Use Video SEO Techniques
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world after google.
Many people use YouTube to search for what they want as they would
prefer to watch a video than read a blog post for example.
No matter how good your videos are, if YouTube users cannot find them
with a search, then you are wasting your time. You need to SEO optimize
all of the videos that you upload so that you give them the best possible
chance of appearing in the search results for specific keywords.
For each video that you create, perform keyword research for it first.
You can do this for free using the Google Keyword Planner. Identify the
keyword terms that you think users will search for to find your videos.
Put your most important keyword in your video title. There is a video
description box under the video and you must add text here and include
your keywords in it. You can also add URLs to your video description.
Add tags to your videos that contain the keywords that you want to
appear in a search for.
We recommend that you remind your viewers to subscribe to your
YouTube channel and “like” your video at least once. You can also ask
them to leave a comment. Telling people what they need to do online is
necessary. Never assume that they will just subscribe.
Finally, you need to create compelling thumbnails for your videos. If
you do not add a thumbnail image then YouTube will select a section of
your video as the image. This was OK a few years ago but it isn’t now.
You can use Canva.com for free to create great-looking thumbnails for
YouTube videos. Be consistent with your thumbnail designs so that you
stand out from the crowd and that users will instantly recognize your
videos. Outsource the creation of your thumbnails on Fiverr.com if you
want to.
Post New Videos Regularly
If you want to be a successful YouTube influencer then you need to be
consistent. A lot of good influencers post new videos 2 or 3 times each
week and this seems to work well for them. You can work up to this
number if this is not possible for you to start with.
As your subscriber base grows, they will expect you to be consistent
with your video posting. If you start by posting videos on a Tuesday for
example then stick with this. Tell your subscribers that you will post
every Tuesday and do everything that you can to ensure you stick to this.
Posting new videos regularly will help to develop your library. As the
number of videos grows on your channel, the more content you will
have for your subscribers to watch. This is good for your overall
standing on YouTube as it tells the algorithm that your videos are
popular.
Use Social Media to Promote your Videos
All successful YouTube influencers have social media channels that they
use to promote their videos. You do not need to create a profile on all
social media platforms. What you do need to do is to find out where
your target audience hangs out and make sure you have a profile on
those channels.
If your audience mainly uses Facebook then it is unlikely that they will
use Tik Tok as well for example. Do your homework here and find out
which social platforms your audience uses. You can also take a look at
the YouTube channels of your competitors to see what social channels
they are using.
Once you have the necessary social channels in place you need to add
content to them. Of course, you will want to tell your followers
whenever you launch a new video on YouTube. But it is better if you
can do more than this. It will take time to build up a following on the
various social channels and publishing valuable content regularly is the
best way to do this.
Tell the story of your YouTube channel on your social channels. Why
did you create it? What are your aims with the channel? Ask your social
followers for ideas for new video content you can create. Get them
involved as much as possible. Engagement and interaction are essential
to build up and maintaining a good following on social media platforms.
Monitor the Performance of your Videos
After you have uploaded a few videos, you need to start monitoring how
well they are performing for you. There are a lot of helpful metrics
available in YouTube analytics. You can see at a glance how many
views your videos are receiving; the number of comments users are
leaving and other important metrics.
By paying careful attention to these metrics, you can see which of your
videos create the most engagement. Ask yourself why this is the case.
What is it about these videos that makes them the most popular?
You can find Audience Retention Graphs in YouTube analytics that will
show you what kind of habits your viewers have. Use this information to
discover:
• Your most popular videos (by engagement)
• Times when viewers click away from your videos or your channel
• Comments that can help you to improve your videos
You need to be prepared to make consistent improvements to your
videos. This information is very valuable to you. For example, if you see
that viewers are clicking away from one of your videos at around the
same time then investigate why this is happening.
Some people are likely to leave valuable comments about how you can
improve your videos or provide you with ideas for new content. When
you receive a comment on your videos be sure to respond to it as quickly
as possible. Always thank users for making constructive comments.
In the next section, we will discuss using YouTube promotional
tactics…
