Amazing content is not enough to become a viral video creator.
No matter how jaw-dropping, engaging, or information-packed your videos are, you need your audience to find them first.
That’s where YouTube SEO comes in.
The right video SEO tools and strategies – and the right YouTube channel SEO tactics – will help you maximize your visibility and supercharge your growth.
Still, many creators fail to optimize their content at all. Or they simply don’t know which elements matter most – and what strategies really count in YouTube SEO.
Fact check: What you say in your video impacts SEO. As do your visuals. Quizzes, end screens and cards can help you send positive signals to the algorithm. And manual timestamps still beat auto-generated chapters.
To help you leverage YouTube SEO to the fullest, here’s everything you need to know about how to optimize your videos, and win over the YouTube algorithm.
Key Takeaways
- YouTube SEO means showing the algorithm and audience what your video is about.
- Poor video SEO kills your visibility. It won’t show up in search results and recommendations.
- The core of YouTube SEO is integrating relevant keywords and phrases into your video script, visuals, and metadata, including video titles, thumbnails, tags, and descriptions.
- YouTube analyzes your videos using natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision (OCR), so say your keywords out loud and show them on-screen.
- High click-through rates, audience retention, and engagement all send positive signals to the YouTube algorithm, improving your rankings.
- Keyword optimization should begin before you even draft your script. Balance keyword volumes against difficulty (competitiveness).
- YouTube SEO tools can help you pinpoint relevant keywords and their associated metrics.
- Human channel management and YouTube SEO experts get the best results.
Keep reading for the full scoop!
What Is YouTube SEO?
SEO is an acronym of Search Engine Optimization. It’s a set of practices that make it easier for search engine algorithms to properly parse content and show it in response to users’ queries.
And YouTube is the second-biggest search engine in the world, right after Google. The YouTube algorithm uses a complex set of criteria to decide which videos to recommend or show in search results. And which will disappear into obscurity.
YouTube SEO can help you stay on the right side of that divide.
But what is YouTube SEO, exactly?
Video SEO: Highlighting What Your Content Is About
At its core, video SEO is about making it as clear as possible to the algorithm (and any interested viewers) what your video is about. This means optimizing several components of your video, especially your:
- Video title
- Tags
- Video description
- Thumbnail
- Video script
- In-video visuals
You do this by targeting particular keywords and key phrases that sum up your content and match the interests of your intended audience.
Where YouTube Keywords Matter
We’ll take a closer look at how to find the best YouTube keywords for your content farther below.
For now, the important thing to remember is that you have to place them strategically throughout your title, tags, description, script, and visuals. This is essential for your videos to show up in search results and recommendations. The YouTube algorithm parses all these elements to match your content to the search intent and personal interests of viewers.
So, your video title, description, and tags need to prominently feature your target keyword – and related keywords that cluster around them. (Check out our full guide on how to SEO-optimize your video description: It gives you the run-down on everything from chaptering / timestamps to including FAQs, and several battle-tested templates.)
That part isn’t news to most creators.
But it’s important to keep in mind that it also matters what you say and show during your video. The same natural language processing (NLP) technology that makes it possible for YouTube to auto-generate captions also scans these captions for keywords to pinpoint the topic of your videos. Saying your keywords out loud is critical. (And: Check those captions over.)
As for visuals? YouTube has recently launched computer vision technology that can also identify images and text you show in your videos to better match your content to users’ searchers and fine-tune recommendations.
How to Find YouTube Keywords
So how do you actually know which keywords to use in your YouTube SEO optimization?
Ideally, this is not a question you ask yourself when you’ve already finished filming and editing your video. This is something you should consider before you even start drafting your script.
In fact, YouTube keyword research can be a fantastic way of generating video ideas and informing your content strategy. It helps you pinpoint what topics interest your audience most, and which ones are most competitive.
The two core metrics to consider are keyword difficulty and keyword volume.
Keyword volume (KV) tells you how many people search for a particular keyword or phrase on a monthly basis, often broken down by geographical region. Basically, it gives you insights on the popularity of certain topics.
