How to Rank on YouTube

You want to be involved in all aspects of social media, and this includes YouTube.  Every month, YouTube received over 800 million individual visits, and shows off over 3 billion hours of video.  How can you use this powerhouse to further your video marketing strategy?  Here are some useful tips to get noticed on YouTube.

Orange County SEO can help you with YouTube and hundreds of other website tools.  Our social media marketing and management will help you get the very best out of all the media available to promote your website.

YouTube Video Content

YouTube ranks by content.  Not every ranking factor is under your control, but content certainly is.  If you create great content, viewers will want to see your videos.  Therefore, there are things you must consider when you are creating content.

• Title.  The title of your video is the first thing viewers see.  Be sure that your titles are very specific and guide users to click on your video.  Be sure to make your keywords relevant and to follow through on what you promise.
• Description.  You want a relevant description that makes your video stand out.  Descriptions should describe; make sure your audience understands what your video is about.
• Tags.  Try to have at least 10 tags that include keywords.  YouTube does not do semantic matching, so use every synonym you can think of.
• Transcription.  While YouTube’s automatic transcription is at best confusing, you can load your own transcription with keywords that will make the video pop up on searches.  Take the time to do the transcription and watch your hits soar.
• Think of your videos as a channel.  You are not posting a random video; this is part of your overall advertising strategy.  Build your channel authority by consistently posting great content and superior video transcripts.
• Delivery.  How users respond to your video will ultimately determine your rank, so be sure you deliver your great content with a great video.  If you get negative feedback, pay attention and fix the problems.

Social Media Engagement

No matter how great your content is, you have competition.  Therefore, you need to make sure that your viewers are engaged throughout the process.  YouTube ranks not just by hits but by the number of people who view all the way through.  Make a great video and this is not a problem; make a bad one and your ratings will slide, no matter how many “clicks” you get.

• Share your video everywhere.  Link it to social media, your blog, and your website.  The more opportunity you give people to see it, the better your rank will eventually be.
• Use inbound links.  Just like Google, YouTube uses inbound links to determine your ranking as well.  YouTube wants to see inter-channel links as well as links from outside.
• Use social shares.  Share your video through Twitter, Facebook, and other social media to quickly build your ranking.
• Get loyal friends and clients to embed videos.  You can also embed videos in your own website or blog.
• Use comments to your advantage.  Respond if someone asks questions in the comments section, but do not try to overdo it by posting fake comments.  If you can persuade someone to make a video response, you are well on your way to high rankings.
• Employ the “likes” and “favorites” aspects of YouTube.  YouTube gives people the opportunity to like or dislike your video.  Pay attention to the feedback you receive.

Orange County SEO is ready to work with you to build your YouTube advertising strategy.