Everybody knows that people would rather watch a video than read a big long blog post. In fact, 59% of executives say they would rather watch a video than read text. That’s a lot of people. Which means that video SEO can have countless benefits: increased watch time, broader brand awareness, and more sales and leads.
Search engines like YouTube and Google use the same fundamentals in their algorithms for website and video ranking. The focus is on providing the user with the very best experience possible, and YouTube video search results have now been combined with Google search results to simplify how people search.
1. Pick your keywords wisely SERPs are getting more competitive every month. New competitors, new products, new services—everyone is fighting for the top spots. So, finding ways to diversify yourself and your offering is crucial. Do your keyword research, and unless you can compete with really competitive terms, pick keywords that can get you volume, but are less competitive.
2. Use keywords in your video title Understanding the search intent of your audience is the first step. We know that the most common types of search intent include informational, commercial, navigational, and transactional. So, matching what your video is about with the intent of your customer is going to be really important for getting your video visible in search results.
3. Include the keyword in your video file Super simple, but YouTube may use this as one of the ranking factors when it comes to showing your video in search results. If the file name you are uploading has the target keyword in it, your video will have a much better chance of being ranked—and a much better chance of gaining more search volume.
4. Optimize your YouTube video description One of the most important ranking factors for YouTube SEO is making sure you have a solid, optimized video description. Whenever you change or update any YouTube video element—which includes video descriptions, subtitles and closed captions, and video thumbnails—YouTube will reevaluate the video.
5. Use video hashtags to drive YouTube search results Across social media, Youhashtags (#) are now used to help users find content that answers their questions across a range of platforms. You can add hashtags to your YouTube video descriptions and titles to help viewers find your video when they search for a specific hashtag.
6. Select a video category If users are searching for a particular video with advanced options, they can select the search to show videos from selected categories. When uploading your video, it’s important you contextualize your video with categories so you will have a better chance of getting found by a user.
7. Customize your thumbnail image Thumbnails can help or hinder your YouTube videos. They are the first thing that grabs people’s attention when they look at YouTube search results. A strong thumbnail can lead to a higher watch time, which can have a big influence on YouTube ranking.
8. Add subtitles and closed captions Using subtitles and closed captions is the final tip for success on YouTube search.
While video subtitles are designed to communicate video dialogue for viewers who can’t understand the video language, closed captions are for viewers who can’t hear the audio.
Both subtitles and closed-caption files contain the text of what is said in the video, like a transcript. The file will also contain time codes for when each bit of text should be displayed through the video, so it can match up with speech or another visual element.
