SEO means optimizing content for search engines to rank high on the internet. The content includes images, text, or videos. YouTube allows you to optimize videos from inside and outside. Doing proper SEO on YouTube allows your videos to be displayed in YouTube’s search results or suggestions.
What is YouTube SEO?
Some of the important factors are as follows:
Video Title and Description:
Make sure to create a clear and concise title and description that must reflect your video content. Adding relevant keywords in the title and description is the key.
Video Tags:
Tags allow you to categorize your videos so that it helps users find you when they search you for specific terms. You can combine general and specific terms to increase your reach to a wider audience.
Video Metadata:
Your video metadata has information like the video’s length, its view count, and its upload date. It can assist YouTube’s algorithm to rank your videos accordingly.
Watch Time:
Watch time is the amount of time that people spend when they watch your videos. The more your watch time increases, the higher it will rank in search results.
Engagement:
Engagement metrics include comments, likes, and shares that improve your videos’ rankings in search results.
Ranking Factors of a Successful YouTube Channel
YouTube’s algorithm continues to change so you need a YouTube SEO tool to track your results properly. There are many tools that can help you optimize your videos. However, you must understand YouTube ranking criteria. According to experts, there are thousands of factors that affect YouTube ranking.
Here is the list of 8 factors of a successful YouTube channel.
-
YouTube Watch Time
Watch time is the calculated time for the number of hours users watch a video on YouTube. The longer users watch a video on YouTube, the more watch time increases. However, the purpose is to engage users on YouTube site for a longer time. You can check the real-time data in the YouTube analytics function.
-
Channel Watch Time
Watch time is not only limited to videos but it also applies to channels. If your channel has a high watch time on any topic, it gets higher authority from YouTube.
-
Audience Retention
It is a performance indicator that analyzes the average duration of the videos watched. Here are 2 ways to know audience retention.
- Relative Audience Retention
- Absolute Audience Retention
Relative audience retention shows how much the video is viewed and absolute audience retention shows the number of minutes the video is viewed.
-
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO is one of the most important factors in ranking on YouTube. It is the practice of optimizing the metadata of YouTube. It includes optimizing the title, description, and tags of a YouTube video.
-
Channel Authority
It includes multiple things like how an authoritative channel plays an important role. Channel authority is made up of views, subscribers, and watch time.
-
Audience Feedback
Another important factor is audience feedback which includes audience retention, likes, dislikes, and more.
-
YouTube Click-Through-Rate (CTR)
CTR means the number of users who click on the video. It helps the algorithm understand the relevancy of video for the user. Make sure to include a good title and well-designed thumbnail to increase CTR.
-
Upload Frequency
The upload frequency of a YouTube channel indicates how often you upload videos on your channel. The more videos you upload, the better YouTube SEO gets.
-
Session Duration
Session duration means how long viewers stay on your YouTube channel after watching a video. If you make videos with a longer duration, it affects on YouTube algorithm.
-
Video Quality
YouTube algorithm loves high-resolution videos like HD format videos. Research shows that high-resolution videos are more likely to rank on YouTube.
-
Channel Authority
For YouTube channel monetization, you need thoughtful content creation and in-depth analysis. Your channel authority builds with an impressive figure of about 100,000 subscribers for verification.
How to Rank Your YouTube Channel?
Do Keyword Research
Start with video keyword research and know about the interests of your target audience and search for keywords that your target audience may be searching.
Use YouTube Search Suggest
You can find keywords for videos in two ways with YouTube autocomplete.
Search Keywords Manually
Start searching for keywords in YouTube’s search bar to see YouTube suggestions in the drop-down menu. These are the queries that people are exactly searching for.
Use Tool to Search Keywords
You can use Rank Tracker Keyword Software and go to Keyword Research then Autocomplete Tools, then select YouTube Autocomplete, and type keyword phrases on YouTube.
Video Optimization
Optimization of video is one of the most important factors including title, description, thumbnail, and more.
Title
Make a title that has a keyword that shows the topic for what the title is. Especially, if you keep the main keyword at the beginning of your title, it gives a good additional boost.
Use Google Trends for Results
Google Trends is useful to compare a list of keyword ideas and pick the most suitable one for you. You need to go to Google Trends, enter a query, click search, select web search then choose YouTube search.
Add Video Metadata
Video metadata includes visual and textual information that explains to users what the video is about. However, metadata helps prevent YouTube from misinterpreting the content of your video and it ensures to rank video in proper form.
Put Keywords in the Title
The title of your video shows what your video is about and you must include the keywords that you want to rank for. Make sure to create a title of 60 characters to prevent a cut-off on result pages. It is important not to hype your video title and prevent clickbaiting.
Put keywords in the Description
Creating an optimized description helps your audience find videos through search. Make sure to add keywords at the beginning of your description. You can write up to 5,000 characters long descriptions but content does not influence YouTube rankings. The Show More button of your video description allows you to hide the links to your website, playlists of related videos, and social media links. Also, you must add hashtags in the description.
Create Eye-catching Thumbnails
A thumbnail is the first impression that catches your viewers’ attention and helps them decide whether to watch the video or not. YouTube likes customized thumbnails so, make sure to create thumbnails to make your videos the best-performing.
Add Timestamps
Make an effort to increase user experience by using an eye-catching introduction at the start of the video. Adding timestamps in the long videos will increase engagement and help your users navigate video sections. While editing your video on YouTube, you can add a list of timestamps and their titles in the description box of the Add Details page.
Improve Audience Retention
YouTube algorithm loves and promotes long videos. If your video is longer, YouTube is more likely to add more ads to it. According to the Backlinko research report, longer videos are more likely to rank than shorter ones. It is important to check your YouTube retention report and check closely where viewers take off.
Increase Engagement
Audience engagement means increasing the organic outreach of your videos. If viewers comment actively and click on related videos on your channel, the YouTube algorithm will recommend videos to more people.
Add a Video Link: Many YouTubers add links on the end screen of the video to encourage interaction. You can remind your viewers to subscribe by adding a video link at the end of your video. For instance; you can add related video links.
Ask a Direct Question: It is a good idea to ask your audience’s opinion on any subject or encourage them to ask questions they have.
Add Cards to Videos: It is a good way to increase your videos’s interactivity and promote your brand. Once you add cards, they hide under a small icon.
Share Video Via Your Channels
YouTube SEO is not only the way to increase traffic on your channel but also you can get traffic by sharing your videos. The best SMM platforms are Facebook and Instagram to share your YouTube videos.
Build Authority
One of the most important factors in search is brand recognition. So, make sure to build a channel that increases users’ trust and increases consistency.
This is how you can build your channel’s authority.
- Create a unique name for your brand.
- Add links and contacts to the head of the homepage.
- Create a short trailer for your channel.
- Add a high-quality channel icon to your videos.
Monitor Your Performance
If you want to improve YouTube SEO, you must concentrate on YouTube Analytics including traffic sources, demographics, search statistics, engagement statistics, and more.
Final Thoughts
The above-all ranking factors of a successful YouTube channel are important. By following the above guide, you can optimize your videos to ensure you take all the factors into account to rank your channel on YouTube in a short time.
