How to Optimize Your YouTube Videos for the Search Engines

Video SEO / Social Media

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YouTube is the 2nd most visited website in the world, but how do you make your videos stand out in such a crowded space? With video Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies.

SEO improves your YouTube video ranking just as it helps improve your website’s position. Like Google, YouTube employs SEO to help you target the audience you desire. The more specific your keywords and descriptions, the more likely your target audience will find your video.

Below, you will learn tips on how to bring your YouTube videos to more viewers.

Select Keywords Carefully

While posting videos may appear to be something you can do on the spur of the moment, you’ll need to conduct your homework first to receive the maximum views. Finding the proper keyword or keywords is the cornerstone of video optimization. 

It will define what will be used in the title, description, tags, file names, and other aspects of your video. Begin by making a list of keywords you’d like to employ.

If you have a certain theme in mind, type some related terms into YouTube and see what videos come up. Take note of the terms that are mentioned in the videos and save them for future use.

Once you’ve made your list, go through it and organize the ones that you think have the greatest potential for views. These normally have the least amount of competition, meaning there are fewer videos using the same keywords. 

It may sound contradictory, but if you choose a term with a high level of competition, your video is more likely to be buried beneath more popular videos. You have the potential to stand out and create the best video for a specific topic by choosing a low-competition keyword.

Keywords to Improve Your Rankings

Use Your Keywords to Improve Your Rankings

This is where the true optimization begins after you’ve chosen your keyword you can start to implement them. While YouTube can’t really watch your video for keywords, it can analyze the title, captions, metadata, description, video file name, performance, and category, to determine how to organize and rank it.

Assign a Category to Your Video

Giving your video a category on YouTube can enable it to be grouped with related material and will end up on different playlists, resulting in more visibility and views. However, just like with any keyword, you’ll want to do your homework before deciding on a category.

It’s vital to pick the right category for your video. Once you’ve decided on a niche area for your video, attempt to stay with it and avoid bouncing between them. Consistency can aid in the growth of your audience and the ranking of your videos.

Incorporate Video Chapters

YouTube video chapters are a relatively new feature. Chapters divide your video into subtopics, allowing viewers to see the information ahead of time. Viewers are more likely to select a video if they see something they are interested in without having to watch the entire video.

Having chapters in your content, especially if it’s a long video, will improve the user experience and increase engagement with your videos and YouTube channel.

Make Closed Captioning Available

While YouTube automatically delivers closed captioning, it isn’t always right, and it can affect your rating if it’s translating incorrectly. Thankfully, YouTube lets you easily check and edit the auto-generated captions before you publish the video.

Closed captions can also be provided manually to ensure that your message is received appropriately. You can do this in a variety of ways, including manually typing it out, or using an online captioning service.

Adding your own closed captioning has the extra benefit of ensuring that your keywords are correctly mentioned, which helps to increase video views and user engagement.

Curate a Video Playlist

Consider putting related videos together and creating a YouTube video playlist if you have many videos. Playlists can assist YouTube in recognizing the topics of your video content and determining which videos to offer in response to certain search queries.

They also drive more traffic to your other videos by keeping the user engaged with your content while the playlist plays one after another, rather than going to a similar video by another person.

Conclusion

Carry out your research for your YouTube videos in the same way you would for any other piece of content. Focus on producing timeless videos that you can utilize to diversify your content portfolio. The more valuable material you supply to users, the more traffic your company and YouTube channel will receive.

An expert full-service video agency like Mustard Productions can do everything for your YouTube video, including making it SEO friendly. 

We work closely with your marketing, communication, and human resources departments to produce engaging and effective video content. Contact us today to find out what we can do for your company!