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8 Simple YouTube SEO Tips to Rank

Your Videos Higher in Search

Guest Author
Last Updated: November 14, 2023 | Video Marketing

Home — Blog — 8 Simple YouTube SEO Tips to Rank Your Videos Higher in Search

Everybody knows that people would rather watch a video

than read a big long blog post (I know, I should have done this
as a video too—maybe one day). In fact, 59% of executives
say they would rather watch a video than read text. That’s a
lot of people. Which means that video SEO can have countless
bene"ts: increased watch time, broader brand awareness,
and more sales and leads.
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 Search engines like YouTube and Google use the same
fundamentals in their algorithms for website and video
ranking. The focus is on providing the user with the very best
experience possible, and YouTube video search results have
now been combined with Google search results to simplify
how people search.

In this blog, I’m going walk you through exactly how you can
drive traf"c to your YouTube videos using some simple SEO
tips.

8 simple YouTube SEO tips to rank

higher in search
You can combine your SEO and video strategy to help
supercharge your marketing in a pretty straightforward and
simple way. Doing this will not only improve your video watch
time, but also get your customers’ attention, and help you
further down the line with things like YouTube remarketing.
Here are eight steps to improve your YouTube SEO to drive
more traf"c and video views.
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 1. Pick your keywords wisely
SERPs are getting more competitive every month. New
competitors, new products, new services—everyone is
"ghting for the top spots. So, "nding ways to diversify
yourself and your offering is crucial. Do your keyword
research, and unless you can compete with really competitive
terms, pick keywords that can get you volume, but are less
competitive.

You can use the same keyword research tools you’d use for
PPC or SEO, like

WordStream’s Free Keyword Tool

Google Keyword Planner.

Moz or Semrush.

Google search—search suggest, people also ask, related

searches, and more!

2. Use keywords in your video title

Understanding the search intent of your audience is the "rst
step. We know that the most common types of search intent
include informational, commercial, navigational, and
transactional. So, matching what your video is about with the
intent of your customer is going to be really important for
getting your video visible in search results.
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 Secondly, make sure, you understand WHY you want to create
a YouTube video and who the primary audience is. For
instance, if you are looking to showcase a product review,
then use the product name in the video title and description.
It sounds really simple, but there are so many YouTube
channels that miss this step and their videos show up low on
Google and YouTube search results.

Below is an example of how competitive the term ‘dell

computer review’ is. This term is something that someone
may be searching for when they are considering a product.
These videos are pulling through from YouTube, but also from
other websites and blogs around the web.
:
 3. Include the keyword in your video !le
Super simple, but YouTube may use this as one of the ranking
factors when it comes to showing your video in search results.
If the "le name you are uploading has the target keyword in it,
your video will have a much better chance of being ranked—
and a much better chance of gaining more search volume.
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572
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When uploading a new video, you can see the "lename.

YouTube uses this to make sure the video is relevant, so
ensure your "le name is updated before you upload it!

4. Optimize your YouTube video description

One of the most important ranking factors for YouTube SEO is
making sure you have a solid, optimized video description.
Whenever you change or update any YouTube video element
—which includes video descriptions, subtitles and
closed captions, and video thumbnails—YouTube will
reevaluate the video. This can be good or bad… so it’s
important you get it right the "rst time!
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 YouTube recommends that you put your most important
keywords in the "rst couple of sentences of your description –
and that your description should be no longer than 200
words. Broadly speaking—make your description useful. If it
doesn’t help a user—delete it.

You can see below, that the keyword I have typed into Google
is in bold in the descriptions of the videos that have shown
up. This is YouTube’s way of telling me the videos are relevant
from the video descriptions.
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 Youtube has some great resources on the Youtube Creator
Studio which is a resource that is always updated with current
information. It has a handy list that guides you through the
steps to a successful video description:

Include an overview of your video using natural language

—not just a stream of keywords.

Insert the most important keywords at the beginning of

your description.

Pick 1–2 main words that describe your video and feature
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 them prominently in both your description and title.

Use keyword tools such as Google Trends and the Google

Ads Keyword Planner to identify popular keywords and
their synonyms. Including these terms can help you to
maximize traf"c from search.

Omit irrelevant words in your description because it

creates a poor viewing experience and may violate
Google’s policies.

5. Use video hashtags to drive YouTube search

results
Across social media, Youhashtags (#) are now used to help
users "nd content that answers their questions across a range
of platforms. You can add hashtags to your YouTube video
descriptions and titles to help viewers "nd your video when
they search for a speci"c hashtag.

Tags speci"cally help drive search as they make key trends

more visible. Once you add a hashtag to the video
description, it will be shown above the title of the video and
then become hyperlinked.
:
 It’s also important to remember where you include video
hashtags here. If you add in a hashtag in the video title,
hashtags from descriptions won’t get displayed about the
video title.

6. Select a video category

If users are searching for a particular video with advanced
options, they can select the search to show videos from
selected categories. When uploading your video, it’s
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 important you contextualize your video with categories so
you will have a better chance of getting found by a user.

YouTube has a variety of category options to pick from, so you

should be able to "nd a category that suits your YouTube
videos. You can select the category options when uploading
your video.

7. Customize your thumbnail image

Thumbnails can help or hinder your YouTube videos. They are
the "rst thing that grabs people’s attention when they look at
YouTube search results. A strong thumbnail can lead to a
higher watch time, which can have a big influence on YouTube
ranking. Create something that grabs people’s attention and
stands out from the crowd so that your video gets noticed.
For example, these thumbnails are just taken from the video
itself and are probably not the most relevant for grabbing the
user’s attention.
:
 Creating a custom thumbnail is the best way to see results—
showing people what your video is about and how it will
bene"t them is the real key to success.

A great example of a customized thumbnail:

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 RELATED: The 12 Best Video Editing Software for Beginners

8. Add subtitles and closed captions

Using subtitles and closed captions is the "nal tip for success
on YouTube search.

While video subtitles are designed to communicate video

dialogue for viewers who can’t understand the video
language, closed captions are for viewers who can’t hear the
audio.
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 Both subtitles and closed-caption "les contain the text of
what is said in the video, like a transcript. The "le will also
contain time codes for when each bit of text should be
displayed through the video, so it can match up with speech
or another visual element. See what "le formats YouTube
supports here.

The other bene"t of having a transcript for your video is that

it can be picked up by broad search engines, just as a blog
would.

On the video upload screen, you can select your "le and video
language. There are a lot of really good guides out there for
how to create an SRT "le for your video. Here is one I use
often!
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 Achieve higher ranking with these
YouTube SEO tips
If you are looking to promote your business on YouTube, use
these YouTube SEO tips to help improve your video traf"c and
watch time:

1. Choose your keywords wisely

2. Include keywords in the title of the video

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 3. Include keywords in the video "le

4. Optimize your description

5. Use video hashtags

6. Select a video category

7. Use eye-catching thumbnails

8. Add subtitles and closed captions

And "nally, do your research as you would with any other

piece of content. Focus on creating evergreen videos that you
can build upon to strengthen your content portfolio. The
more helpful content you offer users, the more search volume
you will get to your business and YouTube channel!

About the author

Ellie Buckle is Head of Digital and Strategy at Purpose Media
where she helps drive impact and return on investment for
clients across the agency. You can read more of her work on
the Purpose Media Blog.
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 MEET THE AUTHOR
Guest Author
WordStream’s guest authors are experts,
entrepreneurs, and passionate writers in the online
marketing community who bring diverse
perspectives to our blog on a wide range of topics.

See other posts by Guest Author

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