In this era of digital marketing, the power of video content has never been stronger than before; Especially if we’re talking about YouTube. However, for a small to medium business, it might be hard to challenge the big guns in the YouTube scene that already has millions of subscribers. Luckily, you can utilize YouTube SEO to work for your benefit.
By utilizing YouTube SEO, you can take advantage of how YouTube works and make the algorithm work for your benefit. That’s why in this article we’ll talk all about how YouTube SEO works, what tools you need to make it work for you, and the 5 tips you can implement to boost your videos and channels’ visibility on YouTube.
What is YouTube SEO?
YouTube, as the most popular video platform online, is also one of the most popular search engines of the present. YouTube SEO refers to the way of enhancing your channel and videos to be more prominent in the search results of YouTube. It uses various techniques and strategies to draw more organic traffic to your site and get your content before your desired viewers.
Nowadays, especially with the amount of rivalry out there, it is crucial to be aware of how you can optimize your content for YouTube SEO.
How Does YouTube SEO Work?
YouTube SEO performs differently than regular SEO. Although search engines aren’t able to look at video content, they do search the text parts of the videos. These are closed captions transcriptions, titles, transcripts, descriptions, and tags. Incorporating relevant phrases and keywords in the text component is an integral part of any YouTube SEO strategy.
Furthermore, enhancing these aspects on top of making engaging content of high quality will help improve the user experience and directly affect the popularity of your video by YouTube SEO. When your video content has been a success with the public, the algorithm of YouTube will be more likely to place it at the top of the results.
So, how do we utilize YouTube SEO to enhance our video visibility? One thing we can use is the YouTube SEO tools for optimization.
YouTube SEO Tools for Optimization
Have you ever heard that, after Google is second in popularity, the world’s third most used web search engine is YouTube?
Today, a large number of companies are making use of YouTube to advertise their brands. However, being at the top of YouTube is not as easy as Google. You must create an exceptional video to stand out on the search engines. You must be able to complete the challenging task of keeping viewers’ attention until the film’s close.
Here’s a list of 6 of the most effective YouTube SEO tools to help you in your efforts to market.
also read: How to Perform an SEO Audit on Your Website in 9 Easy Steps
TubeBuddy
If you’ve never integrated video or YouTube marketing into your strategy, this is the right time to incorporate it. It’s good you’ve landed in the right place since the TubeBuddy application will assist you with this.
In simple terms, it’s a tool that lets you control your YouTube channel’s growth, expansion, and performance. You’ll be able to access various tools that can allow you to get the most benefit from the renowned video marketing platform.
TubeBuddy offers a wide range of tools to help build and manage your channel on YouTube. Additionally, you get various tools that can create an efficient and consistent YouTube publication and marketing workflow. It is also a time-saving Google plugin for video creators that comes with YouTube SEO, competitor analysis, and time-saving functions. It determines which keywords and tags you can incorporate into your videos, ensuring your channel gets consistent views and subscribers.
Google Ads Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is a search engine for advertisers to find keywords. However, you can also use it to identify keywords that are YouTube SEO-friendly. It will even tell you which terms your competitors are using.
Keyword Planner shows a different number of monthly searches for specific keywords. However, it will offer a range of monthly searches on average only if you only use it for keyword research. If you want to get more precise data, you need to run a Google Ads first.
Using Keyword Planner, you can also see the YoY change measure the choice of keyword. It shows the changes in searches between the current month and the previous month, the same month last year. Using this data, you can ride the rise of a keyword and create content out of it.
Semrush
The next one is SEMrush, one of the most renowned and celebrated SEO tools in the market, including YouTube SEO. SEMrush is a program that aids companies in implementing digital marketing strategies such as SEO campaigns.
With SEMrush it is possible to identify trends within your particular industry. It evaluates your SEO on the page and aids you in improving your web pages. This lets you know the content better and improve it to improve its SEO to increase lead generation. Furthermore, SEMrush helps you identify relevant keywords for your website.
RapidTags
Rapid Tags is a YouTube tags generator. This free program lets you easily create YouTube SEO-friendly tags and keywords for your videos.
Some people say that tags are useless, and others say that tags are essential for YouTube SEO. Well, let’s just not take a risk and use it, right? It’s because when you include relevant tags on your videos, you are helping YouTube understand what your video is all about and make you more visible for relevant keywords in search results.
Naturally, tags are not the only thing YouTube considers when ranking your video. The algorithm also considers the user’s description, title, and engagement. However, having the correct tags for your YouTube videos could make a difference and help increase the visibility of your channel.
VidIQ
VidIQ is an app that can assist you with an extensive YouTube SEO report. Each time you upload your video, the tool will evaluate your video’s SEO and inform the user what needs to be fixed. The tool also has a checklist to remind you of the essential aspects, such as including keywords in the title, including your video on a playlist, or including closed captions in your video.
