Best Youtube SEO Practices To Rank Your Videos Online
get this tool to start ranking your videos here
Understanding SEO as a whole is a prerequisite to learning about YouTube SEO.
The goal of SEO is to increase a website's visibility in search engine results by enhancing the quality of the user experience it provides.
SEO takes into account the page's coding, design, content creation, and relationships with other sites to ensure that the page ranks highly in the search engine results for the user's query.
Of course, the goal of search engine optimization is to rise to the top of Google's search results. After all, this web behemoth accounts for more than 90% of all searches performed worldwide.
The remaining percentage of search engine traffic goes to Bing, Yahoo!, and Baidu.
"To organize the world's information so that it is universally accessible and useful to everyone" is Google's stated goal. What this means is that the search engine prioritizes providing relevant results for users when crawling, indexing, and ranking web content.
To accomplish this, Google has created a smart algorithm that can determine which websites actually provide a positive user experience. Spam, plagiarism, and similar malicious practices are also filtered out.
Now, let's dive into YouTube SEO now that we know what it isn't.
It's not the only place you can find a search engine online. For example, most websites have a search bar that lets people find information that is stored on the website itself.
External search engines aren't the only kind of search available on social media sites.
YouTube is no different, and the site's built-in search function helps users find the channels and videos they want quickly and easily.
What Is YouTube SEO?
Over 50 billion videos have been uploaded to YouTube, making it the second-largest search engine worldwide. In addition to being a social video sharing platform, YouTube is a content marketing powerhouse.
YouTube now plays a significant role in SEO strategies. SEO experts for YouTube state that their platform's videos perform better in Google search results compared to those of competitors like Facebook, IG Reels, and TikTok.
Increasing the visibility of your videos in YouTube's search results can be accomplished by making them as search engine optimization friendly as possible. But there's more to it than that, and we'll show you why.
Search engine optimization is the process of enhancing the visibility of content in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Search engines like YouTube return results to users based on a number of criteria, including the authority of the websites and the relevance of the content to the user's query.
Search engines position content on their results pages based on various factors, including how popular and trustworthy the site in question is.
YouTube uses an algorithm called "PageRank" to determine the order in which videos are displayed in search results. This algorithm takes into account a variety of factors, including the number and quality of external links pointing to a video.
For instance, if you were to type "keto diet" into a search engine, the top result would either be a video about keto diet recipes or a video about prepping keto meals, depending on your previous search history.
How Often Should YouTube SEO Be Done?
The frequency with which you should perform search engine optimization on YouTube is contingent on a number of different factors. The quantity of videos that you have already uploaded is one of the most important factors.
At least every six months to a year, you should check the rankings and viewership of your videos to decide whether they are still performing well.
If this is not the case, it is likely time to upload some new content. I'm not suggesting that you get rid of it, but rather that you create additional content in addition to the video content that you already have on another video.
If your videos are not ranked, you can try optimizing the title and description tags as well as adding a custom thumbnail and video thumbnail that contains relevant keywords in order to attract the attention of YouTube's algorithm (we will talk more about this in the next section).
How To Optimize YouTube SEO?
This is the number one question everyone who uploads videos on YouTube asks after a certain period of time, how to optimize YouTube SEO?
It is important to implement the best practices with SEO tools which will give a big boost to your YouTube video when it is uploaded to the platform to gain more views faster with the intent of getting more subscribers but comments and shares are good metrics to win as well!
Down below, I’ll give you some of the most popular SEO tools that tons of people know inside the YouTube Market that have brought success to multiple users.
There are definitely more SEO tools out there which are more expensive, but the ones below have a free trial to use!
Top 3 YouTube SEO Tools To Win More Subscribers and Views.
I recommend clicking on any of the 3 SEO tools I recommend, but make sure to try them out before committing to a monthly subscription plan.
KeywordSearch
Price: Free And Starts At $97/Month
Using an AI algorithm made by the top YouTube marketing experts in the world and powered by machine learning, KeywordSearch helps you find the most powerful YouTube keywords.
Find out where the best places are to put your YouTube ads to get the most clicks. Our "Infinite Scroll" feature keeps adding more videos, making it easy and quick to find video placements.
Do "Competitor Research" on the keywords, rankings, YouTube channels, and videos of your competitors. So you can Stay One Step Ahead of the Competition!
Our "Collections" feature makes it easy for you to keep track of all of your keywords, videos, and competitors. Make as many collections as you want for any project, video, campaign, or research session.
