As everyone knows, Google is the largest search engine globally and businesses are fighting to push their websites to the top of the result page through methods like SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). But have you ever wondered SEO does not only apply to Google? YouTube, a video-sharing and social media platform, is actually the world's second-largest search engine. It has its own algorithm to decide which videos to be placed on top of the search results and which to be suggested to each specific audience. Take a look at the following four tips to increase your videos' exposure and boost your videos' ranking!
1. Include the "Keyword" in the Video Title
To those who are not that familiar with SEO, "keyword" is one of the considerations under the algorithm in deciding how relatable a website is according to the searching word entered by a user. For example, if a person enters the word "sushi" in the searching bar, videos of a traveller or vlogger eating sushi in Tokyo or a video of a chef teaching how to make salmon sushi roll would most likely show up as the top results simply because the word "sushi" is included in the title of the video. YouTube could identify the words used in the name of the video and make relevant suggestions when the search "keyword" matches the words used in the title.
2. Add Subtitles
Adding subtitles is probably one of the most tedious steps in making a video and one that most people would decide to skip through. Yet, the impact of having subtitles in the video is undeniably significant. Decent and easy-to-read subtitles allow viewers to gain a better understanding towards the video, while also acting as an index for the search engine to suggest relevant videos in the search results if the attached subtitle/caption files match the searching keywords.
3. Add Tags & Description
In most popular YouTube videos, you could often see the hashtags under the bottom left corner of the video, which often entails the major topic of the content (could be the people or objects shown in the video). These tiny little hashtags actually prove to be one of the guides to the searches made by viewers, where in many cases they are also the keywords that people typed in the search box.
As for the description, it tends to be included in many favourable videos and it often briefly introduce the content of the video. The use of the description is generally underestimated. According to the renowned SEO expert Brian Dean, a well-crafted and optimised description could help a video to be seen in the suggested video sidebars, which certainly proves to be a significant source of views for many channels.
4. Remind Audiences to "Like", "Comment" & "Subscribe"
I believe most of you would not be oblivious to these three words, "Like", Comment" and "Subscribe", as these three words are always mentioned by assumably every YouTuber. Indeed, the power of these three words are influential. To let a video place on the top of the search results, solely relying on the views of a video would be fairly insufficient. I believe most of you would have noticed that usually the videos appearing in top searching results are produced by YouTubers or channels that have an extensive fanbase (with many subscribers) and some would even be flooded with comments. The amount of these likes, comments and subscribers are actually some vital factors for YouTube to determine the popularity and relatedness of the video as it also reveals the interactiveness between the video and the viewers, which is something that YouTube values when deciding which videos to suggest in response to the searching keywords.
Need more advices for your videos? Let us know through info@4hk.com.hk and our specialists will help you.