YouTube is essentially the second-largest search engine out there, and the larger one is operated by its parent company; Google. Google search results often come in the form of YouTube videos and the platform continues to grow. If you are a creator, you need to try to avoid getting lost in the ocean of YouTube videos that are published every day.
In this guide, we look at 10 powerful YouTube SEO tips for supercharging your YouTube Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy to stand out from the crowd.
1. YouTube SEO Keywords
Our first YouTube SEO tip for beginners is to use YouTube SEO keywords relating to your niche in your channel name. But the big focus should be on keyword optimisation for each video, and this takes planning. Your YouTube SEO keywords should correspond with the topic of your video so that the right viewers will find it when they search.
Keyword research is important – the YouTube keyword research tool on Ahrefs will do this for you. Your keywords should be placed in video titles, metadata, spoken in the audio and in captions and transcripts.
2. Include accurate captions
How do you do YouTube SEO you ask? It’s as simple as including accurate captions! YouTube offers automatic transcriptions of your videos, though it is usually only around 70% accurate. Inaccurate captions can harm your SEO, so you can either go through the automatic transcript and clean up the errors or choose a more time-consuming DIY transcript option. The other alternative is to use a professional video transcription service, but this will cost money.
3. Display the transcript in your video descriptions
With a 5,000 character limit, you can usually fit your full transcript in the description. This will add more opportunity for keyword placement in the description to help your video rank for related terms, as well as appearing as a suggested video after other videos. It can also boost engagement by offering scannable content for visitors.
4. Translate subtitles into multiple languages
You can increase your audience and boost your YouTube SEO by offering captions in other languages besides English. With more viewers able to enjoy your videos, you will have a good chance of ranking for non-English keywords and supercharge your YouTube SEO. Just make sure the translated subtitles are high-quality.
5. Say target keywords in the video
One of our more straightforward YouTube SEO tips is to say the target keywords within the video. This is the only way to get your target keywords to appear in your transcript and captions. This is vital to YouTube SEO strategy, and you need to incorporate those keywords naturally into your video. If they are overstuffed in the transcript, it may harm your SEO.
6. Upload a compelling thumbnail
A really important step for YouTube SEO for beginners is to upload a compelling thumbnail. This has a huge impact on click-through rate, so take the time to create a high-quality image with the correct dimensions. Tools like Canva can help with this, and your image should be a powerful representation of your target keyword.
7. Add cards and end screens
YouTube cards will appear as notifications during the video to draw the user’s attention to other related content. Making use of them is desirable to YouTube as it can keep users on the platform longer, so try to incorporate them where possible. You can add up to five cards in a video, and create an end screen to direct users to take action after the video has finished. Both these things can help your YouTube SEO.
8. Encourage user engagement
Engagement metrics like comments, likes, subscriptions and shares are strongly associated with higher rankings. Google wants to promote content that scores high engagement, so encourage your viewers to take these actions for your videos.
9. Conduct off-page SEO
This YouTube SEO tip seems to be one that is forgotten, but it shouldn’t be! When you upload the video, be sure to take the time to fill out every section for the publication of it. Change the name, select the right genre and all the other metadata to ensure YouTube places your video where it needs to be and it plays into the algorithm as well as possible.
10. Create backlinks
Getting backlinks to your videos is an important part of SEO and learning how to do YouTube SEO backlinks will elevate the success of your YouTube strategy. You can link to it from your own blog, social media channels and any other platform you have, and encourage others to do the same. Mentions from authoritative websites using the keywords you chose as anchor text can be very helpful.
Quora and YouTube answers are a good opportunity for backlinks. Find queries that your video answers and link to your video as a solution.
Take advantage of our YouTube SEO Services
SEO is something that not all YouTube creators think about, so if you give it its due attention then it could set you apart from the crowd. Take the time to follow the suggestions in this blog and look for other ideas to boost your YouTube SEO.
If you think this is something you’d need assistance with, then be sure to get in touch and learn more about the YouTube SEO services we offer and how we can help your business with your YouTube strategy.