What is YouTube SEO?
YouTube Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing the videos on YouTube by customizing the value of the content, title, thumbnail, and description to rank higher in the search result. YouTube SEO measures the performance of your YouTube channel and ranks it accordingly in the search result. Learn about YouTube SEO and create the success of your YouTube channel.
11 Ultimate Tips To Rank Higher In Youtube SEO.
1. Niche and Audience
It’s great that you thought of starting your own YouTube channel. Before you upload your first video, be clear about which niche or topic you want to benefit your audience. When you specify your niche, chances are that if someone watches your video and finds it good then they would want to see more of your video content. Understand and research what your audience wants to gain from your YouTube videos. It will put an effective impression on your audience. If you want to upload videos about each and everything then tell your audience about it as well.
2. Keywords
YouTube SEO identifies the most used keyword in your video and accordingly pops up your video in the user’s search results. You can also grab keywords from the search box autocomplete. You will get an idea about what users search the most. Two types of Keywords that will increase your chances of positioning in the search result are top-funnel keywords which are two words long and bottom-funnel keywords which are more than three words long. Bottom funnel keywords make your video more concise and crisp about the topic and help in positioning your YouTube videos for long keywords in the search result.
3. Title
The first thing the audience looks for after getting their search results is the title. They will only click that video whose title matches their requirement. The title should be very close to what the user would search. Use parentheses and brackets to the video title to make it more concise about the content inside. Never leave your audience confused and think twice after reading the title. The best thing would be to add the keyword in your title.
4. Thumbnail image
The second thing the audience looks at is the thumbnail image of your YouTube video. Upload an eye-catching, compelling, and interesting thumbnail. Don’t ignore the power an image holds. Most creators tend to upload the image from the video itself but that only degrades the performance of the video. Investing time in creating the thumbnail is worth it. An image representation of the whole video increases the clicks, therefore, rankings in YouTube SEO.
5. Description with tags
A brief introduction in the description box of about 100 words plays its part in rankings. Add tags close to what defines your video content. Add tags about the topics covered in your video. Don’t include more than 15 tags in the description box. The better YouTube SEO understands the context of your video, the higher the video will rank in YouTube search results. Add keywords about 3 times in the description as well. You can also put affiliate links to your merchandise and follow links to your social media platforms.
6. Categorize your videos
If your channel is not about a particular niche then you can categorize or create playlists of different topics. Categorizing your YouTube videos gives an impressive structure to your channel on YouTube. The channel looks organized and well-defined. For example, if your channel is about miscellaneous topics then create different playlists like lifestyle, travel, books, food, etc. It saves your audience time in searching for what they want to watch on your YouTube channel.
7. Transcripts, captions, and subtitles
YouTube SEO algorithm works only on text. In transcription, what your video talks about is converted into text and appears in the text format running over the video. You can do it manually or use YouTube tools. The captions and subtitles on the video facilitate differently-abled people, people speaking different languages and people who like to see videos with the audio turned off to understand the content easily… You can also add transcripts in the video description and time-stamps. Go for customized captions rather than auto-generated captions for better rankings in YouTube SEO.
8. Audience engagement
You cannot take your audience for granted. Keep your audience engaged by answering the questions asked in the comment section, present them a call-to-action message such as ask them to like, comment, subscribe, share your video, and thank them to be a part of your journey and for the success of your channel. Here are some tips to keep the audience engaged: keep your audience curious about what’s next on your channel, don’t try to give away everything in one video, try to give a bonus tip or the secret tip at the end, try to link one video to another through questions, or add a second part to the first video.
9. Promote your video
The work is still left to be done even after publishing the videos on YouTube, now you have to promote your videos to get more views. Promote your videos outside YouTube on other social media platforms. Add the link to your YouTube channel in the bio section of other social media sites and applications. Send the links out to the people through blogs and personalize the message on the email list. Do one or the other thing to bring the audience to your channel.
10. YouTube Dashboard
Use the YouTube dashboard to track the performance of your YouTube channel. To get an overview, you must frequently learn about the traffic sources, new viewers, subscriber’s growth, watch time of each video, country location of your audience, about the best videos on your YouTube channel, the most viewed video on your channel, etc. You get to see the overall performance of your YouTube channel with one click.
10. Content is the Key
If you provide value from the first video itself, then you will get the value of your channel from the video itself. The sooner you understand this, the better it would be for the success of your channel. The content of your video must be relevant to the niche of your channel and with the title of each video for a huge success. The audience must be able to recall what they have watched. If they recall and find it pleasing to watch, they want to see you more. Don’t create a video just for the sake of uploading it. The value of your video is an immeasurable thing.
The YouTube creators should always consider users and YouTube SEO together. They both are very precious for the creator to rank higher in the search results and for the success of their YouTube channel.
“Add value to your content, get valued by YouTube SEO.”
