While other companies scramble to update their social media campaigns on the latest social media app, entrepreneurs and creators are finding that Google’s YouTube platform is still one of the best ways to reach new customers and grow their business.
Yet a lot of people dismiss YouTube as too old-fashioned. A “has-been” social media strategy. Instead, they opt for shiny new apps like TikTok or Instagram, or whatever else is brand-new that the media is focusing on these days.
Don’t get caught up in the trends. The reality is that YouTube is still a powerful tool to reach more people with your message.
But you have to know how to use it effectively. Your YouTube channel needs to be optimized for SEO to be all that it can be.
We’ll show you everything you need to know about the wild world of YouTube SEO optimization so you can reach more viewers and grow your business.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization.” It’s the practice of optimizing a website and its content (in this case, a YouTube channel) to increase its visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (called SERPs).
SEO is the behind-the-scenes strategy to make sure people can find you. It’s the art and science of being found on the Internet—which is a very crowded place!
Search engines like Google and Bing use complicated software algorithms to determine the relevance and quality of websites. So when you search for “what’s the cheapest streaming service,” the top articles you see are the ones with the best and most accurate information.
Google makes its living and prides itself on having the best search results. So it takes this stuff really seriously. And it’s not always easy to rank highest in the search results. SEO is a very competitive space where experts make their entire living teaching people how to do it right.
The Complicated World of SEO
SEO can be super complicated. It involves different techniques and strategies to improve your website’s chances of ranking higher in search results.
Here are a few of the main elements of SEO:
- Keyword Research — Finding the right keywords and phrases people are using to search for information and content.
- On-Page Optimization — Optimizing elements on your website (like meta tags, headings, content and URL structure) to make sure they are search engine-friendly and relevant to the targeted keywords.
- Off-Page Optimization — Building external signals (like backlinks from reputable websites, social media shares and online mentions) to enhance your channel’s authority and reputation.
- Technical SEO — Making sure a website’s technical aspects (like site speed, mobile-friendliness, “crawlability,” and indexability) are optimized to provide a smooth user experience. This is becoming more important to Google so it’s crucial that companies spend time focusing on these technical elements.
- User Experience — Creating a positive user experience by providing high-quality, relevant content that satisfies users’ search intent and engages them on the website. Factors like page load times, navigation and mobile optimization all help make it a better user experience.
- Analytics and Monitoring — Tracking and analyzing website traffic, user behavior and other metrics to measure the effectiveness of SEO strategies and make data-driven improvements.
Now let’s understand more specifically how YouTube SEO optimization works.
YouTube SEO Optimization
In the case of YouTube SEO optimization, it’s a game of producing video content that is properly created and tagged with keywords that enable more people to find it.
Let’s say you own a roofing company and you’re using YouTube as part of your overall marketing strategy to get more customers and raise awareness of your brand. Just like other social media platforms, you might create videos showing how to tell if your roof needs repaired. Or videos showing how your roofing crew can do the job in less than a day. Or maybe videos that educate people on how to get their home insurance company to cover the cost of a new roof.
But you can’t just post these videos and expect people to find them. The content needs to be tagged with the right keywords so people searching online can find it. Once users land on your YouTube channel, and engage with your material, you’ll be able to point them to your website or a contact page so they can reach out. But first, they have to find your channel.
Top YouTube SEO Strategies
If you’re trying to grow your YouTube channel, here are a few things you can do to optimize it for SEO.
Your goal is obviously to get more people to find you and engage with your content. Just like Google, YouTube uses SEO to figure out what to show people in its search results and recommendations. YouTube’s algorithm looks at a bunch of different factors like user behavior, engagement metrics and relevance to determine the ranking and visibility of videos.
Here are some key aspects of YouTube SEO you need to know about to be successful:
- Keywords — Doing the right keyword research can help you identify relevant and popular keywords that people are searching for. Once you find the most popular keywords in your industry, incorporate them into your video’s title, description, tags and overall content.
