YouTube SEO: How To Optimize Videos For YouTube Search
Combining video strategies with SEO can help the YouTube channel attain a higher watch time and grab the attention of potential customers. Here are the six methods that will improve YouTube SEO and ensure it proves beneficial in driving traffic!
Video content is a popular format because it brings two things together, visuals, and audio. They are the most important features necessary for conveying information effectively. This makes its consumption higher on platforms like YouTube!
The popularity of video content made it the second most popular social media platform globally! YouTube is also the second most popular search engine after Google. Given the platform’s popularity, it has become important to optimize YouTube videos for SEO! This article will focus on taking you through the optimization of YouTube videos for YouTube SEO.
Combining video strategies with SEO can help your YouTube channel attain a higher watch time and grab the attention of potential customers. You can learn more YouTube SEO strategies if you attend an SEO Conference but if you’re looking for information straight away, here are the six methods that will improve YouTube SEO and ensure it proves beneficial in driving traffic!
So how do we optimize video for YouTube search? Read on and we’ll tell you!
1. Select Keywords And Place Them In The YouTube Video Title
Find keywords that match the ‘search intent’ of your target audience. There are four main types of search intents; they are as follows.
- Informational
- Commercial
- Transactional
- Navigational
Check out the image below. You will spot the long-tailed keyword ‘How to choose a mattress.’ Now this keyword perfectly covers a searcher’s intent.
When you create your keywords, keep in mind that they match the video title and its contents are relevant.
One of the easiest ways to find keywords is by typing out your keywords in the search bar on YouTube and letting it offer you suggestions. For example, if you create a video about the best moments from the tv show, The big bang theory, then add keywords like ‘the big bang theory best of Sheldon’s or ‘the big bang theory best moment.’
A simpler way to find keywords is by using existing tools like AdWords keyword planner, Moz Keyword Explorer or UberSuggest.
2. Use Video Hashtags
Hashtags are popularly used to make content searching easier, so adding them to your video would help viewers easily find your video. The hashtags would appear right above the title of the video.
Tip– Keep in mind that if you add hashtags to the video’s title, then the hashtags from the description won’t show up.
3. Add Closed Captions And Subtitles To The Video
Closed captions make videos viewable when they are being viewed without the audio. Including subtitles in your video will make it viewable to people who aren’t familiar with the language spoken in it. This makes the YouTube video easy to watch by a larger audience!
Also, since both files possess texts, it essentially makes the video a transcript. Such a file makes it easier for the video to get picked up by a broad search engine, just like a website or blog.
4. Categorize The Video
If your audience has enabled advanced options and selects videos through categories instead of running vague video searches, then you too should be categorizing your videos!
Categorization of the videos will allow YouTube to automatically add your video to random playlists of similar content to maximize your exposure! So choose a category that your video would be best suited to.
The image below shows the list of categories currently available on YouTube as of the time of writing:
5. Optimize Video Descriptions
Optimize the YouTube video descriptions by adding your most valued keywords to the first 2 lines of the description. This will allow YouTube to display your video when a visitor types similar keywords in search results.
For example a visitor searches for ‘exercises to lose belly fat.’ YouTube displays videos that have used keywords like ‘lose weight’, ‘lose belly fat’ or ‘exercise to lose belly fat’ in their descriptions. The keywords have been mentioned in bold in the image below.
6. Mention Keywords In The Video File Name
YouTube has been using this ‘mentioning of keyword in video file’ as a ranking factor. So name the file with keywords related to the video or search intent! The name can be updated before uploading, so feel free to edit it right then! This method will ensure your video has a better chance of attaining a higher rank and increased search volume.
Key Takeaway
Above mentioned 6 ways to optimize your videos for YouTube SEO will surely give the videos you create a new life and a fair chance to survive and grow on the platform. But keep in mind that regardless of what YouTube SEO strategies you apply to your YouTube channel, they are bound to fail if your content doesn’t connect with the audience. So, make sure before optimizing your videos, you have created high-quality, relevant videos.
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