Everyone should follows some SEO strategies for YouTube to grow faster. Some YouTube SEO best practices will be discussed in this article.
YouTube is now a brand established in 2005 and won over so many users that it caught the attention of Google. Then it has bought by this search engine company Google in 2006.
The platform played a very important role to transfer videos into one of the main content formats for all by free of cost.
It’s a place to become a video content creator and creating brand. But it is not easy at all as there are so much competition nowadays.
The platform has their own algorithm to rank the best content for each search. Here we will see 24 YouTube SEO best practices to rank your video higher on search rankings.
24 YouTube SEO Best Practices to rank higher
Among a lot of YouTube SEO best practices the most important 24 is given here to standalone. Many companies and channels have witnessed the potentiality of YouTube SEO best practices.
You can also make your channel standalone by following each best practices for YouTube SEO. So let’s go to the topics of YouTube SEO best practices.
1. Choose your target audience
Before starting your channel you should choose your target audience. You should choose it aligned your expertise fields.
Never try to choose any topics which you don’t expertise even it is a very high quality niche. Choosing target audience is one of the most important things.
After choosing a topic and optimizing YouTube videos audience growth starts of many content creators. But you should never forget that with growth comes competition.
Then you need to be consistent to it. Once it was very simple to create a YouTube channel for a broad topic covering a lot of things like “technology” or “tips and tricks” but now new creators should more specific.
2. Develop a plan for uploading videos
Planning before creating a YouTube channel is paramount. It allows you to define your niche and target audience, develop a strategic content plan, establish branding elements for recognition.
Not only that, it also allows you to optimize for search engine discoverability and set clear goals which are essential for laying a strong foundation for growth and success in YouTube content creation.
Content planning isn’t just what videos you’re making and when to post them in case of optimizing YouTube videos for SEO. Rather it’s a process to figure out the resources you need to improve traffic, engagement, conversion with your content.
3. Conduct keyword research to find best keyword
Keyword research is very essential for YouTube SEO. It helps to understand what your target audience is searching for, allowing you to optimize your video content and metadata accordingly.
By identifying relevant keywords with decent search volume and low competition, you can increase the visibility of your videos in YouTube search results and recommendations, attracting more organic traffic to your channel.
Strategic insertion of these keywords into your video titles, descriptions, tags, and even video content enables YouTube’s algorithm to better understand the context of your content.
Keyword research provides valuable insights into trending topics and audience interests which guide your content creation strategy. This improve the chances of your videos ranking higher and reaching the right audience.
4. Insert keyword naturally to the title of video
After choosing your target keyword, it need to insert into your video. At first you should insert your keywords naturally into your title as YouTube algorithm can works naturally.
If you have performed a very well keyword research then you will have a bunch of high-traffic and relevant keywords from where you need one which is close to the user’s search terms as possible.
Remember that you should include the exact keyword or a broad match at the very beginning of your video title to get higher visibility on YouTube.
Title of your video should closely represent your content. Never use irrelevant title to get higher traffic. It will rather work against to search rankings.
5. Best practices for video tags
In tags you should keep all the relevant keywords of your video. Stuffing a page’s code with keywords in the meta tags no longer makes sense for Google.
The search engine is not use this as a ranking factor and it was widely used as spam. But on YouTube, tags are essential for ranking your video.
They are also among the factors which YouTube considers to identify the subjects of any video and index it correctly and recommend related videos.
However, these suggestions are also an important source of traffic for your channel videos.
You should use 6 to 8 words in this fields for not to confuse the algorithm with terms that are detached from its content.
6. Write smart descriptions for your video
Video descriptions is also an important ranking factors of your content. Your description should be natural and well written with enrich keywords.
You should use same types of keywords in everywhere to tell the algorithm the exact topics of your video. Try to keep main keywords at the very beginning of your descriptions.
Give links of similar videos in your descriptions which will encourage user to interact more with your videos.
A well written description is one of the top YouTube SEO best practices you should follow.
7. Create an attractive thumbnail
Thumbnail is the first things to drive traffic to your channel as a a visitor can see it at first look. A great thumbnail can increase your traffic and watch times, leading to higher search rankings.
This will rank your videos not only on YouTube but also across other search engines. Be creative while making a thumbnail.
Choose a thumbnail that accurately illustrates the topic of your video which will help it stand out from everything else.
But bear in mind that, never use low-resolution and poorly lit thumbnail which is hard-to-read and not representative of the video’s content and misleading or clickbait.
8. Edit title and meta descriptions of your thumbnail
Before uploading the thumbnail it is must to edit the title and meta descriptions of your thumbnail to get a nice SEO score.
We recommend you to use the same title of your video to your thumbnail to get higher ranking. Different title and meta can reduce SEO score.
The meta description should be same as your video descriptions as YouTube algorithm find similarity every elements of your video.
Without editing title and meta descriptions your will never get good SEO score as it is a ranking factors on YouTube algorithm.
9. Focus on your video quality
It is time to show your quality to the visitors after clicking on your video. If you can’t hold the visitors for some reasonable time, you will loose ranking.
YouTube looks at the audience engagement on a video to rank it higher. If the quality of your video doesn’t satisfy user and goes back after seeing a few seconds, it sends a negative impact to search rankings.
There are a lot of channels having poor SEO score but get a lot of views as their video quality is much better. So, try to improve your video quality.
10. Edit title and meta of your video
Before uploading a video you should edit title and meta descriptions of your video. This is same as editing the thumbnail of your video.
Use same title in your video title and same description as your video meta description. You will be surprised to see the SEO score then.
Video metadata is one of the important considerations for search ranking on YouTube. So, do it carefully.
12. Try to make longer videos
Longer videos tend to bring more opportunities for ads and higher chances of earnings on YouTube than shorter one. Watch hour will increase using longer videos on YouTube.
