YouTube Channel SEO: Ways To Rank On #1 Spot & Get More Views

Do you know 59% of people prefer watching videos rather than just reading a blog post?

And, this is a lot! 

That means you must be focused on doing YouTube channel SEO and work on increasing the watch time, brand awareness, leads, and sales. 

And, with this, there comes the fact that Google and YouTube work on a little similar algorithm. They both focus on providing the best user experience.

You must have seen now the YouTube search results have been combined with the Google search results. 

Like this:

Now the question here is, how can you achieve such rankings on Google?

Well, believe me, that is very simple. Here, in this blog, I am going to explain how can you do that.

So, put your reading glasses on and get ready for these ultimate tips…

What Is YouTube SEO Strategy?

Search Engine Optimization is constantly changing and evolving which helps websites rank higher in SERP.

However, YouTube SEO is a little different than website SEO. To perform SEO on Google, you would require headings optimization, keywords optimization, and backlink creation to rank in SERP. On YouTube SEO, you would require optimizing channels, playlists, videos, thumbnails, and descriptions. 

You must have known, in order to rank higher on YouTube, your video must be SEO optimized, the title and description must be good, and you must perform SEO on YouTube videos. 

But… but… YouTube SEO is much more than that. 

Here you should know the fact that search engine bots can’t see images and watch videos. They rely on the text description to know about any image or video. 

So, basically, that opens a gate for you to optimize your YouTube videos properly and in a way that search engines understand.  

11 Simple Ways To Rank No.1 Spot And Get More Views And Subscribers As Possible

To make your YouTube video rank No. 1 on YouTube, there are some tips that you need to follow:

Find The Right Keywords

Keyword research is the very first step when you wish to rank your video. Without the right keyword, you simply cannot rank in SERP. 

Of course, when you have no idea about which keyword is suitable for your business or video, how would you be able to rank?

When the SERP is being flooded up with new competitors every day, and everyone else is just fighting for that No1 position… it becomes crucial to perform keyword research. 

Find keywords that you can compete and win on… such keywords are those which has higher volume but less competition. 

To find the right keyword, you can use YouTube itself.

Let me show you how:

Go to YouTube and type anything related to the video you wish to post. 

Suppose, I want to create a video about SEO…

As soon as I type my keyword in the YouTube search bar, it shows me other keywords. Isn’t it amazing?

The next place, I am gonna get keywords for my videos is, YouTube videos itself. 

I am gonna show you this too. 

Find out the most popular video in your niche and find out how they have embedded the keywords

I came across this video by Ahrefs

And, now you are going to see how big brands inject keywords into their videos.

And now, check out their description

Can you see how they have injected keywords in the video description? You can take inspiration from there and apply the same keywords to your video. 

And… you can find more keywords through Google search, search suggestions like YouTube, people also ask, related searches, etc. 

Read More: 11 Best Keyword Research Tools In 2022 

Add Keywords To Your Video Title & Description

Use keywords for your video title with an understanding of the search intent of the user. Sometimes, your title will play an important role in determining whether the viewer will click on your video or not. 

So, make sure the video title is not only compelling but also very clear and concise. And, most importantly, don’t forget to add keywords in your title as it helps the search engine best match your video with the searcher’s query. 

Recent research conducted by Backlinko concluded that video titles with the exact keyword match get more clicks over the other videos. 

See the graph below:

So, make sure you use the exact target keyword in your title and the description as well. 

And, don’t exceed your title by more than 60 characters or it will cut off from the result pages. 

This may sound simple to do but it is a very difficult job. 

So, till now, it was all about the title. Now, let’s discuss about the description. Let me explain what your description should be.

Of course, description is another important factor for video ranking in YouTube or YouTube channel SEO. 

The description must be longer and descriptive, unlike the title. YouTube gives you 5000 words worth of space. Use it properly. 

The attractive description can increase video engagement and help you earn points. 

Your video description also helps the YouTube algorithm to better understand your video content since the algorithm and YouTube bots can’t watch the video. 

Take advantage of this space and engage the users with an attractive description.  

Also, you can add CTAs to your description to make them subscribe to your channel or make them follow your social media handles.

Additionally, it is possible to include hashtags in the text, which create links that direct people to fresh videos related to that phrase.

But, you should be very careful. Don’t overdo it. Otherwise, YouTube will ignore them. You can only add 15 hashtags. 

Add Keywords To Your Video File

Do you even know that the name of your video file also matters when it comes to YouTube SEO? 

