Everybody knows that people would rather watch a video than read a lengthy blog post. 59% of executives say they would rather watch a video than read text–that’s a lot of people. The team at Upscaled Media can definitely agree–video SEO can have countless benefits–increased watch time, broader brand awareness and more sales.
1. Pick your keywords wisely
SERPs are getting more competitive every month. New competitors, new products, new services—everyone is fighting for the top spots. So, finding ways to diversify yourself and your offering is crucial. Do your keyword research, and unless you can compete with really competitive terms, pick keywords that can get you volume, but are less competitive.
2. Insert your keywords correctly
Understanding the search intent of your audience is the first step. We know that the most common types of search intent include informational, commercial, navigational, and transactional. So, matching what your video is about with the intent of your customer is going to be really important for getting your video visible in search results.
Across social media, hashtags (#) are now used to help users find content that answers their questions across a range of platforms. You can use related hashtags (#) in video descriptions to help viewers find your video when they search for a specific hashtag.
Tags specifically help drive search as they make key trends more visible. Once you add a hashtag to the video description, it will be shown above the title of the video and then become hyperlinked.
3. Select a video category
If users are searching for a particular video with advanced options, they can select the search to show videos from selected categories. When uploading your video, it’s important you contextualize your video with categories so you will have a better chance of getting found by a user.
YouTube has a variety of category options to pick from, so you should be able to find a category that suits your YouTube videos. You can select the category options when uploading your video.
4. Customize your thumbnail image
Thumbnails can help or hinder your YouTube videos. They are the first thing that grabs people’s attention when they look at YouTube search results. A strong thumbnail can lead to a higher watch time, which can have a big influence on YouTube ranking. Create something that grabs people’s attention and stands out from the crowd so that your video gets noticed. For example, these thumbnails are just taken from the video itself and are probably not the most relevant for grabbing the user’s attention.
5. Effective cross-promotion
A great collaboration video on its own might attract some new fans, but combine it with a smart cross-promotion strategy and you have the opportunity to really grow your audience. To help you achieving that, here is a list of tips that you can easily use:
- Upload two different videos to one channel and playlist the other. This way, both audiences have a way to discover the collaboration and be introduced to the other.
- Use cards and description links to provide viewers a way to navigate from one channel to the next.
- Use a verbal call-to-action that directs to the other channel like “go check out our other video on X channel by clicking the link below” to guide viewers across channels.
- Include collaborator’s channel info in your video’s title and description to help increase discovery when viewers search to find your collab.
6. Encourage engagement
A great collaboration video on its own might attract some new fans, but combine it with a smart cross-promotion strategy and you. According to KissMetrics, 20% of viewers bounce from videos that are only 1 minute long and 40% of viewers bounce from videos that are 2-3 minutes long. If a significant chunk of your viewers bounce from your video before they even reach the CTA, placing it at the beginning of the video and leaving it there until it ends could generate more clicks. People who usually bounce before your video ends will have a chance to click on it, and the people who watch the video all the way through, who are also most likely to complete your desired action, will have a chance to click on it too.
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