The power of YouTube is incredible. After Google, it is the second largest search engine online.
Did you know that global users watch an average of one billion hours of video content a day? One. Billion. Hours. Getting your content noticed can be a challenge, but with a fine-tuned strategy and videos that really speak to your viewers, you can rise in the rankings and maybe even go viral.
Consider these SEO techniques and tips to get more views and elevate your reach:
Keep Viewers Watching With Video Techniques
One of YouTube’s goals is to maximize long-term viewer engagement and satisfaction. Within their search and discovery system, the length of time a person watches is a video is more important than click. Edit videos with a strong opening and use branding and programming techniques to keep interest throughout. Then engage in viewer’s comments to develop loyalty and help increase subscribers.
Search Ranking Factors
Source: Tagseoblog.
Research & Deliver the Best Keywords
Check YouTube first when researching the subject of your video, then use keyword research tools like Google Search Console or SEMrush. Use these keywords to create dynamic titles that best represent your video content. If you are not getting the views you like, consider changing the title in the Video Manager section of your channel.Be strategic with your tags. Use multi-word tags (long-tail keywords) that focus directly on the topic. With single-word and broad-term tags, you should use words that create a broader presentation of your topic. For example, this can be used for “How to build a house out of clay”:
- Multi-word tags: How to build a house out of clay, How can I build a house out of clay, What you need to build a house out of clay, build a house out of clay
- Single-word tags: How, Build, House, Clay, What, Need
- Broad-term tags: Building houses, clay houses, clay, building, natural building material
Search Trending Topics for Content Ideas
People like to watch the latest and greatest. Use “Google Trends” and YouTube’s trending videos section to find hot topics. You can also filter keywords in the advanced search section on YouTube for “view count.”Make Friends With Your Metadata
From description, title, tags, and annotations, your metadata has fantastic SEO power. Research your competitors first — before you make your video. See who is doing what and the amount of views and subscribers they have. Spending a little time prior to production can help maximize the effectiveness of your metadata, improve the quality of your content, and help you rise in the ranks for YouTube’s algorithm.Get to Know Video Software Tools
Diving deeper into the competition, choose to use video software tools to get some of the most detailed video information out there. From vidIQ to TubeBuddy (both are YouTube certified), you can be more efficient in finding tags, and discover valuable information like how many words are in the description, their SEO score, the number of likes from Facebook, and average view time duration.In addition to these techniques, also be strategic in selecting your video thumbnail (the Video Manager will give you three automatic options) and organize your videos into playlists (topics) to peak your subscriber interest and keep them wanting more.
Bonus infographic:
Source: Bibbyconsultinggroup.
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