YouTube: YouTube SEO
YouTube: YouTube SEO
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform that was launched in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim. It was acquired by Google in 2006, one year after it began, and Google and YouTube’s services intertwine in that users must have a Google account to join YouTube’s more than 2 billion active user network.
Due to this however, videos that appear well on YouTube rankings also have the bonus of increasing their search visibility results on regular Google SERPs. When videos are optimized, they are also individually indexed and receive even more traffic through video-relevant search terms on the search engines, which provides your brand with double the attention.
What is YouTube SEO?
SEO is the optimization of pages, and YouTube SEO is the optimization of YouTube pages and videos. Like Google, YouTube uses an algorithm that determines how your videos will appear in their YouTube ranking and Google uses an algorithm that determines how YouTube videos appear in their ranking.
Here are important areas to consider:
- The video description, title and tags tell YouTube what your video is about.
- The number of watches that your video receives also indicates success to YouTube and Google.
- How well-regarded your video channel is, particularly how many followers you have and how popular your videos and YouTube page is also indicate success to YouTube and Google.
- The number of interactions, comments, shares and engagements your videos receive also indicate success to YouTube and Google that your video is well-regarded.
YouTube offers tremendous opportunities for companies growing their brands, as the platform has seen a 50% growth in viewing time YOY and video continues to be a growing advertising market for companies that see its potential.
Tips on Optimizing Your YouTube Videos with SEO
- Develop compelling titles and descriptions – Before people click on your videos, they have to find them. Ensure your titles and descriptions contain the most relevant and engaging information to make people click on your videos.
- Add keywords to your videos – Do keyword research and ensure the keywords you select are relevant to the topic and content of your video.
- Include a transcript of your video – Adding a full transcript to your video not only boosts your SEO, but it also allows for the content to be indexed for search engines, allowing viewers to find the video even easier.
- Share and promote your video on social media – One of the most effective ways to boost YouTube SEO is to share your videos on social media. Utilize social networks like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to draw in more viewers and create engagement.
- Create engaging thumbnails – Thumbnail images are often the first thing people see when they search for videos on YouTube. Make sure to use interesting and captivating images that make viewers want to click on your video.
With a well-executed video and utilizing the platform’s video marketing opportunities, you have the potential to reach billions of active users every day.