SEO for YouTube

Positioning videos on YouTube is a very fascinating and lucrative process. In some thematic categories, it can constitute a great way to jump-start sales of services or goods. So, how to start positioning videos on YouTube. How to do YouTube SEO.

Positioning videos on YouTube

Below, I will present a time-proven list of steps that must be taken to make our films appear high on the list of results of the second-largest search engine in the world.

Best practices for positioning videos on YouTube

Below you can find the best practices that I was able to collect and test. As in the case of positioning websites in Google, positioning videos is subject to similar principles. The quality of the message is important. The credibility of what we present and correctly choosing the content’s form to meet the expected audience of our videos. Therefore, depending on whether we are an online store and we want to attract the interest of our recipients, or if we are a specialist in some specific subject, our campaign should include the following elements:

• An analysis of keywords for which we would like our videos to be displayed.
• Creating compelling videos with a high viewer activity rate
• Optimizing your Video technically by completing the individual text elements of each video.
• Promoting your video in multiple ways and channels.

Keyword analysis in the YouTube SEO

I have described the issue of analyzing keywords extensively in the “keyword analysis”  article. As you will immediately notice, this analysis relies mainly on tools that support this process. In the case of Positioning videos on YouTube, it is worth doing it with slight modifications.

Researching keyword in videos consists in searching for words and phrases that people use to search for video content on the internet. Taking into consideration the fact that YouTube is the most popular video website, it’s worth narrowing down our analysis precisely to it.

By keyword, I mean a query entered by users into the search engine. Below will present some basic, but sufficient methods.

YouTube SEO and keyword analysis, autocomplete

The first and most effective step consists in analyzing the words displayed in the YouTube search engine suggestions. Below you will find a list of words that appear when entering “Frozen …”

YouTube and keyword analysis, autocomplete

The above list is sorted by the currently most popular words related to the entered query. Thanks to this suggestion, we can create a list of main and secondary keywords. And based on them, we can optimize our YouTube content and videos. Compared to standard analysis, I lack quantitative data concerning individual key phrases. But there is a way to do that.

Thanks to the filters that become available after clicking OK, we can view the results according to various configurations.

YouTube’s filters and keyword search

After setting the sorting to “Number of views”, we look at the video from the 1st position and see what word the video is positioned on. The number of views will give us an idea of what reach we can build. This is a certain approximation, but it can show us the scale.

We must select the most relevant word from the list and the one we will focus on. For this, it will be useful to possess information on whether our key phrase is competitive.

Competition on YouTube

We see that there are approximately 98,200 results on YouTube alone. This number is quite high and indicates that the competition is forceful and active. On the other hand, the winners get a huge number of views. This “strong competition equals great potential” correlation applies to most situations. However, it does not apply to “hot topics”, meaning new topics with great potential.

An additional organic traffic source, Google SERP

Check the Google search engine and see whether YouTube results are displayed in the search results. This will make it possible to generate additional views from this source.

Additional organic source of traffic Google SERP

As can be seen in the picture, effective YouTube positioning also generates traffic from the Google search engine.

Keyword analysis in YouTube SEO, Summary

A correctly selected keyword for YouTube positioning is characterized by:

• A significant search potential both in the YouTube search engine and Google itself
• The lower the competition, the better it is for high-potential phrases
• The selected phrase is specific and corresponds to the content of our movie.
• When selecting, it is worth focusing on phrases and words with high potential and little or poorly optimized competition

Creating compelling videos is a way for YouTube SEO

The most important stage consists in preparing the video itself, but most of all its content. What’s most important is the message and whether it meets the needs of our recipients. If it is engaging, we have a chance to increase our positions in YouTube results. I will quote my favorite SEO blogger.

Free translation: If your video keeps users on YouTube, YouTube will rank you higher in search results to help you meet its (global) goals.

YouTube is, like any publisher, doomed to monetize views and time spent by viewers. Despite the attempts to monetize in the form of a subscription, I believe that the success of our videos adds up to the success of YouTube.

YouTube SEO success measures and signals that affect our ranking

Video comments and SEO YouTube

If someone leaves a comment, that person sends a strong message to YouTube that he or she probably liked the video, or was so involved while watching that that person felt it was appropriate to leave a comment.

Manual analysis of the best videos versus those from further on the list clearly shows that comments are one of the key ranking factors on YouTube. Below is another graphic quote from backlinko.com

As it can be seen, there is indeed a correlation between the number of comments and position. It is worth remembering that the comments themselves are related to a few more parameters, such as time increment and distribution. These parameters are worth being used and analyzed in more advanced campaigns.

Subscriptions of a YouTube channel and positioning videos

Subscribing to a YouTube channel constitutes another signal for the algorithm proving the quality of your videos. Together with the comments, it creates an undeniable tandem that determines the positioning of our films. Similarly, it is a parameter strongly related to the quality and relevance of our videos.

CTR meaning clickability

Similarly, as in the case of Google SERP results,  CTR can also affect the ranking position. The more catchy the text in the title, as well as the more recognizable and trusted brand.

That is why it is worth working on optimizing the title and several other elements to increase the clickability of our video.

Video Shares

Sharing videos is another way to strengthen our position.

YouTube Video Shares

The principle is simple, the more the better.

Sudden increases in views

Basing on comments appearing on Facebook, I decided to add factors that may have a significant impact on us being visible in the YouTube search engine. Damian Macura suggested the following: a large “boost” results in over 200 views in a short period of time. I assume that this time depends on the thematic category, as well as how many videos experience such rapid increases at a given moment.

Video duration

The last parameter that engages users is its length. Similarly as in the case of texts, the length of a video matters. Nevertheless, I believe that it is important how often a video is watched until the end.

Creating compelling videos summary

Summarizing this point, one can focus on a simple statement. If your videos are interesting and engaging for your recipients, your high positions are guaranteed. This is not entirely true, we are still missing 2 elements, which I will describe below.

“Technical” optimization, YouTube positioning

Below I have listed the factors that must technically appear on our website.

Videos title

Your video title should be at least 5 words long. Similar to blog posts.

I recommend:

• It’s worth placing the keyword at the beginning of the title. If you want to fight for the visibility for the phrase “YouTube positioning” you should place this phrase in the beginning of the title.

Description

The description of your video is very important. It helps YouTube and Google understand the context of your video. The better they understand your video, the higher they will rate it and the more often you’ll be shown in the suggested video bar.

I recommend:

• Put the keyword in the first 25 words
• Add a description with at least 250 words
• Add a keyword 2-5 times

Tags and positioning videos on SEO YouTube

Tags aren’t as important as # on Instagram. I regard them as a supplement for the title and description. And I’ve noticed that the better this supplement is done, the more traffic and references to the video in the recommendations.

I recommend:

• Use only the tags your competitors use. This is a proven method
• When your video’s tags match a video someone’s watching, you have a good chance of appearing in the Suggested Video section.

“Technical” optimization summary

There aren’t many optimization steps required for YouTube’s technical optimization. We are able to ensure compliance with YouTube’s requirements and best practices in just a few steps.

Promotion of activities on YouTube

The sole optimization, as well as building relevant and engaging content will do nothing for us if our potential users won’t be able to see our video.

Recommendations SEO YouTube:

• If you have a blog, add an Embedded Video to an article related to your video.
• Playlists are one of the best ways to get more views for your videos. At the end of the video, they may be displayed to generate additional views for your other videos. It is worth considering a proper flow between videos.
• Add links wherever possible, e-mails, newsletters.
• Do not be afraid to promote in paid channels, search engines, and social media.

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