When you hear the term SEO, the first thing that crosses your mind is google SEO. YouTube is also a video search engine. Hence, YouTube SEO is just as powerful as google. Like google, creators too want to get their videos to rank high up on YouTube SERPs.
YouTube has a complex algorithm which influences your videos ranking. Optimising your videos will ultimately lead to increased parameters for instance brand awareness, website visits and increasing revenue. You can either optimise your video on YouTube or other search engines like google or Bing to cater to the maximum number of people.
How To Improve SEO Rank?
YouTube SEO is all about optimisation of playlist videos and metadata. A key factor to improve your SEO ranking is to increase the value of your videos content through transcripts, close captions and the use of subtitles. Below are a few tips and tricks you may follow.
Keyword Research
No one can deny the importance of keyword research be it google, Bing or yahoo. Keywords are the cornerstone of SEO contents. YouTube by no means any different. Keywords ultimately trickle down to one basic question-
What Are Your Searches Actually Looking For?
The answer lies in the content of the video. You can also avail of tools like YouTube suggests or Google trends to expand your list of primary keywords by 5 or 10 characters.
There are three main areas where you can optimise your keywords-
Title
Firstly, the keyword must be placed before your title for people to notice it. Secondly, make every effort to choose a title that is more appealing and engaging.
Description
Work on the description of your video. The key element of writing and engaging YouTube script is to make it unpretentious. Use simple, easy keywords to adequately describe your video. Avoid unnecessary complications. Make it lucid enough for the viewers to have a clear understanding.
Tags
YouTube tags are very important. YouTube permits you to attach tags to your video thus helping to categorise the contents. You may add 2 to 5 tags depending on your keywords. But make sure it is relevant. Relevant keywords will help your audience to find your video and in turn will help you to get more views on YouTube.
Click-Through-Rate
Never undermine the importance of click through rate (CTR). Your video’s success depends on how manipulatively you are able to engage your audience. Thus engagement is the main criteria when it comes to judging your SEO ranking. Click through rate is based on the actual percentage of people who watch your video and thereafter click on it. CTR is an important parameter in boosting YouTube’s ranking.
With more and more people clicking on your YouTube videos; the more likely your video will progress upwards in the ranking and you will see the increase in real YouTube traffic. Nevertheless, bear in mind with over 500 hour videos being uploaded every minute, it is time to resort to some full proof method to augment your click through rate.
Adding Brackets To Your Title
Inserting parentheses to your title improves your click through rate. For instance, if you are telling your viewers some tips or tricks to improve sales, try inserting it within brackets –(clever tips to boost sales). Research shows that people who have tried this have been able to improve their click through rates. The idea behind it is that it offers information about the content in not so many words.
Thumbnails
Thumbnails are actually the cover image of the video. Viewers are allowed to catch a quick snapshot of the video while browsing through YouTube. Customise your own thumbnail instead of picking a random image from the video. Go for bold contrasting colours to make it more appealing. Primary focus should be on the main person featured on your video alongside a supportive background or else you can target the substance of the video. In order to grab the attention of the viewers, good thumbnail is very important.
Rely On Community Management
Community management is another way of appealing to viewers to like, comment, share or subscribe to your videos. The value of your video is directly proportional to the number of subscribers you have. A growth in subscribers will automatically accelerate your ranking.
Encourage Viewers To Comment
It is not enough to create engaging videos. You must make every attempt to encourage your viewers to comment on your video. Asking questions is the greatest approach to do so. Choose multiple choice questions over open ended ones. Not only are they simple to follow but will also elicit prompt response from the audience.
Repeatedly ask your viewers to like, share and subscribe to your video. Otherwise they tend to skip the like or share icon and move on to the next video. Telling them repeatedly may drive home the point.
Watch Time Is The Key
An important aspect to grow your channel is to focus on watch time. Boosting CTR rates and engagement may not be the only factors that are effective. Watch time also plays a vital role in YouTube SEO. The duration of the time spent by your viewers in watching your video reflects on your SEO ranking. There are a number of ways to increase YouTube watch time.
Focus On Content & Editing
Avoid clickbait at all costs. Lay emphasis on your videos on your videos thumbnail and title. It should accurately focus on the content of your video. If on the other hand you are actively trying to woo subscribers with clickbait, you are likely to lose viewers on the long run.
Work on your videos relentlessly. Take time in editing your videos. A well documented and meticulously executed video will surely win many viewers. A good script is essential to get more YouTube subscribers.
Compile Useful Playlist
Playlist is an effective tool in enhancing your YouTube channels watch time. It exempts the viewers from clicking on to the next video. All they have to do is to sit back and relax while the content keeps appearing. You also have the option of building the custom playlist based on your viewers preferential watch history.
Upload Transcripts
Upload transcripts of the video. However, the transcript should be compatible with the timing of the video. The transcripts once uploaded, will emerge as close captions with SRT file. This significantly improves the SEO value of the video and helps you to go viral on YouTube.
Firstly, the transcript is basically a text splattered with relevant keywords which makes it more enticing for google search engine to crawl through your video boosting your rank noticeably.
Secondly, it makes your content all the more approachable. Close captions particularly work well with people who are audibly impaired.
Conclusion
YouTube SEO categorises videos based on their appealability. The following matrices are taken into consideration while calculating the rank- total and current views and rate of growth. YouTube chooses videos which are extremely relevant to the audience.