It is said that “Content is anything that adds value to the reader’s mind”. What if you have visual content? Visual content has more impact than verbal or written content. YouTube is the greatest platform in the world, to share visual content. Every YouTuber wants to win more subscribers and viewers for his channel. It seems hellish to catch up viewers and subscribers in this diverse virtual world but it’s not impossible. Some certain tips and tricks can push your video on the top of search results. In other words, you require proper YouTube SEO for your channel and videos.
How can you rank videos on YouTube?
You might be thinking about how YouTube SEO works? To know the answers, keep reading!
1. YouTube Keyword research
YouTube SEO is a process of finding and implementing relevant keywords. The whole SEO process revolves around the keyword. If you have targeted the right keywords, YouTube will impel your videos to the top of search results.
You can find keywords via different tools. Make a list of potential keywords, then find and decide the main keyword, search closely relevant keywords, both long tail, and short tail. After keywords research, place all keywords in order but try to use the main keyword frequently.
Another tip for YouTube keywords research for YouTube video ranking is to find low competition keywords. When competition is less, there is a high chance of getting rank easily. There are numerous keywords research tools out there but some of the best are Soovle, Jaaxy, Google Search Console, Ahrefs Keyword Planner, Keyword Planner, SEMrush, SECockpit, & Keywords Snatcher.
2. Rename files with the main targeting keyword
You may not be bothering filenames before this but it can amazingly create a huge impact in YouTube videos ranking. YouTube shows up content when someone enters the keywords relevant to your keywords. For example, if your video is saved with a name office_igf11, don’t be embarrassed, we all have been doing this. Replace that word with the main keyword with a file type, compatible with YouTube.
3. YouTube video SEO
YouTube video SEO ranks the videos. If you have fully optimized the video with relevant keywords, YouTube will plunge your video on the top searches. You need to add keywords in title, description, and tags.
a) Main keyword in the title
The title draws the attention of viewers at first glance. If you have inserted the main keyword in the title, they will get an idea about the whole content. Another purpose of adding the main keyword in the title is YouTube video ranking. YouTube’s algorithm works this way, it ranks fully optimized video with keywords relevant to the viewers’ searches. YouTube has proved that “How to videos” gets rank quickly on YouTube. If you are educating the audience then it’s the best way to create a title with main keywords. You can add brackets or parentheses in your title as well. It helps to increase the CTR and provide additional information to the viewers.
b) Optimize description
The description is another main factor you should pay heed to this. If you want to drive more traffic to your channel and video, you need to add keywords in your description. It’s a key to SEO for YouTube videos. I recommend using the main keyword in the first line or paragraph, after 25 words, more precisely. Description should be divided into 3 main segments; introduction, main body, and closing. Start with a hook, and don’t forget to add keywords in the description. Then move to the main body, thoroughly write down the content with keywords and then close the description with social media accounts’ links.
Description should resemble your video content, YouTube ranks video with descriptions, similar to the video content.
c) Video Tags
Here is the key to reach more audiences and generate more viewers. In the tag segment, you just need to add tags (keywords) relevant to your content; both long tail and short tail can be added. Use MVC formula for adding keywords in the tags section where M stands for Main, V for Variations and C for Category.
4. Categorize the video
Categorization is a part of YouTube SEO guide. When you want a quick YouTube video ranking, you need to be organized, so viewers will switch to your channel if you’re saving their time and efforts.
Categorize your video by clicking on the “Advanced Settings” and gain exposure to more viewers who are likely to watch your content or similar to your video content. This helps you group your video under a category related to your video, and there are more chances YouTube will showcase your video in front of the people right when they are looking for it.
5. Custom thumbnails
After the title, thumbnails are the second feature the viewer will notice. It gives an idea about the content and in return, you are more likely to get clicks and generate more viewers for your channel and video. YouTube search engine optimization (YouTube SEO) takes much time but its outcome will be much bigger than your expectations if you will follow and implement this YouTube SEO guide as it is.
When you scroll down the videos in the search results of YouTube, you’ll see most of the videos have custom thumbnails. A report suggests that “90% of the best-performing videos use custom thumbnails”. There are certain factors you should consider before using custom thumbnails. You should use an image with a 1280×720 resolution or more with a 16:9 ratio and the file format should be compatible with YouTube.
Eye-catchy thumbnails with attractive visuals fascinate viewers and compel them to click on the video. However, apply all these tips and tricks by keeping our brand image in mind. Everything and every action you are performing on your channel should resemble your brand image, motive, and objective. 6. Usage of SRT files, add subtitles and captions
Like all the above-mentioned factors, subtitles and captions can boost YouTube SEO or search optimization. It helps highlight the keywords, and keywords are the main goal of YouTube SEO. To add the subtitles and captions, you need to upload the supported text transcript or times subtitle files. Another way of adding transcript text, directly add the file it will auto-syncs with the video.
You can follow a similar process but you can have a control over text, display the text as much as you want. For adding subtitles, click on the “Video Manager” and then move to the “Videos”. After this, choose the desired video you want to add captions or subtitles to. Then choose “Subtitles/CC” and add subtitles or closing captions.
7. Cards
When you play video, you might have seen a circular white icon with “i”, it’s called card. You can add cards to your video to promote a brand. You can also take viewers to your next video via cards. This YouTube SEO optimization practice or YouTube SEO service catches up more viewers and subscribers to your channel and you also educate them on what your brand is about. You have multiple card options out there and you can add up to 5 cards in a single video but you have a facility of 6 types of cards.
Types
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- Channel card
- Donation cards
- Fan funding
- Link cards
- Poll cards
- Video or playlist cards
8. Audience retention
The success of the brand lies in the audience-retention. Successful brands retain customers with a strong long-term relationship. Similarly, successful YouTubers retain their audience and compel them to watch their videos.
If someone searches the related term to your keywords and YouTube showcases your video in the search results then it means you have done the best SEO for YouTube videos. Once they arrive on your channel, it’s your job to retain the audience by providing them value and unique content.
Audience-retention is a huge ranking factor and you can win more viewers and subscribers if you keep the audience on YouTube for a long- time. Some ranking factors hit the YouTube algorithm strongly to rank your videos. These factors are self-explanatory and help you understand how much they liked your content.
If viewers leave a comment, it probably means they have watched your video till the end. If you interact with them, it leaves a positive impact and helps you build a relationship with viewers. Secondly, if they have subscribed to your channel after watching a video then it means they have liked your content and thumbs up/thumbs down is another factor to know how they found your content. Videos’ share is another signal for YouTube to rank videos. This way, you can generate more subscribers and viewers but this can only be done if you practice the best YouTube SEO.
9. Promote videos
Promoting a video is another main factor you need to consider to get more people on your channel. You can also embed videos in your blog posts related to that particular video. This helps you to rank on YouTube through Google search. Viewers also get facilitated by visual and written content.
It also helps you get external traffic to YouTube; there are high chances to get ranked on YouTube this way. You will also have a high CTR. If you have social media accounts, you can post your videos on your pages; this will help you generate more subscribers and viewers.
Conclusion: Well, now you have a complete YouTube SEO guide. If you will practice these tricks of SEO for YouTube videos, you have high chances to get ranked on YouTube and catch up more viewers and subscribers. But don’t forget to build a strong relationship to retain an audience by providing quality content.