Building and publishing YouTube content for a long time without any result is tiring. But it’s tough to reach your target audience if you don’t follow SEO strategies for YouTube. Like Google or other search engines, YouTube search also follows some rules.
If you’re struggling, it’s time to recheck your SEO efforts for YouTube. That’s why I’ve built a YouTube SEO checklist that can guide you. It contains fundamentals of YouTube SEO that’ll help you rank.
Check the checklist and ensure you’ve done everything here. Doing this will increase your scope to rank. So, don’t overlook anything.
Your YouTube SEO Checklist for Growth
1. Keyword Research
Keyword research is the most important part of any SEO effort. Keyword is the word people use to search for something. So, you must know what people use to search videos like yours.
If you want to do it for free, use the YouTube search bar. Write a word matching your video, and you’ll get a list of suggestions. These are the keywords you’re looking for. Pick a few that match your video. Use synonyms or add adjectives to get more suggestions.
For example- I can search for the perfect keyword using the phrases ‘YouTube SEO checklist’, ‘Best YouTube SEO’, ‘SEO for YouTube’, etc.
I’d suggest using a keyword research tool if you’re serious enough to spend for it. You’ll find some tools specifically for this platform. Also, some tools like Ahrefs allow you to conduct keyword research, particularly for YouTube.
Ensure you have at least 3-4 keywords for a video. Among them, one should be primary keyword, and others should be long-tail.
2. Make Killer Content
Content should be good enough to keep people attracted. All your SEO efforts will fail if content can’t keep people engaged.
Be specific about the aim of the content. Know the exact value you’re offering the viewers and focus on that. Also, keep your content visually appealing.
Make something that people like to engage in and share.
3. Check Video Length
Video length matters. The longer the video, the less people are interested in watching it. So, keep it precise. Based on your content, I suggest making videos of 8-12 minutes. If your video exceeds 20 minutes, divide it into two parts.
Too small videos won’t help you much. If it is not solely to offer value to the audience, don’t make 1-2 minute videos.
4. Write Optimized Title
Your video title should clearly say what’s in the video. However, it shouldn’t be too long. So, be precise and careful while writing the title. Keep it within 10 words.
Use the keyword here naturally. As the title must include the keyword, try variations if it doesn’t come naturally. If possible, use at least a number in the title. Don’t write numbers in words. Use digits.
5. Don’t Overlook Video Description
YouTubers often overlook the description and just put some random stuff here without optimization. But that’s not suggested at all. You should focus on video description, too.
The description should contain a longer discussion of what’s inside the video. Most visitors read the first few sentences only. So, make sure you’ve included the overall information here.
Include keywords in the description properly. Also, keep a long-tail keyword in the first sentence. Don’t include worthless information to enlarge the description. Stay focused and keep it precise. If you want to take people to your website, use CTA.
6. Create Attractive Thumbnail
Many people choose a video seeing the thumbnail. So, it should be carefully optimized, too. Include relevant images, graphics, and words on the thumbnail. But don’t make it too crowded. Keep it interesting or fun- based on your content style.
You can use a thumbnail template designed for your channel. All your video thumbnails should follow the template. Thus, people can easily detect you in the crowd.
7. Don’t Forget the Tags
Tags are important elements of YouTube SEO. They make your video discoverable for related search words.
Add tags that reflect the content in the video. You can use long-tail keywords here. Also, use synonyms that your target audience may use to search your video. Check the top videos for the same keyword and research their tags if possible.
8. Cold Captions are Important
In case of a messy video with background noise, you’d like to add cold captions to your video. It helps viewers to understand what you say. But you may avoid adding CC if the sound is pretty clear.
I suggest not avoiding that because crawlers also check the text in CC and index it. Don’t miss this easy chance to grab some more viewers. Add CC to your videos. Use keywords several times in your voiceover to keep them in CC. Doing this increases the chance of ranking.
Besides the above, you should focus on metadata and video transcripts.
Final Verdict
Optimizing your content for YouTube is not tough once you get used to the flow. So, you shouldn’t avoid it. If you’re serious about being a YouTuber, spend enough time to optimize your videos for YouTube searches.
The YouTube SEO checklist above is handy for spending your time wisely. So, don’t avoid it.
If you need assistance regarding this, don’t forget to contact us. We offer any kind of SEO support you need.