Longer videos works better than shorter videos just like as longer blogs works more than shorter blog posts.
The longer a viewer stays on your video, YouTube algorithm gets a positive signal for that higher engagement. It leads to rank better among others. So, don’t miss it to make your video as long as you can.
13. Add subtitles & closed captions
Adding subtitles and closed captions to YouTube videos is crucial for enhancing accessibility, improving viewer engagement, and boosting SEO.
Subtitles make your content accessible to a wider audience, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as non-native speakers who may benefit from written text.
They also cater to viewers in noisy environments or situations where they can’t listen to audio. Subtitles can increase viewer retention by providing an additional way for viewers to consume your content.
From an SEO perspective, subtitles and closed captions provide additional text for YouTube’s algorithm to index, helping improve the discoverability of your videos in search results.
This can lead to higher rankings, increased organic traffic, and ultimately, a larger and more engaged audience for your channel.
14. Add Cards and End Screens
Adding cards and end screens to YouTube videos is essential for increasing viewer engagement, driving traffic to other videos or playlists, and maximizing channel growth.
Cards are interactive elements that can be added at specific points in your video, prompting viewers to take action such as watching another video, subscribing to your channel, or visiting a website.
They provide opportunities to keep viewers engaged and direct them to additional content or relevant resources.
End screens appear in the final moments of your video and encourage viewers to continue their viewing journey by suggesting other videos or playlists to watch next.
By strategically utilizing cards and end screens, you can enhance the overall viewer experience, increase watch time.
15. Create playlist Categorize your video
Playlist can hold user to your channel as it provide all videos categorically. After watching a video a user can search for your channel to get full playlist of that topics.
Not only that, YouTube also recommend and rank playlist depending to the quality and topics of your playlist.
By creating playlists, you provide viewers with a seamless viewing experience, encouraging them to watch multiple videos in succession, thus boosting overall watch time and engagement metrics.
Playlists can help improve your channel’s visibility and SEO by targeting specific keywords and increasing the likelihood of your content being recommended by YouTube’s algorithm.
16. Give timestamps
Providing timestamps in your video description or comments is invaluable for enhancing viewer experience, improving engagement, and increasing overall retention.
Timestamps allow viewers to navigate to specific sections of your video quickly, enabling them to find the information or content they’re interested in without having to watch the entire video.
This level of convenience not only enhances viewer satisfaction but also encourages them to spend more time engaging with your content.
Providing timestamps enhances the accessibility, engagement, and retention of your video content, ultimately contributing to the growth and success of your channel.
17. Share on social media
You should share your channel, videos, pages on social media to get more engagement. Sharing on social media can help boost your channel especially at the beginning of your channel.
At first try to share with your relatives, friends and other people that your are now working on this channel. They will see your channel and basically it will works as the first kick of your channel growth.
Try to create dedicated pages one every popular social media for your channel. This will works to create trust among your visitors.
18. Increase audience engagement by telling
Tell your visitors to like, comment, subscribe your videos on different social media platforms. You can also tell them inside of your videos when it rise to it’s pick point.
This will increase your audience engagement and grow returning visitors to your channel as they like your channel.
YouTube recommend the videos that a user like to watch. So, try this way to tell your user.
19. Collaborate with influencers
If you collaborate with influencers who are already popular on some fields then probably you are introduced to their followers.
Then you can promote your content strategically among them to drive traffic to your channel.
It can be a really powerful approach when it comes to figuring out how to rank higher on YouTube.
20. Share your views to similar channels
Collaborate with channels that are similar to you. You may collaborate with their videos by sharing your thoughts and views to their comment section.
Try to make a strategic question to their comment box. Then their other visitors may like your comment and replay which is also a secret policy to become live.
21. Use best channel art and logo
Having high-quality channel art and a distinctive logo on YouTube is essential for establishing a strong visual identity, increasing brand recognition, and attracting viewers.
Your channel art is the first thing visitors see when they land on your channel, so it should effectively communicate your channel’s theme, content, and personality while creating a memorable impression.
A well-designed logo serves as a visual representation of your brand and helps viewers identify your content across YouTube and other platforms.
Consistent and visually appealing channel art and logo enhance your channel’s professionalism, credibility, and trustworthiness, making it more likely for viewers to subscribe and engage with your content.
22. Arrange question and answer session
Arranging question and answer (Q&A) sessions on YouTube is highly beneficial for fostering engagement, building a stronger connection with your audience, and increasing viewer loyalty.
Q&A sessions provide a platform for direct interaction with your audience, allowing them to ask questions, share feedback, and engage in meaningful discussions.
This interactive format humanizes your channel, making it more relatable and approachable to viewers.
Arranging Q&A sessions on YouTube strengthens viewer engagement, builds trust and loyalty, and contributes to the overall growth and success of your channel.
23. Be consistent
Consistency is paramount for success on YouTube as it establishes trust with your audience, boosts channel growth, and improves overall performance.
By consistently uploading content on a predictable schedule, you keep your audience engaged and coming back for more, leading to increased watch time, subscriber retention, and viewer loyalty.
Consistency signals to YouTube’s algorithm that your channel is active and reliable, potentially resulting in better visibility and recommendation across the platform.
24. Take decisions from your analytics
Always check your analytics on YouTube to take next decisions. See which videos is getting more views, which videos getting more engagements etc.
Then take next decisions to make accordingly. On YouTube you should check some parameters daily like watch time, CTR, new visitors, returning visitors, unique viewers, subscriber growth etc.
Final words
Becoming popular on YouTube is not a task that can be done overnight. You should be consistent on this platform to get better results.
However, in this post I have shared my opinion of most 24 YouTube SEO best practices. You can also share your thoughts on this topics on the comment section bellow.
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