Did you know that Search Engine Optimization is not only a Google related term? That’s right! SEO rules apply to other search engines like YouTube. And YouTube SEO is a whole other topic that works with different rules.
Yes, YouTube is not exactly a search engine but more like a social network, but it does include searching and thus, requires some SEO. As you already know, there are thousands of people creating content for YouTube, many of them make a living out of it, and so, YouTube has become a very competitive website.
Ranking in the first places on any YouTube search can make a huge different in views and traffic to your website, if you’re one of the smart ones that takes advantage of creating content in different sites and mediums.
But becoming a YouTube sensation and mastering every YouTube SEO trick under the sun is not an easy task. Here you’ll learn some of the simplest and most effective ways to apply some SEO to your YouTube content and start gaining more views!
Some YouTube SEO Basics
So what does it takes to create SEO-friendly content on YouTube? What are the most-basic and easiest steps to master the YouTube SEO race?, there are a few sites that go into great detail but here you will find it summed up for you. Basically, the way to go is having a healthy and good practice in three particular aspects: Keywords, Length and Engage.
Keywords on YouTube
Just like any other SEO practice it all starts with a good keyword research. By now, you already have your niche well defined and researched. Now it’s time to find out what kind of content is created and looked for within your niche, on YouTube. There are two simple ways to accomplish this:
- Start looking for content on YouTube
- Look for keywords on Google and see what videos come up on the results
The perfect keyword is one that get high ranks on both platforms.
In general, Google tends to use video results for these types of keywords:
- How-to keywords (“how to shave a cat”)
- Reviews (“Bluehost review”)
- Tutorials (“Setting up WordPress”)
- Anything fitness or sports related (“Cardio kickboxing”)
- Funny videos (“Cute animals”)
Make Videos Longer
One of the tricks to get more views on YouTube and to be favored by YouTube itself is creating longer videos. Specially, videos longer than 5 minutes and up to almost 15 minutes. Research shows that the most successful videos lengths are on that range.
Why is it important for YouTube how long your videos are? That’s because YouTube pays a lot of attention on some things to consider your content successful, one of those things is how much time does people spend watching your videos.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t create even longer videos, as long as your content is good, thoughtful and engaging, people will certainly watch it and YouTube will like you for that. Even shorter videos are a good place to start if you’re just getting into the platform:
The key is to make your content just long enough to offer value. So don’t go too long or viewers may shy away from your video to begin with. Right around 4 minutes is a good place to start to keep viewers’ attention long enough to benefit from their views while taking enough time to convey a useful message.
Content that offers value seems to be the main point in here.
And about that…
YouTube Social Engagement
One of the other things that YouTube takes on consideration when evaluating your channel is your audience engagement with your content. That means:
- Comments
- Likes and dislikes
- Shares
- Favorites
- Subscribes
Be sure to encourage your audience to support you through simple acts of engagement with your content. Ask them to subscribe at the end of your videos. Link to other social media like Facebook and Twitter, ask for feedback and be sure to answer as much comments as you can.
Of course there’s a whole lot of things to consider when it comes to YouTube SEO, but this simple list is a great place to start, specially if you’re new to SEO. In time you will get more experience and start to be more in touch with SEO practices, and you, hopefully, will experience the benefits from this simple tips.
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Luke Monnier 