YouTube video optimization is another element to your marketing efforts. If you are not already doing video marketing, you should!
Why? According to Compete, YouTube jumped ahead of Facebook with more visitors! In June 2014:
- YouTube.com had 167,848,349 unique visitors
- Facebook had 166,497,314 unique visitors
If you want to get in front of and reach more people, then marketing videos is the way to go. Videos are pretty easy to create and don’t take much time.
What I love about them is they are out there forever working hard for you! In this article I will focus on tips for YouTube video optimization and not so much what you should include in a video.
Maximize Views with YouTube Video Optimization
So now that you created a video, you need to optimize it when you upload it to YouTube. Make these tips part of your video marketing strategy. Prepare a checklist so you don’t forget a step!
Optimizing YouTube videos is not too hard once you make a habit of doing these things and it will be worth it for you in the long run. You want traffic right?
- Do your keyword research. Whether you are writing blog posts or doing video marketing, be sure to use the Google Keyword Planner to do your research. What if you have the best video around but no one finds it because no one is looking for that keyword?
- Rename the video file. Before you upload your video to YouTube, change the filename to your keyword. Put dashes in-between the words. For example:
– If your keyword is: video seo optimization
– Then name your video file: video-seo-optimization.mp4
You cannot change the file name after it’s uploaded so take care of business beforehand. - Get found in YouTube and Google search. You want people to find your video whether they are search in YouTube or Google. So here are your tips for YouTube video optimization after you upload your video.
- Title. Choose a catchy title and be sure to include your keywords at the beginning.
- Description. Write a good description and include your keywords in a natural way. No stuffing! Put your link as the first sentence so it’s easily seen by the viewer. A 500 to 600 work description is recommended however I’ve seen videos rank well with much less. Experiment but make sure you include at least a good paragraph.
- Links to your website. YouTube is a great source for referring visitors back to your website. In addition to your call-to-action link, include one to your website. Let people know what they can find there so they are curious to click the link.
- Tags. Add your keyword tags first. YouTube will look at those first. Once the tags are done, you cannot rearrange them so add them in the order in which you want them to appear.
Learning how to SEO YouTube videos is not too difficult and will pay off big time for you over time!
If you got benefit from this article about YouTube Video Optimization, please share and comment!
I really enjoyed reading this post Lisa. Too often it’s in the little details that stand in the way between getting ranked and not ranked. You put in a format that is easy to understand. I’m going to print this out and place it next to my computer so I can look at it before I upload to YouTube 🙂
Lisa Thompson recently posted…Test Compelling Headlines Using Twitter
Thanks Lisa! It’s always those little details that can make all the difference 🙂 Appreciate you stopping by!