26 strategies to get the most out of YouTube
Google is the first thing that comes to your mind when you see or think about SEO.
Why?
Because Google is the most known and used search engine in the world. Despite having other search engines, Google is ranked the best in the universe with billions of users. Some search engines are equally better not in terms of popularity and size, but using them can add you an advantage in boosting your search presence and conversation online.
For instance, Bing SEO is a less popular search engine, but it can help reach your audiences online without using Google. This will be easy for you because it’s used by fewer people and has less traffic. Assuming this other search engine can cause problems in your business mostly if you are not much competitive.
In this post, we are going to discuss YouTube as a search engine. Many people are using Google and ignoring YouTube, not knowing how important it can be especially if you like using videos. It is an entire search bar that is similar to Google in its video search results. YouTube has its unique SEO practices because it is independent and has its search engine. Everyone is competing to make their site the best in SERPs, and the same should apply to videos too. Your videos should also be the best at YouTube SERPs. YouTube SEO might take you more time to learn and manage because its different from other SEO. The following are the techniques you can use to be visible on YouTube.
- Find Video Keyword.
Keywords used on YouTube are a little different from keywords used on other search engines such as Google. Most of the keywords on YouTube start with “how to”. You can use different keywords from your niche and search on Google and then check if the results include videos too. For instance, if you search for things like “how to prepare wet fried chicken, “you will realize that some of the results displayed are from YouTube. YouTube keyword search should be done just like the normal SEO. Your video keywords should have more monthly searches. To know this, you can use Google keyword planner to help you run the monthly searches that a keyword gets.
- Optimize your video title
Videos titles are just like other written content headlines; hence, they should also be optimized the same way. Your title should reflect exactly what your video is all about. To achieve this, you should include keywords in your video title, but you have to use a meaning title first. Your title should be clear, simple, and direct to the intended message.
- Optimize your tags
The best SEO that YouTube provides is tagging because it allows you to enter relevant keywords that will give your videos more views. Your tags should be relevant to your topic and few in numbers.
- Encourage people to comment on your videos.
The popularity of a video You Tube depends on the number of comments and likes your video have. This is the commonality between YouTube and Google. They both prioritize popularity. Hence it’s good always to end your video with a question to start a discussion.
- Encourage people to subscribe
Subscription is a big deal when it comes to YouTube videos because it’s the algorithm criteria used by YouTube to rank the videos. Commenting and liking can only happen once but when people subscribe to your YouTube channel, it means they will always see your posted content more often. The more people who subscribe to your channel, the more value you have on their lives. Although many YouTube channel encourages people to do the three of them: Like Comment and subscribe, you should value subscribe more.
- Step up the production value
Since YouTube SEO is like other SEO, it means it has more quality components to it. The quality of your videos has everything to do with your search performance. Although not everyone can afford a pro-level studio setup that does not mean you have a low-quality video. You can use your Smartphone to record a clear video and make some few changes to increase the quality. They include:
- Get a tripod for your phone
- Add a backdrop
- Throw some light
- Get a microphone
- Make an eye-catching thumbnail.
A good thumbnail will automatically give you more clicks, which will, in turn, mean better SEO. This means that a thumbnail has an impact on YouTube videos; hence, you should have a thumbnail that stands out and informs viewers what the videos are all about, so it’s important.
- Add closed captions.
Closed captions will give you a big edge, and YouTube videos support them. If you enable closed caption, you will get a good SEO boost. They are always meant for those people who have a problem hearing or deaf.
- Edit your filename.
This can have both a negative or positive impact on your SEO, but it’s still important. It involves renaming your raw files to fit your title or keyword.
- Build links to your channel, not just videos.
Having links for your channel and individual videos tell YouTube that you have authority on your niche.
- Share on social media.
YouTube is a social media, but you can also use other social media platforms for marketing your YouTube videos. You can share your videos or links on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Quora to help you get more viewers.
- Send an email to your List
The best form of marketing is the use of an email list. It can help you share email to many people at once and get countless views in a few hours. This will increase the number of viewers, which is essential for good YouTube SEO.
- Embed your videos
There are two purposes for embedding your videos. First, it will upgrade your video. You can do it anywhere, but the blog post is the best. Second, it will increase your user’s engagement, which is a strategy of getting more people to watch your video.
- Steal keyword Ideas.
It’s hard to be an expert at the start; that’s why it’s important to check the keyword used by your competitors in your niche. You can try to use the same keywords on your videos and check the changes in performance. You can have more viewers by just using this technique.
- Start your description with your focus word.
Every time you are writing your video description, ensure that you include the focus word as early as possible. This will allow the YouTube bot to crawl your keyword immediately.
- Use YouTube for keyword search.
Using YouTube to find keyword is a great method. You can use the YouTube search bar to auto-generate the popular keywords that have been used.
- Increase your watch time.
Watch time is the duration used by people to watch your video. It is important because it’s a ranking metric used by YouTube. The more time people spend watching your video, the better because it simply means that they like your video.
- Review your watch time report.
There are several reports provided by YouTube to help monitor your performance. Watch time will help you know the number of minutes’ people spend on your videos. The reports are available on the creator studio.
- Look at your audience retention report
The number of audiences that loves your videos to stick around matters a lot. The audience retention report will help you know the average view duration and top-performing videos.
- Use engagement Report.
You Tube usually offers nine engagement reports which are valuable as they help you measure your overall performance. This report will help keep track of videos shared on YouTube and how well you are doing.
- Add some suspense.
If you have a problem maintaining user engagement and increasing your watch time, then you can start your video with a suspense that will grab people’s attention. You can also ask a question.
- Create a playlist
Building keyword rich in a playlist can strength your SEO and gives you more search traffic. You can use this to your advantage to help you retain and increase view time.
- Get featured on another Channel
This is tricky, but it can work. It entails teaming up with other YouTube channel that complements yours but not necessarily competing with your channel. You should avoid channel with the exact niche like yours because you might end up losing your viewers to the other channel. If your channel is about beverages, you can team up with other, YouTube channel that deals with food. Just send the request and see if the other channels are willing to feature you.
- Get interviewed.
Interviews are another way of getting featured on YouTube. Some YouTube channels do it regularly while others specialize on them. Interviews can help you market your videos.
- Find your optimal video length.
The video length is entirely your decision because there is no perfect video length on YouTube. It depends on the kind of videos you are making but you should be consistent with your videos lengths. They should not be too long or too short.
- Improve your content.
It is your content that will encourage people to come back to your channel. Hence your content is the foundation of your SEO, and for this, you should ensure that it always remains the best then everyone else by improving it every time you post.
Summary.
YouTube is for everyone and not only for stars. So, if you are interested, you can get started. The only thing to consider is the relevancy and consistency of your videos. Many small businesses have a great opportunity on YouTube because it’s easy to generate viewers than other social media platforms. YouTube, you don’t need a big budget to start making a video; you can use your smartphone and make a viral video. The best channel stands on YouTube because they have unique content to offer, and this is what matters.
