YouTube SEO
Although many see it as just another social network, YouTube is the second search engine on the Internet, behind Google.
So it’s not just about publishing content, we have to optimize it to be in the top search positions, just like we do with websites on Google.
Bearing this in mind, it is essential to be clear which terms we want to appear by and what level of searches they have.
At the time of doing the kw research, in addition to all the tools we usually use, we will be very useful Google Trends that has an option of “search on YouTube and that will give us some interesting data on the search volume of specific kw. This will allow us to compare terms and choose the most suitable for optimizing our videos.
How to optimize YouTube videos?
- Title
The title must contain the key kw we want to position and also catch the user. Review the videos that are already positioned by those words and see how the competition has optimized.
- Description
Be generous with the description. It is a good opportunity to expand the information in the video and include calls to action, but above all it gives us the opportunity to integrate the keywords most relevant to us. In addition, we have the option to integrate links and thus bring more traffic to our website, to other videos or to our social networks.
- Transcription and translation
The subtitles serve as an additional copy that takes into account the YouTube classification algorithm. We must make our own transcription, as the automated YouTube has errors.
- Tags
Unlike the typical keywords in Webs, here if they are taken into account, so it is important to tag our video with the words that interest us.
- Links
As we have already said we can include in the description links to those who direct to the possible base of followers: social channels, web, other videos of yours (to increase the general audience and get more subscribers), and so on. You can also promote some of these links with YouTube cards
- Call to Action
At the end of the video we must include a call to action to get the user to subscribe to our channel. Subscriptions send a great signal to Google/YouTube: if people subscribe because of this video, there must be something worthwhile. This is an excellent way to accumulate visits for other videos, and gives you the additional opportunity to get a subscriber.
- The thumbnail
The thumbnail image of a video is really important in terms of attracting the click. If we have a good SEO strategy but an unattractive thumbnail, no one is going to click on the video. The thumbnail is the only image that gives people an idea of what they are about to see. If it seems unprofessional or boring, people won’t consider watching the video. For best results, ideally make a “custom thumbnail” (you need to be verified by YouTube to be able to do this).
- The Power of Playlists
Playlists are a very good tool for promotion and also for positioning on YouTube. While most companies create playlists around dates, content genres, products and other broad categories, to really take advantage of this function, you must go deeper. If we make use of our kw research we can discover what people are looking for in our niche market and create playlists based on those themes.
- The first 48 hours are critical
YouTube’s algorithms are notoriously relentless. When you upload a new video, make sure you have all your optimizations ready. Don’t post a video with the intention of optimizing it days later. If YouTube can’t get a clear idea of what the video is about, or if it doesn’t get any engagement from viewers (in terms of playback time and other metrics), it will be much harder for us to gain positions.
Even so, it is possible to go back and correct poorly optimized videos by reviewing titles, descriptions, tags, thumbnails, transcriptions and so on. But it is true that much of the damage will have already occurred after the first 48 hours have passed and it will be more difficult to win positions. Although of course nothing is impossible when it comes to SEO (we already know that this world is totally unpredictable and full of surprises).
- Quality content
Obviously, to compete with the rest of the videos you need great content that stands out, and while achieving viral success is a big milestone, the long-term goal will be to build a subscriber base and a long-term relationship with viewers.
Internet República
Latest posts by Internet República (see all)
- New Instagram update: reel achievements - 19 October, 2023
- Elon Musk has bought Twitter. What does this mean? - 27 April, 2022
- NFTs ARE ARRIVING ON SOCIAL MEDIA - 21 February, 2022
