When you think of SEO, you probably think of Google and this is because it is the most powerful search engine, however, it is not the only one. Do you know how to do SEO for YouTube videos?
You know, it is worthy of note that some search engines could be as powerful or, more powerful than Google. Presently, they’re probably not big or popular, but you can boost your search presence and conversions if you tap into these other search engines.
The thing is, the less popular search engines fill specific roles. For example, if you do Bing SEO, you can reach an audience you probably won’t reach on Google.
If you ignore other search engines, you’re doing your business a disservice. Today, Daniels Hustle will talk about YouTube, and more specifically, how to do SEO for YouTube videos.
It might seem weird to think of YouTube as a search engine, but that’s exactly what it is. It is a search engine for videos. The entire site is driven by a search bar that’s smack dab in the middle of the page. It is quite similar to Google’s video search results.
Because YouTube is its own search engine, it has its own SEO best practices. Just like you want to get your site high up on the SERPs, you want to get your videos on YouTube high up on the YouTube SERPs.
One thing worthy of note is that while the search result is similar to that of Google’s, its SEO is completely different. And as different as it is, it might take some getting used to.
In this article, I will be giving you a step-by-step guide on how to do SEO for YouTube Videos. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Search Keywords to Improve YouTube SEO
One way to do SEO for your YouTube videos is to search for keywords that will help you improve your videos on the platform.
However, keywords for YouTube are quite different from keywords that appear on search engines like Google or Bing. For example, you will notice that when you see YouTube keywords, they usually start with “how to.”
Brian Dean recommends using Google to search for different keywords in your niche. Then, see if any keywords bring up video results. For example, if you search for “how to make apple pie,” you’ll see a ton of video results, and at least one is from YouTube.
So, to search for YouTube keywords, paid keyword research tools may provide you with a wealth of information about the finest keywords to use in your videos.
vidIQ is a very good YouTube-specific keyword research tool. With this tool, you’ll be able to examine a variety of data, including popular videos, related keywords, and more.
This is the finest SEO tool for dedicated YouTubers. There is a simpler method to enroll into vidIQ if you aren’t ready to pay the $39 a month for a premium subscription.
Simply go to YouTube and start typing an industry-specific term into the top-of-the-page search bar.
If you’re interested in content marketing, for example, put that into the search area. You’ll be given a list of keyword ideas that are relevant to your search.
Optimize Your Video
To help grow your YouTube Gaming channel, you have to ensure that you optimize your gaming videos on your channel. Now, here’s how to extract the most SEO value from your video that could help you grow your channel.
Video Title
Optimizing the video title of your YouTube video is quite important to doing SEO for your YouTube videos.
So, to optimize your YouTube video title, you should include your focus keyword in your video title, and you should also solve a problem with your title.
Video Description
Your video’s description is as important as your video title. In fact, it is super important. Your video description helps YouTube and Google understand the context of your video.
I mean, Google and YouTube are going to help grow your YouTube gaming channel, they have to know what it is about. And neither YouTube nor Google can watch your videos.
Here are the basic guidelines for optimizing your videos’ description below:
- Include your keyword in the first 25 words
- Make the description at least 250 words
- Include your keyword 2-4 times
Ask People to Leave Comments
Asking people to leave comments on your channel is another important way to optimize your video. If your videos get a lot of comments, it helps YouTube know that your videos are popular.
And just like Google, YouTube prioritizes popular content, and comments are one of the metrics YouTube uses to decide what people like the most.
So, if you could get your viewers and subscribers to make comments on your posts, it will help your videos. It’s a good idea to end your video with a question to get a discussion started.
Increase the value of your videos
This is a guide to YouTube SEO. However, like with any SEO strategy, there is a significant quality component.
As I have stated, SEO is simply user optimization. So, I’d like to provide you with some ideas on how to improve video quality, which will improve search performance.
I understand that not everyone can afford a professional studio setup, but that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice video quality.
Most of us have smartphones with video recording capabilities, which is plenty to get started.
Your iPhone and Android smartphones are pretty much all you’ll ever need.
If you want to improve the quality of your videos, you may make a few modest investments and changes:
Get a Tripod
Getting a tripod is important for video creators because it aids stability and consistency when making videos. A little stability goes a long way to creating a more professional video.
