YouTube is no doubt the biggest and most popular video sharing website in the internet today.
As a matter of fact, YouTube is next to Google when it comes to page rank and has over a billion of visitors every month.
YouTube was initially created to be a means for people to stay connected.
It is a platform for people to post their videos with social networking in mind.
But as time passes by, YouTube becomes a means for marketing as well.
For this reason, it is very important to increase the visibility and online presence of each video that you upload.
One way to do this is to use Search Engine Optimization or simply, SEO.
Since most people will use a search engine to look for what they want, your video should be highly optimized so that they can find your content more readily.
So, when people look for content and type in their query, will they find your video at the first page of the return page of YouTube?
If you still cannot answer that with a confident yes, then you should try the following methods.
1. Proper video file naming
The very first thing you should do is to give proper name for your video. It is not enough to give a name that is only familiar to you, but it should be readily be understood by potential viewers. Some of us have the habit to just name a video according to the default name given by the device you used to take video. If you don’t rename the file, your video will be more difficult to find. Therefore, give descriptive but short file name for your video.
2. Use common keywords
Keywords are very important because this will let YouTube know what your video is all about. Main keywords should be included in your video’s title.
Let’s compare a good and bad example. For example, your video is about teaching how to buy a domain on Namecheap…
A good example title would be: “How To: Register A Domain on Namecheap”
Instead of: “Buying Domain”.
The latter is broader unlike the former which is direct to the point and specific. While it is tempting to use mysterious titles to elicit curiosity to people, this type of name will not perform effective when it comes to SEO.
3. Add video transcript
The content of a video is difficult to index. This is the main reason that YouTube will index a video according to written words. A video transcript is very useful to add more description of your videos. Video transcript is like subtitles in movies.
4. Create YouTube Channel
A YouTube Channel is very important when it comes to video ranking. If you have a strong and solid channel, YouTube will recognize your videos and give preference to it when it comes to ranking. In addition to this, YouTube Channel can be helpful to link all your videos with each other. Once a person watches one of your videos, they will most likely click your other videos since they are already grouped together by categories, topics, and niches.
5. Post videos regularly
Fresh and new contents are more preferred when it comes to indexing. Unless your content is truly an evergreen video, YouTube will give priority for those recently uploaded videos. Online videos are like text content too. They will be pushed further and further down the bottom of the rank as time passed by.
6. Engage your viewers
Replying to your video’s comments and queries is one of the best ways to strengthen your online presence. Especially when someone makes a comment to your freshly posted video, you must reply to them as soon as possible since they are your stepping stones for more views.
7. Create a playlist
Playlist helps you group together videos scattered from one user to another. A playlist is a good indication that people love your content so much more that they add it to their playlist. Therefore, create a playlist so that YouTube will recognize your videos as something useful.
8. Use social media
There is no doubt that videos featured in other websites will gain more viewership compared to those videos stagnantly waiting in YouTube to be viewed. In addition to this, videos featured in other media such as TV are called “YouTube sensation”. With so much publicity, videos in this category will gather more viewership.
Furthermore, you can use other social networking sites such Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Tumbler, Flickr, Instagram, Vine, and others to get more people to watch your videos. You can either post the URL of your video or the video itself.
9. Use tags
Adding tags on your videos will help people find your videos more effectively. Tags are words that you think people will use when looking for a video. Therefore, use tags as a means to funnel more people into your channel. Choose tags that are the most relevant, descriptive, and accurate in describing your video.
10. Add captions
Captions refer to the “subtitle” on your video. YouTube has a software program that automatically covert audio to readable words. Though they have a long way to improve the accuracy of voice-to-caption feature of their website, captions are still very important and helpful especially for people who have hearing problems.
11. Create original and high quality content
Video content should be unique, interesting, and engaging. In addition to this, people will keep on viewing your video and even share it to other people if your video content is helpful and relevant.
These are some of the best ways to SEO your YouTube videos. When done correctly, you can drive exponential traffic to your website. Take time to consider each of the tips mentioned here and watch your traffic grow each day.
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