YouTube SEO: How To Rank Videos For More Traffic?

YouTube SEO refers to various optimization techniques that can rank your videos higher in YouTube search. It’s gaining a lot of attention. Everyone wants to know how to rank videos for more YouTube traffic and increase their viewership.  

YouTube is the largest source of videos and drives the greatest amount of traffic for videos. It plays a significant role in social media development. On a single day, almost five billion videos are watched on YouTube. They claim to have about 1.5 billion users (logged-in) visiting the site every month.

If you’re on YouTube, it’s worth optimizing your videos for better ranking and as a result, more traffic. If you’re not, it’s definitely worth trying out, especially if it’s relevant to your business. In this article, we’ll present five tips to help you rank videos on YouTube.

How To Rank YouTube Videos For More Traffic?

1. Create a compelling video that users will watch, comment and share
2. Optimize for keywords, using the right video title, description and tags
3. Ask for likes, shares, comments and subscribers
4. Increase your viewership by sharing your video on social media and blogs
5. Work on your channel branding and set up playlists

1. Create A Compelling Video

YouTube SEO is not very different from any other SEO technique. So the best way to rank is to create content that is compelling and engaging. If you create an excellent video that users will watch till the end, it’s surely going to be well ranked.

A good video that engages your users will also promote comments and shares. The more your video is watched, liked and shared, the better are its chances to rank higher. So yes, content rules the roost!

To create an awesome video, you needn’t spend a lot on production. However, your video should add value to your audience. It should be entertaining enough to be watched till the end and shared by viewers.

Tips To Create A Compelling Video For YouTube SEO:

• Longer videos rank better than shorter videos (minimum of five minutes is recommended)
• Videos that engage users (likes, comments, shares, favorites, subscriptions) rank better
• Record your videos with right equipment (camera and microphone) and with good lighting
• If there’s a need for scripting, write an interesting script and speak clearly.
• Use a good video editing software and make sure that your video is compelling throughout
• Videos with longer viewer retention outperform those with less viewer retention

2. Optimize For Keywords – YouTube SEO

Once you have created a high-quality video with engaging content, you should upload it. While uploading your video, make sure you are using an appropriate video title, description and tags.

Your video content cannot be accessed by search engines or YouTube search, so it’s your title and description that matters for YouTube SEO. Most of your optimization work involves the title and the description text.

Tips To Optimize Keywords For YouTube SEO:

• Video title should be at least five words long
• Include your target keyword in your video title (in the beginning, if possible)
• Your description should be long enough to cover the details of your video and with relevant keywords (minimum of 250 words)
• Include your target keyword in your video description, somewhere in the first paragraph and a couple of times more in the other paragraphs
• Use appropriate tags, a few of them with target keywords
• Name your video file using text that includes your primary keyword

3. Track And Analyze User Engagement Metrics: Likes, Shares And Subscribers

Google SEO techniques rely a lot on backlinks to judge the popularity of your content. But, YouTube SEO heavily depends on how much people interact with your video. YouTube picks all the User Engagement metrics it needs from the number of likes, shares, comments and subscribers for your video.

You can track and analyze your User Engagement data with the help of this excellent analytics tool called YouTube Analytics.

Tips To Increase Likes, Shares And Comments:

• Get creative, and you’re sure to find more people liking and sharing your video. More the number of likes and shares, better for your video ranking. Same goes for the number of individuals who “favorite” your video.
• The comments section is a good place to capture your audience’s reaction as well as engage with them. If there’s good feedback, acknowledge it. If there’s criticism, work on it!
• Rather than viewing the comments section as a YouTube SEO metric, use it for genuine user engagement. You are bound to receive valid and meaningful comments.
• It’s also important to get subscriber strength. If your video is compelling enough to make people subscribe, YouTube’s going to rank it better. Ask for subscription in the video description and also add a reminder at the end of your video.
• Use YouTube annotations (clickable text overlays that appear on videos) wisely and add CTAs (Call to Action) to watch more videos from your channel.

4. Share On Social Media And Blogs

Increase your viewership by sharing your video on social media and blogs. It’s going to be very effective if your blog viewership is high and if you have a lot of followers on social media. If not, it’s worth trying, even with a limited network.

Tips For Sharing Your Video:

• Connecting your Twitter and Google+ accounts with YouTube will enable you to automatically share your videos, as and when you upload them.
• If you have a blog or website, share your video and let your friends know that you have a great video for them to watch and share.
• Don’t have your own blog or website? Ask your friends to share on their blogs or websites. If they find it interesting and are willing to embed your videos on their websites, your video will rank higher and perform better in YouTube SEO.
• Consider submitting your videos to some reputed sites, if you think you’ve got excellent content.
• More the number of social media shares, better for YouTube SEO.
• Some creators find that sharing in the weekends and evenings generate better interest than during working hours or weekdays.

5. Work On Your Channel And Playlists

Get creative with your channel branding and if possible, hire a professional designer to make your channel appealing enough. Make your channel’s landing page stand out and fine-tune to accommodate your viewer’s expectations. 

Tips For YouTube Channel Branding And Appearance:

• Keep it simple but make sure you customize every relevant section:
  • About Section including blurb and contacts
  • Logo
  • Cover Photo
• Post an attention-grabbing channel trailer. Your channel trailer can be used similar to a movie trailer – to offer your viewers a preview of what your channel offers. If it’s interesting, your viewers will want to subscribe.
• Your channel name will appear in searches and suggestions across YouTube. So make sure you pick a name that’s easy to remember as well as descriptive of your channel contents.
• Write a clear channel description and ensure that you include relevant keywords.
• Set up playlists which are a great way to get more of your videos suggested for your viewers.
• Maintain your channel feed. You have worked hard for subscribers – don’t let go of them. So keep them entertained continuously with regular uploads.

Youtube creator awards are nice milestones to target! Follow all the above tips for YouTube SEO and keep uploading quality content. You’re sure to hit the target and be on the right path to becoming a YouTube sensation.

If you require assistance with video creation or channel design, DayDigital’s team of creatives can offer tailored solutions. If you need guidance for YouTube SEO or any help with optimization, we’re just a phone call away. Call 1-800-969-6853 anytime and our friendly team will help you reach your goals!