8 Tips to Get Youtube Video Come Up First in Search Results

Along with Google, Facebook, Twitter or any other social media, YouTube is becoming one of the most used search engines.

With billions of videos on YouTube aiming to take part in top search results, making your videos appearing in Search Engine Results Page could actually be hard.

It could be quite frustrating in knowing that we already did what we can to make our videos viewer-friendly but we're still not getting the top spot in SERP.

And perhaps you may be questioning yourself right now "Aren't my videos worth watching?" "Is it worth sharing?" "Is it viral worthy?"

If your YouTube videos were not ranking, perhaps the problem is not within your content. You may be lacking something that is an important part of getting your contents ranked... the SEO or Search Engine Optimization.

What is SEO?

For those who don't know, SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the practice of optimizing contents in order to acquire a targeted traffic either through organic or paid search results.

It's basically the thing that you do to make your videos visible in search result pages.

Search Engine Optimization is an important component in order for your content to be visible in Search Engines.

Youtube SEO Tips to Getting your YouTube Videos Come Up First in Search Results:

1. Put an importance to video thumbnails.
2. Make your video at least 3-minute long.
3. Rename your video file name with target keywords.
4. Have a catchy title and description.
5. Add searchable tags.
6. Categorize your YouTube video.
7. Put subtitles on your video.
8. Share it across social media platforms.

1. Put an importance to video thumbnails.

Thumbnails play an essential role in your video. Since it is the first thing that an audience see, putting a good thumbnail could lead them to click on it.

When choosing a thumbnail, put less text and choose photos that give your audience an idea of what your video is all about.

Apply principles of design such as color contrast, appropriate font style and size.

Choose a different font color for the most important text in your thumbnail so that viewers could easily distinguish what's in your video.

The standard size of a good thumbnail is 1280×720 pixels with a minimum width of 640 pixels while the standard aspect ratio most viewers prefer for previews is 16:9. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

If possible, add some important keywords that are the same to what a normal user would search for in a text.

Do also note that less is more. That means to say that less details in your thumbnail could create more curiosity among viewers.

Also, make sure that your thumbnail can be found in any part of your video. 

Putting a thumbnail which doesn't acts appeared in your video is not a good practice. It's clickbait, like a form of scam by putting a nice photo to encourage viewers but doesn't actually showed up in your content.

When making thumbnail, do atleast three to five thumbnails so that you have more choices.

Experiment their design and assess which is visually appealing and more likely to encourage viewers in SERP.

And don't overdo it. Don't put too much details in your thumbnail. Put it instead in your video description.

There's actually a study which suggest that putting too much details in something could cause confusion and frustration, so better not to overstuff your thumbnails.

2. Make your video at least 3-minute long.

There's actually no minimum length when it comes to video duration. Even a 30-second video will do.

But come to think of it. Put yourself in your viewer's shoes and try to ask yourself these questions when watching your video.

"What would I even learn in a thirty-second video? A minute? Or two?"

Would your viewers learn in a 30- or-60-second video?

A longer watch time gives search  engines an indication that the longer the video is, and the longer time people spent on it, the higher the quality and engagement it has.

Facebook's rules for its publishers suggest that a three-minute up video long is enough. This is their standard so that a video could be more likely to be shown to more people.

While Facebook's standard varies from YouTube's, we can't deny that a bite-sized content is actually more enticing to watch.

The thirty-second rule is more applicable to advertisements, infomercials, trailers, or teasers.

3. Rename your video file name with target keywords.

Before uploading any of your YouTube video, consider renaming it with popular and target keywords.

A good file name has to be in uppercase in the first letter only and with no spaces.

Ex. BloggerRankingFactors

4. Have a catchy title and description.

Along with YouTube thumbnail, title and description are also determining factors for higher chances of video clicks.

These three components are the major thing that a viewer should see in a search result for it gives them the gist of what they're looking for, so optimizing your title and description is a must one.

How to make a good YouTube video title and description?

Paying attention to your title and description is a must in order for your video to rank so these are the strategies to make better titles and descriptions:

Tips for a catchy YouTube video title:

If possible, keep your titles within a 70-character limit (including spaces). Though YouTube allows up to 100 characters, anything that exceeds the 70-character standard will be truncated in search results.

