YouTube Video Optimization Blog

Getting exposure and engagement on YouTube is more than just having a great video. This is a fantastic starting point, now it’s time to get some eyes on your content and maximize its effect.

What’s in a Title?

An engaging and interesting title may seem fun, but there’s a bit more to it. The title should always be at least five words long and the best results are found on tutorials, “reviews” or “how-to” videos, so using this type of language in your title will get a better Google and YouTube ranking.

Keywords are King

To figure out some keyword options try searching some that you are considering relevant to your topic, content or field and see if there are video results on the first page of Google. If so, that’s a keyword you should strongly consider because it could potentially help garner video rankings in Google and YouTube. If not, is there another keyword that could apply that’s similar? Go through a few words with this process to narrow down your ideas.

The Description Down-Low

The description is the primary factor that Google and YouTube rely on to understand what the video is about and determine the content segments. This is where you can describe some of the content so that YouTube and Google can understand what it is about. Don’t worry about giving away too much; people who are interested will most likely watch the video vs. read the full description. It should read almost like a mini blog. The description should be around 300 words (250 words are the minimum recommendation). At the top of your description include your website link to maximize click-through rates and your website traffic engagement. Finally, include your most significant keywords (only one or two) in the first 25 words of the text, and include these keywords at least three to four times throughout the description so Google and YouTube can comb the text and find them easily as trigger words.

Tag You’re It

The tags are not quite as important as other portions, but can help a bit with exposure of your video on YouTube. Include a few keywords to help YouTube and Google learn what your video is about. Use targeted tags as much as possible to show up more often as a related video in the sidebar area of YouTube, and rank for your target keywords when they are searched.

Stay tuned for how to get more eyes on your video when we talk about sharing tactics and ideas.

Video content is one of the top-ranking items to be shared online these days as it allows so much more to be expressed than just a photo or text.