Tricks of the YouTube Trade

Have you watched a video on YouTube with millions of views and wondered how it got there in the first place? According to the site, hundreds of hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute, so not every video is going to be golden, but certain characteristics of these videos make them highly ranked when it comes to SEO. Just like a Google search, certain characteristics go into making your video more visible than the thousands of other videos containing similar topics. Taking the time to optimize videos for SEO on YouTube will bring much more viewership to your content.

Keywords are Key

SEO is driven by the use of keywords. Keywords are just what the people are looking for and what is most commonly typed into the search bar. When it comes to YouTube, phrases such as how-to, tutorials and reviews are not only searchable through YouTube, but will be linked through Google too. 

To find out if something is a keyword, use the auto complete feature in Google to see what other people are searching for. For instance, typing in Utah, the first three item that appears is the state fair which is currently taking place. Working Utah State Fair into a title of a video would bring around a high amount of views.

Don’t Ignore the Description Box

The description box which appears below each video, gains a lot of traffic through links and extra information that viewers are wanting after they watch a video. In the first couple of lines, write a summary of what the video is about using those important keywords to boost your SEO.

Be Social

YouTube stars, including Devin Supertramp from Utah, have made a big push on their social media to gain views on their YouTube videos. By asking viewers to follow them on Twitter, Instagram or to like them on Facebook, YouTubers have been able to create a sense of friendship between the star and the viewer. Once the relationships have been established, viewers tend to follow along and increase a creators SEO ranking.

Leah Ferguson writes for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. She writes for many other clients as well. Follow on Twitter