It’s not easy to rank your video on YouTube. There are many factors that can determine success, so it is important to use a variety of different strategies.
There are many different ways to do this, but we are going to focus on 5 of them in this blog post.
Table of contents
Do Keyword Research
One of the most important things you can do is to make sure your video targets the right keywords. Make sure that the title and description are keyword rich, but also that they are readable and interesting to your audience.
We advise you to focus on keywords that are not being overused to find a niche where there is not as much competition.
For your keyword research, there are a variety of tools to help you. We recommend the following:
- TubeBuddy. This is a browser extension that provides a variety of tools to optimise your YouTube videos. It includes features such as A/B testing to help you determine which video titles, descriptions and tags are most effective and a keyword research tool to help you find the right keywords to target.
- Ahrefs. Not specifically geared towards YouTube, but still one of the most powerful keyword selection tools on the market.
- Kparser. This is a powerful keyword search engine. You can choose from several platforms, as well as limit the results by country or language.
- HyperSuggest. With this tool you can also segment results by channel. It has a very limited free option and several powerful paid profiles available for purchase.
Choose A Good Thumbnail
A thumbnail is a single frame of an image or video that is used as a preview of the full video. It usually also includes other information about the video. This is an important point when it comes to positioning your video on YouTube.
When choosing a thumbnail, keep in mind that it is the first thing viewers see when scrolling through videos. If your video doesn’t grab their attention quickly, it will be much harder to rank on these results pages.
So how can you make sure your thumbnails stand out? There are many different factors involved.
Use a high quality image that captures the attention of your audience. It should be clear and easy to see, even if it is small.
Use a thumbnail that relates to the title of your video and include reports on what people can expect from the video so your audience knows whether they want to click on it or not.
But don’t make the mistake of adding too much information in the thumbnail! Too many elements can be distracting and make it difficult for viewers to see what is going on, especially if there are important details at the bottom of the thumbnail.
Finally, make sure your branding is consistent across all your videos. Keeping a common aesthetic in your thumbnails will help people recognise you and know they are watching your video.
Customise The Title, Description And Add Audio Transcript
If you’re wondering where to add the keywords you’ve extracted from your research, this is where you should use them. These three elements can be customised and optimised to help you rank your video on YouTube.
Your title should include important keywords that describe your video, but also make sense in the context of what your audience will want to see.
On the other hand, you will need a good description using keywords related to your video and other entities and semantically related words to rank your video on YouTube. But be careful and do it organically or Youtube could penalise you.
The description is a great place to add other information such as a link to your website or related videos where you want to increase traffic.
You should also add an audio transcript of your video. This will provide search engines with additional information about what’s in the file, which will help your video rank better for relevant searches.
What Else Can You Do To Rank Your Video On Youtube?
There are thousands of tips and tricks that you can use to position your video on Youtube.
However, the best thing to do is to try it out for yourself and test which of these tips work best for your content. Let us know in the comments which are the most useful techniques in your opinion!
Contact us if you want to take your YouTube video strategy to the next level.
