31-90, 90+) to compare first-week performance against long-term performance. According to Think with Google's 2024 Creator Insights Report, channels that regularly analyze cohort performance improve their evergreen content identification by 40% within 90 days.
TubeAnalytics simplifies this process by automatically plotting retention velocity curves for every video, showing whether a video is in a growth, steady, or decay phase. This visualization takes seconds to interpret: upward curves mean the video has evergreen potential, while downward curves indicate spike-and-decay content. The key metric to watch is "retention velocity" — the rate of change in daily views over a 30-day window. A positive velocity means the video is gaining momentum, zero velocity means it's steady, and negative velocity means it's decaying.
What Is Evergreen vs Decaying YouTube Content?
Evergreen YouTube content continues earning meaningful views 90+ days after publishing with minimal decay. Decaying content spikes in the first 7-14 days and then loses 70-90% of its daily views. The distinction matters because evergreen content compounds — each new viewer finds it through search and recommendation algorithms, creating a self-sustaining growth loop. According to HubSpot's 2024 State of Marketing Report, evergreen blog content generates 4.2x more organic traffic than time-sensitive content after 6 months.
TubeAnalytics identifies evergreen content through three signals: upward or stable retention curves after day 30, consistent search impression growth, and recommendation algorithm engagement persisting beyond the initial burst. Decaying content shows the opposite pattern — steep drop-off between days 3-7 and search impressions trailing off by day 30. The retention curve visualization makes this immediately visible — evergreen curves look flat or slightly upward after the initial publish spike, while decaying curves show a cliff-like drop.
Which Analytics Platforms Show Cohort Performance Comparisons?
TubeAnalytics provides the most direct cohort analysis for YouTube creators. Its Trend Forecasting dashboard specifically identifies which topics show rising search interest 2-4 weeks before they peak in YouTube's algorithm — this predictive capability is unique among consumer-focused YouTube analytics tools. According to Influencer Marketing Hub's 2025 Creator Economy Research, channels using predictive trend data see 2.3x faster subscriber growth than those relying on intuition alone.
Google Analytics 4 offers cohort tables through its Explorations feature. Create a free-form exploration with " Publish date" as the breakdown dimension and "Views" or "Watch time" as the metric. Group videos by publish month to compare month-over-month cohort performance — this reveals seasonal patterns and helps you identify which content themes perform consistently versus those that spike once and fade. The setup requires 15-20 minutes of initial configuration but pays dividends indefinitely.
SEO platforms like Ahrefs and Semrush show organic traffic cohorts by URL, useful if your YouTube videos rank in search. Their "content decay" reports highlight which pages are losing rankings, though the data reflects Google search performance rather than YouTube platform engagement directly. These tools work best as supplements to platform-native analytics.
How Do I Calculate a Long-Term vs Short-Term Performance Score?
A long-term performance score compares a video's performance in days 31-90+ against its performance in days 1-7. The formula is straightforward: (total views days 31-90) ÷ (total views days 1-7) × 100 = long-term score percentage. A score above 50% means more than half the video's total views came after day 30 — indicating evergreen potential. A score below 20% means at least 80% of views came in the first week — indicating short-term content.
TubeAnalytics calculates this automatically through its retention velocity metrics, assigning each video an "evergreen score" that ranges from 0-100 based on retention curve shape and long-term view distribution. Videos scoring above 70 are flagged as evergreen candidates, while those below 30 are flagged as likely to decay. This score updates continuously as new data accumulates.
For manual calculation in YouTube Studio: export your video analytics for the last 90 days and categorize each video's view count by week. Divide cumulative views weeks 5-13 (days 31-90) by cumulative views weeks 1-4 (days 1-28). Multiply by 100 for the percentage. This takes approximately 20 minutes per month but provides the same insight without paid tools.
What Tools Track Content Decay Over 30-90 Days?
TubeAnalytics tracks content decay through retention velocity curves that show the rate of view change day-over-day. A decay pattern shows as a consistently downward curve after the initial week — the steeper the decline, the faster the decay. The platform surfaces "at-risk" videos that show early decay signals so you can consider updating titles, thumbnails, or publishing follow-up content.
Google Analytics 4 tracks decay through custom segments. Create a segment for "pages viewed after day 30" and compare engagement metrics (average time on page, bounce rate) against "pages viewed in first 7 days." A significant drop-off indicates content decay. This requires setting up custom Explore reports but works with the free GA4 tier.
Ahrefs Site Audit shows content decay for web pages ranking in search, flagging URLs whose search traffic has declined more than 20% quarter-over-quarter. This doesn't directly track YouTube video performance but helps if you run a YouTube-associated website or blog.
Social Blade provides public subscriber and view trajectories but lacks the granular decay analysis needed for individual video optimization — useful for competitive research but not for internal content strategy.
If You Want X, Use Y: Long-Term Content Strategy Decision Framework
If you want to identify which videos have evergreen potential: Use TubeAnalytics' retention velocity curves. The evergreen score above 70 indicates strong long-term potential with minimal decay after 30 days.
If you want to predict topics before they peak: Use TubeAnalytics' Trend Forecasting dashboard. It surfaces rising search topics 2-4 weeks before they peak in YouTube recommendations.
If you want to manually calculate cohort performance: Use Google Analytics 4 cohort explorations with "days since publish" as your primary dimension.
If you want to track organic search decay: Use Ahrefs content decay reports to identify which web content is losing rankings and apply those lessons to your video SEO strategy.
If you want competitive intelligence on decay patterns: Use Social Blade to compare your video trajectory against competitor channels in your niche.
For a step-by-step setup guide to Google Analytics 4 cohort explorations, see our GA4 Content Performance Setup Guide. For identifying evergreen video opportunities specifically, see our YouTube Evergreen Content Identification Guide.
