YouTube SEO: The Ultimate Guide (2021)

What is YouTube SEO?

SEO means Search Engine Optimization. It is a method that helps to optimize content for search engines to rank high on Google. The content may be different like any text or images, or videos, or anything else. 

When it comes to YouTube SEO it is nothing different from it. YouTube SEO is something that involves optimizing your channel, video metadata like Title, description, hashtags, tags, and closed captions; playlists, and the videos themselves. 

When a person combines Relevant YouTube Content and Optimized Metadata they can get more and more views. It is like a formula of YouTube SEO.

You are able to optimize your videos by searching both of these within and outside of YouTube.  Google is the number one search engine. But as YouTube is in second place it also needs some algorithms. 

When you post anything on YouTube it appears in YouTube search results or suggestions through YouTube SEO. As well as in Google search you can also get featured for your video. These are called video snippets. 

It is a video that comes from a search result with a thumbnail. Harnessing the power of text of your video is the actual key component to YouTube SEO. Their text comes in the form of transcripts, closed captions, and subtitles.

Nowadays YouTube

YouTube! We are all now used to this word. Nowadays we cannot even imagine a day without YouTube. 

Mood off! Go and watch funny videos. Want to learn something! Search on YouTube and learn. Want motivation! Go and search for motivational videos. 

Not only these we can find any kind of videos, short movies, web series, learning videos, short videos, gaming videos, prank videos, etc whatever you want. 

There are a lot of YouTubers who create content then make videos and put them into YouTube. It is an American online video sharing app as well as a social media platform. YouTube is owned through Google. 

YouTube has now become the second most searched website. Every day more than a billion users use YouTube and more than one billion hours of videos uploaded each day.

In previous times for making YouTube videos, a creator had to make content in a good niche. Then they got a good engagement. And a lot of people subscribed to their channel. 

But as the day passed and the number of competitors increased it became harder now. Now there are many complex YouTube algorithms. 

A variety of factors indicate how well a video will rank on the platform. So YouTube SEO is everything that helps a video to rank.

What are the YouTube SEO factors that you should definitely pay attention to?

Google SEO and YouTube SEO are two different things. So there are some factors that are very important for you if you want to rank. Let’s discuss these factors:

1) YouTube Watch Time:

A good watch time is one of the main factors that you have to care about. When you put a video and the time your audience used to watch your videos that all-time counts as a watch time. 

The more time they see your videos the more watch time will be added. It can help you to get a good rank. So it is important to create an interesting video thus how they can engage an audience in their video.

2) YouTube Channel Watch Time:

Channel watch time refers not only to ranking only one or two videos, it refers to the total channel’s watch time. 

For this, the main center counts the watch times of each video which you have posted on your YouTube channel. 

If the watch time is good then your channel will rank. Sometimes it happens that the watch time of a special topic is too high then you can get so-called authority from YouTube. It indicates that future videos on that topic will be ranked even higher.

3) Audience Retention:

Through performance indicators the headquarter of YouTube measures how long videos are viewed on average. 

They display audience retention in two ways: Relative audience retention tells how much % of the video is viewed on average and Absolute audience retention refers to how many minutes the video is viewed on average 

4) Upload Frequency:

Frequency is important for YouTube SEO. When it comes to the frequency of uploading videos that can help those who are regular. 

It is another factor of YouTube that you must care for. When you start uploading frequently it can help you to make your account more active and through this your YouTube Watch Time Will increase thoroughly. 

Because when you start uploading more videos the people start seeing your video more.

5) YouTube Click-Through-Rate or CTR:

CTR is the rate of people who are clicking your video when that appears in their search. When a video is uploaded the algorithm is able to understand how relevant a video is for the user according to the thumbnail and video title that appears in search results or suggestions. 

So for getting a high rank you have to provide a catchy title and a good thumbnail.

6) Video comments and subscribers:

These things are also an important factor of YouTube. According to the number of subscribers, a YouTube page gets a good rank in  YouTube SEO and can get a perfect view.

How can you get engagement for your YouTube channel?

Engagement comes with a good audience. So now the matter is how you can get the candidates. So here we are discussing how you can increase your engagement. 

