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What is YouTube SEO?

YouTube SEO is the process of optimizing videos to generate more views, rank higher and gain channel subscribers.

 By following best practices and implementing strategic techniques, you can increase your video's visibility and reach a wider audience.

conducting YouTube keyword research. Keywords are words or phrases that people use to search for content on YouTube.

How Does YouTube SEO Work?

YouTube SEO works by optimizing elements of videos to improve their visibility and ranking videos in the search. 

Relevance: YouTube aims to show videos to viewers relevant to search intent. YouTube uses keywords found in a video's title, description, tags, and closed captions to understand what the video is about.

Quality: YouTube considers the expertise and channel's authority when ranking videos. Factors like subscriber count, watch time, and engagement metrics (likes, comments) indicate the quality and channel's stronger subscriber base.

Engagement: Videos that keep viewers engaged for longer has a greater potential to rank higher. YouTube considers factors like click-through rate (CTR), average watch time, and viewer satisfaction surveys.

Benefits of YouTube SEO:

It offers several benefits for content creators looking to grow their channel and reach a wider audience.

Unlike paid advertising, the effects of YouTube SEO can be long-lasting. Well-optimized videos can continue to attract views and generate traffic over time, providing a sustainable source of organic growth for your channel.

YouTube SEO empowers you to:

• Reach a wider audience organically.
• Build a more engaged community around your channel.
• Increase your potential for monetization and brand building.
• Expand the reach and impact of your content beyond YouTube.

You can leverage your YouTube presence to drive traffic to your website by including links in your video descriptions.

• Channel Growth: Improved discovery and engagement can lead to a natural increase in subscribers. A loyal subscriber base translates to consistent viewership for your future videos.

Where Do Optimized YouTube Videos Get Displayed?

Optimized YouTube videos can be displayed in various locations across the platform, increasing their visibility and reach.

1. YouTube Search Results: When users search for specific keywords or phrases on YouTube, optimized videos that are relevant to the search query may appear in the search results. Ranking highly in YouTube search results can significantly increase the visibility of your videos and attract more views from users actively searching for content related to your niche.

2. YouTube Recommendations: Your videos can also appear in YouTube’s recommendations. And YouTube’s recommendation system surfaces videos in various places. One of those is the sidebar to the right of any video you’re watching. (Unless you’ve turned that default setting off.)

3. YouTube Homepage: Another location that recommended videos show up on is your homepage.

4. Finally, recommendations appear after you’ve finished watching a video in the “Up next” section. 

5. YouTube Shorts: YouTube Shorts are short-form videos under 60 seconds in length that are designed to be viewed in a vertical format and uploaded directly from the YouTube app. Optimized Shorts have the potential to appear in the YouTube Shorts section at the top of the navigation bar, increasing their visibility and exposure to users browsing short-form content on the platform.

6. Google Search Results: Optimized YouTube videos may also appear in Google search results that include a video carousel or video snippets. Google often displays video results for certain search queries, especially those with informational or instructional intent. Ranking well in Google search results can drive additional traffic and views to your videos from users searching on Google.

YouTube SEO Best Practices:

You need to apply these best practices:

Create Engaging Titles

The title of your video is one of the most important factors for SEO. Use relevant keywords in the title to help YouTube understand the content of your video. Keep the title concise and engaging to entice users to click and watch your video.

Design Catchy Thumbnails

 Thumbnails are the visual representation of your video that users see in search results and recommendations. So, they can greatly impact click-through rates.

First, choose a thumbnail that indicates your video's content at a glance. Consider including your video title (or a shortened version of it) on a banner somewhere prominent on the thumbnail.

Second, make the thumbnail image enticing. One way to achieve this is to show real people experiencing strong emotions.

Utilize Annotations and End Screens

Use interactive annotations and end screens strategically to encourage viewer engagement and retention. Prompt viewers to subscribe, watch related videos, or visit external links to keep them engaged and encourage further interaction. End screens can be added to the last five to 20 seconds of a video to encourage subscribers, drive viewers to other videos, and more.

Info cards and end screens are the major calls to action (CTAs) to use on YouTube.

Write Effective Description

Write effective description that provide context and relevant information to viewers and YouTube's algorithm. Include relevant keywords naturally throughout the description and consider adding timestamps, links, and calls-to-action.

Use Chapters

Chapters on YouTube divide a video into sections. And show a thumbnail, timestamp, and title for each section.

This allows viewers to navigate the video more efficiently. Which can increase engagement and improve your SEO. 

Create Channel Playlists

A channel playlist is a collection of videos created by a channel owner that’s displayed as a tab on the channel page.

Channel playlists organize videos around similar topics and encourage viewers to watch one after the other. To foster engagement that can boost YouTube SEO.

Get Started with YouTube SEO with this Beginners Guide by SanSEOTools.