How To Optimize Your YouTube Video For SEO

How often do you see a movie poster a number of times before you have any interest in investigating what the movie is actually about. Often if we don’t see something we don’t tend to engage with it and don’t rave about it to friends.

SEO or search engine optimization allows you to increase the amount of visibility media gets in search engines like Google. As such increases the number of potential viewers it may get and also significantly increase the shares it gets and in essence the chance it has of going viral. So, how do you optimize your YouTube videos for SEO?

Title and Description

Optimizing for search engines begins with the title and the description of the video and you should try to find a mix between catchy titles, while including targeted keywords. This allows you to engage with people, while still benefit from search engines.

Google garners its description from the first 66 characters and it should be as natural as possible, while also provide keyword value. The same can be said for the description, try to balance readability with SEO. Ideally include a link at the start of the description to improve click through rates, while also add call to actions to watch the video.

The Tags

Tags are also important for the sake of relevance. Adding around 7 tags can be very beneficial and means your video will show up beside videos with related tags in the side bar. These videos are all chosen via tags and this can be a great way to create extra views.

Links

Each and every link back to your video or vlog is a vote for it in the eyes of Google and search engines. Inbound links can be achieved by embedding your link on your blog, or sharing your video via your social media channels. This can help push a lot of traffic to your video and can significantly impact on your video numbers. If you want a better idea of how many people has watched your video then YouTube Analytics is a good tool to provide you with accurate figures.

The more people watch your video the more inclined it is to be seen on YouTube. YouTube videos are ranked via the number of people who have viewed a video in the last 1-2 days. In an ideal world this would push you towards a place in the ‘most viewed video category’.

Comments and Likes

Of course, if your video is interesting and creative enough you’ll drive likes and comments to your YouTube page. This also is seen as a positive and improves your video’s position in search rankings and also on YouTube and further increase the likelihood of it being watched, shared and engaged with. There are numerous ways to encourage likes and comments on a YouTube video:

• Ask a question at the end of the video and ask people to comment below to answer it
• Simply ask people to like or share your video
• Encourage sharing by offering exclusive content if you reach a particular number of shares on YouTube
• Engaging with comments will help to engage people and increase interaction and often sharing potential.

YouTube videos can be greatly enhanced with a little SEO knowhow and application – so follow the aforementioned tips for success.

Guest Author: Andrew Kerby has worked for a number of social media and video sites and has often produced videos for New Wave TV