YouTube is video sharing portal that allows users to create content and view videos. In it, you will find a wide variety of topics: Gaming, videoblogs, music, movies and more… Without a doubt, it has become one of the best online search engines, surpassed only by Google. With more than 1 billion monthly visits, and about 400 hours of video uploaded every minute, how can I make my videos stand out and grow my visits in 2023? Through SEO! YouTube SEO!

Therefore, it is very important to acquire the necessary knowledge that will help us grow in a solid and consistent way. Here we will teach you a series of strategies with which you will see very effective results in a short time, and so you can position your videos among the first search results.

What is SEO on YouTube?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a set of techniques used to make your videos reach a good position in the search results page.

To do this, we use tools that, through metrics and statistics, provide us with information about the terms used by our competitors and the words most searched by the user.

How do YouTube searches work?

YouTube’s search engines cannot interpret the information in the images or videos we upload by themselves. So YouTube relies on SEO to understand the information in our content, and all the data found in the title: tag, description, file name, among others.

For this reason, SEO is very important because it gives us the opportunity to grow fast, and even if we have few followers we can climb to the top. But how do we start positioning our videos?

Here are the 4 essential steps to grow on YouTube!

4 simple steps to improve the positioning of your videos on YouTube

Step 1: Video Title

Keep in mind that the title is one of the most important factors. It allows direct interaction between your content and viewers. The more accurate it is and the more it matches the user’s search, the better your video will rank on YouTube.

A good example could be the following:

If you place as a title for your video the word Diets, it is going to be very difficult to position you, since there are many videos that talk about “diets”. On the contrary, if you place in a more specific way your title The best diet for this 2023 you would be sectoring your search. In this way, YouTube will reward you for placing a longer and more accurate title, and the chances that your video is positioned and a user finds it among the first positions when searching for what diet can be done this year, are higher. It will improve, then, the CTR (Click Through Rate) – Below, we leave you a post of our blog where you can learn how to optimize the CTR and improve the positioning in Google.

 

Step 2: Tags

These are words or phrases that you can include in the description of your YouTube videos, allowing both viewers and the platform to know what they are about. This way, it will appear earlier in search listings and associate you with similar content, which can amplify your reach with related videos.

If you go into any YouTube video, you won’t find the tags, as these are not visible to the public. However, with the Tags for YouTube extension, available in browsers such as Google Chrome or Firefox, you will have easy access. Later on, we will explain what these tools are about and some tricks to get the most out of them.

 

Step 3: Hashtags

YES, they are still trending! This 2023 and for many years to come, hashtags are essential for positioning. These, like tags are composed of words or phrases; however, hashtags are different in that they are accompanied by a sign (#) before each phrase. They help significantly since they allow you to search in a direct way, videos on popular topics and will be more effective during certain events or seasons, since they work according to the trend.

 

Step 4: Thumbnails

As a complement to the title, the thumbnail for your YouTube videos is also an important pillar within each video, because we can draw the viewer’s attention through its design. We will leave you some of the most important tricks to improve your thumbnails for YouTube videos.

 

• Put yourself in the viewer’s shoes: They have too many things to see on the Internet and not enough time. That’s why they want to know what your video is about without having to click on it or read much. Our YouTube thumbnail has to be able to tell a story. Or at least be representative of the first 30 seconds of the video.

 

• Add text to your thumbnails: This will make it clear at a glance what the video content is about. But try not to overdo it, 5 words will be enough. And don’t forget that the color of your text must contrast with the background. Otherwise, it will be difficult to read.

 

• YouTube thumbnails showing a person work best: Short shots of people always have good results. It has been proven that if the image shows a person looking directly into the viewer’s eyes, or looking at the text in the thumbnail, it works even better.

 

• Use bright, contrasting colors: Don’t use light colors – did you know that according to YouTube, yellow, when used as a background color for the thumbnail, gets more views?

 

• Use high definition images: Never upload a blurry image. The idea is that your thumbnail should be a JPG, GIF or PNG. It should measure 1280 x 720 pixels or 1920 x 1080 pixels (i.e. 16:9), and weigh less than 2MB.

 

• Add your logo to the thumbnails of your videos: This way people can quickly recognize that the video is yours. Even when the video is outside YouTube.

 

• Always work with the same thumbnail style: Repeat it in all your videos, so that viewers can easily identify them. Obviously each header should be different, but you can certainly define colors or design standards that unify the style.

 

• If you make different types of videos, another very good option is to define a different style for each type of video: All your videos will have a thumbnail with a black and white background, but on that background the video clips will have a green text and the videolyrics a blue background. This way, when browsing the channel, the viewer will always know what type of content each video has.

 

• Do not use images that are not related to the content of the video: Trying to deceive the viewer will only bring you bad comments and you will lose credibility among the viewers.

