YouTube SEO: How to boost your YouTube video’ ranking

 

Digging into other related terms, you can narrow down the niche of your video and find a unique angle beyond just “distressed jeans.”

For example, you might talk about a specific tool or technique (“scissors,” “knife,” “sandpaper”) or perhaps a certain style of distressed jeans (“big holes”). Niching down your videos means that you’re targeting a more defined audience and are less likely to try to compete against more established videos and channels.

Another place to conduct video SEO research is through Google. That’s because YouTube videos rank in Google results, meaning that videos that pop up in a search are more than likely optimized for SEO. Take note of what these sorts of videos do in terms of their titles and thumbnails (but more on that later).

Finally, you can also conduct keyword research via Google’s Keyword Planner tool. Although not related to video SEO per se, the added bonus of using Google is that you can uncover real-world search terms that people are actually using.

The purpose of keyword research is both to brainstorm ideas and figure out what viewers want. Including keywords and related terms throughout your content is a low-hanging way to boost your rankings versus videos that totally ignore YouTube SEO.

2. Optimize your YouTube titles, descriptions, tags and thumbnails

Now, let’s highlight how to take your keyword ideas and integrate them into your content.

This section breaks down how to optimize YouTube videos in ways that encourage clicks and tick the boxes of SEO behind-the-scenes.

Keep in mind that there is no silver bullet for guaranteed rankings or reach. That said, the following tips will send signals to YouTube’s algorithm to improve your chances of scoring more views.

3:Titles

An enticing title can make or break your video.

Conventional wisdom says that ~75 characters is the sweet spot for titles, so you need to choose your words wisely.

Below are some examples of title formats that stick with our best practices of headline writing tips and allow you to seamlessly integrate your keyword ideas:

Mangool tools are best choice if you want to rank your YouTube video on search engines

Pose a question (“Why…” or “What is…”)

Make a listicle (“Top 5…” or “5 Reasons Why…”)

How-tos and tutorials (“How to…”)

Compare and contrast (“Ranking the 5…” or “Best to Worst…”)

Channels like DFB Guide almost exclusively follow the formats above and their view-count speaks for itself.

Although these aren’t the only types of titles you’re restricted to, they’re arguably the safest options for both piquing people’s curiosity and ease-of-use for keywords. As a side note, try to avoid writing clickbait headlines–audiences are increasingly familiar with and fatigued by these tactics, meaning they may reduce trust in your content.

4 Descriptions

Descriptions are definitely a big deal when it comes to YouTube SEO.

With 5,000 characters to work with, it might be tempting to stuff keywords here.

However, that’s obviously not what this space is for (and keyword stuffing could land you in trouble).

There are plenty of ways to naturally integrate keywords into your YouTube descriptions minus any sort of spam. Also, your descriptions are crucial for funneling traffic from YouTube to your website, landing pages and social media channels.

In short, don’t let this space go to waste. Here’s a combination of elements to include in your description:

A brief summary of your video which integrates your primary keyword

Links to other relevant, keyword-specific videos on your channel

Timestamps on your video which integrate relevant search terms

Links to your website, social channels or other promotions

Let’s look at some examples of solid descriptions that stick within the best practices of YouTube SEO without being totally spammy.

best tools if you want to increase your YouTube video views

This description for Beardbrand integrates multiple keywords throughout, including links to other videos which translates into more engagement and longer watch-times (all good for video SEO).

5:Include Your Keywords in Key Places

Once you know which keywords you want to target, it’s time to optimize your video for those keywords by including your keywords in key places.

“Make sure to include keywords in the title of your video,” says Fortunly’s Igor Mitic. “Your title should clearly state what your video is about. Don’t try to be mysterious or abstract—it may affect your overall ranking.”

In addition to including keywords in your title, Shayne Sherman of TechLoris recommends including them in your description. 

“This provides the algorithm the context it needs to properly serve up your video at the right time,” Sherman says. “Include the keyword in the first 25 or so words of the description, as well as a few more times throughout as naturally as you can.”

But as you’re adding keywords to your description, it’s important to keep this advice from Alex Cascio of Vibrant Media Productions in mind: “You should try to creatively/naturally add your targeted keywords into the description without keyword stuffing.”

Marissa Ryan of VisualFizz also recommends “including your keyword in the tags and transcript of your video,” and Michael Simonetti of AndMine says to “incorporate your keywords into your video’s filename.”

6. Say Your Keywords in Your Video

Another place to include keywords is in the words you speak in your video.

“My number one tip is to speak your target keyword in your YouTube video,” says Zalán Tallér of Morningscore. 

“That has recently become a very influential factor since YouTube and Google no longer need a transcript to understand what you are saying in your video. Their algorithms can understand what is being said without the need for a transcript.”

“If your targeted keyword is in the title, description, and transcript—and you are saying it in your video as well—your rankings will increase without any doubt,” Tallér says.

Sam Simon of Graber Manufacturing agrees and recommends “saying your keyword in the first two sentences of your video.”

7. Create an Eye-Catching Thumbnail

Another way to increase your clicks and rankings is to include an eye-catching thumbnail.

WebTek’s Lance Kopp offers these tips:

“Use a high-quality image that depicts the topic of the video.” 

“Don’t be afraid to add text, but make sure the font fits the essence of the video and has depth. Shadowing gives a title/text a more professional feel.” 

“Colorize! Don’t go overboard, but colors capture attention. Maybe the first line of text is in white, but make the second line stand out with a nice lime green or yellow.”

Max Thorpe of WeVideo also recommends “experimenting with your video thumbnails to gauge what works and what doesn’t.” 

“Custom thumbnails are a must,” Thorpe says. “Having an actual person in your thumbnail with the title written out can help increase your click-through rate, which helps your rankings.”