Understanding how to rank YouTube videos so that people notice your video posts first could not be more vital especially if your goal is to appear on the first page of YouTube’s search results.
Creating and sharing YouTube videos that generate little to no views can be very frustrating, especially when you’ve devoted time and money to creating YouTube video content.
There are several actionable steps you can take to increase your rank on YouTube with videos, like implementing YouTube SEO in your video description, tags, keywords, file names, and other aspects of your YouTube channel.
In this blog post, I’m going to show you how to rank YouTube videos effectively to help you get your YouTube videos closer to the top of the YouTube search results page for your target keywords.
What is YouTube SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. This is a popular online marketing strategy that uses keyword research to get your website, or in this case, your, YouTube content to the top of search engine results pages.
If you were to type, “How to rank YouTube videos fast” into a search engine like Google or YouTube, you might see specific content related to that keyword phrase appear. The goal of SEO is to ensure that your content appears f
or target keyword phrases relevant to your business. If I offered YouTube ranking services then ranking for a keyword phrase like, “How to rank YouTube videos fast,” would be important to me.
Whatever keywords (YouTube ranking videos), or keyword phrases (How to rank YouTube videos fast) that people type into search engines like YouTube, are very important to consider in SEO. For YouTube SEO, you need to strategically implement these keywords and phrases in your video title, description, and even in your video thumbnails to rank higher in the YouTube search results.
There are many different YouTube ranking factors that go into whether your videos appear higher on search results and suggestions. However, YouTube SEO will help show the YouTube algorithm that you are giving your audience exactly what they are searching for, which is very important in getting your content to rank higher on YouTube.
Creating videos that are engaging isn't the only aspect of getting your video content on top. The YouTube SEO process is an excellent way for new channels to grow faster by using the target keywords and other optimization strategies in your video.
This process includes creating content that your audience wants to see, conducting thorough keyword research, optimizing your content when uploading it to the platform, promoting it (if your budget allows), and monitoring your video performance through the YouTube analytics dashboard.
YouTube SEO is a really great way to rank your videos higher on the platform, increase YouTube or video channel views, subscriptions, comments, and increase your reach to new audiences on the platform.
5 Steps to Rank YouTube Videos Fast:
If you want to rank your YouYube videos fast, you need to start thinking about YouTube search engine optimization. Here are 5 YouTube SEO tips that will help you get started.
1. Understanding YouTube Ranking Factors
Knowing what goes into getting your video on top is an important first step because this will help you understand what type of video you need to create in order to have a higher-ranked video. It is also important to note that… Yes, the algorithm is responsible for ranking videos, but as any YouTube marketing expert will tell you, algorithms can be very unpredictable.
YouTube videos can be ranked on Google in the form of a blog post or directly on the YouTube search results page. Generally, there's a higher chance that your audience will watch your video if it appears higher in the search results, but it’s also important to note that some of those higher-ranking videos may not have the answers that your audience is looking for.
This is where creating great, value-centered videos comes into play.
If your videos provide the answers that your audience is looking for and they watch the majority of the video straight until the end. YouTube’s algorithm will prioritize your videos allowing it to rank higher on the platform because it will determine that your audience finds your video to be the most helpful content related to that particular keyword search.
Great YouTube video content will always be prioritized.
Once you understand the process of increasing your YouTube ranking and the crucial factors that go into YouTube SEO, you can start thinking about how people use the platform and what keywords they typically use.
2. Conduct YouTube Keyword Research
Another thing to take into account when conducting keyword research is the search volume of keywords as well as a solid understanding of what types of keywords your audience will typically look for on a platform like YouTube.
Did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine on the internet? This means you can reach a wide range of viewers if you understand what keywords and phrases viewers search for.
The first step is to make a list of keywords that you would like to rank for and then compare that list to keywords that people are actually searching for. Aim to create content related to relevant and popular keywords.
Then you’ll need to conduct thorough keyword research to see if people are currently looking for your desired keywords. A quick and easy way to see what keywords are trending is to type your keyword into YouTube’s search suggestion bar to give you an idea of the search volume of different keywords. The phrases that get recommended are popular searches that people typically look for. You should implement them into your YouTube SEO strategy.
Then you’ll want to cross-reference your desired keyword list with the content already living on YouTube that’s ranking for those keywords. Take a look at what titles, descriptions, and tags they're using as well.
