Take Your Channel To The Next Level With Our YouTube Optimization Guide
When you think of SEO, you probably think of Google. But you can also optimize your YouTube videos. And you should, for good reason – YouTube viewers watch over 4 billion hours of video per month!
You can boost your presence online with millions of YouTube viewers by optimizing your videos.
If you capitalize on this opportunity, you can:
- Capture attention
- Garner social media engagement
- Nurture your audience
- Take advantage of better search rankings
So, if you want to get more views, subscribers, and traffic, try these steps:
- Keyword Research – Create a list of potential keywords by typing in a keyword or phrase into the Search Suggest feature. These suggestions are keywords that users are actually typing into YouTube, which means they are great for SEO. Target low-competition keywords and narrow your list and use keywords that already have video results in Google. Examples include: How-to keywords, reviews, and tutorials. Include your keyword in the video itself, title, and description for full optimization.
- Focus on High Audience Retention – You need people to keep watching if you want your videos to rank well. The longer users stay on your video on YouTube, the higher your ranking in search results. Create videos that keep people engaged by making sure your content is valuable and fun to watch.
- Encourage Video Comments – Comments can help boost your video rankings, so encourage your followers to leave comments. And don’t forget to reply to their comments.
- Encourage Subscriptions – Ask users to subscribe to your channel in order to boost rankings. At the end of the video, you can simply ask them to subscribe to your channel if they enjoyed the content.
- Encourage Sharing – When YouTube recognizes that people are sharing your video, it signals to them that it must be a quality piece of content, which can also boost your rankings.
- Create Engaging Thumbnails and Titles – This is the best way to improve your Click-through-rate (CTR). Uploading your videos with appealing thumbnails and compelling titles will increase the likelihood of users clicking on your video. And obviously, the higher your CTR, the better, when it comes to search rankings.
- Consider Video Length – Longer videos consistently perform better than shorter ones in YouTube and Google search. It’s hard to generalize the perfect length for your video, because it depends on the content. Just make sure the content is engaging and users will watch and (hopefully) share it!
- Say Your Keyword – YouTube transcribes your videos, so make sure you mention your keyword in your video in order for YouTube to better understand what your video is about.
- Utilize Tags – Your first tag should be your target keyword or phrase. You can also include variations of that word or phrase. Add tags for related topics that your video covers.
- Promote Your Video(s) – Link to your videos on your social media, blog posts, and even your email signature to increase views.
The results are worth it
A successful YouTube channel starts with good content, but these tips can help you optimize that content and engage more viewers. If you’re ready to increase YouTube views, subscribers and rankings, it’s crucial that you invest some time into video optimization. Need help with your video optimization? Our digital marketing experts are here for you. Contact us today to learn more.
