Video is here to dominate and it’s going nowhere anytime soon. With over 500 hours of video content being submitted every minute, getting yours on top is quite a challenge.
Do you also often get questions like, ‘How do I get my video in search results? The answer is simple: optimizing your content.
Having said that, video creators may not always comprehend the YouTube or Google algorithm. Too many factors influence whether a video succeeds or fails. Not to mention the fact that you are up against a lot of competitors at all times.
In this post, you’ll learn video SEO best practices for optimizing your videos for search engines. Without further ado, read on for the 5 key tips to make your videos stand out.
1. Identify and target your audience
To begin, identify your target audience. Determine which is the best platform for them to discover your video. Are they active on Facebook or YouTube? Or are they more likely to search videos on TikTok or Instagram?
Looking at the demographics of the people on each network and seeing how engaged your audience is on that platform is a wonderful way to start.
After that, narrow down your target to a few social media networks. Posting your video on a video-sharing platform like YouTube brings the best results.
2. Research keywords and optimize your SEO
After identifying your target audience, you need to know what are they searching for. What good is it to create videos, edit them to perfection, and upload them if no one would watch them?
To top the video search engine results, thorough keyword research is necessary. It can assist you in creating and optimizing titles, descriptions, and tags for your video content.
Use YouTube’s keyword tool to pick up to 10 tags based on popular keyword terms and searches. Also, use those keywords in your title, description, filename, and external links. Besides, it is recommended not to include irrelevant keywords as they can impact your ranking.
3. Create a catchy thumbnail and title
Even if your video appears on YouTube search results, it doesn’t mean that viewers will click on it. However, adding a catchy thumbnail image along with a relevant title makes sure they do.
When browsing, thumbnails and titles are the first things that viewers notice. They can significantly boost the number of people who watch your video. After you’ve uploaded your video to YouTube, go to “Edit” and choose one to three thumbnails that will entice viewers to click on it.
Customize your thumbnail with a strong image that conveys key information about your video. Try doing something different than the rest.
4. Add subtitles
Another strategy to improve ranking is adding subtitles to your videos. Google’s algorithm can’t read images and videos with precision but it can read text and code.
A large number of people today watch videos on mute with subtitles. If you don’t include them, you’ll be losing out on a significant percentage of your potential audience.
You can manually add captions or use YouTube’s automated closed captioning option. However, YouTube’s auto-generated captions aren’t always accurate. So, it’s preferable to generate your video subtitles and upload them as SRT files.
5. Increase audience engagement
The process of video ranking doesn’t stop here. Off-page SEO is equally important as on-page SEO. Off-page SEO is all about audience engagement when it comes to videos. After posting your video, you must also promote it to maximize audience engagement.
Build a connection with your audience by distributing your videos across social media platforms, newsletters, and blogs. Text alone can’t engage audiences anymore. You can also make use of Vmail, a combination of email and video content for audience engagement.
The more people engage, the more YouTube google search engines find your video relevant to the target audience. You may increase audience engagement by allowing viewers to interact with your video in a variety of ways, such as:
- Like
- Subscribe
- Comment
- Share
The final words
A lot goes into video optimization, and the trick is that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. It’s possible that what works for someone else won’t work for you. Start by putting these tips in practice to get your video in search results.
We hope that these tips will help you in ranking your videos above all others!
Last Updated on September 21, 2022 by Talal
