YouTube’s power has skyrocketed since its launch in 2005, with 2 billion logged-in monthly users, and 71% of B2B marketers using it. When it comes to a site based on multimedia and graphics, many channels would benefit from knowing more about YouTube’s ranking system which their video is competing in.

 When you first upload a video, YouTube relies mainly on the quality of information and optimisation you’ve supplied them with. This means that your title, description and tags are important for letting their algorithm know where your video is best placed within the vast array of categories. The quality of your optimisation initially dictates your starting ranking position. This means no slacking when it comes to providing concise details about what your video contains.

 Over time, as a video gains more views, the YouTube algorithm then has actual data to take into account and help its ranking algorithm decide whether your video should appear higher or lower in search results. Considering these two key stages when producing a video helps to put your objectives into context. Of course, this is easier said than done.

1.  Engage your audience

One of the main metrics used to rank your videos and prove its success is ‘watch time’ - how long viewers actually spend watching your video. Specifically, you want to create content which holds attention more than competing videos. So before you even create the video, take a look at what is currently ranking highly for your idea, take note of the styles of video; talking head, animation, song etc. Plan with this in mind - how can you hook the viewer and keep them watching?

2.  Consistently show your expertise

 YouTube will turn to its most trusted and consistent Channels which have proven their worth for particular topics and categories. If YouTube wants to provide the best answers for a question, they need to know that the channel they’re ranking highly provides good optimisation and has a high watch time with it’s viewers.

 YouTube trusts channels that have consistently uploaded content which proves successful. To show your expertise, be as specific as possible when describing your video - don’t be vague. Remember, YouTube doesn’t have much data initially to justify how much visibility your video gets, and as a result has to rely on the quality of your information and optimisation until more viewer data is available.

3.  Build topical relevance

This is one of the reasons why newer videos can sometimes appear near the top of results, as shown below.

To build topical relevance for your channel, create a video strategy which covers the range of topics and information you could give to your audience. Plan the information which you want to give, and the amount of video content needed in order to target that topic effectively. Try not to make the information too vague - optimise the videos so YouTube can see which keywords your channel has an expertise in. It takes time, but with hard work, you’ll see it pay off.

And also ensure that you have the right categories for your videos, which will help YouTube to organise your channel and videos in the most relevant area.

4.  Create playlists

 YouTube defines success by having people continuously watching videos - that’s it’s business model after all. A great way to do this is by grouping themed videos and creating playlists based on what your viewers would want to watch. Each video can then auto-play so the viewer doesn’t have to manually click onto another video or see something from another brand in the sidebar which takes their attention.

 This clever method of keeping those who have an interest in your channel happy and can also help to display to YouTube which topic and categories your videos are relevant for, as mentioned above. 

5.  Don’t forget a snappy title

 All YouTube videos begin with a text title which describes the video the viewer is about to watch. Write a title to be clear and concise so that potential viewers don’t miss it because they don’t understand what the video is about.

This is also your chance to provide keywords to support with indexing and ranking your video in search engine results. You have up to 100 characters for the video title, but try and keep titles to around 70, so they don’t get truncated by search engines, if shown in search results.

6.  Write effective video descriptions

 Descriptions of your video are just as important for search engines as they are to help the viewers. The length of the description doesn’t matter as much as the title, but ensure that the first 100-150 characters appeal to potential viewers and are keyword rich. The first sentence of your description can be shown as a snippet in the search engine results page and YouTube search results, so make sure this stands out and contains relevant information.

 One of the best methods people use to find and watch videos on YouTube is via suggested videos. A good description can also help you to appear as a suggested video while they’re watching related videos, potentially increasing your subscriber count.

7.  Create an eye-catching thumbnail

An appealing thumbnail can be the difference between a user clicking through to your video or not - it’s the image which appears on your video before it plays.

Canva is a free tool which allows you to create your own eye-catching thumbnail. To optimise your thumbnail, consider…

• Using a title in the video in the thumbnail

• Adding relevant imagery within the thumbnail - it doesn’t even need to be something shown in the video, as long as it’s relevant to the topic

• Using an image of your presenter, if they’re notable

8.  Write subtitles or transcripts

 While search engines cannot view the videos, they can read the text. This is why it’s a great idea to add a transcript so that the search engines can best understand what your video is about and use this in their ranking factors. Transcripts are also useful for viewers as a secondary source of content. 

9.  Include video tags

 YouTube doesn’t display video tags anymore, but they are still important or video optimisation. Tools such as the vidIQ Vision for Youtube Google Chrome extension help to show the tags competing videos are using. Don’t spam your video tags with a long list of keywords and phrases, but when you’re doing your video tags, use the main keywords in your title, along with terms which best describe your video. A general rule of thumb is you should be able to be able to grasp the context of the video by looking at the tags, instead of being confused.

10. Use YouTube Cards

 Include Calls to Action in your videos with YouTube cards. They can be created to promote different types of buttons while users are watching your video throughout, such as promoting a video, linking to another YouTube channel, or asking for donations to a non profit organisation. Cards can tie everything together.

 YouTube optimization may not be the secret to ranking first in the search engines, but videos with high viewing figures definitely help. These tips will help you to ensure that your videos are crafted and optimised in the right way to help YouTube identify what it is, and promote it in the right places.

About the author

Mark Pickering is a  Digital Marketing Consultant at Hallam, a multi award-winning, strategic digital marketing agency for brands that want to thrive in the digital world.