The last step is to take a look at your current YouTube analytics to see what content your audience likes the most. By doing this you can get a better understanding of what content to create and acknowledge areas you can improve on.
There are many tools you can use to improve YouTube video ranking and SEO. My personal favorite for anyone new to YouTube video ranking is Tube Buddy, this is a free optimization tool that makes ranking easy.
You can even make a casual note of the relevant videos ranking on your home page or the other suggested videos that pop up when you're surfing YouTube. You can use these descriptions to inspire your own YouTube video strategies or come up with new keyword ideas.
It is no easy task, but if you are willing to put the work into your keyword research then you are already one step ahead.
3. Add Keywords into your YouTube Video
Once you've done the research and understand what keywords you need to use to rank higher on YouTube, the next step is to implement your keyword strategies by adding them to your video.
Since the title is what people first see when they type something into the YouTube search bar, it's crucial for your YouTube video to include a catchy title that contains your target keyword in the title.
The second thing you want to consider is making sure you have an eye-catching thumbnail that clearly states what your video is about. This is not necessarily for YouTube itself, the thumbnail is primarily for your audience. A carefully selected thumbnail will encourage your user to click on your video. You can further optimize your videos and increase video clicks and views by implementing YouTube SEO in the thumbnails of any new video you post.
Here are some key places to include your YouTube video keywords:
Video file names (keyword.mp4)
Video title name
Video description (listed multiple times)
Video tags
In the audio of the video content itself
You can always find new keyword ideas online, but you need to ensure that you're choosing relevant keywords that people are searching for. You can even include your videos in SEO-optimized blog posts to get your video shown to a broader audience.
4. Keep Your Audience Watching
The YouTube ranking algorithm also takes into account how long people watch your YouTube videos. When your audience watches your videos for longer periods of time, the algorithm prioritizes your YouTube video, increasing your chances of ranking higher on the platform.
One of the best ways to improve your YouTube video ranking is to captivate your audience by creating engaging videos and keep your audience constantly entertained throughout.
There are several different ways to keep your audience engaged throughout your video:
Hooking them within the first few seconds
Adding video or audio transitions
Adding cutaway shots, or music
Directly asking them to engage with you
Posting high-quality, but most importantly, captivating video content will keep your audience glued to your video, which will help increase your rank on YouTube.
5. Encourage Video Engagement
Once you’re starting to get views and more subscribers you can start to ask your audience for comments, likes, and more. Just like any other platform, YouTube videos have a higher chance of growing and ranking higher if they receive a lot of engagement. To increase your YouTube video ranking, you need to encourage your audience to engage with your video content.
You can optimize your videos by directly engaging with your audience in the video. This can be in the form of a custom thumbnail, asking the audience to subscribe, or just creating quality video content that your audience likes.
We also suggest video content with a lot of dynamics, so your audience stays interested or consider having a Q&A in the comments section of your YouTube video.
YouTube SEO Checklist
Before posting videos using YouTube SEO strategies, you have to make sure you did all the work required. This includes looking for keyword ideas, building a custom thumbnail, contacting writers to include your channel in their blog post, and even understanding the search intent of your viewers.
To make sure you're going into the world of YouTube SEO fully prepared, here's a quick YouTube SEO checklist that contains everything you need for a YouTube SEO video:
Keyword research to understand the search intent and phrases your audience types into the YouTube search bar
A video title that includes the target keyword
A video description that includes the target keyword and all the other secondary keywords you found with the proper keyword density
High-quality YouTube video that engages the audience
A custom thumbnail that includes the gist of your video
Why Use YouTube SEO?
If you want to learn how to rank your YouTube videos fast, the answer is YouTube SEO. Video marketing is an important strategy to implement for any brand or business, in fact here’s another blog post with 10 reasons why you need to invest in video marketing.
These 5 YouTube SEO techniques will help you get your content on top of the video results and suggested video lists. You can even improve your ranking further by paying for Google ads that show your channel and videos to the target audiences searching for something similar to your content. YouTube SEO can be pretty overwhelming for beginners, but these 5 actionable tips on how to rank YouTube videos fast are a good place to start.
Once you understand all the ins and outs of YouTube SEO, it's much easier, and you will find your views, likes, and subscribers growing faster than ever!
Do you need help putting these tips into action?
Our team of content strategists, content creators, and creative marketers would love to help. Book your free virtual consultation with us at any time.
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