How to optimize video for YouTube search?

In today’s world, a comprehensive content strategy includes written work like blogs, articles and eBooks, as well as media like podcasts, visual assets, and videos.

People prefer to view a video rather than read a long blog post. According to a survey, 59% of executives say they would rather watch a video than reading text. Today, major search engines like YouTube and Google use the same fundamentals in their algorithms for website and video ranking. Their focus is on providing the user with the very best experience possible to enhance their knowledge and entertain them.

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, and it’s a great place to get video content discovered. Simply uploading a video does not mean that it will get maximum views. To rank higher in YouTube searches, you need to optimize your videos using a variety of techniques. From video descriptions, tags, playlists and more.

This article tells exactly how you can drive traffic to your YouTube videos using some simple tips.

Let’s study some tips to optimize videos for search

• Keyword Research − We do keyword research before writing website content, so we also need to conduct keyword research for the YouTube videos. This research will be the basis for the video topic and can ultimately help us to choose which keywords and phrases are to be used in the video title, description, tags, file names, and more.

• High - quality content − Quality content is the first requirement for search engine optimization. The videos should be thoughtfully shot, edited and have high video quality of 1080p. they should be relevant and informative to get more video views. Comments and like contribute to higher ranking in search. This video is famous across YT for its content.

• Justified video length − The videos should be informative to engage the audience. The length of the videos should justify the topic. It can be short or long depending on the relevant content. To increase video length absurd content should be avoided. The ideal length for a YouTube video is ten minutes. Generally, videos between seven to 15 minutes perform well on the platform.

• File name of the video should be relevant − When a video is shot it is saved with a numerical file name like 202245.mp4. When the video is uploaded, YouTube read the file name and code of the video to get an idea of what it’s about. So before uploading change the file name according to the keyword research so that YouTube understands the content of the video. You can see the default numerical file name in the image below.

• Optimize video title with Keywords − The most common types of search intent include informational, commercial, navigational, and transactional. So, use keywords in video titles to increase the search. The creator should understand their primary audience and they should target them with proper keywords. Our aim should be to make a clear title so that viewers can understand what is the video saying? The title should be approximately 60 characters so that it doesn’t get cut in search results.

• Upload Custom thumbnail − Thumbnail is the first expression of the video. YouTube creates thumbnails on its own but to optimize, creators should emphasize making creative custom thumbnails.

A very good example of custom thumbnail that had million’s view is down below. It has a great punchline too.

• A good video description − Like the title, the video description should be well written. The first three lines should convey the whole content of the Video. Include an overview of the video using natural language—not just mess up the stream of keywords. A well-optimized video description also helps the video to show up in the suggested video in the sidebar on YouTube, which can lead to more views. As shown down

• Credit courtesy content − Always add courtesy as it leads to increase the searchability and also adds the credibility to the video.

• Tag the location − The location of the video should be tagged as it increases the location - specific search of the video. Also, it helps the videos to be discovered in more local video searches. As you can see location Faridabad is added in the video in the image below.

• Use hashtags − Using tags on YouTube videos can tell both viewers and YouTube what your video is about. The video hashtags should be stuffed with keywords to increase the chances of searchability of your video. Tags specifically helps, drive search because they make key trends more visible.

• Encourage viewers to subscribe − Creators should encourage viewers to subscribe the channel, like and comment on their videos. The more engagement from the viewers, the more it tells YouTube that the particular video content has been well received and is popular among audiences, thus helping to improve channels and video YouTube search ranking. Create a subscription link and embed it everywhere on your social media presence.

• Select a Video Category − If the viewers are searching the video by advance options or filtering, they can select the search to show videos from selected categories. So, categorize your video for a better chance of getting found by a user.

Conclusion

Make a quality video that is informative, unique and engaging. Focus on creating evergreen videos that can make your channel a brand. The more helpful content a video or channel offers users, the more search volume they get for businesses and YouTube channels.