The demand for video marketing is growing at a rapid pace and for many reasons. Not only does it attract the attention of people, but video content can keep the viewers hooked to the screen for hours. Research shows that around 82% of the online traffic will be generated by online videos in 2022. YouTube is your ideal platform for video marketing. With billions of people using it for fresh content, YouTube has become a leading platform for marketers.
YouTube offers you a perfect opportunity to optimize your content for your target audience, build their engagement, interact with them by answering their comments, and convert your visitors into leads. Now that YouTube has gained immense popularity from all over the world, it goes without saying that it receives fierce competition. The question is, “how do you optimize your videos for YouTube”? And, what optimization tips can help get your videos viral on the internet? In other words, how can you gain more followers on YouTube? Let’s find out.
1. Focus on Engaging Content
The goal is to build users’ engagement with high-quality content. Do you think a boring or simple video will help your audience stick around? The longer the viewers watch your video, the higher the ranking your video gets on YouTube. That’s how the YouTube search ranking algorithm works. Videos that have high retention are highly likely to be displayed in the “Suggested” tab.
Do not publish boring videos that talk about the features and pros of your brand. Make it fun and exciting while keeping it as informative as possible. Your content must offer value to the user, and it must be engaging enough to keep the user hooked to the screen until the video ends. Some effective tips for keeping your videos engaging are:
- Add a summary at the beginning
- Stick to the topic
- Add previews
- Keep it short but exciting
Remember that your goal is to get people to watch your video till the end. You can use an online video editor and video maker tools such as Clipchamp.com/en/video-editor to create high-quality videos for YouTube. These tools will help you design engaging YouTube videos.
2. Optimize Title, Description, and Tags for Search Ranking
YouTube is often considered a social media. And while it acts as a social platform, YouTube is also a traditional search engine. The viewer has to type the keywords of the videos they’d like to watch in the search bar to get the relevant results. Like other search engines, YouTube returns with a list of videos that match your keywords. Keyword research for text and videos varies significantly. The keywords that have a high search volume on Google might get only a couple of searches on YouTube. To get a list of the most searched keywords, type the initial keywords in the YouTube search bar. This will provide you with a list of the related terms that your target audience is likely to search for. You must also check the competitors’ videos to find keywords that your competitors are ranking for.
Title: You must use the keywords in the titles, description, and video tags. Never stuff the title with the keywords (add if it fits). Additionally, you must keep the title short, i.e., around 60 characters. The user must be able to guess the content published in the video by the title.
Description: Description offers you another chance to promote your videos across your target audience and make them easily searchable. The description must be 200+ words, and it must feature CTA. You must create a description around the target keywords and keep it short, simple, and informative. You could hire an SEO copywriter or use the writing software tools to craft an engaging description. Add links to the products, web pages, landing pages, and your social accounts. Always link your videos to your websites and social networking pages so that your viewers can connect with you on other platforms.
3. Get a Custom Thumbnail
Thumbnail happens to be the first thing your viewers notice when clicking on your video URL. You might have uploaded a high-quality and engaging video on YouTube, but it will be of no use if the thumbnail fails to attract the attention of your audience. Create eye-catching and professional-looking thumbnails to drive organic traffic to your YouTube videos.
Your YouTube thumbnails must be consistent for all videos. Keep the thumbnails relevant to your brand. Use creative images to increase the number of views on your videos. You must know that the thumbnail has a significant impact on your CTR. The small image in the thumbnail can affect the CTR of the video to a great extent. The thumbnail of the video must be compelling enough to capture the attention of your audience and get them to click the URL.
4. Focus on the SEO
The search engine algorithms are never constant. Whether you are optimizing text-based content or videos, your focus must be on SEO. Now, optimizing your videos for YouTube search engines can get a little tricky. It isn’t only about the keywords you add to the title and description, but the quality of content and watch-time are other important factors that play a crucial role in determining the success of your channel. Ask your audience to subscribe to your YouTube channel twice, i.e., in the description as well as at the end of the video. Don’t just ask your viewers to subscribe, but mention a valid reason why they should follow your YouTube account. Tell them how you are willing to provide them with high-quality and engaging content.
5. Interact with Your Viewers
Your customers will drop a comment after watching your video. Whether it’s negative feedback or a recommendation, always reply to the comments. Your audience will also offer plenty of exciting ideas for your next video. Craft your next YouTube video according to your viewers’ suggestions. The main idea is to interact with your audience and build a relationship with your viewers. How well you interact with your audience will decide the success of your channel. There is a good chance your viewers will follow you on social accounts and visit your website if you manage to build a good relationship with them.
Another way to bring traffic to YouTube channels is by embedding your YouTube videos on your social sites and landing pages. It is a good way to get people to subscribe to your YouTube channel.
Good luck with growing your YouTube in 2021!
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