YouTube is considered the second largest search engine in the world. After the mother ship Google, of course. However, it is also counted as the second largest social media platform after Facebook. Is it a search engine or a social platform?
Search engines rank content based on keyword relevance and popularity. Social media displays content based on quality, proximity, and over time. YouTube has elements of both.
YouTube SEO is about increasing views not only through the YouTube search engine but also through Google search. YouTube's social media features make it different from traditional SEO. Social media metrics such as connections and engagement can influence rankings.
To complete the YouTube search engine optimization process, we recommend the following steps: In some cases, you can move the steps around so you don't have to stick to a strict order.
1. Optimize your channel
Before starting your video project, we recommend optimizing your YouTube channel to ensure that your channel is well-positioned for new topics and is itself SEO-ready.
One of the most important things when working on SEO for your YouTube channel is getting your name and URL correct. Make sure the name is meaningful to your brand, what you do, or the topic you're working on.
Once you have a name, you can get a custom URL, which is a great branding tool for your content. The problem is that you need her 100 subscribers to create a custom URL, so you may not be able to do this from the beginning.
2. Find your topic
The importance of the research stage in video SEO should not be underestimated. Engagement metrics and view-through rates impact visibility, so your topics should be relevant to your users.
You can use tools like BuzzSumo to identify topics your users engage with. Keyword research with your topic in mind will help you narrow down your ideas and measure the search volume related to your topic.
3. Create a storyboard
You found a topic and researched keywords related to that topic. Now it's time to create a storyboard. 15 minute videos perform well on YouTube. You can't improvise it.
Storyboards allow you to get inspiration from other videos on the subject and analyze the structure of the video you want to watch. Videos that rank highly on any subject are more likely to inspire you to create a great storyboard.
People respond well to the classic storytelling layout of defining a key issue, building momentum around it, and reaching a climax about two-thirds of the way through the timeline. The final third of the video defines the solution and details the action plan.
4. Define timestamps and labels
You can define chapters within your video that correspond to specific subjects you want to talk about. These may correspond to some of the main keywords you identified in your research. You can insert a label for each timestamp.
From a technical point of view, the video chapters are defined after the video is published, but from a planning point of view, the results are better if you plan them in a storyboard.
5. Shoot a video
The key moment for the video shoot has arrived. Creating great videos requires careful planning, great video and sound capture, and post-production processing.
My own settings for registering short video reports are:
- Modern smartphones can register high-definition (HD) videos
- Light ring to ensure optimal lighting with your smartphone fixed in the center
- Tie clip microphone for recording high quality audio
- The app, named BigVu, works as a text prompter, simple video editor, and caption generator.
Aside from the smartphone, the investment is less than $200 and well worth it for entry-level video capture.
Video optimization is important for SEO, but HD videos are more effective. Use callouts to encourage likes, shares, and comments.
Here YouTube reacts like a social network, prioritizing engagement signals from its users.
6. Publish on YouTube
Publishing videos to YouTube is easy, as long as you have a good internet connection and are not in a hurry. Avoid the nightmare of uploading videos from your phone while riding public transport. What was there will not be recreated.
Most of YouTube optimization happens after the video is fully uploaded and requires many optimization steps.
7. Create a title, description, tags, and hashtags
The first level of optimization is when you enter the video title and description. Title is more important than keyword density, so don't put too much emphasis on keywords here.
Make sure your description clearly and convincingly describes your video and includes your most important keywords in a natural way. Insert timestamps here to help users find important parts of your video. Also, include clickable, keyword-rich links in your description.
YouTube allows you to enter tags. These are keywords that will help users find your videos. According to YouTube, these are primarily used for common spelling mistakes and have little impact on rankings.
You can also enter a hashtag for your video. These clickable tags appear above the video title. Clicking on a hashtag will create a search results page for that word. Choosing some relevant hashtags is a great guide for users.
8. Create custom thumbnails
YouTube automatically creates thumbnail images for your videos. However, you will get better results if you create your own. With thumbnail control, you can choose your ideal visual and enter a short descriptive text or call to action.
Improving your thumbnail will improve your video's click-through rate (CTR) and rank in search results.
9. Create captions and transcripts
Subtitles are essential for videos because some users watch videos with the sound turned off. Many video apps let you create captions, and YouTube does the same.
You can download the captions and use them in your blog posts later in the SEO process. You can also modify it and use it again on YouTube.
10. Create end screens and information cards
End screens are a great way to end a video on YouTube. You can insert them individually when editing the video. You can also insert information cards during your videos to link to other videos.
End screens and cards improve the user experience. This increases the total watch time, which is an indicator of quality and improves the ranking of your video.
11. Distribution on social media, etc.
Your video is published and optimized on YouTube. You may know that search engines don't just look at the content on a page, and off-page SEO is important for rankings.
The number of views, likes, comments, and shares of a video are also important for ranking.
Therefore, you need to systematically distribute and promote your videos on other platforms to gain traction. First, share the video on your social media assets. Choose a time when your audience is active and consider tagging relevant people.
If you have a newsletter, be sure to include a link to the video in your next email. Also include a link to the video URL in your email signature. Perhaps you are also a member of relevant social media groups and can share video links.
The wider the distribution, the better. Yes, as long as you make sure it's relevant to the audience you're delivering to and don't overdo it.
12. Deliver via partner channels
An often overlooked opportunity to create traction for your YouTube videos is working with partners. The challenge, of course, is finding them. One way he does this is by working with influencers. This usually costs money, but it's a great way to launch your channel and promote newly published videos.
13. Respond and engage.
Remember that YouTube is part of a social network. Users like, comment, and share content on YouTube. Reply to all comments and join the discussion below the video.
There is also quite a bit of symmetrical behavior. “I like your posts, you like mine too” and “If I comment on your video, would you comment on mine too?”
If you find that people aren't really engaging with your content, a good way to start is by engaging with other people's content to fully understand the mechanics.
14. Create a blog post
I think by now your video has started to get noticed. To take this even further, you can now create dedicated blog posts on your site with embedded videos. You can use extracted transcripts as content or embed videos.
This blog post is your second opportunity to promote your video through your communication channels. Perhaps some users have subscribed to your site's push notifications, or perhaps they simply didn't see the original video link.
15. Monitor results
The first sign of success is your YouTube statistics. The better your video performs, the more likely it is to rank well.
However, you can also monitor your YouTube search rankings using tools like AccuRanker and Rank Ranger.
And eventually, your video might even show up in the video carousel of keyword searches on Google. Blog posts may also appear in traditional search results.
Approximately six weeks after the release date, YouTube begins a time decay factor. Your video will no longer be considered fresh and you risk losing rankings. It's about time for a new book to be published.
All-in-one search, social, and video optimization
Ranking your videos on YouTube and Google Search requires an understanding of both search, social media, and video optimization. It also requires a lot of work, as described in the 15 optimization steps spanning research, production, optimization, and distribution.
Thorough research and effective distribution are the most neglected areas of video SEO projects. Once you master these, you're well on your way to YouTube SEO success.