Picture this. You’ve created a YouTube channel for your business and uploaded a few, high quality and informative videos for your ideal clients. But after a few months, you only have 5 video views, zero traffic to your site and you’re pretty certain all the video views are from supportive family members. This is a common scenario, and it’s quite unfortunate that so many good videos remain unseen. However, this doesn’t have to be your story! There are easy ways you can optimise your YouTube videos to boost your channel, increase traffic and raise brand awareness.

YouTube has over 1.9 billion monthly active logged-in users. It’s also owned by Google, so YouTube videos rank high in SERP. Of course, there are other video hosting options, but we highly recommend creating a channel on YouTube if you want to add video to your marketing strategy. Creating a YouTube account is easy, free and can even be monetised once you meet certain criteria, but that’s another subject for another blog post!

Before anything else, you’ll need people finding and viewing your video content. Just like your website, you want your videos to rank high on search results. The best overall approach for optimising your videos for YouTube is to think of your videos in terms of SEO. If you apply SEO best practices to your videos, you’re on the right track!

Let’s jump into our tips for how to optimise your YouTube videos. They’re practical, easy to implement and effective:

#1 Plan your video content.

Video optimisation begins before filming. If you apply SEO best practices to your website, apply those same methods to your videos. Do a bit of keyword research to find popular keywords and topics, but also look for gaps you could fill with your tailored content.

#2 Consider filming long-form videos.

Google has confirmed that a video’s total watch time is a key ranking factor. Google wants a viewer to spend more time on YouTube as that gives them more opportunities for ad placements. Videos that are longer (about 15-minute length) rank higher, so consider this when creating your video content. However, don’t shy away from short videos. Try a mixture of both short and long-form videos and see which resonate with your audience.

#3 Film videos in HD quality.

68.2% of all videos on YouTube’s first page are in HD There’s a high chance YouTube wants to feature high-quality video on their first page results. Ensure that the camera you’re using has HD capabilities. However, this doesn’t mean you need to splurge on expensive equipment. Nowadays, most cameras and mobile phones have HD recording features.

#4 Use keywords or phrases in your video title, video file name & customised thumbnail.

Use relevant keywords in your video title and file names. It’s just a good habit to incorporate into your video process. For example, when saving your video file, make its name relevant to your keyword(s). The same applies to any thumbnail designs you create (which we highly recommend too). Similarly, your video title should include your keyword(s), but make sure it’s clear, concise and attention-grabbing.

#5 Add video tags & optimise keywords in your video description.

The YouTube algorithm used to depend heavily on keywords in your video description and video tags. This has changed over the years, but it’s still a good idea to add relevant keywords and tags to your videos. Just like your website’s SEO, make sure these keywords are relevant to your content and incorporated naturally.

 #6 Include timestamps in your video description to create video chapters.

While it is a good idea to include some ranking and relevant keywords in your video description, it’s even more important to timestamp your video and thereby create chapters. Let’s say your video is about how to create a website for your life science business – adding the time increments for each subtopic will help your audience find exactly what they’re looking for. See our example below:

 

00:00-0:04 Intro

0:04-0:10 Website Best Practices

00:10-00:15 Website Design

00:15-00:20 Website Hosting

 

Once you complete your timestamps, your viewers will be able to see these easily and fast forward to relevant spots in your video. This can also help your video rank higher on Google SERPs!

#7 Add captions to your videos.

YouTube generates captions automatically for your videos, but sometimes these aren’t 100% accurate. And some of the mistakes and typos that occur can be embarrassing! Consider uploading a transcript to your video to maximise the audience you’re capturing. According to this article in Forbes, 69% of consumers watch video with the sound off. If you provide captions for your YouTube videos, this increases your watch time (which can boost your video’s ranking) – and can boost your content’s performance on search engines. If typing out your script seems tedious, don’t worry! You can edit the autogenerated captions on YouTube, or you can export the caption file and fix any mistakes you find.

#8 Encourage comments, shares, & subscription calls-to-action.

YouTube can rank your video higher if it gains subscribers and has multiple shares or comments, so create a clear call-to-action on every video. Try to stick to one CTA per video so as not overwhelm your audience. If you ask viewers to comment, share, like and subscribe all in one go, chances are they won’t. However, if you just ask them to take a moment to comment, they’ll usually oblige!

YouTube videos can be so beneficial to your marketing strategy if done correctly. Whether your business is an eCommerce site or a biotech company, it’s not too late to create an account and start uploading your content. Just make sure your content is relevant and apply our helpful tips to optimise your videos. If you need help with your video marketing strategy, drop our friendly team a line here.

