Game-Changing YouTube SEO Techniques You Should Be Using.

A lot of people probably don’t know that YouTube is a search engine. In fact, it is one of the most used search engines besides Google. The reason this needs to be pointed out is that Google, although the most popular, isn’t the only search engine available and many unfortunately don’t know this fact, so they don’t try to optimise for other search engines that could be equally useful.

However, unlike some of the others, YouTube is specifically for videos, which makes it great for getting your video contents out there. If you want to optimise your videos for YouTube, you cannot use the same Google SEO techniques; the two engines have different algorithms. So, it is only right to familiarise yourself with YouTube SEO techniques to get the best out of your YouTube videos. Now that you understand this, let’s get started on some of the best YouTube SEO techniques you should be using.

Use Keyword

As always, the first thing you need to do is proper keyword research. There are different ways to do keyword research for your videos. Firstly, you can use SEO tools like TubeBuddy, vidIQ Vision, SEMRush, YTCockpit, Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, HubSpot Content Strategy, Cyfe, Ubersuggest, among others to search for relevant keywords. Alternatively, you can search for specific words arrangement and see the suggested searches YouTube pull up, the first few suggestions are usually the top searches. Another option is to scope videos in your niche to see the keywords of the most popular videos. 

Name Video File with Keyword

After you have identified your keyword and created the video, don’t fall into the temptation of waiting till you upload your video before you start optimising. Start from the file name because YouTube will read the file name of your video when it’s uploaded to determine where it fits. So, instead of using something abstract as your video file name, change it to the targeted keyword followed by the file type. 

Optimise Your Video Title and Description

Again, just like with written content, you should add the targeted keyword to your title as intelligently as you can and as much as it fits. I say that because sometimes keywords are tricky and your title might not be clear if you use the keyword directly. If it works, you can include or insert it directly or find a way around it. However, it is important that your title be clear; so don’t sacrifice clarity in order to optimise your title. You want the title to be clear to searchers because the title determines whether a searcher clicks on your video or not. 

Also, while you should include the targeted keyword in the description, remember that most people don’t bother with the description. So in 100 characters or thereabout, give the crucial details you need viewers to see immediately. You can give a prompt in the video if you want the viewers to check the description for further information. But for the sake of SEO, you should optimise the description so your videos could be suggested for related searches. 

Upload an Attention-Grabbing Thumbnail

The thumbnail sends a message to searchers when they search for videos on YouTube, so you should take advantage of it. Use a thumbnail that will immediately grab their attention and make them want to click on the video. YouTube might suggest thumbnails but you should use a custom thumbnail and you can do that only after verifying your account.

Include Related Tags

Tags not only tell viewers what your video is about, but it also informs YouTube on the content of your video. When you do keyword research, you are usually provided with related keywords as well, tagging is a great way to take advantage of those related keywords. Now, don’t saturate your content with tags; 10 – 12 is enough, starting with the most relevant/important to the least. However, you also shouldn’t use irrelevant tags because you think they will draw traffic; that’s counterproductive. Don’t forget to include long-tails tags and how-to tags. 

Create Quality Videos

One of the techniques that you are probably not expecting on this list is the place of quality videos. If you get all the other YouTube SEO techniques right and you don’t have quality videos, it can be counterproductive. This is because when you get traffic to your channel and they don’t enjoy your videos, not only will they leave, they might not visit your channel again and on YouTube, you don’t just want viewers, you want subscribers. It is the content of your videos and the quality that will earn you subscribers. So, make sure to do a little more to provide quality video and content.  

Lastly, don’t forget to prompt your viewers to subscribe and drop their comments. The number of subscribers and comments your videos have will communicate the relevance of your content and cause the YouTube algorithm to favour you.