You’ve just created a video that you know people will want to watch. It’s informative, funny, timeless and everything else that makes for a “viral” clip. You’ve uploaded it to YouTube but the views aren’t multiplying like you predicted. What’s missing?
Simply submitting a video to YouTube does not mean people will see it. The video needs to be optimized for search, much like pages in a website. Thus, we give you our top four YouTube optimization tips that will help your video get found and watched.
1. An effective title. Put yourself in the mind of a searcher. How would you search for the video that you just uploaded? For example, an instructional video that provides the viewer with a step-by-step tutorial on making an apple pie should have a simple title such as, “How to Bake an Apple Pie” or “Making an Apple Pie From Scratch.”
YouTube allows 120 characters for the video title, but when it appears in search results, only the first 50 to 60 characters are seen. So try to get important keywords as close to the start of the title as possible. And like Google, YouTube offers a keyword suggestion tool.
2. Concise, to-the-point description. Use a keyword-rich description that tells the viewer exactly what they are watching. Like the title, try to get the most important words into the front of the description, as the viewer will only see about 22 words of the description before the “see more” link.
Place a url in the description. For many of CAWOOD’s videos, you’ll see our website or Facebook address at the beginning of the description. This provides the viewer with another chance to engage with our brand.
3. Use tags. With a 500-character limit, you have plenty of room to include several keywords (tags) that are relevant to your video. Add tags that correspond to the video’s subject, location, participants, creator and other relevant terms that are search-popular.
4. Share, share, share. The more times your video is viewed, and the longer those viewers watch it, the higher it will appear in YouTube search results. So sharing your video on your social networks, website, e-newsletter, etc. is crucial. Those you share with directly across these platforms are those most likely to watch and share it anyway, right? Let them help the cause!
The more people watch, the more chance there is of the video receiving comments or a thumbs up rating – both of which also boost a video’s rank.
