YouTube SEO: get better results with video

One of the favourite things to do online is watching videos. As a business, producing videos takes time and money, so here are some YouTube SEO tips to help you get the most out of them.

YouTube is a search engine

In case you didn’t know: YouTube is a search engine and is owned by Google. Because indexing video content is tricky, descriptions are extremely important.

Know what matters to your target audience

When thinking about how to create an interesting video, you need to know what matters to your target audiences. We recommend creating a comprehensive keyword analysis It’s worth doing, because you’ll soon discover what questions people have about your products and services. Bear in mind that when people search online, it’s because they want to find an answer to their challenges.

YouTube SEO tips

1. When you upload your video, make sure you include a good description. Include the most important keywords in the description.
2. Give the video an appealing title. This title should attract visitors and encourage them to watch the video.
3. Create a YouTube business channel. Upload a logo and add an interesting description (including your focus keywords, of course).
4. Upload the videos to the website, but make sure to include structured data. By adding videoObject structured data You provide search engines such as Google with more background information. The aim here is for Google to display your video in its search results as well.
5. Encourage interactions on YouTube videos. One of YouTube’s ranking factors is the number of interactions. These include ‘thumbs up’ and ‘thumbs down’ and comments.
6. Increase the number of subscribers to your YouTube channel. Think of these subscribers as a form of link building. The more subscribers you have, the better your results and the higher your rankings. You’ll gain more subscribers precisely by regularly publishing new video content.
7. Make sure the videos aren’t too long-winded. Exactly how long they should be depends on your target audience. You can hold the attention of the over-50s for longer than that of younger people.
8. Be inspiring. Find the right tone to encourage people to watch your video for longer, subscribe to your channel and establish your business as an authority.

YouTube Analytics

YouTube has its own analytics tool for viewing statistics for each video. Compare the results for each video and analyse why one video performs better than another. Use this knowledge when assigning your next scripts. For each video, you can clearly see at what point most people stop watching. 

Using YouTube Ads

You can work organically to achieve high rankings on YouTube, but you can also use it effectively for advertising. Not every video is suitable for YouTube Ads. Bear in mind the message and the desired call to action. The advertising platform is YouTube Ads. You link Google Ads to your YouTube channel (this isn’t a requirement, mind you; as long as you include a YouTube video in the advert). 

Call on SEO Ninja to carry out keyword analyses and optimise your descriptions. YouTube Ads are also a great tool for building a positive brand image for your business amongst the right target audiences. Video marketing isn’t cheap, but with the right expertise, every euro invested will be more than recouped.