Search engine optimization doesn’t just end at texts and images — you can rank your YouTube videos on Google as well. Sure, not everyone understands just how those algorithms work, and you’ll be competing against large SEO companies that have enough resources to test out different combinations and figure out what the algorithms are doing but that doesn’t mean your content is doomed. By following a few simple tips, you can get your videos at number one on the search engine results page.
Populate Your Profile
The SEO for your video starts outside of your video. Your profile is like the gallery window of your shop. You want to show your best face to the world, and this is your opportunity to do so.
Start by picking out a killer profile picture and a banner for the background. Whatever you do, don’t have any default settings for your background. Brand your profile and let people know you’re serious about what you’re doing. That will make them more interested in what you have, to offer.
Make sure you add links to your social media and website in your profile. Also, go all out with the description of your channel. Give a detailed explanation of what your channel is and what it does. Make sure you put in relevant keywords to your niche so you increase the chances of Google ranking your YouTube channel’s URL.
Tweak Your Videos
Videos have always had incredible rankings on Google. YouTube videos had a reputation for ranking well on Google’s pages long before Google bought YouTube. In order to tweak your video to ride this wave, there are a few things you can do.
Start by having the primary keyword in the title of the video. The keyword should come at the front of the title, and the title should preferably be 70 characters in length. You can write a longer title, up to 100 characters, but the snippet on the search engine results page will be limited to the first 70 characters, so you need to capture all the necessary info in there.
Next is the description box. Take full advantage of the description box. Have the main keywords at the front, make the first 157 characters interesting because they will appear in the snippet on Google, and go all out, explaining what the video is about in-depth.
Go for Long-tail Semantic Keywords
“Short keywords like ‘car insurance’ are highly competitive, so you should go for long-tail keywords,” says John Carpenter, a consultant with Smart Street Media. These really help your rankings and give you less competition to deal with. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner to help you out. Also, make sure your description is long and keyword friendly.
Create a Playlist
A playlist allows you to create a collection of similar videos. You can also add a description of the playlist that is separate from the individual descriptions of the videos themselves. You can put in your own videos, other people’s videos, and so on — have fun with it! Just make sure the videos are relevant to the subject of the playlist. Playlists get to have their own URL and can be linked to and from outside. This helps you build credibility and authority and certainly helps with your SEO.
Leverage the Power of Social Media
Share your videos on all your social media profiles. Your Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and so on. This brings views to your video and generates even more shares from your audience. Ultimately, you want your video to receive s from authority sites and backlinks from your viewers. This will boost your video on Google’s results pages.
Final Thoughts
All this won’t work if you don’t have great content, to begin with. Make sure your content solves the audience’s problems or at least entertains them. Also, your videos should be at least two minutes in length since how long viewers stay on your videos is a determining factor in how you’re ranked. Keep up the good work, and your videos will be number one before you know it and for more SEO tips, visit our blog.
