The basics of the algorithms used by search engines like Google and YouTube to rank websites and videos are the same. The goal is to give users the greatest experience possible, thus Google search results and YouTube video search results have been integrated to make searching easier. We have a comprehensive article on improving general SEO for websites and blogs. You can check it out here.
You might be familiar with the fundamentals of YouTube SEO, such as using keywords in the channel name, meta description, and tags. But there’s more you can do for YouTube SEO by making videos more accessible. Since search engine bots are unable to view videos, they must be properly indexed using the accompanying text information.
In this article, I’ll show you step-by-step how to use some basic YouTube SEO techniques to promote your YouTube videos.
Pick the Right Keywords
You must choose the appropriate phrase or keyword for your video. Keywords frequently occur in video titles, metadata, captions, and transcripts when they are stated in the audio. That’s advantageous for YouTube SEO. The words and phrases you choose for your keywords and keyword phrases should appropriately describe your video, and be similar to what people type into search engines to find material like yours.
Every month, SERP (Search Engine Result Page) competition increases. New rivals, new goods, and new services are all vying for the top rankings. Therefore, it’s critical to find ways to vary both your offering and yourself. Do your keyword research and choose phrases that can bring you traffic but are less competitive, unless you can compete with highly competitive ones.
You can use the same keyword research tools you’d use for PPC or SEO, like
- WordStream’s Free Keyword Tool
- Google Keyword Planner.
- Moz or Semrush.
- YouTube search—search suggest, people also ask, related searches, and more!
In the YouTube Studio’s Traffic Sources > YouTube search section, you can also retrieve terms from your YouTube search report.
Look at how many “About results” your keyword produces when you search for it on YouTube to see if it’s a good one. In order to stand out from the crowd, you should look for keyword variations with a high search volume yet low competition.
Include Keyword in the Title
The first step is to comprehend your audience’s search intent. We are aware that informational, commercial, navigational, and transactional search intents are the most prevalent. Therefore, it will be crucial for your video to match what it is about with the goal of your audience if you want it to appear in search results.
The title fits 100 characters, however, it truncates after 70, therefore your most crucial information and keyword should be near the top. To get them to click, use persuasive language. Examples include “how-to,” “advice,” “tips,” or numbered lists. “How to Grow Your YouTube Channel,” for instance.
Although it seems easy, many YouTube channels skip this step, which causes their videos to rank poorly in Google and YouTube search results.
Use Closed Captions and Subtitles
Closed captions and subtitles can improve YouTube SEO by emphasizing crucial words. Closed captions are intended for viewers who cannot hear the audio, whereas video subtitles are used to translate video speech for viewers who cannot understand the video language.
The text of what is stated in the video is included in both closed-caption files and subtitles, much like a transcript. Additionally, the file will include timing information for when each passage of text should be shown in the movie so that it can correspond with speech or another visual component. See the list of file types that YouTube accepts here.
Another advantage of having a transcript for your video is that, like a blog, it may be found by major search engines.
Optimized Description
Having a strong, optimized video description is one of the most crucial ranking elements for YouTube SEO. YouTube will reassess the video if you modify or update any element of the movie, including the video description, closed captions, and thumbnails.
YouTube Creator Academy lists the following tips for writing searchable descriptions:
- Give an overview of your video using natural language, not just a stream of keywords.
- Put the most important keywords toward the beginning of your description. Only the first two or three lines of text, or roughly 100 characters, are displayed on YouTube. Viewers must then click “show more” to view the full description after that.
- Choose one or two key terms that best characterize your video, and be sure to emphasize them in both the description and title.
- Use Google Trends and Google Ads Keyword Planner to identify popular keywords and their synonyms. Including these terms can help you maximize traffic from search.
- Avoid irrelevant words in your description, which can create a poor viewing experience and may violate YouTube policies.
Use Eye-Catching thumbnails
The click-through rate is significantly affected by the selection of the video thumbnail image. They are the first thing that grabs people’s attention when they look at YouTube search results. Use photographs with a 16:9 aspect ratio that are of good quality and contrast. The greatest shots are those with close-ups of the face.
YouTubers can pick which frame appears as the thumbnail for their video. You can choose from 3 screenshots that YouTube will provide, but you can also pick a different frame from the video or submit your own photo.
Create something that grabs people’s attention and stands out from the crowd so that your video gets noticed. Use websites like Canva, which has designs specifically for YouTube video thumbnails, if you need inspiration for photos.
Make sure nothing crucial in your thumbnail is obscured by YouTube’s overlay of the video time in the lower corner of the thumbnail. Also keep in mind that Google utilizes image recognition to remove specific graphics, like the YouTube logo, automatically.
Include Keyword in the Video File Name
Once you’ve chosen a strong keyword, make sure YouTube is aware of it by including it in the file name of your video. Your file name might be “website-building-for-beginners” followed by the type of video file, for instance.
Very straightforward, but YouTube might take this into account when determining how high up the search results to display your film. Your video will be considerably more likely to be rated if the file name you are submitting contains the desired keyword.
You can see the file name when you upload a new video. Ensure you update the file name before uploading your video.
Use Hashtags
Users may now use hashtags (#) on social media to search for information that responds to their queries across social media sites. To make it easier for viewers to find your video when they search for a particular hashtag, you can add hashtags to the descriptions and titles of your YouTube videos. This will greatly improve your YouTube SEO.,
Particularly, tags aid in advancing search since they highlight important trends. When you include a hashtag in the video description, it will first appear above the video’s title before turning into a hyperlink.
I hope this YouTube SEO article helped you to streamline your YouTube videos for success and views. If you have any questions concerning YouTube SEO, leave them in the comments!