Keyword difficulty (KD) lets you know how tricky it is to rank well for certain keywords. How many other creators have made videos on the same topic already? How difficult will it be to make a better video to out-rank them?
Especially if you’re just starting out as a creator, you should aim for keywords with a low difficulty and a solid volume. Once you’ve built some momentum behind your channel, you can start tackling higher-volume, higher-difficulty keywords.
The best way of finding these keyword metrics is by using SEO tools like Ahrefs or Tubebuddy. We take a closer look at different tools and options at the end of this article.
Key YouTube SEO Signals - Check Analytics
Before we get to the technicalities, there’s one more critical element to understand about YouTube SEO: The other signals that the algorithm also takes into account when deciding to rank your content.
It’s not all about how well you optimize for certain keywords. It’s also about core YouTube analytics metrics that send signals about your content back to the algorithm – especially your click-through rate, audience retention, and watch time.
In a word, audience engagement.
Audience Engagement Signals that Matter for Video SEO
First, your click-through rate (CTR) tells you how many viewers who see your video in their search results or recommendations actually click on it. The higher your CTR, the better. It tells you (and the algorithm!) that your video is scroll-stopping. That it corresponds to people’s search expectations and interests.
Once someone has clicked through to your content, audience retention and watch time come in. The longer someone sticks around to watch your content – and the higher your overall audience retention is – the better. This is a major positive signal that underlines your content quality. It means your video is engaging and matches the expectations of people who clicked on it.
In contrast, if the vast majority of viewers who click on your video nope right back out of there? Then the algorithm will stop recommending it.
How to Harness CTR and Retention to Help Your Videos Rank
When it comes to CTR, optimizing your title and especially your thumbnail are key. They need to be scroll-stopping, captivating the attention of your target viewers when they show up in search results or recommendations. Check our guide on thumbnail best practices!
As for improving your watch time and audience retention, you need:
- an on-point hook
- a short time to promise
- a well-structured video with a clear forward flow.
Want to learn more? Take a look at the details in our guides on optimizing time to promise and mining analytics to improve your video structure!
Find the Best Time to Post on YouTube
Sending positive feedback signals to the YouTube algorithm is critical. That’s also why it’s important to time your uploads right.
Before scheduling a video, check out your viewer demographics – especially their geographical location. Then, select a time during which they’re likely to be online.
The more initial engagement a video generates, the more likely it is to get picked up by the algorithm – so make sure it goes online during prime time, not when your target viewers are asleep or stuck at work.
How to Optimize YouTube Videos
That said, how do you actually do SEO for YouTube videos? How exactly you can optimize your YouTube videos depends on the type of video you have in mind – whether it’s a classic long-form piece of content, a Short, or a live stream.
Let’s break it down!
How to Optimize YouTube SEO for Long-Form Videos
The most common type of YouTube SEO optimization is for long-form, horizontal videos.
As we’ve seen above, the first time you should consider SEO in your video creation workflow is at the very beginning, when it comes to brainstorming ideas. Take a dive into potential target keywords, take a look at their volume and difficulty, and see what existing content comes up in searches.
Once you’ve identified a topic that matches your content strategy and has accessible keywords, you can start drafting your script and storyboard. Always keep in mind that you need to say your keywords out loud to ensure they’re included in the automatic transcript, and that your visuals also play a role.
During editing, keep SEO in mind when you refine your hook, minimize your time to promise, and hone the logical, forward-driven flow of your content. All of these elements are critical in enhancing retention rate and engagement – which send positive signals to the YouTube algorithm.
Once your video is filmed and edited, you need to craft a custom thumbnail to boost your CTR, and optimize your video description, title, and tags.
Upload Metadata
For both your thumbnail and video title, YouTube now offers handy A/B/C testing features. Instead of agonizing over alternatives, you can test several and then automatically pick the best performers.
For your tags, be selective. They’re effective in pinpointing the focus of your content and situating it within your niche. But don’t go overboard. Too many creators stuff their video descriptions with dozens of tags, which does not just look awful but also reduces their overall impact – and may even trigger spam flags.
