How to Get More YouTube Views!
Expert Tips to YouTube Success
Find out how to attract more views for your YouTube videos and receive a search engine rankings boost with these simple but effective tips.
Over the last few years, video marketing has gained some serious ground against the traditional content marketing method of using blog posts and articles to promote a brand. YouTube is of course the platform of choice when it comes to video publishing. Not only does it attract over 7 billion video views per day, but it is also the second most-used search engine behind Google itself.
Why Use YouTube?
Content marketers will find YouTube to be a simple but effective platform to use. It allows you to get a strong brand message out there and engage with a vast number of potential customers or site visitors. YouTube is also low-cost as video production budgets can be extremely reasonable depending on the type of video that you’d like to market.
Uploading a video to YouTube is an effective way of launching an organic SEO campaign for a new website. It can be difficult as a newcomer to get ranked for particular key phrases when you have no digital presence on the web. However, Google acquired YouTube back in 2006, and therefore puts a lot of trust and authority in links that originate from the site. Content marketers who take the following 8 tips on board will be able to gain an advantage over competitors within their niche and get more YouTube views, as well as a search engine ranking boost.
Video Length
It is important that the length of the video you’re publishing is at least 1 minute long. This allows time for viewers to become fully engaged in the content. Originally, YouTube would give ranking preference to videos that gained the most clicks. However, over time, the platform realised that this caused problems with spamming. Instead, the longer your videos are, the more value they will provide a user with, and the higher your content will be ranked.
Video Name
Keyword research is essential when putting together a YouTube campaign. Marketers should take time selecting keywords that are closely related to their niche, but are not in a space that’s too competitive. Ideally you will choose long-tail key phrases that are relevant to your business but that your competitors have not chosen to target. Add these into your video title in the following format:
Another handy trick is to use your keywords in the name of the raw video file that you’re uploading. The search engines aren’t able to view the content within your video, so they’re reliant on markers such as the file name and its keywords to tell them what it’s about. This assists the engines in ranking your video correctly and makes it easier for users to find, and then click on, your material.
Video Description
If you consider that the purpose of using YouTube is to drive visitors back to your own website, then the video description field is one of the most important areas to focus on. It is here that you can insert information regarding your business; this should always include your all-important URL. Search engines will be able to use these details to connect the popularity of your YouTube video back to your website, which will in turn strengthen your domain and give your overall SEO campaign a boost.
In order to help Google ‘see’ the content of your video, you should also get a text transcript written and upload it into this field. You might like to include a couple of synonyms in your keyword list that are similar to your title.
Create a Playlist
An extra signal to send to YouTube is to create a playlist which includes your main keywords and includes your aptly-named video. This strengthens the importance of your video when it is associated with a particular set of keywords.
Use a Custom Thumbnail
Using a custom thumbnail is not compulsory, but it is something that YouTube itself suggests that you do. Rather than your video being displayed with a random still from within the content, you can instead upload a custom thumbnail with bright colours, a call-to-action and the name of your movie. This will massively increase the click-through-rate of your video, which increases the likelihood of more views and conversions.
Optimise Your Channel Page
Many YouTube users forget about their channel page, but this is another area that search engines use to identify your online presence. Therefore, it is important that you link to all of your social media buttons, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest or Instagram, in order to generate social signals for the engines to take note of.
You should use this area to follow channels within a similar niche to your own. This reinforces the idea of what your own content is likely to be about. The About tab is where you would give a summary of your business (and include a selection of your desired keywords, of course).
Promote to Social Platforms
As we have touched upon, social signals are a huge ranking factor with the search engines. So when you publish a video, it is not enough simply to leave it for others to find. Instead, market your video by linking to it from all of your social media accounts. The interaction across platforms and the activity which is generated as a result gives an enormous hint to the search engines that your video is worth promoting.
You should also spend some time seeking out Facebook or Google Plus groups that are relevant to your niche. You can message these groups and let them know about your content and ask for some feedback. By doing so, you will create highly targeted video views.
Remember your Links
A vital aspect of search engine optimisation is the practice of link-building. Make sure you link to your video from your own website and encourage others to do the same by embedding the video into their content. If you have more than one video on your channel, you should also build links between them. Within YouTube these count as ‘do-follow’ links which are powerful in the world of SEO.
Whether you are just starting out as a YouTube user, or if you already have a YouTube channel but are frustrated with the lack of video views that you receive, you can follow these tips to achieve greater YouTube success. If you’d prefer to let our specialists handle your video optimisation for you, just get in touch and we’ll be happy to discuss your requirements.
