The observation is irrefutable: with its two billion users worldwide, YouTube has become a real paradise for companies and individuals wishing to promote their brand, to become famous online, or to generate very important profits. A real online paradise, indeed! How to have good YouTube referencing and thus improve and boost the visibility of your videos? Let’s see and analyze together all the keys to success on YouTube through a quality YouTube channel referencing and the implementation of a successful SEO strategy.
To be successful on YouTube, it is essential to create video content that will attract a large audience and retain them over the long term. In order for YouTube videos to appear in the top positions on results pages, whether on the platform or on Google, it is essential to master the best SEO practices on YouTube. Since video has become the most consumed media on the Internet, YouTube video SEO is undoubtedly a highly effective tool to offer the best positioning for your videos on search engine results pages. Let’s go!
SEO factors to consider on YouTube
It is impossible to address the issue of YouTube video referencing without mentioning the factors (also referred to as “signals”) that are taken into account when ranking results in Google and YouTube search engines.
The YouTube SEO ranking factors are particularly numerous and mostly come from data generated directly by the platform’s users. They will allow YouTube to evaluate the quality level of a video. Among these valuable indications that have an impact on YouTube referencing can be cited the number of times a video is uploaded or the different reactions it generates among users such as likes, comments, etc.
Once this data is retrieved and exploited, YouTube will compare it with similar videos and YouTube video referencing will result from this analysis. A video with a low load and a high bounce rate (percentage of Internet users closing the window without any subsequent site consultation) will inevitably see its YouTube referencing decrease in relevance.
Yes, but how to avoid that?
Knowing how to have a good YouTube referencing will necessarily require a knowledge of the main factors used for video referencing on the platform. Among these can be cited :
- The number of comments
- The number of likes and views
- The reactions to the comments
- The number of users who have recorded the video on their playlist
- The number of shares
- The ratio of positive to negative ratings
- Keywords used in comments
- Subtitles used in your videos
- Etc.
One of the most effective techniques for influencing users’ reactions and comments and thus improving its YouTube video referencing is to trigger active participation in discussions about the videos on its YouTube channel, provided that these interventions are relevant and contribute to the audience’s overall positive opinion of the video.
Understanding Youtube SEO
For a good SEO YouTube referencing, knowing the factors taken into account by the platform for the ranking of search results is essential.
But what is natural referencing on Youtube?
Today, YouTube enjoys the size, power, and popularity that make it THE site on which any brand and any individual can benefit from extraordinary exposure. That’s why YouTube video referencing and its particularities must be perfectly mastered by all YouTube channel creators. We’re thinking of you, dear influencers.
YouTube SEO has many similarities with the operation of a “classic” SEO as applied to any website. (By the way, if you are looking for great SEO agencies in your city, let’s find out here.)
Before developing SEO best practices on YouTube, it is useful to define what exactly is YouTube video SEO. SEO is the set of techniques in accordance with Google guidelines and designed to optimize the visibility of videos on the platform and on the Google SERP. If you want to find out more information about natural referencing, don’t hesitate to read our latest article on how to rank well in the SERP!
Thus, the implementation of a solid and coherent strategy of YouTube video referencing will have a double advantage :
- Gain increased visibility on the two leading global search platforms YouTube AND Google
- Reach a better-targeted audience and increase its engagement rate at the same time
Tips and basic rules for a good Youtube SEO
To give your YouTube videos maximum visibility, it’s best to carefully follow the tips and principles detailed below. Let’s get started!
Keywords to focus on
Sorry, no magic recipe! Until crawl robots are able to have a real understanding of YouTube videos, keywords will continue to play a major role in video referencing and in the positioning of videos in search results. In fact, the search for keywords is one of the essential steps for referencing on YouTube.
To determine the best keywords for a quality YouTube SEO, one of the most effective methods is to use the platform’s suggestion tool. To do so, simply type the queries that are deemed most relevant on the YouTube search engine. If these are automatically suggested, it will mean that they are being searched for by users and deserve to be considered for reference. You can also ask an SEO agency to help you on that step!
YouTube’s suggestions are by no means the result of chance but are the words that are the most searched for on the platform’s search engine.
Once the YouTube SEO keywords have been identified, it will be necessary to integrate them in different strategic places including the title of the video, the meta-description, the tags, or in the comments.
The length of the video
Another factor to take into account for a successful YouTube video referencing strategy is that the platform’s robots tend to promote videos with a “reasonable” length. A 15-second video will not get the same treatment as a 20-minute video.
When we know that YouTube’s main goal is to keep its visitors on its platform for as long as possible, long videos will be preferred for its YouTube SEO strategy, even if half of the visitors do not watch the videos in their entirety.