 

• It is very important that you make sure that your YouTube headers look good: Both on large screen devices and mobile devices. When viewed on a tiny screen the colors still contrast with each other and the text is still legible.

You want to go one step further, eh?

Well, for having made it this far, we’ll show you one more Tip that you’re sure to love!

Step 5: Numbers

Putting a number in the title of your video or in the text of the thumbnail will help you improve your CTR. If, for example, you want to make a guide on how to find trends to create interesting videos on YouTube, transform this title as follows: “5 TRENDS for your YouTube videos ” or “2023 Guide to finding TRENDS on YouTube. Oh, and by the way…capital letters are also important.

Useful SEO tools for YouTube

There are many types of tools that we can use and will facilitate the positioning of our videos, here are some of the main ones.

1. TubeBuddy for YouTube

A wonderful SEO tool for YouTube that comes as an extension for Google Chrome and allows you to manage, optimize and grow your channel. Among the functions that we can find with this SEO tool for your YouTube videos are the following:

• Explore keywords for your videos.
• Automatically publish videos in native mode on Facebook.
• A/B testing that allows you to evaluate which titles, keywords and thumbnails have better interaction with users.
• Best times to publish your videos and get a higher conversion.
• Automatically generate GIFs from your video.
• Alerts that warn you when someone mentions your name or channel.

2. Keywords Everywhere

This is a free extension for Google Chrome and Firefox. Among the functions that we find in this tool are:

• Knowing the search volume of a particular keyword.
• The cost per click (CPC) of the same.
• Competition level of the keyword for which you want to position yourself.
• Related keywords with detailed information.

3. Google Trends

Tool provided by Google to know the level of searches during a certain period of time for a certain keyword. It is used in a very simple way, once you enter the search engine click on the button (Web Search) and then change it to (YouTube Search).

This simple gesture will help you among other things with the following functions:

• It allows you to know the strongest search trends of the moment, as well as those that are increasing or decreasing.
• Make comparisons of two or more terms. Which ones can bring you the highest level of search, and apply a good SEO strategy for that keyword.
• Interests by Regions.
• Latest Global trends.

4. VidIQ

This SEO tool for YouTube certainly helps you to position your videos in the top positions, as it has a simple and easy to understand interface that shows us on the right side of any YouTube video, a set of information that will help you analyze and overcome the competition easily.

This information is divided into five sections: Social, SEO, Video Optimization Checklist, Channel and Video Tags.

Important tips to improve SEO on your YouTube videos:

• Create the home page of your YouTube channel as if it were the home of a website, with complete and well-organized content.
• Optimize the header of your YouTube channel. Don’t forget to place your name, brand and logo that catches the attention of your visitors.
• Playlists work. Don’t hesitate to create your own, as you can multiply the average duration of each user’s session and YouTube likes that.
• Select your best videos and post them at the top of your channel as featured videos.
• Create chain interlinking of your videos using cards, just as you would do with your website.
• Use the keywords you want to rank for in your channel description and title.
• If you master Adobe Premiere or After Effects, create an introduction to your channel to complement your channel description. Take advantage of this section to attract visitors.
• The first 15 seconds of your videos are the most important. Take advantage of them to get your visitors to watch the whole video.
• Create links to your social networks and websites.
• Use YouTube video suggestions to create your own Long Tails in the titles.
• Spy on your competition with the tools we offered above.
• Remember that Likes or Dislikes do not rank.

Common Questions

Q: What is SEO on YouTube?
A: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a set of techniques used to make your videos reach a good position in the search results page on YouTube.

 

Q: How does YouTube’s search engine work?
A: YouTube’s search engines cannot interpret the information in videos and images, so it relies on SEO to understand the information in the content and data found in the title, tag, description, file name, etc.

 

Q: What are the 4 essential steps to grow on YouTube?
A: The 4 essential steps to grow on YouTube are: optimizing the video title, using tags, using hashtags, and using eye-catching thumbnails.

 

Q: Why is the video title important?
A: The video title is important because it allows direct interaction between your content and viewers, and the more accurate and matching the title is to the user’s search, the better your video will rank on YouTube.

 

Q: What are tags in YouTube?
A: Tags are words or phrases included in the description of a YouTube video that allows both viewers and the platform to know what the video is about.

 

Q: What are hashtags in YouTube?
A: Hashtags are words or phrases preceded by a sign (#) in the description of a YouTube video that allows searching for videos on popular topics and are more effective during certain events or seasons.

 

Q: Why are thumbnails important?
A: Thumbnails are important because they draw the viewer’s attention through its design and complement the title, and they should be able to tell a story or be representative of the first 30 seconds of the video.

 

Q: What makes a good YouTube thumbnail?
A: A good YouTube thumbnail is eye-catching and shows a person, has text that clearly describes the video content, and contrasts with the background color.