Usually people think that with the hundreds upon hundreds of hours of content in an array of different styles being uploaded on YouTube, there just isn't a way to compete with everyone else.
But daunting as it may sound, YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine which means it is absolutely possible to drive peoples clicks and views to your videos and away from others just by having an effective YouTube Video SEO strategy!
The goal here is to create a YouTube SEO strategy that gets your videos on the top of the results pages. So, If you aren't quite sure where to start, here's a quick guide to do just that. Check out our
YouTube Video Advertising Packages
to boost your video views!
Find your potential keywords
Researching keywords is a great way to figure out what terms your audience searches for the most.
- Utilize the YouTube search bar itself:
The first few suggestions in the search bar represent the most searched keywords, you can learn a lot just by studying the different terms that come up.
- Green Lotus SEO Tools:
While Ranking on the YouTube Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is the main goal for your YouTube SEO strategy, Being picked up by google has a lot of benefits as well. The keyword research tool in Green Lotus SEO Tools
lets you study the search volume of your potential keywords, this way you can eliminate keywords that people aren't really searching for. Not only can you use Green Lotus Tools for keyword research but you can use it to manage your entire SEO strategy for you business website as well. YouTube videos rank very well on google, so it only makes sense to optimize for Google too. By taking this step, you're hitting two birds with one stone!
- Scope out the competition:
This helps you learn from other people's mistakes and successes. Visit a channel that's related to yours and pay attention to which keywords are drawing the viewers in and which ones don't have as many views Observe what kind of content they are responding to (animated videos, or commentary style videos? Educational or entertaining content? This information is helpful even beyond the SEO of your YouTube channel and this lessens the trial and error aspect.
- Google Trends:
On the other hand, if you already have keywords in mind, you can use google trends to find out more about the keywords like search volume. You can also use this tool for the google search engine as well.
Choose the right keywords
You might notice that the current list of keywords you have are mostly short and simple. Your instinct may tell you to follow suit and just use those keywords but keep in mind that everyone else might have seen the same thing and now are using those keywords too which means it might be harder to rank for those.
If you look at longer, more specific keywords, they have less results which means less competition. Yes they may be fewer but you can take advantage of this and be more visible. You would have a somewhat smaller audience, but also a more involved one, as they would be likely to click on your video.
Implementing your chosen keywords
Once you've identified your ideal keywords, it's time to put them to use. This means that you need to include your keywords on your video metadata so YouTube crawlers can identify them. Here are the elements you need to optimize.
- Video Title:
It's crucial that you include your focus keyword in this section. Your focus keyword is the one that represents your video topic the best.
The video title affects your SEO from a keyword standpoint but also it also is a huge factor in the click-through rate which is one of the big things the YouTube algorithm takes into account. The title must be captivating to get that click from the audience.
- Video Description:
The description box is where you can expand more on your video but at the same time it's a good area to incorporate more of your chosen keywords. This signals the YouTube crawlers on what your video is about therefore presenting your video in the appropriate search. Viewers also use the description to decide whether or not your video is what they're looking for or not.
Remember: There's a preview of the first lines of the description in the SERP, so the first lines of the description can affect the click through rate and overall SEO.
- The Transcript:
A transcript is a document that contains the narration said in your video. This matters because YouTube crawlers as of yet cannot process audiovisual content but they can go through text.
In other words, if you pair your video with a transcript whether written by a person or AI or even both, the words mentioned in your can lend their hand as keywords. This gives a heavier and more varied keyword density.
Helpful Tip:
In the first 15 seconds of your video, mention your focus keyword. This will allow your transcript to have the full SEO potential.
Optimize your YouTube video content for SEO
You might think that Video SEO is one of the last steps for a video marketing campaign. Which makes sense too. YouTube SEO strategy plays a huge role in the visibility of your video across YouTube or other channels. But it may come as a surprise to you that a top notch YouTube SEO strategy begins with your script.
It's possible for you to use the keywords that have a good amount of search volume as a base for a video topic, this way you can reach out to the audience that's organically interested in that topic.
There are other ways your video script affects your ranking on the YouTube SERP. These are:
- Length of Script:
The SEO algorithm for YouTube loves longer videos and it's simply because longer videos make the viewers spend more time on the platform.
Apart from that, longer videos are often associated with higher quality content since many assume that there was more effort put into the production of it.
Yes, video length is important but don't drag along a topic just for the sake of making it longer. YouTube also takes into account watch-time, likes and shares and these can be put at stake if your content is dragging, repetitive.
- The Introduction:
Another factor that defines your videos ranking is Audience Retention. This is a metric that represents how long viewers watch your video.
Ideally you want your viewers to watch all the way to the end of your video but that's not the case for all viewers. There are ways to hold your viewers attention right from the start.
You can begin by highlighting the benefits of watching your video. This needs to be consistent with what you promise in your title, description and thumbnail. You need to deliver on whatever you mention because viewers who clicked on your video have those same expectations.
- The Calls to Action:
Videos that bring in new subscribers, lots of engagement in the comment section as well as likes and shares are the ones that perform better on the results page.
This is one of the most challenging factors in YouTube SEO because you have no control over how people want to engage or interact with your video. But, you can influence their decisions by prompting them into taking action. This is why it's crucial to include these calls to actions into your script.
The amount of calls to action depends largely on the length of your video, but in a 10-20 minute video you would normally find 3 calls to action. One in the beginning, middle and end.
Things to remember
Ranking for that coveted first spot on the YouTube search engine may seem like it can only be done by long-time youtubers, huge companies or even adorable animal videos but realistically, anyone can get there just by having the right video SEO strategy.
Focus on long-tail keywords instead of the broader ones. You would be aiming for a reduced group of YouTube searches but those users would be looking for exactly what your video offers and will be more likely to click on your video.
Your YouTube SEO strategy should not be an afterthought. If you take into account the SEO factors right from the very first stages of video production, especially when writing the script, this gives you the chance to work with keywords you already know people are searching for!
What's important to remember is that people can't enjoy or interact with your video if they can't find it. Make the right Video SEO moves, be competitive in the vast ocean of content and your audience is sure to find you.