How to SEO my YouTube channel?

No need to say that YouTube is an excellent service filled with tonnes of valuable video content - starting from music videos and covers to different DIY reviews, streetwise video tutorials and the rest of useful stuff we are often looking for. Before we begin with the point - how to SEO YouTube channel - let’s have a look at some recent statistics. First of all, YouTube has been announced as the second most visited website in the world. Next, this extremely popular video hosting serves to over a billion active users. Finally, every minute there are over 300 hours of video content uploaded to YouTube. That bunch of numbers looks quite impressive, eh? But here comes the backside of the medal - considering a dire need to stand out in that crowded place, how to SEO YouTube channel and get noticed? It’s time to check that.

Keyword Research

Just like the original concept of the Search Engine Optimization in Google’s SERPs, YouTube SEO starts with the keyword research. I mean every shred of your text writing, starting from the title to the video description or metadata is all about the right use of keywords and key phrases. Considering the main keywords of top relevance, everything is quite simple. But in case of researching more specific results of long-tail key phrases, here are two different approaches to complete the task.

Auto-fill option

Using default auto-fill search feature can give you a better understanding and some insight on the top terms related to your primary target keywords. Just make use of YouTube auto-fill to shape up the initial checklist for your potential keywords and phrases. You might as well spy on your competitors to see exactly what words they are betting on for higher ranking. Delving even deeper into all related search results, you can also use a suggestion tool like SEO Chat, or any other similar framework available in open access.

Keyword tools and extensions

Once you made up a preliminary list of your target keywords, you will need to estimate their actual performance. You can check the search volumes for different keywords, gauge their competition, and test your brand-new ideas with lots of various online tools and browser extensions. Among the others, I featured the following ones for their convenient use and helpful suggestions: TubeBuddy, Semalt Analyzer, VidIQ, and Google Keyword Planner.

Some people see SEO as half art, half science. Seriously, all you need to be on top of the search results is to give the search engine what it wants in the best way possible - considering both user-friendly experience, and the rest of technical requirements for proper indexing. So, how to SEO YouTube channel? Just give all your followers and occasional visitors what they want, delivering high value at the same time. Unfortunately, nobody knows exactly what factors are influencing the search algorithm on YouTube. That’s why you will need to optimize your channel for each one, as follows:

• Work on metadata optimization (get only relevant names for your videos, clear and informative descriptions, use video transcripts and closed captions with related tags and keywords);
• Keep persistent efforts on quality video content (maintain regular updates, viewer retention, engage new subscribers, monitor likes, shares, and comments);
• Maintain user engagement (keep sharing your launch plan on favorite social media channels and blogs, follow the main trends for video watch time, duration of session, and a proper thumbnails consistency).