What I mean to say is, while uploading the video, you should take it seriously. You must add keywords to your video file name…

Don’t keep your video file name anything like, (e.g. VID_94800805.mp4), rather, you should add the keyword in your file name, like, (how-to-do-SEO-on-your-website)

This is how the algorithm of YouTube will get to know what your video is about. 

Apply Video Hashtags

Do you understand the importance of hashtags for your YouTube videos?

Like on LinkedIn or Instagram, hashtags are a new addition to the YouTube user interface that let you add relevant phrases to your material. 

Hashtags appear just above the title of your video for quick clicking and discoverability. Use your company name, as HubSpot does in the example below, or add relevant keywords.

Additionally, we advise you to include hashtags in your YouTube description, but keep it in check—the YouTube algorithm is continuously looking for spam.

Overusing hashtags might unintentionally flag you. Instead of utilizing all possible hashtags, pick two or three that you believe best represent your video.

Create Longer Videos

According to the study of Briggsby- mentioned the two findings of the relationship between the ranking and length of the videos

• Videos under two minutes are frequently placed improperly;
• the leading five places last, on average, 11 minutes and 44 seconds.

These are the reasons why you must start creating longer videos. Make videos longer than 10 minutes. 

Of course, they are important for people who are looking for depth content. On the other hand, videos of less than 2 minutes don’t seem to satisfy the query of the user. 

These are just findings on the basis of our research and to provide you guidance about what should you do. 

Therefore, if you invest in great material, you shouldn’t be concerned about the video’s duration as much.

Make People Engage With Your Videos

Just like we do off-page SEO for websites, we cannot perform link-building on YouTube. 

So, now the question is, what is going to work for YouTube then?

Even, If you make backlinks for your video, it will only give you more views but it is not going to help you in rankings on YouTube. 

On the video platform, however, audience involvement is referred to as off page SEO.

Since the channel has no control over how many comments and likes it receives or how long viewers watch a video, this may only encourage users to engage in more conversation. And the algorithm gives that a lot of weight!

You can encourage your viewers to:

• Subscribe to your channel 
• Like and comment on your video 
• And, share the video 

Basically, these are the factors that determine if the video meets the expectation of the user or not. 

And for comments, it is better if you comment them back! This is how you will make your user feel valued and he will comment more on your channel.

And, you must keep on finding the strategies to keep your users engaged on your channel and videos. 

If you don’t have strategies, people will leave your video in between and will not watch it fully. 

Or, you can also pin a comment on your video. not just to respond to others, but also to give readers additional worthwhile content.

Now, the majority of the above SEO advice depends on you choosing the right term and advertising your video. 

And not all of those suggestions can be implemented only through YouTube. Consider using some of the tools listed below to optimize your video for search if you want to get the most out of your videos 

Promote Your Channel

To get more views on your YouTube videos, you must bring more people to your channel first. 

Your videos will become more visible on YouTube by having their title, description, and tags optimized.

However, you must have a number of additional marketing channels that may be utilized to advertise films elsewhere and boost your views.

You can do the following things:

• Embed the videos in the linked posts on your blog.

• To put on your website, make corporate movies and product demos.

• Make use of email marketing and signatures to promote your videos.

• Make the footage available on social media

• Video responses to user remarks and comments

• Participate in discussions in forums, groups, and Q&A websites (like Quora), and answer questions from people using videos from your channel.

Make sure that anything you’re doing is relevant. Only suggest videos in situations where they are pertinent and will benefit the user.

Create An Eye-Grabbing Thumbnail

Your video thumbnail is the main image of your video that users get to see on SERP.

As we discussed above, your video title plays an important role to make users take action and here the same things goes with the thumbnail as well. 

This thumbnail, together with the video’s title, informs viewers about the video’s subject matter, which might affect how many clicks and views your video gets.

Although you may always choose from the auto-generated thumbnail options provided by YouTube, we strongly advise creating a personalized thumbnail. 

Pictures with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 1280×720 pixels should be used, according to YouTube. 

These images should be stored as 2MB or smaller.jpg,.gif ,.bmp, or.png files. Following those guidelines might assist to guarantee that your thumbnail displays in the same high quality on various viewing platforms.

Use websites like Canva, which provides designs specifically for YouTube video thumbnails, if you need inspiration for photos.

Make sure nothing crucial in your thumbnail is obscured by YouTube’s overlay of the video time in the lower corner of the thumbnail. Also bear in mind that Google utilizes image recognition to remove certain graphics, like the YouTube logo, automatically.