The vidIQ score considers many statistics to determine the probability that your video will appear within YouTube Search, Related Videos, and on your Front Page. We analyze the total number of engagements (across YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook), the speed of your post, and views.
Google Trends
Google Trends is a function that displays how well-known the search term you’re looking for is within Google. How often is it typed in the search field compared to the total search volume for your chosen period? Furthermore, it provides details about the volume of the search index and users’ geographical residence.
Within Google Trends, you can find out what search terms are currently trending or see how the volume of searches has changed for your search across different regions. This is an invaluable tool for businesses that operate during the winter months as it assists in monitoring customer interest shifts.
In the final phase, before choosing your niche, analyze leads to ensure sufficient flow through the entire year. Alternatively, consider targeting several related niches.
5 YouTube SEO Tips
Now that you know what tools you can use to boost your YouTube SEO and optimize your video, let’s get into the 5 tips you can apply to boost your YouTube SEO.
1. Perform YouTube SEO Keyword Research
YouTube keyword research involves identifying terms and phrases that users type into YouTube’s YouTube search bar so that they can locate videos they would like to view. These phrases and words are also known as YouTube keywords search terms, search terms, or search terms.
Conducting keyword research on YouTube can help you determine the people who are your primary viewers. This way, you can develop the type of YouTube content they want. And you can do this all using the YouTube SEO Tools above.
For instance, we searched for YouTube terms for the ” YouTube SEO for Beginners” video to what our target audience is searching for. Then, you can use those keywords in the title description, thumbnail, and title to make it appear more prominent in YouTube search results.
Keywords can be found for YouTube videos by using the following methods:
• Utilize YouTube Keyword Research Tools
• Go to the Research Tab within YouTube Analytics
• Utilize YouTube’s Autocomplete Function
• Find out the search intent of Your Keywords
• Create a Keyword Map
• Check out your competition’s videos
2. Optimize The Video Title, Description, and Tag for YouTube SEO
Create concise titles that contain the main keyword and also communicate the importance that your content offers. Your title should be clear, appealing, informative, and descriptive but should not be uninformed or clickbait.
YouTube video descriptions are the text beneath each video. It aids viewers in locating the content of your video and convinces viewers to view it. It may also include the links to your video and any other details that relate to the video.
Hashtags are an excellent method of ensuring your YouTube content is easily found. In addition, hashtags are present in your descriptions and titles. They are clickable, but you may also search for hashtags on YouTube search.
When you’re choosing hashtags to use for YouTube videos, make sure to use keywords that are related to the content you’re posting. Consider using your company name, too, when it’s appropriate. Using multiple hashtags in YouTube descriptions is an excellent idea; however, do not overdo it. YouTube’s algorithm views the excessive use of hashtags as being spammy.
3. Use Keywords in Closed Captions & Video Script
Find out what keywords your intended market is searching for and their competition. Keywords are words and phrases that users type into search engines to discover what they are searching for. It is essential to select keywords that have a high popularity, a low amount of competition, and a high level of relevance to the content you are creating.
4. Utilize a Compelling Thumbnail
Design appealing, attractive, pertinent thumbnails to compliment the title and show off the video’s content. The thumbnail you use is the first impression viewers get of your video. It can determine the success or failure of your CTR.
Utilizing quality images, vibrant colors, contrast, and text is vital to make thumbnails stand out and communicate your message. Also, it would help if you were wary of using irrelevant or misleading images, unreadable or cluttered text, or bland design.
The more people click on your video, the more YouTube SEO will boost your video to the top of the YouTube Search Engine; Hence, the reason why the thumbnail is also on this list.
also read: Find Best Logo Design Companies in 2023
5. Add Timestamps & Use Keywords
Chapters of YouTube videos, also known as timestamps, split video into sections and give an exclusive preview of each. When users click on the timestamp, they’re immediately redirected to the portion with which the time stamp is associated. They enable users to quickly and efficiently skim through videos to find the information they seek without viewing the whole video.
YouTube videos uploaded to YouTube are longer than ever, and keeping viewers interested throughout the entire duration is challenging, particularly in the current fast-paced world where many of us need more time or have the time to sit through a 10- to 20-minute video. The addition of chapters to YouTube videos gives viewers the chance to skip the relevant sections.
Conclusions
The advice we provided in this article serves more of a purpose: to enhance the experience of Internet users. Consider, for instance, the idea of a unique title and using subtitles to make life easier for people and improve the experience of watching videos online. When you focus on user experience, The algorithm can identify your optimization efforts.
It’s crucial to learn what YouTube SEO is and how to implement it across various platforms and optimize the content you publish.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is SEO, and how it works?
SEO stands for Search engine Optimization. It is a method employed to improve a website’s configuration on technical grounds, content relevancy, and link popularity so that its pages are easily found and more relevant for users who search which in turn that search engines will rank them higher.
Editor
By Aleyna Akarsu and co-authors Aoyama & Evans – The Expert in Web Development, Marketing, and Online Business.