Not to mention, you can spy on your competitors’ YouTube ads to see which videos are performing better than other ones to hijack their audience and tailor the message into your own to drive traffic to your videos.
Overall, I rank this YouTube SEO tool as my number one!
VidIQ
Price: Free And Starts At $7.50/Month
VidIQ is everyone's favorite tool to maximize organic reach without using Youtube Ads.
This tool, unlike KeywordSearch, has a few more features that provide you with more details about: daily ideas, trend alerts, thumbnail generator, channel audit, and others.
It’s nice to have all these fancy features, but what really counts is the message you are trying to convey to your audience through your YouTube videos.
VidIQ has an incredible team behind this platform, plus they have tons of training videos once you get this software to show you from square one how to use this SEO tool.
Overall, this is my second choice, and I use this hand in hand with KeywordSearch, since VidIQ can’t spy on my competitors’ YouTube ads.
TubeBuddy
Price: Free And Starts At 4.99/Month
TubeBuddy is next to VidIQ in the category of YouTube SEO tools.
Lots of big YouTube users who have millions of subscribers use this SEO tool every time before uploading their videos to make sure they can get the highest possible reach on the Youtube algorithm.
Not my go-to SEO tool for Youtube choice but feel free to check it out and play around with it!
How Long Does YouTube SEO Take?
It can take weeks or even months to rank videos on the YouTube search engines.
However, if you have the right SEO tools and use the exact keywords your dream audience is using to find more information or a solution to their problems, your YouTube video will do great!
You must also keep in mind that the YouTube SEO tools can only do so much!
Your message on the video has to deliver useful value to the viewer, so they can keep consuming more of your other YouTube videos till they eventually become a subscriber for your YouTube channel.
People usually love to share useful information with friends and family. This signals to the YouTube algorithm that the video being shared is of high quality content, and it will be recommended to other users who fit these criteria, boosting your viewership.
7 Ways To Rank Your Videos To Be On The Top Pages Of YouTube
These are a few YouTube secrets that only those who upload video content to the platform are aware of, but not for those who are just starting their journey on YouTube.
The tactics I am revealing right now are from my personal experience (it’s working for me) as well as what I’ve seen others do to get as much exposure and viewership as possible with their videos.
In no particular order, this is what you can do to rank your videos on the top pages of YouTube:
Adding Captions
The YouTube algorithm only understands text and code, so it cannot read videos or images.
Therefore, creating transcriptions and captions is one approach you can take so that they comprehend the subject of your content.
Transcription is the process of taking the spoken word from a video and writing it down.
You can do this by hand, or you can use a tool provided by YouTube to make the process easier.
The transcript can be used as captions if timestamps are added.
They're used as an accessibility measure for people who have trouble hearing and allow viewers to keep up with the action even if the sound is turned off.
The transcript text can be included in the video description alongside the captions to provide additional context for viewers.
Catchy Headlines With Specific Keywords
If the headline (title) of the video is not “click worthy,” the YouTube viewer will just pass by to the next video until he or she finds an attractive, enticing headline video to click on.
Yes, this means that even if your content is superb, most people will judge your knowledge and expertise based on the title of the video. Humans don’t do it on purpose; it's just that there are no powerful emotional words that capture our attention enough to click on the YouTube video.
Here is a quick example:
- “How to repair boldness”
- “Look out for these 2 shampoo ingredients that cause baldness."
As you can see, the first headline is not boring, but it’s also not so enticing to make a person stop what they are doing and click on the YouTube video.
However, the second headline creates curiosity, and people want to know what the “2 shampoo ingredients" are, elevating your chances of having a user on YouTube click on your video vs your competition!
Now that we've got the catchy headlines out of the way, let’s talk about integrating specific keywords into your catchy headlines.
People on YouTube search with the intent of learning more about a specific thing, or maybe they are in that hot moment of wanting to buy something, but they need to look at one last YouTube video about “X” thing before they make a purchase, to convince themselves.
Here is where you plug in the 1-3 keywords you believe your “dream customer” is typing. Of course, you can find this out by using one of our 3 YouTube SEO tools to figure this out!
Let’s say the keyword people are typing in is “acne products." When you add a catchy headline with your dream customers' keywords, your chances of getting clicked on outclass all your competitors on YouTube. Here are 2 examples again.
- “How to get rid of your acne with these amazing products without causing harm to your skin.”
- “5 steps to combat your acne with affordable products you can find at Walmart.”