Include a Backdrop
No issue if the most you can do is drape your bedsheets over a bookcase.
You can also get one of them for less than $50 on Amazon.
Get a ring light
You don’t need fancy spots or anything. All you need is a few lamps or lights trained directly on the subject of the video.
If you do have a small budget, about $50-$75 can get you something simple to start with, or if you have some ordinary house lamps lying around, you could make use of those too.
Get a Microphone
Getting yourself a microphone shouldn’t cost much, especially if you don’t have to get a huge budget. However, you might be able to afford a $5 or $10 microphone.
Now, don’t think that because the microphone is cheap it might not serve its purpose because even an inexpensive microphone will give you far better audio quality than your phone’s built-in microphone.
With an investment as low as this, you can be rolling with great quality videos that rival some of the biggest YouTube channels.
Add Closed Captions
Here’s a cool YouTube SEO hack that will give your video a huge edge. You might know that YouTube videos support closed captions.
Not many people might know about this because they are meant for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, but they have an unexpected SEO benefit.
Closed captions are crawlable by search engines! What this means is that you’ll get a nice SEO boost if you enable closed captions. YouTube supports automatic captioning, but it’s not perfect.
You can edit those captions, or you can add your own. Whatever you do, make sure the captions are accurate.
Promote your videos
The process of optimizing a YouTube video is similar to that of optimizing a blog post.
The more people that see your content, the more likely it is to rank!
As a result, go all out when it comes to advertising your videos.
Get on Quora, for example, and answer similar questions by linking to your video. Don’t, of course, spam. When your video solves a problem or provides light on an issue, mention it.
You may also use your blog, emails, and social media postings to connect to your videos.
The more views each video receives, the better!
Share on Twitter
Promoting your videos is not a bad idea, and that’s the same idea here. Spread the word and get more eyeballs on your videos. Twitter research asserts, “Video on Twitter drives engagement.”
Twitter native videos are strong, yes. But YouTube shares on Twitter are far higher than the number of uploaded native Twitter videos. Videos shared on Twitter will get high engagement rates and views.
Share on LinkedIn
Most business people tend to be more engaged on LinkedIn than on other social media sites. So, if your video content revolves around business, then, you’re in luck.
Using video on LinkedIn is a strong way to make your company page or personal page more built-out and robust.
Share on Quora
Quora is one of the best places to share your videos. And the reason is that people on Quora are always looking specifically for in-depth information that can solve their problems.
Optimize Your Channel’s Page
If you optimize your channel’s page properly, it will appear in YouTube’s search results more frequently.
When your channel appears here, it will receive more views, subscribers, and YouTube ranks. So, how can you make your channel page more optimized?
Make it seem fantastic. Describe what you do using keywords that are specifically targeted.
Making your YouTube video SEO-friendly isn’t as difficult as it seems. There are almost 2 billion YouTube viewers, so don’t overlook this massive network while marketing your business.
What’s the good news? It isn’t that difficult. The goal is to understand your target audience and develop material that they will enjoy, watch till the end, and remark on.
After that, adjust your keywords a little and post your videos. You’ll be blown away by the outcomes.
Embed Your Video for Better YouTube SEO
Embedding your YouTube videos serves as a good SEO strategy, and beyond that, it has another purpose.
It gets your video in front of more people. You can embed your video anywhere, however, I recommend blog posts.
Then the SEO purposes will help increase your user engagement. This is a direct result of getting more people to watch your YouTube video.
Prepare Videos Using Engagement Reports
When you can tell what engages your viewers, giving them what they desire shouldn’t be a big deal for you. This is where the importance of your engagement rate comes in.
YouTube offers several engagement reports to help you measure your overall performance. Each report is valuable in its own way, and it is important that you take a look at each of them on a regular basis.
For example, the Subscribers report shows you how many subscribers you’ve gained or lost. The Average Percentage Viewed reports show how much of each video your viewers watch.
These metrics are perfect for improving your YouTube SEO and observing even the finest details of your performance. This will go a long way in letting you know what your viewers are interested in.
Conclusion
If growing your YouTube channel is important to you, then knowing how to do SEO for YouTube videos is the best thing you can do for yourself.
The strategies listed above are simple, basic, and beneficial for creating high-quality video material for distribution. And they’re the ones who make all the difference.
