How to optimize your YouTube videos

According to research, almost half (45%) of marketers are planning to invest more of their budget in YouTube videos – this makes total sense when you consider how engaging video is as a format and how popular it is with consumers across platforms.To get the most from your video investment however, you need to know how to optimise your YouTube videos. With a few basic SEO rules and techniques, you can turbo charge your video visibility, helping to generate more views, grow your video ROI and direct more traffic back to your new business website.

1. Use a keyword in your file name If you upload images to your website, you’ll likely be in the habit of saving the image file name with a keyword included. This same practise should be applied to your video file before you upload to YouTube. Obviously, the keyword you select should be related to the content of your video. 2. Use a keyword in your video title When you give your video a title on YouTube, ensure that you use a keyword naturally within that title. This helps with search and discovery, making it easier for viewers to find your content. 3. Create an optimised description When writing your video description, you’ll need to juggle the need to be engaging and descriptive with working in related keywords to optimise the text. There is a 1000 character limit so plenty of space to accurately describe the content of your video while also ticking off some SEO keywords too. 4. Add a transcript It’s good practise to add a transcript to your video – this is a text version of the spoken content and naturally, should organically include a range of optimised keywords. If you add your video to your own website for your organic traffic to view, adding a transcript to your site can also help with optimisation and discoverability. 5. Select appropriate tags Much as you would add tags to a social media post to help users find content related to that tag, you can also add tags to your YouTube video upload. This works in the same way, helping to filter and organise by content type so ensure you select the most relevant tags for your content rather than ones you’re simply targeting with your SEO activities overall. 6. Choose a category You can select the category that your video sits within under ‘Advanced Setting’s from your account after upload. Select the most relevant category for your video, rather than your brand as a whole. 7. Provide a thumbnail You can specify a specific thumbnail for your video – this can help to make it more attractive and more likely to attract viewers as well as give you more control over how your video is presented to YouTube users so it’s well worth doing.