When you optimize YouTube videos, you are leveraging on the world’s most powerful social media channel and reaching out to millions of viewers. YouTube videos is vital to any brand and the company’s content strategy.
However it is not that easy to grow a YouTube channel and there is a need to grow YouTube video audinece if you want to be found in search results.. SEO will ensure that the content ranks on SERPs and can be seen by the target audience.
Placement of Keywords in YouTube
In YouTube, the areas where you place the keyword or keyphrases is important.
Title: People who search would depend on the main description of the video. Be sure to have aninteresting title descriptive of the video contents. An example: “The Most Amazing Beaches in the World | Official Video | Global Travels Agency”, “Top Maserati Cars | You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”
Description:Below the video title is the copy that contains the search key tem. Add the keyword seamlessly into this portion. This description allows the uploader to elaborate further the contents of the video and why it is beneficial to continue further. In the example of the amazing beaches, a breakdown of the beaches can be included in this section.
Tags: Appropriate tags can be included in the YouTube video. This can represent the video theme or content. Always add the keyword and related terms. Example, vacation spots, where to go, honeymoon beaches
Finding YouTube Keywords
When the key terms have been identified, you can search on YouTube to find what video is online for the term. When YouTube search is made, a selection of suggested similar videos appear. You can find ideas on the key terms they use and other info.
Another way to discover what keywords are ranking well for videos is by resorting to YouTube’s latent semantic indexing or LSI keywords. LSIs will help you optimize your video and rank on Google maximizing the audience reach.
Potential LSI keywords can be found at the bottom of a related Google search. Get some more ideas for SEO purposes from the results
YouTube SEO Tools
The following are tools that are designed to compare, find and analyze potential key terms for YouTube video titles and descriptions. They indicate search volumes and competition metrics too.
- TubeBuddy (for keyword research)
- Ahrefs Keyword Tool (for keyword research)
- SEMRUSH (for keyword research)
- Google Keyword Planner (for keyword research)
- Google Trends (for finding what is trending)
- BuzzSumo (for trends)
- Exploding Topics (for trends)
- Tag Finder (for what tags are used)
- YouTube Tag Finder (for popular tags)
- SE Cockpjt (for competitor research)
- Soolve (for competitor research)
YouTube SEO Tips
Knowing what needs to be done and how to do it right is vital for SEO. For YouTube, there are some areas to watch out for and improve as you do SEO audit on YouTube videos.
Use a target keyword for title and descriptions
Rename the video file if the key term is not included. This will allow the YouTube bots to crawl and rank the videl. Add the keyword to the description also to better optimize the video.
The target keyword must be as close to the beginning of the video title as well as on the description. This allows the video the best chance to rank with the right placement of key terms.
Use the correct category for the video
Upon uploading the video, YouTube requires a category. This can be found in the Advance Settings section also. Consider these the elements to ensure that the video is in the relevant section for a better chance of gaining exposure by being added to the curated playlists that some people do on YouTube.
Include in the upload a custom thumbnail image
Another tip is to add a custom thumbnail image for the video. Although YouTube will automatically create a thumbnail, 90% of the best tanking videos have a custom made image. This will take time to get used to but this is necessary to boost SEO authority..
Add subtitles and closed captions with an SRT file
Adding subtitles and closed captions to the video will improve user experience and overall accessibility by highlighting important points.
To add closed captions or subtitles, upload a supported text transcript or timed subtitles (SRT file). This can also be manually add the text to auto-sync with the video.
SEO to optimize the channel
Leverage on SEO techniques to optimize YouTube videos. Videos take time and effort to create. YouTube is a good platform to promote products and services as well as show that your business is an authority on the business niche.
Partner with Tustin Marketing for your SEO and social media management services. Let them know what you need and they can tailor-fit a plan.