The title should be associated with what your video is about.

Don't forget to stuff it with your most relevant keywords.

Guide for a better YouTube video description:

Putting a good description, caption, or a transcript of your video may increase your chance of higher ranking. A description text communicates with search engines and gives them indication that a certain video is rich in content.

When it comes to description, it should contain details of your video.

Your description should contain what your potential subscribers should expect from your video. If you have used a copyright music, tool, or service, try putting them before the ending of your video description.

Just like with title optimization, don't forget to include your description with essential keywords.

If you have a blog, website, or an article related to your video, try including its link to the video description so that your viewers have an option to read an article version of your content.

It's not a good idea of shortening your links and putting them in your description. It would be less likely to be clicked on since the real links were hidden and shortened.

The link should be raw, readable that a normal reader could read and could make them think that it's associated with your video.

They should see the keywords in your link so that they would get the chance to click on it.

Putting at least three hashtags containing important keywords about your video is also a very good practice.

These three hashtags were prioritized by YouTube to show on top before your video title.

5. Add searchable tags.

YouTube tags a.k.a video tags are words or phrases that audience use in searching a specific content.

Tags describe your video and give crawlers clue about it.

These tags are helpful because it is along an important factor in YouTube's search algorithm.

How to make good video tags for YouTube?

•Use keyword research tools.

•Make a list of important keywords.

•Make your tags not more than six words each.

•Add more relevant, and synonyms of keywords in your tags.

6. Categorize your YouTube video.

Chances are high that your video will be shown to people based on their interests if you categorize it based on  its topic.

If it's more about people, categorized it as People and Blogs. If it's news, label it as News.

7. Put subtitles on your video.

Don't underestimate the power of subtitles!

It may not be necessary having them but it surely does affect engagement and watch time.

In fact, Facebook's study suggests that videos which have subtitles have increased their watch minutes. It is because subtitles give viewers enough and readable information even when an audio is muted or when in an autoplay news feed.

Subtitles are also helpful for those who have hearing impairments and non-English speakers.

8. Share it across social media platforms.

Last but not the least, is the utilization of social media.

In fact, these are the most powerful tools to drive traffic to your videos.

Search engines favor videos that are widely viewed and shared online.

The more the content is viewed and shared, the higher the indication that people engage with it.

In fact, Facebook suggests trending videos that are more than a hundred thousand up to million views.

When sharing your YouTube video in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or in any social networking sites, make sure to also put it a good description and why should people watch it.

Try putting relevent hashtags related to your video so that it could be easily filtered and shown in search results page.

Benefits and why's of doing SEO in video:

As stated earlier, applying Search Engine Optimization to your videos gives you higher chances of appearing in relevant search results.

When you achieve the top spot in SERP, your video would gain more clicks which increase your watch hours and possible subscribers.

That way, you could potentially monetize your YouTube channel.

What are the requirements to monetize your YouTube channel:

Since YouTube is a partner company of Google, you can earn money from your contents via Adsense by compying these three requirements according to YouTube Partner Program:

•Have at least 1,000 subscribers

•Gain a total minimum of 4,000 hours of watch time

•Compy with YouTube Partner Program Policies

Make sure that you have those three requirements in the last 12 months to be able to participate in YouTube monetization.

How to know if you're eligible for Youtube monetization?

Just go to your dashboard and see if you have already completed the requirements. When you're ready, Adsense will email you and a sign up button will be available.

Performing SEO is also a strategic way of driving traffic from YouTube to your blog or website.

A site that was referred by a genuine traffic tends to be more enticing in the eyes of search results by increased visibility.

If you also have an article version of your YouTube videos, embedding them is a great help. Readers won't be bothered to leave your site just to move to YouTube.

Read: How to Embed YouTube Video in Blog Displaying Full Thumbnail

When perfectly optimized, your YouTube video and article could rank in search results which is a good indication that you have a very rich content.

So those are the optimization tips on how to rank your YouTube videos' higher and make it appear on the first page of search results of search engines such as Google and YouTube. And when properly done, the traffic could be a potential income and credibility trust.

What do you guys think?

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