How to Do SEO for YouTube Videos
YouTube videos are a great way to present what you offer because videos clearly show how something works or how people can benefit from it. Videos also build the “know, like, and trust” factor fast. In addition, YouTube is one of the largest search engines on the web. Since a video is so beneficial, it is good to know how to do SEO for YouTube Videos.
Keyword Research
The first step is to do keyword research. It is best to use keywords in the following categories because Google usually shows video results for them: how-to, tutorials, reviews, funny, or fitness. If you use these categories, you are more likely to get traffic from Google searches in addition to YouTube searches.
A good place to start is by finding YouTube results for keywords in your niche that are on the first page of Google. Using a keyword tool, check if the keyword you want to target gets at least 300 searches per month.
For example, if your niche is soap making, you might search for keywords like “soap making tutorial”, “soap making tips”, and “how to make soap”. You would check to see if any of these phrases brings up YouTube results in Google web search.
Creating Your Video
The video you create does not need to be fancy but it does need to be valuable and have a good image and sound quality. YouTube ranks videos based on criteria such as:
Social Engagements: The number of people commenting on the video, sharing it on social media channels, giving the video a thumbs up or thumbs down.
Favorites: The number of people favoring your video.
Percent of Video Viewed: The more of the video people view, the better.
People Subscribing: The number or people subscribing after watching a video.
Watch Later: The number of people adding your video to your “Watch Later” list.
Longer videos tend to perform better. Make your video at least five minutes long.
How to Do SEO for YouTube
Make the title of your video at least five words long and include your keyword at the beginning of the title if possible. Also, include the keyword in your file name.
The description of your video is important because it tells YouTube what your video is about. It should be at least 250 words long and include the keyword three or four times. Have the keyword included in the first 25 words and place the link at the top of your description to boost click through rates.
Include a few tags to help search engines understand your topic and rank for your keyword. This will also help you show up in the “related” videos sidebar in YouTube.
In addition to learning how to do SEO for YouTube, you will also promote your videos in other ways, including posting them on social media, embedding them in blog posts, and adding them to email signatures.