YouTube & SEO: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW!
YouTube is a website where people can watch videos and subscribe to channels. This means that you will see new videos from that channel whenever they are posted. YouTube is a good way for brands to market their products or services because they can post creative videos for people to watch.
To get more people to watch your YouTube videos, it is essential to optimise your video content so it can be found in search results.
Knowing how to handle YouTube SEO, one of the world's largest search engines, can ensure that your content ranks and are viewed by your target audience.
Did you know that? YouTube has over 2.6 billion active monthly viewers, and only the top 10 videos for any given search are seen.
Here's a helpful 2022 YouTube SEO guide to help you stand out in your niche and ensure your target viewers find your (undoubtedly) outstanding social video content on the site.
How do you rank on YouTube for keywords?
When evaluating how to rank for videos on YouTube, put yourself in the shoes of the viewers. It is also beneficial to understand where to position your possible keywords.
What are some YouTube keyword ranking tips?
Here are the main spots in your YouTube video where you should incorporate your goal term as naturally as feasible.
This example from Netflix shows how to optimise your YouTube content for a certain key term and advertise a relevant service or product to a potentially captive target audience.
✧ Title
Your YouTube video's main descriptive title. The title of our top-ranking sample is 'The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals | Official Trailer | Netflix.'
Pro-tip: Please do not ever use click-bait titles. The thing is, ever since Google’s updated algorithm that focuses on content and how useful it is to readers’ lives…well…it isn’t all that good in the long run to have click-bait titles if your content isn’t up to scratch.
However, with that said, if (and this is a qualified IF) you can back up your titles with good content, then, by all means, use it. It’s the bait and switch that we’re trying to steer you away from here!
✧ Description
Below the title, there is a line of copy with the key term holiday rentals smoothly integrated into the content. This is the place where you can expand on your title and explain why viewers should watch your content.
✧ Tags
When you post a YouTube video, you can include appropriate tags that represent the concept or content of your video. Always include your target term as well as related alternatives (as long as they are relevant to what you're giving) in this section.
How do you find YouTube-ranking keywords?
After you've determined which basic key terms you'd type into the search field to find your video content, you can begin experimenting.
When you begin typing a question into YouTube's search field, a list of popular searches will show (a lot like Google…which means that you could technically use the same search technique for Google in that whatever you were going to search on YouTube, you can do so for Google as well!). You can receive ideas for your desired keyword from this page.
Exploring YouTube's latent semantic indexing (LSI) keywords is another smart technique to find high-ranking keywords for your videos.
LSI keywords pack an SEO punch because they will help your videos rank on both Google and YouTube, expanding your reach.
Potential LSI keywords can be found at the very bottom of a relevant Google search, and you can employ these phrases or terms for SEO inspiration.
What are some YouTube SEO tools?
Here are some free digital tools to aid you in your YouTube SEO content optimization efforts.
Trend-researching Tools
These tools can help you find trending themes and subject matter for your YouTube production. They will also provide you with ideas for keyword research:
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Google Trends
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Exploding Topics
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BuzzSumo
Keyword Research Aids
These tools will assist you in locating, comparing, and analysing potential keywords for your YouTube video titles and descriptions. Using these systems will assist you in understanding search numbers and keyword competition:
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TubeBuddy
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AHrefs Keyword tool
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SEMRush
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Google Keyword Planner Tool
Tag Discovery Tools
These tools will assist you in locating hot tags for your YouTube content:
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Tag Finder
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ytube tool tag finder
Competitor Research Tools
These tools will assist you in analysing the tags, keywords, and YouTube material of your competitors. They will assist you in identifying any potential gaps in your competitors' material that you can exploit:
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Soolve
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SECockpit
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YouTube’s autocomplete search bar (as mentioned in our keyword section)
Community Moderation Tools
These tools can help you stay connected with your YouTube audience by allowing you to tap into relevant comments or conversations:
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Smart Moderation
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Add content moderators to your channel to help you monitor and respond to comments
How do you optimise YouTube for SEO and do a YouTube audit?
Auditing your existing material is required for successful YouTube SEO optimization. This will provide you with the information you need to update the right aspects of your current videos so they rank higher for relevant platform searches. This is how to conduct a YouTube SEO audit.
