Conduct keyword research.
There is no human at YouTube headquarters viewing and ranking your video.
Instead, the system examines your information to determine what the video is about, which videos or categories it is linked to, and who would be interested in watching it. When describing your video for the algorithm, utilize accurate, succinct terminology that people are currently using when searching.
Because YouTube is both a search engine and a video platform, you can do keyword research in the same way you would for a blog post or site copy: with free tools like Google Adwords or SEMrush.
Once you've determined your main keywords, you should employ them in four places:
• In the movie's file name (i.e., laparoscopic-appendectomy.mov) • In the film's title (using catchy natural language like "Real life step by step laparoscopic appendectomy") • In the YouTube video description (particularly within the first two lines, above the fold)
However, there is one area where you do not need to include your keywords: • in the video's tags. Tags, according to Youtube, “play a small impact in video discovery” and are especially useful if your keyword or channel name is often misspelled. (For example, laporoscopic, lapparascopic, appendictomy, apendectomy, and so on.)
Make it hard for anyone to ignore your thumbnail. But, of course, without being clickbait.
YouTube uses the term "appeal" to describe how a video entices a viewer to take a risk (although a little one) and watch something new. To increase the attractiveness of your video:
YouTube uses the term "appeal" to describe how a video entices a viewer to take a risk (although a little one) and watch something new. To increase the attractiveness of your video:
• Include a unique thumbnail (and keep the visual style consistent across all your thumbnails)
• Create an enticing, snappy title—the type you can't help but click on. • Keep in mind that the first line or two of the description will appear in search, so make it engaging and relevant.
Tee Noir's pop culture commentary channel, for example, follows a constant, lively template: thumbnails of her face (with a distinct expression) and conversational, straightforward captions.
Almost often, the background picture influences the headline in some manner, resulting in a compellingly clickable bundle.
Continue to have people view your video, as well as all of your videos.
Make it easy for viewers to continue viewing your content and stay within your channel's ecosystem once they've viewed one video. To that aim, employ the following techniques:
• Playlists: of thematically comparable video
• Subscription watermarks (for more on converting viewers to subscribers, read our guide to getting more YouTube subscribers)
Making a video series is an excellent method to capitalize on a recent surge in viewership.
If a video of your 12-year-old child performing a cover went viral, more covers could be in order. Depending on your plan, you may publish a series all at once for binge watching or release them on a regular basis to keep people coming back.
Obtain opinions from different sources.
Views that are not generated by the YouTube algorithm might nevertheless help you succeed with the algorithm. Depending on your plan, YouTube advertisements, other sites, cross-promotion on social media, and collaborations with other channels or companies may all help you generate views and subscribers.
The system will not penalize your movie if it receives a lot of traffic from outside sources (a blog post, for example). This is significant because when the majority of a video's traffic comes from advertisements or an external site, click-through rates and view length frequently plummet.
The algorithm, according to YouTube's product team, solely considers how a video performs in context. So, regardless of its stats from blog views, a video that does well on the site will be exposed to more people on the homepage.
Pro Tip:
Embedding a YouTube video in your blog or website benefits both your blog's Google SEO and the number of views your video receives on YouTube. As follows:
Participate in comments and other channels
You must cultivate your relationships with your viewers in order for your audience to expand. For many viewers, part of the allure of YouTube is that they feel closer to creators than they do to traditional superstars.
Relationships with your audience and other artists can help you establish bridges that will benefit you in the long run. The community interaction tools provided by Hootsuite are an excellent method to stay on top of this.
Give the people what they desire.
People seek quality above all else in an age of content overload. Each user's happiness is prioritized by the algorithm. So, identify your specialty and embrace it.
To assist, YouTube says it is focusing on gathering additional satisfaction indicators and making them available to creators in their statistics.
Once you've found your recipe, rinse and repeat, as Yorkshireman Danny Malin discovered when his YouTube channel Rate My Takeaway became popular in 2020.
While YouTube undoubtedly promotes the notion of posting constantly in order to establish and maintain a relationship with your audience, it is a fallacy that the algorithm would penalize you for publishing too frequently or insufficiently frequently. The period between uploads has little effect on audience growth.
Experimenting allows you to evolve.
Simultaneously, keeping an eye on Google Trends and allowing yourself freedom for experimenting ensures that you will not be left behind when the zeitgeist shifts on a dime. (Skinny jeans, I'm looking at you.)
Take heart in the knowledge that even if an experiment fails, the low-performing video will not affect the ranking of your channel or future videos. (Unless, of course, you have genuinely alienated your audience to the point that they no longer want to watch you.) According to YouTube's product staff, all of your videos have an identical probability of gaining views.