In May 2018, YouTube reached the number of 1.8 billion users logging in monthly. A year earlier, there were 1.5 billion – a growth of 20%. Every minute, 400 hours of new content are uploaded to the network. And half of the views are via mobile.
Every day, people watch billions of hours of videos on YouTube. And your company, is it already taking advantage of the network to boost its business? If being on Facebook is normal for you, think that this network is only 10% larger than YouTube.
If you want to start, or even give an optimization in the channel, we have prepared 12 SEO tips for YouTube.
Do you want to know everything about the subject? Access our complete content on SEO.
Separated into 3 parts, they will help you grow your audience, gain new views, and increase your video ranking.
How to find keywords for videos
First of all, it's good to know that there are easy ways to discover keywords to rank better for videos.
The autocomplete, for example: do a test in the YouTube search bar, and it will automatically suggest a more complete sentence.
These suggestions are based on the most searched words on YouTube, so evaluate if you can produce content about it. There may be a keyword being good for the company and you don't know it yet.
Another tip is to take a look at the tags used by the competition or content producers who have successful videos on a subject that you want to position. Since Youtube doesn't display this publicly, you'll have to spy on it.
For this, just right-click the mouse and choose the option "Show page source code", then give Ctrl + F and search by keywords, and the tags appear.
You can find more ideas in this Backlinko post .
Optimize the videos.
1 – Set the file name before uploading the video.
The optimization work starts even before uploading the video. The keyword of the video must be included in the name of the file that you will upload to YouTube. If it is an expression, you must use hyphens between the terms.
It will look like this, for example: “SEO-advice-for-youtube.mp4”. This procedure makes it easier for the tool to understand the main theme of the video.
2 – Create a title
Have you found videos with strange titles? Interested to see it? Remember that user experience is very important for SEO. The title is one of the most important points of the video since it is he who will inform the search engines of the content addressed.
Remember that, as in the case of images, Google does not "read" what is being spoken in the content. Therefore, you must take advantage of the 100-character limit.
Include, whenever possible, the keywords at the beginning.
If you see it necessary, include the name of the company at the end. For example: “SEO Tips for Youtube – RD Station”. The reason is that people look for solutions on the internet, and only then look for brands.
3 – Include a description
After the title, the description also serves to inform search engines about the content of the video. And of course, inform users – never forget the user experience!
YouTube allows a total of 5,000 characters, but only about 150 of them will appear in the results of a Google search. This help is essential to encourage the Internet user to understand that you are addressing the topic he is looking for, and lead him to click on the video.
Therefore, for each video, write a unique and relevant description, with the highlights at the beginning. Another thing that we highly recommend is to include a URL directing to the website or Landing Page.
Seek to include the keywords and the link at the beginning of the description.
As in the title, the first words have a greater weight than the last ones. Therefore, it is good to plan how to fill that space.
In addition, when the visitor enters your page and does not click on "show more", the link will always be visible.
4 – Use the last Tags
The tags or labels are essential both for "indexing" and for those who are looking for a subject on YouTube. Don't confuse it with WordPress tags, for example, which have little influence on search engines.
Include keywords to define the video, including the main (keyword), of course.
Be clear and avoid technical or complicated language. The idea is to offer simple and direct information to the user. YouTube will also use them to suggest your video when the user is watching productions from other channels, interpreting that they are on the same topic.
YouTube recommends up to 120 characters, including spaces, in total. This can give up to 15 words. For a more exact search, use long-tail terms – 3 or 4 words, maximum. You may be wondering now, which tags to use on YouTube?
A very useful idea is to look for the tags used in the most viewed videos of your competitors and evaluate their use in your strategies. At the beginning of the text we talked about how to do it, remember? It is also valid when we talk about related video suggestions.
Besides that, always keep in mind the idea of creating tags related to the video title.
5 – Transcribe the video in the description.
Transcribing the content of the video to use it in the description may seem like a chore but it makes a lot of sense. This will make it possible for people who do not click "play" to consume the content in the same way.
In general, it will not take much effort. If there was a script before filming, just fit the format to the space available in the description. This also helps Google to index the content faster and, consequently, improves SEO for YouTube.
Ways to involve the user in the videos.
6 – Make good thumbnails
These are the static images that appear in the video before “play”. YouTube automatically suggests "thumbnails" of a quarter, half, and three-quarters of the video. You can also upload a custom image. When publishing, it is possible to choose any of the options to make it a cover.
Thumbnails greatly influence whether or not your video is open for viewing.
Choose a cover that sells the content, is attractive, and shows that it has the quality expected by the user. A good idea is to capture a shot of the video and put the title in characters.
7 – Comments on the video
The idea is to encourage interaction through comments. To stimulate conversation and participation, keep the comments option open.
Also, be vigilant to avoid out-of-context discussions, spammers, and malicious comments.
Find a conversation with the public, include videos as answers, or connect others related to the topic. The more interaction, the better. And do not be afraid of criticism, seek to understand and offer a satisfactory answer.
8 – Share and Embed
Youtube provides the option to share for dissemination in the most diverse social networks. Within the video, you can incentivize the user to perform this action.
Already the incorporation makes the video can be indexed to blogs and other websites. Bring the video to both your URLs and allied URLs. Remember, be relevant and always make a call for the dissemination of the video.
The higher this is, the greater the opportunities for the video to be viewed and the possibility of increasing the ranking on YouTube.
“Likes”, “Add to favorites”, “Include in playlists”, and “Links” for the video are also important factors to make the public interact and increase the ranking on Youtube.
Give relevance to the channel
9 – Channel and video time
The lifetime – both the channel and the video – counts as a ranking factor for YouTube. Generally, the longer a video exists, the greater the chances of having more views, interactions, and, consequently, higher ranking.
That does not mean that the productions need to go viral. It is common for this growth behavior to be gradual, so work and disclose whenever possible. The audience result will come over time, do not be tempted to compare yourself with pop phenomena and professional YouTubers, for example.
10 – Duration of the video
In YouTube Analytics, the "Audience Retention" field measures how long the video manages to maintain the interest of the audience.
See at what point on average the public loses interest and keeps that point for new productions. Check what is in common in the disclaimer points and work on the content to make it even better.
11 – Registered in the channel
The frequency of new videos encourages people to subscribe to your YouTube Channel. When you subscribe to a channel, you do it expecting to receive new content, right? Therefore, do not disappoint those who want to receive your news.
Maintain a constant production so that the public understands the frequency of uploads and news on the channel. That will cause many users to sign up and automatically receive the news.
12 – Channel displays
Google considers the number of views of each video increasingly important. Thus, the more views, the greater the user's perception that the video has quality or relevance.
Another point is that this favors a better analysis through Youtube Analytics to study the performance of the video and the channel. Remember: with more information, a better understanding of the public.
Conclusion
Videos are an excellent option to produce relevant content for all stages of a customer's purchasing process – from more complete or generic content to those that are properly focused on your service or product.
When you start investing in videos, the authority on your niche increases and the credibility too. Through this positioning, the content attracts a qualified audience, increasing the chances of conversion.
