Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the process of optimizing a website with the ultimate goal of improving its ranking in search results. Google Search is probably the most well-known search engine around, meaning many SEO plans naturally center around it. But, if you have video content, have you ever considered using SEO tactics to ensure that it ranks well in YouTube’s search results too? In this blog post, we’re taking a look at some best practices that will ensure that your YouTube videos get seen by the people who matter to your business.

An Introduction to SEO on YouTube 

As a property of Google, YouTube’s rankings are certainly influenced by a variety of advanced algorithms and signals with the goal of showing users the most relevant videos, based on their search query or watch history. Therefore, we want to understand some of these ranking factors and make sure that our videos are taking full advantage of any special features or chances for optimization that YouTube provides.

Best Practices for YouTube SEO

• Use Keywords: Just like any other SEO strategy, keywords play an indispensable role in YouTube SEO. Conduct keyword research, or use the research you’ve already done, in order to identify potential queries that people might use to find content like yours. Once you’ve done that, use those keywords in things like the video title, video description, and within the script of the video itself.
• Make Your Video Accessible: Use captions to fill audio gaps and make your video more accessible. Subtitles are a must for video content, especially today: half of viewers in the United States regularly watch content with captions on. Plus, they act as another way for YouTube to identify the nature of your video.
• Use Timestamps: Timestamps are another way to signal to YouTube what your video is about, and exactly when your video touches on certain topics. They also help viewers know which parts of the video will interest them, which is especially important if you’re publishing longform content.
• Engage with Your Audience: Create and pin a comment on your video that keeps the conversation going. This is a great opportunity to plug your website or ask users what they would like to see next. When people comment, reply, like, and heart comments to keep people engaged. In general, more comments, and more recent comments, signal that your video is popular with people right now, and may incidentally improve rankings.
• Get Creative: At the end of the day, what’s really going to make your videos a cut above the rest is your creativity. Find niches that aren’t being filled, and create content around them. Experiment! Engage your viewers with something fresh! And make your video look polished by adding custom thumbnails, cards, and end screens. That last bit will also help with brand recognition and discovering other content that you’ve made, providing another SEO boost.

Why YouTube SEO Matters

Following YouTube SEO best practices is all about improving search results rankings, right? But why does it matter? Well, for one, higher rankings lead to more eyes on your videos, which typically translates to more views. In theory, this also means that there are more opportunities for users to convert, subscribe, or otherwise complete some call to action.

Also, not only will good SEO practices bolster your rankings on YouTube, but in Google’s search results as well, making an understanding of ranking factors and subsequent optimization doubly important.

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