A human brain processes images much faster than text, so watching videos could be more effective than reading a book in the learning process. Such facts about the human organism can somehow explain the popularity of YouTube not only for entertainment but also for educational purposes.
Thousands of educational YouTube channels help people learn different subjects, including data analysis. But how to decide which one is the best for you? How to select videos to gain new skills and discover recent trends?
This article addresses these questions by providing a selection of decent YouTube channels on data analytics and adjacent fields. You’ll get a brief overview of each YouTube channel along with a list of recommended videos.
Table of Contents
- Importance of Data Analytics
- Why YouTube Is a Great Learning Platform
- Top YouTube Channels for Data Analytics
- How to Choose the Right Channel
- Final Thoughts
Importance of Data Analytics
More and more organizations are hiring data analysts and other data professionals due to their contribution to business decision-making. This is also reflected in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, which estimates that employment growth for data scientists will increase by 36% between 2021 and 2031.
Why YouTube Is a Great Learning Platform
If you’d like to become a data analyst or upgrade your professional expertise, consider YouTube. Videos explain complex concepts in clear language accompanied by images and real-world examples. Also, you’ll find many YouTube videos with best practices and current trends.
According to Semrush, YouTube is the second-most visited website in the world, with around 2.49 billion users regularly visiting it monthly. Even though it was long perceived as an entertainment platform, its role was rethought, so now it’s also seen as a powerful learning platform due to:
- Accessibility. Videos can be accessed from any country and any device. Only a high-speed internet connection and a computer, tablet, or smartphone are needed.
- Availability. Learning on YouTube is an experience available at no cost.
- Diversity. Given that 500+ hours of content are uploaded each minute on YouTube, there’s a wide selection of content on topics related to data analysis and other fields.
- Individual pace. Users can access videos at any time, pause a video, replay certain parts of it, etc. Overall, each person can study with YouTube videos at their own pace.
- Live streaming. YouTube supports live streaming, allowing teachers and content creators to conduct online lessons and webinars.
- Interactivity. Comments under videos are like product reviews, helping to understand its value. Discussions also take place in the comment section, so you can talk about subjects related to the video that interest you with other geeks.
Top YouTube Channels for Data Analytics
1. Simplilearn
Link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SimplilearnOfficial
Subscribers: 4.2 M
Simplilearn is the world’s biggest online boot camp based in San Francisco and Bangalore. This platform provides training courses in the areas where technology is crucial. You can find programs ranging from Digital Marketing Specialist to Azure Cloud Architect, each of which contains extensive training materials, practical exercises, and final exams.
Simplilearn has a YouTube channel with thousands of videos and millions of subscribers. The videos explain difficult topics in simple and understandable language. So, this channel would be particularly suitable for beginners in data analysis.
Popular videos:
- Data Analytics Full Course 2024
- Top 5 Reasons to Become a Data Analyst
- ChatGPT and Excel for Data Analysts
2. Alex The Analyst
Link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AlexTheAnalyst
Subscribers: 801K
This channel is managed by Alex Freberg, who has more than a decade of practical experience in data analytics. Alex explains how to become an expert in this field and shares tips about data analysis in the videos. He also provides recommendations on using Excel and Power BI, introduces the basics of SQL and Python, and reveals some useful tricks for making the data analyst’s daily workflow engaging.
Popular videos:
- SQL Basic Tutorial for Beginners
- Cleaning Data in Excel
- Using DAX in Power BI
- Data Analyst vs Data Scientist
3. Data School
Link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dataschool/videos
Subscribers: 240K
Data School is an online platform providing in-depth learning materials about data science, including courses, blog articles, and YouTube videos. If you’re a data analyst aiming to advance your career to the next level, the Data School is the right place for you.
This YouTube channel assists enthusiasts interested in data science regardless of one’s educational or professional background. The videos cover essential topics in an easy-to-understand manner.
Popular videos:
- Making Predictions with scikit-learn
- Fixing Bad Data
- Hands-on dplyr Tutorial for Faster Data Manipulation in R
4. 365 Data Science
Link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/@365DataScience
Subscribers: 317 K
365 Data Science is an online learning platform with dozens of courses and certification programs. It’s suitable for those who want to start or change a career in the data field. There are also plenty of courses for those eager to update their knowledge and qualifications in data analytics and data science.
This channel offers materials for data scientists as well as data analysts and business analysts. It also provides thematic playlists on how to start a career path for each profession.
