YouTube SEO 101: How to get more views and followers?
YouTube SEO: At the Top of the search result and Free Viewers
The abbreviation of SEO is search engine optimization. Before explaining what it is, let's talk about something else. We use many search engines like Google, YouTube, Bing, etc. to find out about things every day. But, have you noticed that, we usually don't go to the second page of the search result. Most of the time, you use the first page links. So, that means you are avoiding so many other websites related to that particular keyword. Sometimes you even see on YouTube that a video of 1 million views is on top of a video with 5 or 10 million views.YouTube sometimes suggests you many videos on your Home screen or while you're watching a video. Do you think these YouTubers are paying YouTube to show you their videos first? In most cases, NO. They are not. So, what's the deal then?
One answer, YouTube SEO. You are losing a lot of potential subscribers and viewers just because you don't know this. If you follow these SEO procedures, It might not give a result right away, but eventually, you will see a better result little by little.
What is YouTube SEO?
These are some tactics and rules you follow before and after uploading a video. You might have been thinking, well these don't matter or you didn't notice at all and avoiding them. But, these are the factors that stand in your way of getting more exposure to the YouTube world.
How will you do YouTube SEO?
First of All: The most used two tools are TubeBuddy and vidQ browser extensions. If you already have a video or after you upload a video, you can check the factors which determine your SEO scores using these tools. While you upload the video's it will give you many hints as well. You can use both or one of them. After the extension is activated on your browser, the tool will show SEO information about all the videos.
The SEO factors for YouTube:
Title: I have seen many YouTubers having titles that are too small or too long. According to the YouTube rules, the title must contain less than 70 letters. My suggestion is that you use 5-10 words for the title.
Another important thing is, the title should contain the main keywords related to your video. For keyword research, you can use the following websites:
also, google keyword planner, Keyword everywhere browser extension.
Description: Many Youtubers don't write descriptions. Even if they write it, it's too small. For those who are among these people, a word of advice. STOP. You are not giving justice to your video without writing the description.
How to write descriptions for YouTube:-
1)Write at least 4-5 lines about your video. Use keywords that you researched.
2)Provide your social media or blog's link on the description
3)Mention your other videos as well. For example:(you can also watch my recent video about ..... :)
5)Finish with a summary. For example:(Thank you for watching the video. Subscribe for more awesome videos like these. and, I hope to see you again..... :)
6)At the end of the description, if you want, you can use HashTags related to the video. Example:(#food_vlog #technology #a_day_in_the_sea... :) Don't use too many, 2-3 will be sufficient.
Description: Many Youtubers don't write descriptions. Even if they write it, it's too small. For those who are among these people, a word of advice. STOP. You are not giving justice to your video without writing the description.
How to write descriptions for YouTube:-
1)Write at least 4-5 lines about your video. Use keywords that you researched.
2)Provide your social media or blog's link on the description
3)Mention your other videos as well. For example:(you can also watch my recent video about ..... :)
5)Finish with a summary. For example:(Thank you for watching the video. Subscribe for more awesome videos like these. and, I hope to see you again..... :)
6)At the end of the description, if you want, you can use HashTags related to the video. Example:(#food_vlog #technology #a_day_in_the_sea... :) Don't use too many, 2-3 will be sufficient.
Thumbnail: The thumbnail is one of the most important factors in getting more traffic. It has to be clear, eye-catching, and specific so that the viewers can understand what the video is about and gets interested to watch the video. And, don't use clickbait, and give an irrelevant thumbnail, for it will create a higher bounce rate(People will click your video, see it's not related, and leave). It will have a negative impact on your YouTube SEO. So, always use relevant thumbnails.
If you don't know graphics design there are many mobile apps these days that are easy to use. A web-based easy solution is canva.com. You can create an awesome thumbnail with Canva.