Finally, there’s your video description overall. This is a massive opportunity to incorporate your strategic keywords and position your content. Add:
- A one- to two-paragraph summary of your content
- Timestamps with optimized chapter titles
- FAQs
- Links to your related videos
- Additional resources (for instance to your website)
- Affiliate links or links to your own online store
- Legal disclaimers if necessary
The first three are prime real estate for target keywords and related key-phrases. We’ve taken a deep-dive into how to optimize your video description here – with real examples!
Leverage Native Engagement Features
☝️ Hold up – there are more native functionalities to mention when we talk about YouTube SEO:
- Cards
- Endscreens
- Quizzes
When you upload your long-form content, you’ll see these options on the same page as your video description, title, and thumbnail. Most creators don’t use them! That’s a big missed opportunity.
Quizzes help you engage your viewers during your video, providing instant feedback.
Use cards to link to resources and related content during your video, making it easier for viewers to establish connections.
And endscreens – interactive ones especially! – help you ensure that your viewers stay with you and continue exploring your content even after your video ends.
All of these options boost engagement, which sends positive signals to the YouTube algorithm – which helps your SEO.
How to Optimize YouTube Shorts for SEO
Phew – that was dense. Let’s move on to something a little more straightforward: optimizing Shorts for YouTube SEO.
For Shorts SEO, it’s even more critical than for long-form videos for your hook to be on-point. You have seconds to absolutely nail it. Craft it carefully to maximize retention.
And, same as for long-form content, make sure to say your target keywords out loud.
When it comes to on-screen visuals, you have the advantage that many Shorts include custom, burnt-in captions anyway. After all, viewers often watch them on mute. Take advantage of this practice and make sure that your captions are easy to read and keyword-packed.
Next, add a custom thumbnail and refine your title and description. It’s critical to be concise. Incorporate your keywords into the first few words of your title, which should be 40-50 characters.
Your overall description should not exceed 150 characters and also needs to be carefully crafted to include keywords- and phrases.
Finally, select 3-5 tags to situate your content within your niche.
In all of this, be careful not to fall into the trap of keyword stuffing. Yes, you need to make sure that your keywords are strategically placed. But first and foremost, your description and title need to appeal to your viewers. Even if you win over the algorithm with a keyword-heavy but awkward title, it’s unlikely that viewers will click on it – defeating the entire purpose.
How to Optimize a YouTube Stream for SEO
The third type of content you need to optimize for YouTube SEO are streams.
Here, you have less to work with in terms of on-screen visuals and hooks, but you can still make sure to incorporate your keywords when you speak to make sure they appear in the automatic transcript. Otherwise, you also have the option of uploading a custom transcript afterwards.
Schedule your stream early on so that indexing can start well ahead of time, and make sure to include a custom-tailored, click-worthy thumbnail to maximize your CTR. Pick a title that is concise, incorporates target keywords, and piques the interest of your viewers.
During the stream, engage with the chat. This sends positive, real-time SEO signals to the algorithm and enhances your chances of ranking once your stream has concluded.
When your stream is over, focus on post-processing. As for regular long-form content, this means optimizing your video description, including:
- Manually added chapters
- FAQs
- A video stream summary
- Links to additional resources, content, and (affiliate) stores
How to Do YouTube Channel SEO
Beyond YouTube SEO for individual pieces of content, it is also relevant for your channel as a whole. This is what we call YouTube channel SEO.
The YouTube algorithm does not assess each individual piece of content you upload in isolation. Rather, it takes into account your channel context and authority.
After all, would you rather see a coding tutorial on Python visualizations from a random creator who also sporadically uploads gaming and web design content? Or from someone who has five playlists and dozens of videos dedicated to mastering Python and data analysis?
It’s a matter of trust – and authority. To win at YouTube channel SEO, you need to build that authority and clearly position yourself within your niche. (More on picking your niche – and why your niche matters – here.)
