YouTube is the second largest search engine, mastering YouTube SEO can take your channel from obscurity to success. With millions of videos competing for viewers, optimizing your content for search visibility is essential. YouTube is the largest video platform on the internet and is also considered one of the biggest search engines of our times. In this blog post we will learn how to use YouTube SEO for your videos
What is YouTube SEO?
YouTube SEO refers to the process of optimizing your videos so they rank higher in YouTube’s search results and suggested video sections. By tailoring your content to YouTube’s algorithms, you increase the likelihood that viewers will find your videos through organic search, suggested content, and relevant playlists.How does YouTube SEO work?
YouTube is owned by Google and as such uses the same search intelligence as the search. When a user types a word or combination of words on YouTube, the platform’s robots scour across all the channels and videos to deliver the results similar to that word to the user in order of relevance. Whether your video or channel will rank highest will be determined by several factors such as title, tags and description. For example, a video that correctly fills in the title, tags, and description fields tends to have better placement than one that does not. Also a YouTube channel that receives a lot of comments and likes also positions itself better than one that doesn’t have good engagement.
As the search engine and YouTube belong to the same company, there is an integration between the platforms. So, when a user searches on Google, the search engine also presents a carousel of video content, both from YouTube and other platforms, that is more relevant to that search.
How YouTube rank videos
Before your videos can rank highest on YouTube, the platform considers several factors as
- The performance of your videos
- The popularity of your channel
- Number of followers and subscribers
- Click-through rate, average view durations, likes, and dislikes
- Another factor that YouTube takes into consideration is personalization for each user. If a user watches videos similar to yours, then your video is more likely to end up on their homepage as a recommendation.
How to Find the Right Keywords for YouTube SEO
Keywords are the foundation of YouTube SEO as such they must be added to certain fields—title, tags, and description. This will help YouTube to collect this information and use it in the ranking. You can find the best keywords for your content through
Use YouTube’s Search Bar
When you type a keyword into YouTube’s search bar, it auto-suggests phrases related to that keyword, giving you insights into popular search queries. YouTube search bar is similar to that of Google.
Explore Competitor Content
You can also search for other people in the same niche as you are. If they have a good audience and many views, they probably adopt good SEO practices for YouTube and know how to use keywords. Then, review what terms they use in their most popular videos. To do this, when you’re on their channels, go to the Videos tab and select the option to sort by most popular videos. Look at their video titles, tags, and descriptions to identify common themes.
Use Keyword Research Tools
Tools like offer insights into search volume and competition for specific keywords. Google Trends is also a good option for tracking seasonal interest in certain topics.
Conclusion
Mastering YouTube SEO takes time and consistent effort, but the rewards are well worth it. By implementing effective keywords, optimizing your titles, tags and descriptions, encouraging engagement, you’ll increase your video’s chances of ranking well, attracting more views, and growing your channel.
You can also read How to grow your YouTube channel