It's no secret that YouTube generates a ton of traffic. That’s why in this article we will discuss 3 main elements to optimizing your YouTube videos for SEO purposes.
Step 1) Preparation
Keyword Research:
One of the first things you need to do is to do some research on related keywords to your video idea. This way you can start building your SEO strategy around those related keywords. Just like in any other type of SEO, you must first figure out what keywords you are trying to target.
Some questions you may want to ask yourself are:
- Does this keyword get search results?
- What is that amount of searches per month?
- What are some other high ranking videos for this keyword?
- Does Google display videos in the search result for this query?
There are some keyword tools built specify for YouTube like Keyword Tool.
Doing some basic research will determine what you should and shouldn’t try to rank for. It really depends on what you want to rank for. If you are trying to rank high in Google SERP’s then target towards queries that come up in Google attached to your main keyword. For example if you're working on a video based on cooking, you can target keywords around cooking with “How to” or “Tutorials”. Google is more likely to show videos on the first page over a blog or webpage because of the nature of most tutorials are video based.
Search Volume:
Keep in mind the search volume. Depending on your video idea you want to make sure there is some search volume around the main keyword/query. You can check the search volume in Google Keyword Planner.
Step 2) Making the Video
When working on a video for YouTube remember to be creative and useful to the viewers. Just like with any other piece of content it should add value to the viewer/customer and it should be clear in the message. Your video can either mean being funny, serious or a mixture in between but every kind of video is going to be different.
Editing Software:
Depending on the type of video you will be making and the topic, certain video editing software may be needed. Just remember to create something of value. (The more valuable the more likely other users will share your content, comment and leave a like to it. This will all help you in organic traffic.)
Video Quality:
Just remember to avoid clickbait videos (misleading titles or content) as users will exit your video and leave negative feedback if you mislead the viewers. Viewers can leave thumbs downs and that will negatively affect the longevity of your video in Google’s Ranking.
Creating the Thumbnail:
While you're creating the video this is the time you want to make your thumbnail. Make your thumbnail creative, related and catchy. Having a custom thumbnail will help draw attention from potential users.
Step 3) Uploading the Video
This is the step that most other YouTube content creators tend to not do. Why spend so much time working on a well quality video just to not optimize it?
Video and Image File Names: Using you research in step 1, name the video file and image file for your video. When uploading to YouTube the video file name gives YouTube/Google information on what the video is going to be about. Thus giving more info on to Google will help your overall ranking in Google and in YouTube.
Determine the Title of the video: Once again use all the keyword research that you did in step 1 when you create the title of your video. The video title could be a perfect phase match (take advantage of the Google auto complete function) to a widely ask query or phase if you want to rank high in Google SERP’s.
If you're more focused on getting in the search results for users who are searching in YouTube vs Google then use YouTube’s auto completion.
Description of the Video: Just like in basic SEO, the video description is like content on a page. Use this section to build off of the keywords you have done in your research in step 1. The first 3 lines are the most important as far as content in the description, so make sure you use it wisely.
Video Tags: Using video tags will help your video show up in related video results in YouTube. When making video tags put your main keywords first and then build off of that. Keep in mind the auto completion function in YouTube to help you. You can use tools like Tubebuddy tool to help you find the right tags for your videos.
Uploading the files: When uploading your video files make sure you have fast enough internet service. Depending on the file sizes (which can be extremely large) will take a long time to upload. Make sure your internet is fast enough to handle the file sizes that are being uploaded to insure there are no interruptions in connection.
Having a good game plan before you upload your videos into YouTube will greatly increase your chances in ranking in Google. Just remember once you upload your video share you content. Just remember to always remember to be useful to the viewers, share your videos with those who would find it the most useful and you’ll be on your way to ranking in Google and YouTube.