YouTube SEO: 8 Tips to help you optimise your videos for YouTube Search

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Picture this. You’ve created a YouTube channel for your business and uploaded a few, high quality and informative videos for your ideal clients. But after a few months, you only have 5 video views, zero traffic to your site and you’re pretty certain all the video views are from supportive family members. This is a common scenario, and it’s quite unfortunate that so many good videos remain unseen. However, this doesn’t have to be your story! There are easy ways you can optimise your YouTube videos to boost your channel, increase traffic and raise brand awareness.

YouTube has over 1.9 billion monthly active logged-in users. It’s also owned by Google, so YouTube videos rank high in SERP. Of course, there are other video hosting options, but we highly recommend creating a channel on YouTube if you want to add video to your marketing strategy. Creating a YouTube account is easy, free and can even be monetised once you meet certain criteria, but that’s another subject for another blog post!

Before anything else, you’ll need people finding and viewing your video content. Just like your website, you want your videos to rank high on search results. The best overall approach for optimising your videos for YouTube is to think of your videos in terms of SEO. If you apply SEO best practices to your videos, you’re on the right track!

Let’s jump into our tips for how to optimise your YouTube videos. They’re practical, easy to implement and effective:

#1 Plan your video content.

Video optimisation begins before filming. If you apply SEO best practices to your website, apply those same methods to your videos. Do a bit of keyword research to find popular keywords and topics, but also look for gaps you could fill with your tailored content.

#2 Consider filming long-form videos.

Google has confirmed that a video’s total watch time is a key ranking factor. Google wants a viewer to spend more time on YouTube as that gives them more opportunities for ad placements. Videos that are longer (about 15-minute length) rank higher, so consider this when creating your video content. However, don’t shy away from short videos. Try a mixture of both short and long-form videos and see which resonate with your audience.

#3 Film videos in HD quality.

68.2% of all videos on YouTube’s first page are in HD There’s a high chance YouTube wants to feature high-quality video on their first page results. Ensure that the camera you’re using has HD capabilities. However, this doesn’t mean you need to splurge on expensive equipment. Nowadays, most cameras and mobile phones have HD recording features.

#4 Use keywords or phrases in your video title, video file name & customised thumbnail.

Use relevant keywords in your video title and file names. It’s just a good habit to incorporate into your video process. For example, when saving your video file, make its name relevant to your keyword(s). The same applies to any thumbnail designs you create (which we highly recommend too). Similarly, your video title should include your keyword(s), but make sure it’s clear, concise and attention-grabbing.

#5 Add video tags & optimise keywords in your video description.

The YouTube algorithm used to depend heavily on keywords in your video description and video tags. This has changed over the years, but it’s still a good idea to add relevant keywords and tags to your videos. Just like your website’s SEO, make sure these keywords are relevant to your content and incorporated naturally.

 #6 Include timestamps in your video description to create video chapters.

While it is a good idea to include some ranking and relevant keywords in your video description, it’s even more important to timestamp your video and thereby create chapters. Let’s say your video is about how to create a website for your life science business – adding the time increments for each subtopic will help your audience find exactly what they’re looking for. See our example below:

 

00:00-0:04 Intro

0:04-0:10 Website Best Practices

00:10-00:15 Website Design

00:15-00:20 Website Hosting

 

Once you complete your timestamps, your viewers will be able to see these easily and fast forward to relevant spots in your video. This can also help your video rank higher on Google SERPs!

#7 Add captions to your videos.

YouTube generates captions automatically for your videos, but sometimes these aren’t 100% accurate. And some of the mistakes and typos that occur can be embarrassing! Consider uploading a transcript to your video to maximise the audience you’re capturing. According to this article in Forbes, 69% of consumers watch video with the sound off. If you provide captions for your YouTube videos, this increases your watch time (which can boost your video’s ranking) – and can boost your content’s performance on search engines. If typing out your script seems tedious, don’t worry! You can edit the autogenerated captions on YouTube, or you can export the caption file and fix any mistakes you find.

#8 Encourage comments, shares, & subscription calls-to-action.

YouTube can rank your video higher if it gains subscribers and has multiple shares or comments, so create a clear call-to-action on every video. Try to stick to one CTA per video so as not overwhelm your audience. If you ask viewers to comment, share, like and subscribe all in one go, chances are they won’t. However, if you just ask them to take a moment to comment, they’ll usually oblige!

YouTube videos can be so beneficial to your marketing strategy if done correctly. Whether your business is an eCommerce site or a biotech company, it’s not too late to create an account and start uploading your content. Just make sure your content is relevant and apply our helpful tips to optimise your videos. If you need help with your video marketing strategy, drop our friendly team a line here.