YouTube SEO: 5 Steps to Ranking Videos

There’s probably a good chance that you know YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine.  With more than 30 million visitors a day, it’s important that you tap into this resource if you’re looking to capitalize on growing your brand and traffic.

If you want to know how to create a high-ranking video, let’s explore some simple steps you can take to succeed:

 #1 Find Your Keywords

The first thing that you’re going to want to do is know what you want to rank for.  Just like applying SEO to a website, researching your keywords are crucial.

To find these keywords for your niche, the process is relatively simple.  What you’re going to want to do is search for your keyword topic on YouTube or through the “videos” tab on Google.  Also, if you can, look at the organic results to see if any videos rank in the top 10.  If you can get your video to rank alongside these videos in the organic results, you can soar into the top results pretty fast.

In general, Google tends to rank videos for the following types of keywords:

.   How-to

.   Reviews

.   Tutorials

.   Funny

When researching your keyword, just make sure it gets at least 200-300 exact match search per month.  To find these numbers, use the Google Keyword Planner.

#2 Creating Your Video

While most anyone today can create a video on their personal computer, there is more to creating a great video than meets the eye!

Here are some things you should consider before jumping in and posting your first video:

.   Make sure your video is at least five minutes long.  Don’t try to babble to reach this number. Having a professional help you with writing a great script and plan the video will help greatly.

.   Your video should offer value.  If your video offers value, your conversion rates will be higher because of it.

.   If you want to keep it simple, a nice PowerPoint with a professional voice over recording will do the trick.

When you create a valuable video, you will more than likely be able to receive more likes, views and comments. 

#3 Uploading Your Video

When you’re ready to upload your video, it’s important that you keep SEO tactics in mind.

Video Filename

When you save your file, be sure to save it with your keyword.  So for example, if your video was about “ABC Reviews,” then you would want to save it as “ABC_Reviews.mp4.”

Video Title

Like the filename, make sure your video title is long and filled with powerful SEO keywords.  To see maximum results, place your keyword at the beginning of your title.

Description

When uploading, your description could be your most important part.  Since YouTube can’t listen to your videos, the algorithm will have to rely on your text and video content to determine what you should rank for.  Here are some simple guidelines to keep in mind:

1.       Before you write your description, place your URL at the beginning.

2.       Within the first 20 words, make sure your keyword is there.

3.       Always make sure your description is at least 300 words.

4.       Your keyword should be scattered at least three to four times.

Tags

Tags are just as important as your description.  Try to upload at least five to 10 tags that relate to your main keyword.

#4 Getting Traffic

Experts have noted that the number one way to rank your video is by the number of views it receives.  So if your video has no views, you can count on it sitting at the bottom of the results.

When getting views, it’s so important that you get real views.  Don’t focus on buying views from third-party foreign services that just send clicks — this isn’t going to help.

Instead, if you want to buy views, you’re going to want to make sure they count.  Since YouTube can spot fake views, you’re going to want to make sure that the viewer watches at least 35 percent of the video.

#5 Build Links

While views are going to count, building links are going to be just as important.  To make sure that video moves up in the ranking, consider building links via social bookmarking websites, blog comments and if you want, consider guest posting with your link.  Just like SEO for content, it won’t be any different for your video.  Try your hardest to create valuable links.

Well, there you have it.  As you can see, ranking a video for YouTube isn’t that hard.  As long as you take action, work hard and create something of value, you’ll find that YouTube is a great resource to build your brand and make money.