With 100 hours of video uploaded every minute how can you make your YouTube content stand out?
Here are some tips to set you on the right track.
Choosing titles
Titles of your videos need to serve two purposes: they must be tempting and relevant to users, and also increase the chances of your video ranking highly in YouTube search results.
Words at the front of the title are given more weighting in search results, so order the words according to your search term priorities – word by word, in descending order of importance.
If posting the videos on your website as well as YouTube, keep a record of the titles and the webpage titles where the video is embedded. Ensure each is unique as you don’t want YouTube and website videos competing with each other. If YouTube ranks higher in search results you’re going to miss out on website visits. If this situation does arise, then simply ‘unlist’ the YouTube video in the privacy settings to remove it from search engine results.
Get the description right
Although YouTube gives you the option to write long descriptions, bear in mind the user is initially presented with just the first three lines of your description. So get to the point quickly – again front end load the most important phrases. You can also insert a live website link in the description, but only in the form of a full URL.
Select keyword tags
These should be all the keywords or phrases someone might use in searching for a video. Evidence suggests YouTube is happy to bank lots of keywords tagged to a video and use them in executing search results.
Claim your channel
This allows visitors to view all your videos together, helping you appear prominently in search results and establish your brand more effectively.
To set up your channel, go to the drop down arrow next to the ‘Upload’ button on the top menu. Click on Dashboard, under Channel Settings, fill out fully the sections under Defaults and Advanced.
After you’ve entered your Channel Settings, click on the drop down triangle – top right of your window, next to your user email address. This will open another horizontal panel and under YouTube, click on My Channel. You will then see your logo/avatar image space and your header banner space for you to upload your images.
Take the time to upload images here, as a channel without images will look abandoned and invalid in YouTube search results. Good channel images will enourage click throughs to your videos.