End-screen and cards: In 2019 these two things were added to YouTube. After uploading the video, youtube will give the option of adding these two things in the second phase. Many people avoid this part. But, it's unhealthy for your channel. It's a really important factor for youtube now. If you don't know how to do it, just for it on youtube.Search for: How to Add screen and Card In YouTube |
Tags are really important: Tags are the identity for your video. The search engine will categorize your video based on the tags, and it will give suggestions to the users based on the used tags of the video. For example, You have a travel channel. You review foods based in china. So, your tags can be (food vlog, Chinese food, china food blog, foreigners in china, what foreigner thinks about Chinese food, etc.), What will happen after you use these tags? If someone searches about these tags or even something close to these tags they might find your videos and you can get free traffic for that. So, you need to use the tools I mentioned for keyword research and find the best tags for your videos.
Note 1)Use at least 10 tags per video.
2)Don't use irrelevant tags.
3)Use competitor's tags. You can use TubbeBuddy and vidQ to find them. You can even use the name of your competitor's channel as a tag.
4)You can even use your own channel's name as a tag.
Where will you find the option to add the tags on YouTube? After you upload a video go to the YouTube studio. Then find the video option. Then select the video you uploaded. You will discover a new taskbar. Then click the edit option from there and you will see the tag option.
If you face any problem with it, you can watch a tutorial about it.
Share on social media: After you have successfully published the video, you can go to the share option and get the link from there and share it on social media. Facebook and Twitter are the most important social media to share for Your SEO.
End-screen and cards: In 2019 these two things were added to YouTube. After uploading the video, youtube will give the option of adding these two things in the second phase. Many people avoid this part. But, it's unhealthy for your channel. It's a really important factor for youtube now. If you don't know how to do it, just for it on youtube.Search for: How to Add screen and Card In YouTube |
Tags are really important: Tags are the identity for your video. The search engine will categorize your video based on the tags, and it will give suggestions to the users based on the used tags of the video. For example, You have a travel channel. You review foods based in china. So, your tags can be (food vlog, Chinese food, china food blog, foreigners in china, what foreigner thinks about Chinese food, etc.), What will happen after you use these tags? If someone searches about these tags or even something close to these tags they might find your videos and you can get free traffic for that. So, you need to use the tools I mentioned for keyword research and find the best tags for your videos.
Note 1)Use at least 10 tags per video.
2)Don't use irrelevant tags.
3)Use competitor's tags. You can use TubbeBuddy and vidQ to find them. You can even use the name of your competitor's channel as a tag.
4)You can even use your own channel's name as a tag.
Where will you find the option to add the tags on YouTube? After you upload a video go to the YouTube studio. Then find the video option. Then select the video you uploaded. You will discover a new taskbar. Then click the edit option from there and you will see the tag option.
If you face any problem with it, you can watch a tutorial about it.
Share on social media: After you have successfully published the video, you can go to the share option and get the link from there and share it on social media. Facebook and Twitter are the most important social media to share for Your SEO.
You can share your video link at Question answering sites like Quora/Reddit if you find related questions. And, make sure they are relevant and you can find tons of traffic from these sites.
For sharing on Facebook, you can try creating a page or group with the same name as your YouTube channel. And, also, you can join many groups related to your channel and video and share your videos there. If it's related, then you will find many visitors from there. If someone is talking about the same topic as your video, then you can comment on the link there as well. People most probably will see the video.
Most importantly if your videos are on topics that are current trends, then you will have a better chance of getting more traffic. So, you can use google trends to find out what's a hot topic now.
For sharing on Facebook, you can try creating a page or group with the same name as your YouTube channel. And, also, you can join many groups related to your channel and video and share your videos there. If it's related, then you will find many visitors from there. If someone is talking about the same topic as your video, then you can comment on the link there as well. People most probably will see the video.
Most importantly if your videos are on topics that are current trends, then you will have a better chance of getting more traffic. So, you can use google trends to find out what's a hot topic now.
These are the most important YouTube SEO factors. Even if you do SEO for your videos on youtube, it doesn't guarantee that you will have a million views. You need to have content that backs up the SEO. But, one thing is for sure, you will have a better chance of hitting that million views if you have these factors checked on your Videos.
If you want to learn more about Digital Marketing you can follow my blog. There are many more free resources online as well.
I'm also a student who is learning all these things. So, please leave a comment if left out something or made any mistakes. Thank you for reading my blog. :)
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MD MAHADI HASAN
Project Manager @http://instawebworks.com.au
B.Sc Computer Science and Technology
Henan Polytechnic University
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