- Video Title — Titles are a huge deal! First, make sure your title contains the primary keyword. You should also make your title as descriptive and attention-grabbing as possible. People should want to click on it! Think of it as a newspaper or billboard advertising headline. And finally, make sure your video title is accurate, that it reflects the actual content of the video. This way people don’t get annoyed or frustrated with you if they click on a title that doesn’t deliver on what was promised.
- Video Description — To optimize your YouTube channel, you should also write a detailed and keyword-rich description. It should give people context and the right amount of information regarding what the video is about. Again, make sure to include relevant keywords in the description.
- Tags — Adding the right tags to your videos will also help optimize your channel. Tags help YouTube understand what the video is about and can help it show up to people who are interested in that topic. For instance, if your video teaches people how to bake cookies, you should use tags like “baking,” “cookie recipe” and “how to make cookies.” So if someone watches a lot of baking videos, YouTube might add yours to their video feed.
- Thumbnail Optimization — Just like the video title, your thumbnail matters! This is because it’s often the first thing people see when your video pops up. You should make an attractive and compelling thumbnail image that stands out from the crowd. The better your thumbnail, the more people will click.
- Video Transcript and Closed Captions — Transcripts and captions help YouTube know the video’s content better, improve accessibility for people with disabilities and increase search visibility. Provide a complete transcript of your video’s dialogue and make sure you enable closed captions.
- Engagement — Once people are watching your videos, encourage them inside the video to engage with your channel. Like it, subscribe, comment and share it with others! Nudging viewers to engage with your content will improve the success of your channel in a lot of ways. For example, higher engagement tells YouTube the video is valuable to people. YouTube will then improve your video’s ranking in search results and recommendations based on these engagement metrics.
- Video Length and Retention — Besides some of the technical SEO tips and tricks, you should also make sure to create videos that are interesting, engaging and that keep viewers watching. Longer watch times and higher audience retention rates can also lead to YouTube showing your video to more people.
- Channel Optimization — You should also optimize your overall YouTube channel. Add relevant keywords to your channel’s name, description and tags. And consistently upload videos and organize them into playlists to make them easier for people to find.
- Promotion and Backlinks — Promoting videos through social media, embedding them on websites, and building backlinks from reputable sources is another great way to increase visibility and bring in more views.
Finally, a word of encouragement. As you master the YouTube SEO game, be careful not to compare yourself too much to YouTube channels that are doing really well. Famous creators like Mr. Beast regularly have billions of views because they’ve spent years honing their YouTube skills, experimenting constantly and learning what works and what doesn’t.
If you stick with it, you can grow your audience and be successful, too. Don’t give up!
Now that we’ve learned the ins and outs of YouTube SEO optimization, let’s look at one final thing.
SEO Constantly Changing
The world of SEO is constantly changing. Effective SEO requires continuous monitoring of trends, adjustments, and keeping up with industry trends and search engine algorithm updates.
For instance, Google will often make changes to their algorithm without announcing it. So suddenly Google will rank different types of content higher than others based on new rules and everyone is left to just figure things out. This is one reason SEO can be so complicated.
But the right SEO strategy is one of the great keys to a successful business—no matter what industry or line of work you’re in.
If you implement an effective SEO strategy, you’ll be able to consistently increase your organic and targeted traffic, greatly improve your online presence and grow sales. You’ll also get higher quality leads who are ready to buy instead of those who are just “shopping around.”
We Can Help
If you’re looking to grow your YouTube views, subscribers and revenue, Raffiti Media can help. We can do the hard work for you while you focus on the strategic elements of your business.
We don’t just offer “editing” services, we partner with business owners to help them reach the next level in their business by leveraging the power of YouTube.
Video content is a massive market and there is tons of opportunity on YouTube for companies to expand their reach. Maybe you’ve attempted to produce some videos on your own or with an expensive production company, only to have them fall short of your goals. That’s where we come in.
Let’s work together and optimize your videos, rank better, get more views and monetize more. Book a free one-on-one strategy session with our team to learn how we can help you crush your Youtube and content goals.