Build Links To Your YouTube Channel

This is the best way to do YouTube channel SEO is to build backlinks for your channel. The inbound links that you will get are enough to prove your authority in your niche.

You can use Quora to get backlinks for your YouTube channel. Let me explain how: 

Don’t be hesitant to promote your videos and/or channel, however, you shouldn’t make it look spammy.

More than just the number of views you will receive on social media networks, sharing has a bigger total worth.

Sharing on social networks can help you increase your social presence and create links to your channel. Win-win situation.

Make careful to distribute the video URLs to as many platforms as you can. Try not to spam or manipulate others into connecting back to your material since Google detects links coming from many different kinds of sources, some of which are excellent and some of which are not so good.

Categorize Your Videos

A movie can be categorized after it has been uploaded under “Advanced options.” On YouTube, selecting a category is another approach to organize your video with related material so that it appears in various playlists and is seen by more people who fit your target demographic.

It might not be as straightforward as it seems. In actuality, it’s crucial to follow a thorough procedure to decide which category each video fits in. Respond to inquiries like:

• Who are the leading creators in this genre? What do they excel at and what are they recognized for?

• Exist any trends among the viewers of comparable channels within a specific category?

• Do the videos in a category have anything in common, such as production quality, duration, or format?

Track Your Analytics

The last step that is remaining to perform YouTube channel SEO is to track your analytics. It is the best way to find out where do you stand and what needs to be improved.

There is a fantastic built-in analytics feature on YouTube. These are some crucial metrics to be aware of.

Watch Time

the overall duration of time people spend interacting with your content.

CTR of impressions

how frequently viewers choose to watch your video after first viewing it on their home page.

Cart CTR

akin to the aforementioned, but with YouTube cards integrated into your work.

Traffic Sources

how users arrived at your content and where they came from.

Unique viewers

a projection of how many users will view your content over a certain time frame.

subscriber Growth

How your subscriber count has evolved over time in relation to things like geography, certain videos, time frames, etc.

Tools For YouTube SEO

Canva

You may already be aware of Canva if you work in marketing or content creation, and for good reason.

A terrific and user-friendly design application called Canva makes it easier to create visuals for social media, cards, and other things.

Additionally, it just so happens to feature a template designed just for producing YouTube thumbnails.

Remember that choosing the right thumbnail is essential for attracting clicks, and Canva makes creating the ideal one simple.

VidIQ Vision

Nothing makes stats analysis simpler than an excellent Chrome browser plugin.

Every YouTube marketer and content producer should take a look at VidIQ.

It may be used to examine any popular YouTube video and discover its key factors for success.

Check out a video’s tags, its rate of popularity, its average watch duration, and other information with VidIQ. Use what you’ve learned to then successfully enhance your own content.

TubeBuddy

How about a tool that streamlines almost every aspect of managing a YouTube channel?

A complete choice that offers all of that and more is TubeBuddy.

Consider useful tools like keyword explorers, rank trackers, and automated language translators.

Additionally, TubeBuddy facilitates the production of your videos and their subsequent promotion.

Ahrefs Keyword Explorer

If you enjoy using excellent SEO tools, you may already be utilizing Ahrefs Keyword Explorer in your current plan of action.

It’s an excellent tool that enables you to track ranks, look up keywords, and predict probable changes in traffic for any website.

Additionally, you may filter your results for any popular search engine, including YouTube. Therefore, it’s time to start utilizing Keyword Explorer to support your YouTube SEO efforts if you haven’t previously.

You may learn about the monthly search volumes associated with particular keywords, the number of hits obtained by videos that are optimized for each phrase, and much more.

Cyfe

Give Cyfe a try if you’re looking for a comprehensive SEO solution that can assist you with a variety of tasks, including your YouTube SEO strategy.

It is a whole software package that enables you to monitor the effectiveness of every site where you publish content, including YouTube.

With Cyfe, you can quickly check the keywords you’re doing well for as well as find new ones to research.

It may be used for a variety of things, including traffic analysis and origin analysis.

Utilize Cyfe to boost your YouTube performance, and then use it to improve other facets of your content production process for even better final outcomes.

Conclusion

So, we have talked all about YouTube channel SEO; how are you going to achieve the no. 1 rank for your videos and get more views on your channel. 

If you follow all the tips that I have explained above, your channel is going to rank higher for sure. 

With all of these things, you should not forget about the user experience. It is a must! It is the very first primary factor. Without taking care of the user experience, one cannot even imagine getting rankings in SERP. 

You can comment below in the comment section, if you have any doubts or queries, I am going to reply for sure!