YouTube SEO - Complete Guide 2018

A lot of people doing SEO for Google which ends up with Bing and Yahoo ranking following suites. But we fail to see that YouTube SEO can gain more search traffic than Bing and Yahoo. So, if you are not doing YouTube SEO then you are missing out.

In today's article, I'm going to show how you can rank your videos on YouTube and what exactly YouTube SEO is. Follow the step-by-step formula which I'm going to describe.

Step 1 Keyword Research for YouTube:

The first step of YouTube SEO is keyword research. How to find keyword for YouTube videos?

I'll describe that how to find keyword. First, generate a list of keywords that you going to use for YouTube.

Here I'm showing you my strategies to find keyword research. Use the YouTube Search Suggest features for keyword research.

You need to do is go to YouTube Search bar and type the word and YouTube will give you bund of keywords related to what you typed in.

These suggested keywords are great because these terms are those that people actually type into YouTube.

Second, find the best keyword from generated list.

So, now that you have generated the list of keyword and now it's time to choose best from the list.

Target the law competition keywords because if your channel is not many subscribers and you choose the competitive keyword then it might be possible that your video is going to buried in the search results. So, that focus on that keyword which competition is law.

How to check for a keyword?

You need to do is simply search for your keyword and see "About results". It will show you total numbers of videos on YouTube about that topic. If the number is high, then the more competitive keyword is.

So, you need to target those keywords that have a low number of "About results".

You can also search for your keyword in Google. Most of the views on YouTube comes from YouTube's platform only. But you don't stop there, your video gets 2x more view if you also rank it to in Google.

Once you have found a keyword, it's time to see if there are any search volume for that keyword. Otherwise, you might not rank on Google for that keyword that only has 10-20 searches per month. This is not worth it. So, make sure that your target keyword gets at least 100-1000 searches per month in Google. You can find searches information using Google Keyword Planner tool.

If your video rank on Google, then a lot of those searchers will click on your video. It means you will get more high-quality traffic to your video.

To know more about keyword click here

Step 2 Video Optimization for YouTube

As you know YouTube now automatically transcribes your video. So, that says your targeted keyword in your video. If YouTube sees that you mentioned your keyword in your video, then YouTube will understand that your video is about that term.

Video Title:

Before you decide on your title, do proper keyword research as I mentioned above. Then look at your competitors for those keywords because your video will be going up against. So, keep your title to be as good as theirs.

The title plays important role in ranking of your video. Your title should be at least 3-5 words long. So, that you can include your keyword without keyword stuffing. Put the keyword at the beginning of the title of your video.

Description:

Your video description is most important. Video description helps YouTube and Google to understand the context of your video. Better they understand your video; higher you will rank.

Keep your description at least 250 words. Includes your keyword 2-4 times in the description. Make sure that you include a keyword in the first 25 words.

The description also helps Google and YouTube that what your video is about.

Tags:

Put at least 7-8 tags in your video. Make sure that your keyword is there in tags and also they are relevant to your video. Tags are useful to show your video as a related video in YouTube's sidebar.

Use the same tags that your competitors. When someone watching video has a similar tag to your video then you are added to the sidebar.

To check the competitor's tags use "Tube Buddy" extension.

YouTube Ranking factors:

Likes on video:

How many likes does your video get? So, more likes video gets YouTube rank video in the search engine.

Video Comments:

When someone leaves a comment in your video it sends the strong message to YouTube that he or she probably enjoyed the video. So, make sure that you encourage your viewers to leave a comment and also reply to the comment you get.

Subscribe to the Video:

When someone subscribes your channel after watching your video. It sends a signal to YouTube that you have an amazing video. So, that ask people to subscribe. Ask viewers to subscribe your channel at the end of the video. It will significantly boost your monthly subscribers.

Video Share:

When people share your video on a social site like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc. then YouTube sees that people are spreading the word about your video. YouTube thinks that this video has an awesome piece of content so, that they will give you a ranking boost.

Click Through Rate (CTR):

The percentage of people that click on your results known as Click Through Rate (CTR). The higher your CTR, better you will rank on YouTube.

When lots of people are clicking on your result then YouTube thinks that they need to give this video a boost. And also if people skipping your video then they will drop your ranking down.

How to boost your CTR?

For boost your CTR you will need to create compelling thumbnails.

A video's thumbnail image is actually more important than the title of the video in terms of attracting click from the YouTube searcher. You could everything right for your YouTube SEO, but if you have an irrelevant thumbnail, then no one can click on your video.

Think this way: The thumbnails are the only image that they give sense to people that what they are about to invest their time in watching. If you use unprofessional thumbnails, then people not consider that it is the good use of time.

Step 3: Promoting Your Video

We talk lots about creating videos that will maximize your Audience Retention and user experience signals which is very important for YouTube SEO.

But for YouTube to measure these, you need to get more and more views on your video. I will describe some technique to get more views on your video.

1. Create Playlists:

Playlists are one of the best ways to get more views on your video on YouTube. Playlists play every video automatically which can lead to hundreds of extra views in every month.

How can you set up Playlists?

At the first look at your videos and identify 5-6 videos that have common theme or topic. After that create playlists and includes that set of videos. And then include this playlist on your channel page.

2. Link your video in Email Signature:

Generally, when people email you it means they like you. So, when you add a link to your latest videos in your email signature, it means that you are getting high retention views from your user.

3. Add your videos to Blog Posts:

When you write a blog post on your site or guest post for another site then think about that, Where I can add my YouTube video in this post?

So, that whenever you write a blog then if you have videos related that post then add it to your post. This will give more views to your video.

4. Promote your video in Forums, Quora and many others Q&A sites:

Link your YouTube videos in Quora, Forums and other Q&A sites because they are the most popular sites on the web. Then you get a high quantity of views, as well as views from Q&A sites, are high quality too.

But if you try to go in there and add spammy or irrelevant content then you are going to get banned in such sites. So, make sure that you link to relevant content.

Conclusion:

So, I hope that you guys enjoying this article about YouTube SEO and also helps you that how you can rank your videos on YouTube. If you like this article, please comment below and do share.