Identifying your YouTube audience:

It is important to identify your audience because suppose they love to watch funny videos and you put the Motivational videos, then it can harm your channel because they don’t want to see these types of videos and your watch time will not increase. So it is important. For this you can follow:

a) Know whom you’re targeting:

So when you are choosing a niche you have to know who your ideal audience is and always choose an interesting niche then you can get more and more engagement.

b) Know what they’re searching for:

When you come to know for whom you are creating then you have to be sure about what current videos exist. Always choose the better way to present your content. Try to gather all the information about what videos are currently out there. 

c) Create and optimize videos accordingly:

When you come to know everything then it’s time to create a video. But make sure to create more effective videos than others that are already on YouTube. Always try to optimize it correctly that can help you to capture the maximum amount of relevant viewers.

YouTube Keywords research:

We already talked about how to create a video. But do you know how you can make it more and more effective? The answer is the perfect Keywords research. Before creating a video you have to gather the right keywords for your YouTube videos. So follow these steps:

1) Generate a list of keywords ideas:

For a perfect video, you have to have a big list of potential keywords. But how? 

So for generating you can choose YouTube’s Search Suggest feature. So for this, you have to head over to YouTube and pop in a word or phrase. Then you can get a bunch of keywords that YouTube will provide you according to your typing. 

These are the best-suggesting keywords just because people basically type these words into YouTube. So don’t worry about these, these are 100% popular.

You can also search for the most popular videos in your niche on YouTube. Then you can know the keywords and copy keywords from those popular videos. If you want more keywords then put the underscore _ key. 

Go for various videos according to your niche. And notice which one gets more engagement then check out its title, description, and video tags. From YouTube traffic sources you can also get Keywords.

2) Choose the best keyword from your list:

If you are a newcomer then always choose the Keywords that have lower competition. When you choose the keywords that have a lot of competition then it doesn’t get a good rank in YouTube. 

For knowing this you can: Search the listed keywords in Google. Then you have to check the option “About results”. There you can see the total number of videos that are available on YouTube. 

3) Google Trends:

Google is your friend for this purpose. Google can help you to know about the Keywords. Not only YouTube, but your video can also get views from Google too. 

Google use these types of keywords for Video results:

• How-to keywords (“how to make black tea?”)
• Reviews (“Semrush review ”)
• Tutorials (“Setting up a website”)
• Anything fitness or sports-related (“football practice”)
• Funny videos (“Cute cats”)

YouTube Channel Optimization:

1) Channel keywords:

According to your channels’ niche, you can choose keywords for your entire channel. For this you have to go to YouTube Studio then Settings then go to Channel. It is crucial because people can easily find your videos by searching about the keywords.

2) Channel category:

When you set your channel keywords then set your channel category. It will tell your user what type of content you intend to create, as well as YouTube can display your videos to the right people. 

So for this go to YouTube Studio then Settings then Upload defaults at least select Advanced settings.

3) Channel ‘ABOUT’ tab:

There are many people who forget about the ‘ABOUT’ tab. But it is also a crucial element. There you are able to put a description for your channel, insert some links, and add details such as your email address & country. 

For this be sure this tab is more descriptive. You should use the keywords that help validate your content topics and provide your audience with a greater insight into you as a content creator.

YouTube Video Optimization:

1) Video title:

Video titles are an important element. You have to be sure about making it perfect. Always use more than 5 words in your title and that includes the keywords. 

The title should reflect your topic that contents in the video to the user Immediately. It also helps you to give information. You can use keywords in front of the title to boost your rank.

2) Video Description: 

A good video description can help you to gain a good rank. So for an effective description, you have to use your keyword up to 2-4 times, try to put your keyword in the first 25 words, and Make the description at least 250 words. 

It can help YouTube and Google to understand the context of your video. So always try to create an understandable description.

3) Tags: 

You should tag your video. Try to choose that fits your video to appear more often in the YouTube Search. You can also use some tools that generate tags for free. 

In these tools, you can see what kind of topics users want from you. For tags you have to go to YouTube Studio then Content then Your video after that in Details then Scroll down and click SHOW MORE.

4) Thumbnail: 

Thumbnails can attract more. So always try to go for a well-designed thumbnail. Try to add click bait titles on thumbnails so it will help you to get more views on your videos.

Some cool YouTube SEO tips:

• Adding competitors in your video tags
• Optimizing the video and thumbnail filename
• Using cards and end screens correctly
• Setting the video’s location