Best videos:
- How to Become a Data Analyst in 2024
- The Best Chart Types
- From Economist to Data Scientist
- Why Is Linear Algebra Useful
5. Ken Jee
Link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KenJee_ds
Subscribers: 260 K
Ken Jee is a professional data scientist interested in artificial intelligence and sports analytics. He produces fun and informative content to help others better understand complex concepts. In addition to useful videos with tips, he also produces videos on the news and trends in the data market.
Best videos:
6. DataCamp
Link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DataCamp/videos
Subscribers: 165 K
DataCamp is a popular learning platform that provides courses in data analysis, data manipulation, software development, data engineering, AI and machine learning, statistics, etc. These materials are suitable both for individuals and companies seeking to advance the skills of their employees in certain subjects.
DataCamp YouTube channel provides some educational materials and video courses. However, the majority of its content relies on videos about current trends in the data field, best practices of companies in different industries, and short tutorials covering narrow topics.
Best videos:
7. Skyvia
Link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SkyviaPlatform/videos
Skyvia is a universal data platform designed for a variety of data-related tasks, such as workflow automation, querying, backup, data integration, and OData endpoint creation. This tool is an ideal solution for data analysts since it supports them in processes, starting from data collection to loading it into BI and analytics tools.
Skyvia’s YouTube channel is one of the informative and educational resources provided by the company. Even though it’s not totally focused on data analytics or data science, Skyvia’s YouTube channel contains plenty of videos that could be useful for such professionals. The most popular video categories on the channel are the following:
- Webinars covering data-related topics
- Video tutorials on Skyvia functionality
- Examples of data integration scenarios
Best videos related to data analytics:
8. StatQuest with Josh Starmer
Link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/@statquest/videos
Subscribers: 1.19 M
If you’ve made the first steps towards upgrading your data analyst career to a data scientist path, you might have noticed how much statistics is required there. But don’t worry, Josh Starmer explains complex statistical formulas and their use in machine learning algorithms. He started this channel to help his research colleagues understand what to do with such huge amounts of data generated from experiments. And now, Josh Startmer is a gold YouTube button owner, helping others to tame statistics.
Best videos:
- Machine Learning Fundamentals: Bias and Variance
- Machine Learning Fundamentals: Cross Validation
- Linear Regression Clearly Explained
- K-Means Clustering Method
9. freeCodeCamp.org
Link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/@freecodecamp
Subscribers: 9.6 M
Even though a data analyst isn’t obliged to have the skills of a professional developer, some understanding and basic experience with programming languages is required. The freeCodeCamp.org platform offers courses to help you learn to code, starting from HTML to Python for data analysis.
Their YouTube Channel has more than a thousand videos for different programming languages. Enjoy a full video course on how to use Python for data analysis, SQL tutorials, and Microsoft Excel video materials.
Best videos:
- Data Analysis with Python Playlist
- SQL Tutorial – Full Database Course for Beginners
- Microsoft Excel Tutorial for Beginners
10. Power BI
Link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MicrosoftPowerBI/videos
Subscribers: 432 K
Power BI is the widely used software for BI and data analysis, with around 33% of the BI tools market share. It’s popular due to the Microsoft-like interface and integration with other Microsoft products. What’s more, it’s suitable for non-techs with no coding experience or programming knowledge. Microsoft Power BI mobile application also makes it a preferred choice among many data analysts.
Power BI has its own YouTube channel with more than 500 videos and thousands of subscribers. It contains videos about recent updates to the Power BI tool and detailed feature descriptions with examples.
Best videos:
How to Choose the Right Channel
Each channel presented in this article is worth your attention, though some might suit you more, others less. The choice of the right channel depends on your background and professional goals for the future.
If you want to start a career as a data analyst, then Simplilearn, DataCamp, and Alex The Analyst channels would help you. In case you’d like to switch your career path from data analyst to data scientist, feel free to focus on Ken Jee, 365 Data Science, and Data School channels.
If you’d like to master your programming skills, freeCodeCamp.org would be the best channel for that. To deepen your knowledge of statistics in data science, have a detailed look at the channel StatQuest with Josh Starmer. To gain more knowledge about tools for data preparation and analysis, look into Skyvia and Power BI channels.
Final Thoughts
YouTube channels provide not only a great learning base but also highlight news and trends in the data field. You can watch videos at your own pace completely for free and review them at any time, which is a great advantage of YouTube.
While YouTube channels could be a great starting point for your data analyst journey, you should also consider supplementary learning materials. Books, courses, and practical assignments in the live setting will help you become a highly qualified specialist and boost your proficiency.
