YouTube SEO: How to Optimize Videos for Search on YouTube

Inbound marketing was a novel concept just a decade ago.
Marketers discovered that they couldn’t simply publish a large amount of material.
It had to be of excellent quality and optimized in ways that made it as discoverable as possible via search engines.
Previously, that content was primarily limited to the written word.
That is no longer the case.
A comprehensive content strategy nowadays comprises textual content such as blogs and e-books.
As well as media such as podcasts, visual assets, and videos.
That last aspect, video, is still growing in popularity. According to the 2018 State of Inbound study.
45 percent of marketers plan to invest more on YouTube this year.
More than any other marketing channel accessible to them.
But how exactly does YouTube SEO work?
What actions must you take to improve your YouTube channel for search?
We’ve listed some of the most important advice and tools below.
YouTube SEO Tips

1. Rename your video file using a target keyword.

You’ll utilize an SEO tool to first pick keywords you’d like your video to focus on, just as you would when optimizing written material.
When you’ve identified a keyword, the first place you should put it is in your video file.
Before you even upload it to YouTube.
Why?
YouTube cannot “see” your video to determine its relevance to your target keyword.
And, as you’ll see in the tips below,
there are only so many places you can safely enter this keyword on your video’s watching page once it’s uploaded.
However, YouTube can read the file name of your film as well as all of the coding that comes with it.
With that in mind, replace the “business ad 003FINAL.mov” file name with your chosen keyword (don’t be embarrassed.
We’ve all been there during post-production).
If your keyword is “house painting tips,”.
For example, the file name of your video should be “house-painting-tips”
Followed by the video file format you like (MOV, MP4, and WMV are some of the most common that are compatible with YouTube).
2. Insert your keyword naturally in the video title.

When we look for videos, one of the first things that catch our attention is the title.
Because the title is frequently what determines whether or not a visitor will click to watch your video.
It should not only be engaging but also clear and simple.
Although your keyword is important in your video title.
It also helps if the title is closely related to what the viewer is looking for.
According to backlinks research, videos with an exact keyword match in the title have only a marginal advantage over those that don’t.
As a result, while “adding your target keyword in your title may help you rank for that term,”
Report author Brian Dean writes,
“the association between keyword-rich video titles and rankings” isn’t always significant.
Nonetheless, optimizing your title for this keyword is a good idea as long as it fits naturally within a title that tells people exactly what they’re about to see.
3. Optimize your video description.

First and foremost:
The official character restriction for YouTube video descriptions is 1,000 characters, according to Google.
While it is acceptable to use all of that space, keep in mind that your audience came here to watch a video, not to read an essay.
If you prefer to create a longer description.
Keep in mind that YouTube only displays the top two or three lines of text.
Which amounts to approximately 100 characters.
Following that, visitors must click “see more” to see the complete description.
As a result, we recommend starting the description with the most important information, such as CTAs or important links.
In terms of video optimization, it doesn’t harm to provide a transcript of the video.
Especially for people who have to watch it without sound.
However, Backlinko’s research discovered no correlation between optimized descriptions for a specific keyword and rankings for that term.
4. Tag your video with popular keywords that relate to your topic.

The official Creator Academy on YouTube recommends utilizing tags to let people know what your video is about.
But you’re not only informing your audience; you’re also informing YouTube.
Dean explains that tags are used by the platform to “understand the content and context of your video.”
As a result, YouTube can figure out how to correlate your video with similar videos, thus broadening the exposure of your material.
However, choose your tags cautiously.
Use an irrelevant tag if you believe it would increase your views.
Google may penalize you for doing so.
Similar to your description, begin with the most significant keywords.
Containing a healthy mix of common and long-tail keywords.
5. Categorize your video.

After you’ve uploaded a video, you can categorize it in “Advanced settings.”
Choosing a category is another approach to categorize your video.
With similar content on YouTube, it ends up in different playlists and reaches more people who identify with your target audience.
It may not be as simple as it appears. Indeed, YouTube’s Creator Academy.
Recommends that marketers go through a thorough procedure to decide which category their video fits in.
According to the book, it’s useful to “think about what works well for each category” you’re considering by answering questions like:
• Who are the most successful creators in the category? What are they well-known for, and what do they excel at?
• Are there any similarities in the audiences of similar channels within a specific category?
• Do the videos in a related category have characteristics such as production value, length, or format?
6. Upload a custom thumbnail image for your video’s result link.

