Attracting more viewers to your YouTube videos is by no means easy. There are a variety of important things to do to get more people watching, one of which is proper video optimization. Here is a series of optimization tips that will help you catch people’s interest more and boost your viewership.
Write the perfect video title
When coming up with a title for your video, the goal is to make it as descriptive as possible. Incorporating the right keywords is the first step here. Consider which terms your audience will most likely use to search for your video. YouTube’s own autocomplete function is a surprisingly helpful tool for determining keywords. Other common options you can go with are:
Use these tools not just to create your list of keywords, but also to determine which ones will bring the best possible results.
Don’t just drop your keyword into the title. For the keyword to perform as intended, you have to incorporate it organically. Using it in a question is a good tactic, as it will pique people’s interest, telling them that you are going to answer that question.
You also need to provide some context in your video title to give people a better idea of what the video is all about. Add situational words or phrases to direct it to specific subsets of your audience. You can also include appropriate superlative words to create more emphasis on your title’s topic.
Use your descriptions wisely
While you can write any length of video descriptions, you need to pay attention to the first 125 characters. This section serves as the meta description for the video that is shown on the search results in and out of YouTube.
When writing this section, use the primary keyword you want to associate with the video. Make sure that it is well-incorporated to the text to give people a better context. Your short video description should also fit within the character limit to be sure that it won’t be cut off when displayed on the search results.
Beyond that section, your description should provide more helpful information for viewers. Some ways you can do this are:
- Giving additional details: You can clarify some of the points in your video or add details that might not have been covered.
- Having a transcript: Adding a written transcription of your video makes it more accessible to viewers while boosting its discoverability.
- Adding relevant links: Direct your viewers to external links that build up on your video’s information. This could be articles, websites, or even other videos.
- Including your channel signature: Make sure that every video you upload has links to your associated pages, like social media profiles or your personal website.
These tactics turn the description into an integral part of your video content, getting viewers more involved.
Tag your videos the right way
Having a tagging strategy will help make your videos more discoverable. One strategy you can employ is the tag tree method. It involves breaking down your video title into different phrases that viewers might actually use to search for your videos. Blogger Jessica Stansberry, who developed the method, demonstrates how it works in this video.
Once you have a selection of tags, don’t just drop them randomly. Add the most relevant ones first, then order everything in terms of decreasing relevance. This ensures that YouTube will be able to categorize your videos for the most appropriate tags. Don’t stuff too many tags in your video tag section; 20 should be enough to cover a video effectively.
Optimize after uploading
A common misconception about YouTube video optimization is that it is done only before uploading. For your videos to perform well, you need to continue refining it for future audiences. Go through your analytics and see how your video performs, then make adjustments.
Feel free to experiment on the tweaks you do on your videos, like:
- Add an end screen: YouTube lets you quickly create end screens for your existing videos through the video manager. Include links to your other videos or external sites.
- Create custom thumbnails: Rewatch your video, and find the clip that would best describe it. Upload that image as a new thumbnail, and see if it’s better at generating audience interest.
- Rewrite your descriptions: Experiment with different description content that will best fit the video and your audience.
- Retag your videos: If you find that your videos are not drawing in more viewers, you can try revising the tags to get a better fit for your target audience’s search habits.
Make sure that you record your test results for use in future videos.
These tips are just part of the different strategies you can use of optimizing your videos. Explore other techniques, and you will soon be attracting more viewers to your videos.