As you can see, we added the keywords and made the headline sound enticing enough to have people click on it. However, make sure your headline matches the content of your video, so everything can be congruent.
Fun Thumbnail Image With Captions
The thumbnail for your video is the small preview image that appears next to your video when search results are displayed. Your video's thumbnail, along with the title, is a crucial marketing tool. It gives the viewer a sense of what to expect from the video and can increase or decrease your views and clicks.
A significant uptick in views and engagement should be expected from using high-quality custom thumbnails, which will also boost your search engine rankings beyond YouTube.
Canva is one of my go-to programs for creating custom thumbnails because it's so simple to use and yields visually striking results.
I encourage you to think outside the box. Make sure it fits the theme of your video and stands out from the crowd. You'll be thrilled with the improvements it makes.
Your video's popularity and Google's search engine ranking are both affected by the quality of the video thumbnail you choose to represent it.
The rest is up to the reaction of your target demographic to your video.
In general, custom thumbnails and video thumbnails you make yourself do better than the ones YouTube generates automatically. Create eye-catching pictures with clever captions to attract more viewers.
Add Timestamps
A timestamp on YouTube is a way to link to a certain part of your video. Users will often skip or move away from video content that isn't what they want.
By adding a timestamp, you can get people to start watching your video from the beginning of the most important part.
Most YouTube users want to watch videos in short chunks, so this is especially helpful for longer videos.
YouTube videos are ranked by how long and how many people watch them. So, when a user clicks your timestamp, YouTube records this as two views: once for the first click on the video and again for the second click to the specific timestamped moment in the video.
This two-for-one deal is a huge perk that will help your video rank higher in search results over time.
At the end of the day, it is a really nice YouTube SEO practice to do to boost your video not just on YouTube but also on Google.
Easy CTAs
Many great videos have an effect and keep people interested until the video is over. Don't let this happen.
Give people clear instructions on what to do next, so they can:
- Find out more about the movie.
- Go to your website to learn more about the brand and what it has to offer.
- Possible conversion from a visitor who came from YouTube.
Annotations on YouTube are a great way to add calls to action.
Cut The Clutter And Go Straight To The Point
We are living in a world where we are constantly bombarded with information. And it's not just the news and social media.
Everywhere we look, there is an advertisement, a sign, or a billboard telling us what to buy, do, or watch. It can be overwhelming and confusing.
YouTube is where people go to find information precisely about what they are looking for and if you give it to them, the way they wanted, without beating around the bush, they will keep coming back to the point they actually subscribe to your YouTube Channel.
YouTube loves it when users watch the entire video because, to them, it means that the video is engaging and full of great content, and they will push it to even more people who may be interested in the topic, providing you with a free advertisement!
Add Cards And An End Screen To Boost Your YouTube Channel Viewership
When you are watching a YouTube video and people say “click up here on the top right corner of the screen for more information about “X” thing”, these slides in the captions are the add cards.
It gives the viewer a chance to click on it to always be on the same YouTube channel over and over again, signaling to Google that the channel is of high quality content.
Of course, you only do this to provide useful information and not just to clickbait people because they will leave and hurt your metrics dramatically. Use the add cards wisely.
The end screen is where you have an option to insert one or two of your previously done YouTube videos to promote them, to have the same viewer watch other related videos of the same content they just watched!
This is how you keep your retention time very high, and YouTube will be very happy with you!
Conclusion: Ranking Keywords On YouTube Can Take Time, But When It Happens, Your Numbers Will Soar To The Sky!
Overall, YouTube will provide you with awesome rewards in the long run because, unlike TikTok, IG Reels, or Facebook Live, where you make quick wins, they are not sustainable because once the video stops getting engagement, the algorithm for these platforms will push the video to the bottom of the abyss where it is hard to find.
However, YouTube won’t push your content to the bottom of the abyss but will leave it floating until people want to know about your topic. Then YouTube will push it to them, giving you an opportunity to have your video clicked on, so you can hopefully acquire a subscriber.
There have been videos on YouTube that were made five years ago, and they still remain on the top pages of YouTube for those keywords people are searching for. Again, all the other platforms will not do this.
By using the YouTube SEO practices I’ve provided you with in-depth insights, your videos should be able to be more findable, meaning it won’t take a very, very long time to start ranking in the YouTube algorithm.
If you found this blog post very useful, do me a favor, and please share it on your Facebook page to help out people who may want to start their journey as a YouTuber.
Thanks!