When visitors scroll through a list of video results, they will see your video thumbnail as the primary picture.
That thumbnail, along with the video’s title, conveys a signal to the viewer about the video’s content.
Thus it can influence the number of clicks and views your video obtains.
While you can always use one of YouTube’s pre-generated thumbnails.
We strongly advise you to post a personalized thumbnail.
According to the Creator Academy, “90 percent of the highest performing videos on YouTube have personalized thumbnails,”
and they recommend using pictures that are 1280×720 pixels (indicating a 16:9 ratio) and saved as 2MB or smaller.jpg,.gif,.bmp, or.png files.
If you adhere to those guidelines.
You may assist to ensure that your thumbnail displays in the same excellent quality across multiple viewing platforms.
It’s vital to know that to upload a custom thumbnail image, your YouTube account must confirm.
To do so, go to youtube.com/verify and follow the instructions there.
7. Use an SRT File to add subtitles & closed captions.

Subtitles and closed captions, like most of the other content we’ve addressed here.
Can help with YouTube SEO optimization by emphasizing essential keywords.
You must upload a valid text transcript or timed subtitles file to add subtitles or closed captions to your video.
You can also directly insert the text for a video such that it auto-syncs with the video for the former.
Subtitles are added similarly; however, you can limit the amount of text displayed.
To access either, go to your video manager and select “Videos” from the “Video Manager” menu.
Locate the video to which you wish to add subtitles or closed captioning, and then click the drop-down arrow next to the edit button.
Then select “Subtitles/CC.” You may then choose whether to add subtitles or closed captioning.
8. Add Cards and End Screens to increase your YouTube channel’s viewership.

Cards

Have you ever seen a small white?
Circular icon with an I in the center appear in the corner of a video, or a translucent bar of text inviting you to subscribe?
Cards are “preformatted notifications that appear on the desktop.
And mobile that you can set up to promote your brand and other videos on your channel,”
According to Creator Academy.
A single video can have up to five cards, and there are six different types:
• Channel cards that link viewers to a different channel.
• Donation cards to stimulate fundraising for charitable groups in the United States.
• You can use fan funding to encourage your viewers to contribute to the creation of your video content.
• Link cards connect readers to an external site, an authorized crowd-funding website, or an authorized item sale platform.
• Poll cards, which ask viewers a question and allow them to vote on a response.
• Video or playlist cards that lead to more similar YouTube content.\
End Screens

End screens provide comparable information as cards, but as you might expect.
They don’t appear until a film has finished and are a bit more graphically detailed.
There are a variety of thorough instructions for adding end screens based on the sort of platform you want to design them for.
As well as the varied forms of content permitted by YouTube.
It’s worth noting that YouTube is always testing end screens to improve the viewing experience,
so “your end screen, as specified by you, may not show” at times.
Take these considerations into mind when deciding whether to use cards or end screens.
These criteria may appear intricate and time-consuming.
But keep in mind that the number of time individuals spends watching YouTube on their television has more than doubled year over year.
There is an audience to discovered there, and optimizing for YouTube increases your chances of being discovered.
Now, the majority of the YouTube SEO strategies above rely on you successfully picking a keyword and advertising your video.
And not all of those suggestions can be implemented solely through YouTube.
Consider using any of the tools listed below to optimize your video for search to get the most bang for your budget.
YouTube SEO Tools

1. Ahrefs Keywords Explorer

Ahrefs is a complete SEO software that allows you to track a website’s position.
Estimate organic traffic from each phrase, and analyze keywords for which you might wish to develop new content.
Keywords Explorer is a famous Ahrefs function.
That allows you to check up multiple details about a keyword you’re interested in.
And, as shown in the screenshot above, you may narrow down your term results by the search engine, including YouTube.
Ahrefs Keywords Explorer displays the monthly search volume for a term.
The number of clicks obtained by videos ranking for that phrase, related keywords, and more.
2. Canva

You may be familiar with Canva as a design template for producing various types of cards, images, logos, and more.
It just so happens that this well-known product includes a Thumbnail Creator designed just for YouTube videos.
As mentioned in the preceding guidelines,
thumbnail graphics are essential for marketing your content in YouTube SEO results and attracting visitors to click on your video.
Using Canva’s Thumbnail Creator, you can generate the ideal preview image for your video in the 1280 x 720-pixel dimensions required by YouTube.
3. vidIQ Vision

This is a Chrome extension that you can get from Chrome’s web store by clicking the link above.
It will help you examine how and why specific YouTube videos do so well.
This includes the tags a video has optimized for, its average view time, and even the rate at which that video is getting traffic.
The vidIQ tool then generates a Youtube SEO “score”
that you can use to develop content that matches (or outperforms) the results you now see on YouTube.
4. TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy is a video platform that manages the creation, development, and advertising of your YouTube material.
It has an automatic language translator (which helps you rank for non-English keywords).
A keyword explorer, tag suggestions, a rank tracker for your published videos, and other features.
Conclusion

A great YouTube channel begins with strong material, regardless of the SEO advice or tool you use.
When your viewers find you, make sure they have something high-quality and relevant to watch.
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