YouTube provides content creators with the option to include video tags and hashtags. Using terms that are not relevant not only provides a poor user experience that can tarnish your channel’s reputation, but it can also get you in hot water with YouTube’s Community Guidelines. When deciding on your titles and descriptions, only use terms that are relevant to the content of your video. The remainder of the description will be beneath “Show More.” This is even more important if you are demonstrating relevant products, as you may want to present the product links above the “Show More.” YouTube recommends that descriptions be 1-2 paragraphs in length however, the first 1-3 lines are by far the most important, as that portion is visible to users when they view your video. YouTube video titles should be simple and indicate what your video is about using your keywords.
Once you have a sense of the terms people are searching for that are relevant to your videos, you can then use them to inform how you edit your video titles, descriptions, and other video information in the YouTube Video Editor. Take note of suggested search terms, People Also Ask, and Related Searches at the bottom of the page that are relevant to your video content. Some users will be searching on YouTube right out of the gate however, many users may select a link to a YouTube video from the Google SERPs, so it’s important you consider what Google is showing relative to the query and to your video content. Think about whether these videos are similar to yours and - most importantly - do they provide what the viewer is looking for, and do they provide it well? Videos in Google SERPs Once you have those keywords and phrases, enter those into YouTube to see what kinds of videos come up. Pay close attention to what those searches are and write down ones that seem relevant to your content and industry. These suggestions can be somewhat tailored to the user searching them, but are also influenced by what users across YouTube are searching. When you input a particular topic or question, you will see a list of suggested searches show up (see above). The first and most obvious way to find terms is by searching topics relevant to your content into the YouTube search bar. However, if you only have a few videos or don’t get many views on the videos you do have, there are two very simple ways to find relevant terms quickly without costly or time-consuming keyword tools. If you have an existing channel with a decent amount of view engagement, you can start by looking at Traffic Sources in your YouTube Analytics. The first consideration you will need to make when optimizing your video is: what are people searching for to find your content? By that, we mean what are the keywords your audience is typing into YouTube and Google that surface your videos and videos like yours in search results.
In this post, we’ll focus on optimizing your existing videos and break down how to use Google and YouTube as your sole sources for effective titles, descriptions, hashtags, tags, and chapters.
To take full advantage of their expertise and resources, we recommend starting with their Get Discovered course. The learning platform houses a multitude of courses demonstrating how users can create and optimize videos for their specific audiences.
To meet the needs of its content creators, YouTube has provided its own online learning source, the Creator Academy. That number is not likely to slow its pace anytime soon - so how do organizations compete for viewers’ attention with so many businesses on the platform? In fact, 62% of businesses hold accounts on YouTube for posting video content. YouTube has over 2.3 billion regular users performing around 3 billion searches per month, making it a prized resource for creators, organizations, and businesses to show up for their communities with creative entertainment, useful information, and relevant products.