✧ Make an inventory
Create a list of all your current YouTube videos, including all relevant details such as title, description, tags, keywords, views, and duration of views.
After you've built your inventory, you can examine your YouTube material to evaluate what's working and what isn't. You may then select which videos are worth optimising and which you should hide or remove.
✧ Look over your titles and descriptions
With a birds-eye perspective of your YouTube video material and a good sense of what needs to be improved, you can evaluate your videos to put your keyword research abilities to use.
Following your YouTube keyword research, you can begin to consider optimising your videos' title tags and descriptions, including relevant terms or phrases where applicable.
✧ Use a combination of YouTube optimization strategies
During the SEO auditing process, look for possibilities to interlink certain videos to other content, such as blog pieces. You should also check for any problematic copy or code at this time to eliminate any flaws that may be impeding your rankings.
After you've completed the procedure, you can employ a variety of optimization strategies, which we'll go through today.
What are some useful YouTube SEO hints?
Now that you've learned the fundamentals of YouTube SEO, let's have a look at how you may improve your content with some helpful hints.
✧ In Your Video File, Title, and Description, Include A Target Term
To begin, to optimise your YouTube content for higher ranking, rename your video file and include your target term (this will assist YouTube's SEO crawler bots in rating your content).
As previously noted, it is critical to include your target keyword or term in both the title (as close to the front as feasible) and the description of your movie. This will increase your videos' chances of ranking well for the right key terms.
✧ Sort Your YouTube Videos Into The Appropriate Categories
When you post a video to YouTube, you have the option to categorise it under the 'advanced options' section.
Consider the following aspects when entering the advanced options and heading to the category option to ensure your videos show up in the most relevant areas for a chance of earning extra exposure by being added to curated playlists:
Who are the most popular creators in this area, and what are their key characteristics?
Is my material directly relevant to this category, and will it provide value to these viewers?
Do the other videos in this category have a lot in common with my content in terms of duration, production value, tone, or topic matter?
✧ Upload Your Own YouTube Thumbnail
Adding a custom thumbnail image to your videos is another significant YouTube content optimization tip.
While YouTube will select a thumbnail image for your videos when they appear in search results, 90% of the top-ranking videos on YouTube have personalised thumbnails.
So, if you take the effort to find and edit an engaging image that represents your video content, you'll likely drive greater interaction while increasing your YouTube SEO authority.
✧ Using an SRT File, You Can Add Subtitles and Closed Captions
Investigate subtitles and closed captions as another smart technique to optimise your YouTube videos.
By adding subtitles or closed captions to your YouTube videos, you will improve the user experience (UX) and accessibility of your videos while highlighting significant terms that YouTube's search algorithms are likely to pick up on.
You must provide a valid text transcript or timed subtitles (SRT) file to add closed captions or subtitles. You can also enter transcript text manually so that it syncs with the video.
✧ Boost Engagement with Add Cards and End Screens
Using Add Cards and End Screens is a great method to boost engagement and viewership. When viewing a YouTube video, look for an “i” in the upper right-hand corner of the screen:
When you use the Add Card option, these show up. When a user hits the “i”, they are offered alternatives such as subscribing, sharing, donating, or voting in a poll.
By using Add Cards and determining how you want to encourage your viewers to participate in your content, you will increase engagement, reach, and, eventually, your YouTube SEO rankings.
At the end of a video, End Screens provide additional information or interactive content alternatives. Including these will most likely encourage viewers to continue connecting with your content and brand.
✧ Keep Up with Rising Trends
Last but not least, keeping your finger on the pulse will allow you to stay up with the changes.
Check in with relevant industry forums or publications from notable YouTube creators, as well as other video-based platforms such as TikTok, regularly to stay up to date on changes and continue tweaking your videos for optimal performance.
✧ How to Use SEO to Expand Your YouTube Channel
The most effective strategy to get your film seen is to use SEO tactics and procedures. DMI's Professional Diploma in Social Media Marketing will teach you how to create engagement and leads across social media platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and TikTok.
Closing Words
Now, we understand that this article isn’t what we are used to writing, but this is a sort of foreboding, as it were, because we can now be found doing our in-house video productions on YouTube as well as other social media platforms that accept video content! See you there!!
More articles please read E-Commerce Product Management: Your A-Z Guide
