9 YouTube Video Optimization and Ranking Techniques That You Must Follow and Practise
YouTube gets insane amounts of online traffic every day and an incredible amount of content being uploaded on YouTube daily. As a result, video ranking on YouTube as well as on Google has become a real necessity for many marketing strategists and brands.
If you are new to this or have very limited knowledge of YouTube video optimization, this blog will walk you through 9 YouTube video optimization techniques and show you how to rank YouTube videos on Google’s first page and top of YouTube quickly and confidently.
1. Video Keyword Research
As with conventional SEO, keywords play a decisive role in YouTube video optimization. The target is to snipe a keyword with low competition and high search volume.
Now, video Keywords are different from landing page keywords.
Why?
Simple – they serve a very different purpose! The user intent behind YouTube optimization is to inform and drive traffic.
In simple terms, a YouTube video is meant to nurture sales; not close them.
YouTube displays a lot of search data for each keyword. This includes keyword ideas from suggested searches and competition from search results. The only thing that remains is to leverage them for genuine results by using these keywords in your video title, tags, and description.
2. YouTube Channel Design and Description Optimization
Your channel can rank on YouTube too (not just your individual videos). So, optimizing your YouTube channel can effectively drive twice as much as traffic. Therefore, YouTube channel design optimization has always been one of the most important YouTube ranking factors.
A great and optimized channel design will improve the video CTR immensely and that consequently improves video and channel rankings both on YouTube and Google.
In simple terms, the more professional your channel looks, the more likely people will click on it. This means more traffic, more views, more subscribers, more brand awareness, and eventually more earning. If you are using AdSense, tweaking your channel design is an absolute must.
The same logic applies to your channel description as well. If you are looking for a quick answer on how to optimize your YouTube channel, here it is:
Include your keywords contextually in the channel description so that everyone knows what to expect from your YouTube channel. This will generate targeted traffic and you will be more likely to get a loyal follower base.
3. Channel Tags, Keywords Optimization and Recommendations
While channel tags are not generally considered to be highly useful, they can help a lot in video ranking.
How?
Tags are optimized for search relevance. YouTube knows exactly when your video is relevant so that they can serve your content through recommended videos and related searches.
If you are looking to rank your YouTube video fast and increase viewership and watch time, you need to optimize the video tags to get more visits through suggested videos.
YouTube channel keywords optimization can lead to some great results and leveraging recommended videos will get you there faster.
You can use video cards to recommend more videos from your channel and upsell them at the end of each video.
What kind of keywords or tags can you use for YouTube video optimization?
- Exact match keywords.
- Variants of the exact match keywords.
- Sub-topics in your video.
Using these simple video optimization techniques, you can easily rank better on YouTube and Google Video searches.
4. Playlist Title and Description Optimization
Using playlists you can inspire a lot of your viewers by telling them that you know a lot on the subject and understand what your viewers want to watch.
The playlist title and description are probably one of the least used YouTube optimization techniques. By setting up an optimized playlist and description, you get:
- Targeted viewers for your keywords.
- Higher user retention.
- Better CTR.
- More watch time.
- More subscribers.
How do you optimize YouTube playlist title and description?
In the same way, as you optimize your YouTube channel. Only this time, you narrow your keyword down to the group of topics that your playlist deals with instead of the broader groups for your YouTube channel.
5. Video Content Optimization
Now that you have a great channel and a definite playlist set up and optimized, it is time to move on to the next part of your YouTube video ranking strategy.
Start optimizing your video content and title. So, how can you optimize your video?
Let’s prioritize – yes, you want lots of traffic on your videos but you also want them to watch your content till the end.
One of the best ways to do that is to optimize your actual video content to include your target keywords, their variants, and some related keywords as well.
Another great way to drum up traffic is to have a much-focused Call-to-Action pointing to another video of yours. This simple trick will engage your audience and let them find your content effortlessly.
You should also upload only high-quality content. YouTube automatically provides lower resolution options for the viewers. So, upload the highest quality video that you can create to retain your audience for a much longer time.
6. Audio Quality Optimization
Lots of YouTubers and brands pay no attention to the sound quality of the video contents. The reason is simple – they think that this is not a YouTube video ranking factor, at least, not directly.
But let’s face it – no one likes poor audio. If your viewers cannot hear you properly due to a lot of echo or background noise, chances are that they will bounce to a different video.
This is a huge red flag for YouTube. If lots of your viewers bounce off from your videos, this will heavily demote the rankings for your channel, your playlist, and definitely your videos.
The best thing to do is to spend a little extra and get a professional microphone for recording and an audio editor to clean up your audio to reach more audiences quickly.
7. Video Title Optimization
Now that you have your video and audio optimized, it is time to get into the next bit. Optimizing your YouTube video title will help you get featured on Suggested Videos much faster.
Even more to the point, this simple thing can land your video in the Google video results very quickly. YouTube rankings and Google video rankings jointly can multiply your traffic several folds overnight.
Most people prefer video content to other forms of online content. So, by optimizing your video titles properly, you can nurture a lot of leads very easily.
There is no need to stuff keywords in your video title. Just make sure to include your focus keyword that has a decent average search volume and is relevant to your video topic. This way you will make the most of your traffic.
Also, use a minimum of five words in your video title so that everyone understands what they are going to watch.
Stay away from over-optimizing and clickbaiting video titles.
8. Video Description Optimization
The YouTube video description is the best place to optimize for YouTube and Google rankings.
Some of the YouTube video description best practices include:
- Include a descriptive video description (at least 250 words).
- Make sure that your exact match keyword appears in the first 25 words, preferably before the “show more” option.
- Insert variations of your keyword so that the video description does not look spammy.
- Link at least one video from the video description.
YouTube optimization really hinges a lot on the video description. A quick way to improve the user experience is to include a table of contents by timestamp in the description if you have a long video. This way, people can navigate their way to what they really need.
Using this quick idea you can rank YouTube video on the first page of Google very fast. This can also improve the chances of ranking on Google for multiple keywords as well.
9. Video Tags Optimization
Video tags are again meant for context. Just like channel tags tell YouTube and Google about how to index and rank your channel, video tags offer context about the video itself.
Optimizing video tags can help you get into the YouTube home page’s recommended video list.
Again, the best way to optimize the tags is by using the exact match keywords, their variants, and some other relevant keywords to get diversified traffic. Using off-topic irrelevant keywords on video tags will certainly do more harm than good in the long run. So better don’t be involved in any sort of unethical, old-school video optimization practices.
What Can You Do Next?
Remember, YouTube video optimization is just one part of succeeding with YouTube. The other part is building a community, marketing your YouTube channel and videos 360-degree across the internet. Use social media platforms especially Instagram (based on your YouTube niche) for cross-platform marketing, promotion, and growth.
Share this with people who are struggling with their YouTube rankings. We guarantee that these simple tricks will work really well if you are starting this up. Do you have any questions? Please feel absolutely free to leave them in the comments below.
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Mentored by Mr. Soumya Roy, the Founder, CEO of PromozSEO Web Marketing Academy.
Being an entrepreneur and digital marketer, he loves to share his knowledge and experience in topics related to internet marketing, SEO, SEM, social media, content marketing, branding, entrepreneurship, and many more.
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