What is YouTube SEO? How do you do SEO on YouTube? Let’s find out

What is YouTube SEO, and how does it work? The goal of YouTube SEO is to have your videos appear on the first page of YouTube or even Google when users search for certain keywords. Let us explain a little more…

How do you do SEO on YouTube?

Doing SEO on YouTube is not as complicated as doing it for websites. However, there are lots of things you need to adjust for people to be able to find your video. The main elements that need adjusting are:  

1. Video Title

   

2. Description
   The basic principle of YouTube SEO is the same as regular SEO, which is to use the keywords which people tend to search for in the category of your videos. That’s why your Title and Description should include those keywords in a way that feels natural. For example, if you have made a video reviewing electronic devices, you should include the word ‘review’ in the title as that is what users will search for.

   Old video title: Which Earphones Should I Buy? 5 Superb Affordable Earphones
   New video title: Which Earphones Should I Buy? A Review of 5 Superb Affordable Earphones

   

3. Tagging
   This process can be done when you upload your video (you can also add them later). The good thing about tags is that they indicate what your video is about, and make it easier for people who search for such keywords to find your video. The keywords you add should be related to your video.

Every element is important

In addition to the YouTube SEO methods we have mentioned, there are other equally important elements to consider. Like updating the information on your YouTube channel’s ‘About’ section to add more details about your video (including the relevant keywords). You can also manage your playlists to make it more convenient for viewers to watch your videos seamlessly. Other important elements include making sure your videos are high-definition, creating interesting content that attracts comments, likes, subscribers and shares, communicating with your viewers through comments and even simply designing a compelling video thumbnail. These elements are all essential for YouTube SEO.

The main reason for doing YouTube SEO is to get viewers to watch our videos for as long as possible. The longer, the better, and ideally, they would watch the whole video. This is why the duration of your video is also important. People may think that making a video too long is bad, but in truth, YouTube is the most suitable platform for long videos. 

The recommended duration would be around 20 minutes. Of course, the longer your video becomes, the more interesting the content should be. If you create a 20-minute video but viewers exit at the 5-minute mark, your video will be considered low quality and it could cost you your ranking on the first page, even if you follow all the elements we suggest.  

These are all the methods for doing effective YouTube SEO. In summary, apart from adding keywords, the quality, picture, sound and content are all essential to the ranking of your video on YouTube. But your main focus should be on the quality of your content to give your YouTube channel the best chance of being discovered by those searching.