The use of playlists
To improve its YouTube referencing, the integration of playlists is one of the well-known techniques of SEO specialists and will allow the platform’s robots to “contextualize” the video and its theme but also to link it to the different topics it addresses.
To optimize its natural referencing on YouTube, it is therefore highly recommended to insert your video within a playlist when it is put online.
Thumbnail of the YouTube video
As well as the choice of keywords, the thumbnail associated with the video will be a key element for SEO on YouTube. Therefore, even if the platform automatically proposes a thumbnail when a video is uploaded and which is a screenshot of the video, creating its own thumbnail will have the advantage of better enhancing the video, generating more clicks (increase CTR, “Click Through Rate”) and, through this, increase the quality of its YouTube video SEO.
To convince yourself of the usefulness of customizing the thumbnail of your video, it is important to note that almost all of the videos generating the most traffic on the platform have a personalized thumbnail.
End screens and dynamic files
One of the keys to SEO on YouTube is the ability of video creators to convert visitors and entice them to follow their YouTube channel, buy a specific product or get them to go to their own site. End-screens and dynamic index cards are just some of the tools that help engage visitors. YouTube video referencing takes into account precisely this ability of YouTubers to retain the loyalty of Internet users.
The subtitles and captions
As discussed above, since the platform is not able to read and interpret videos like any human being, adding subtitles is a great way to improve its YouTube referencing.
In terms of video SEO, subtitles will be the textual transcription of the video content and will facilitate the work of analysis and exploitation of the data by the platform. And don’t forget to translate in the languages you are interested in!
Link building – the art of links acquisition
In order to obtain an optimal positioning of your video on YouTube, the acquisition of links, either through bloggers who will publish the video or by sharing it on forums, will be essential to offer maximum visibility to your video and thus reach the largest audience.
Other data taken into account
YouTube was originally based on the number of clicks generated by a video for its SEO system. However, due to the many cases of abuse observed and in order to improve the quality of its video referencing, the platform then turned to more varied and relevant “metrics”.
Among these metrics, it will be possible to find the number of likes received by the video, the shares of the video made by Internet users, the number of integration of the video to sites or the time spent by YouTube users to watch the video in question (also called dwell time).
Our tips for optimizing your YouTube channel referencing
In order for a YouTube video to get good exposure among Internet users, it is essential that the channel to which it is attached has good referencing itself.
Follow YouTube channels with the same topic
YouTube is a platform whose operation is based on the classification of its content by theme. Therefore, the monitoring of other channels belonging to the same sector will have a positive impact on the referencing of YouTubers and will increase the channel’s level of credibility.
Link your YouTube channel to all of your social media networks
Linking its YouTube channel to its various profiles held on social networks, be it Facebook, Instagram or Twitter is an excellent way to improve its YouTube video referencing.
Responses to comments left by Internet users
The referencing system on YouTube largely takes into account the degree of interaction between the author of the channel and the visitors. Thus, we should not hesitate to encourage Internet users to leave comments, opinions and even ask them to ask questions. Likewise, the author of the YouTube channel will have every interest in being very active towards his visitors and responding to a maximum of comments. The benefits of this mode of action on the positioning will be indisputable.
Boosting its YouTube channel
Optimizing channel referencing for its YouTube channel also involves trying to make it more attractive than those of its direct competitors. This includes, for example, adding previews with live videos or “stories” to be integrated into your profile to announce the arrival of new videos.
The live videos will be great opportunities for the channel’s author to answer questions from subscribers in real-time and thus improve its natural YouTube referencing.
Use the “shorts”
The latest tools and one of the platform’s future innovations, the “Shorts” are mini-videos lasting around 15 seconds that will play a key role in improving YouTube referencing.
Improve its About section
If there are many techniques to improve the YouTube SEO of your channel, some of them are absolutely necessary to know. This is particularly the case of the “About” section, which is absolutely necessary and will be the opportunity to insert additional keywords for YouTube robots.
Create a trailer for your channel
The creation of a trailer for its channel, the addition of visuals, or the general appearance of the channel will play a major role in both improving the user experience (UX) and optimizing its ranking in the YouTube search engine.
Conclusion
Ultimately, YouTube remains very sensitive to the energy and involvement deployed by video and channel authors in its SEO policy on the platform. By applying all the tips and principles detailed on this page, whether it is the proper use of keywords, thumbnails, or increased interaction with Internet users, there is no doubt that the quality of video SEO will be affected.
By mastering all these techniques, the author of videos or channels will have all the keys in hand to succeed in his SEO strategy on YouTube. And if you wish to call upon experts, do not hesitate to consult a digital marketing agency.