Develop a Coherent YouTube Channel Brand
To start with, craft a coherent visual brand identity. This includes optimizing your icon and banner, and selecting a signature palette and set of fonts. All your thumbnails should also incorporate these visual elements.
Next, set your channel keywords. Go to YouTube Studio, click on Settings > Channel > Basic Info. Here, you can add core keywords that pinpoint your niche and help you build a distinct identity.
Your channel description is another important element. Be concise and keyword-focused, and very clear about your content focus and the topics you cover.
Hone Your Overall Content Strategy
We’ve already talked about video-level SEO and about how you can use SEO tools to brainstorm and validate content ideas.
At the channel level, SEO-based keyword research as well as detailed analytics should inform your overall content strategy.
Taking a deep dive into SEO research and digging into keywords and audience trends can help you pinpoint content gaps in your niche.
Filling these with custom-tailored content helps you establish a clear specialization as a creator, and build an engaged audience.
Once you’ve grown a solid following and have built your authority, you can tackle higher-volume, and higher-difficulty keywords.
Boost Channel Engagement Through Playlists and Community Posts
Finally, there are several other tools you can use to engage your viewers on the level of your channel, especially playlists and Community Posts.
We’ve seen how to use links in end-screens, cards, and video descriptions to cross-reference related videos and keep your audience watching your content. At channel-level, curating playlists is another strategy to enhance cross-video engagement. Say someone comes to your channel for an introductory tutorial. When they see a useful follow-up in the queue, this is a major incentive to stick around.
Rounding things out, Community Posts are a fantastic way of engaging followers. You get to promote recently-posted videos, collect feedback through polls and quizzes, share text updates, or build anticipation through images and GIFs. (Check out our full guide to Community Posts here!)
What Are the Best SEO Tools for YouTube?
Now that you have a solid SEO roadmap for your channel and your videos, what are the best YouTube SEO tools you can use to actually get the ball rolling? Here’s a quick overview.
YouTube Studio
First off, let’s start with YouTube itself: with YouTube Studio.
Not only does YouTube Studio have an in-depth analytics tab that allows you to gain insights into your current content performance (including CTR and retention rates).
It also offers ABC testing functionalities and the AI “Ask Studio” option that can help you take the temperature of your niche, better understand your analytics, and brainstorm SEO-optimized content ideas.
Google Trends
What’s the hottest topic in your niche?
Google Trends is a handy free tool that can help you address this question. It will tell you which topics are trending, broken down by geographical location, time period, and topics ranging from Politics to Beauty and Fashion. You also get insights into search volumes and can export the overview to a spreadsheet.
Beyond that, it’s also possible to search for individual topics and keywords. This will give you a break-down of search volumes over time, related keywords, and rising queries. Critically, select “YouTube search” as a filter, to narrow down your results to your target platform rather than Google as a whole.
Ahrefs
One of the best paid YouTube SEO tools is Ahrefs. Its YouTube keyword tool is the perfect way of pinpointing keyword difficulty and keyword volume, as well as competing content.
Plus, Ahrefs also gives you access to broader SEO information across search engines, insights into trends, and AI tools for content brainstorming.
The downside? It comes at a monthly cost of $119 and up, depending on which plan you opt for.
TubeBuddy
Finally, there are SEO tools specifically geared towards YouTube SEO, for instance TubeBuddy.
These are designed to give you video ideas, insights into your competitors’ performance, details on keyword difficulty, volume, and trends, and overall niche geography.
TubeBuddy also integrates directly into YouTube Studio, with an SEO scoring tool and a tag builder. Plus, it offers a YouTube SEO title generator to help you brainstorm and test alternatives.
Automate Your YouTube SEO: Outsource
Does all of this sound like a hell of a lot of work? It is, no doubt about that.
In fact, YouTube SEO can easily take up more time than filming and editing your content.
So do professional creators actually spend dozens of hours a week on video SEO?
Nope.
The vast majority of YouTubers automate their YouTube SEO by outsourcing it to dedicated professionals.
YouTube SEO agencies take all the work outlined in this article off your hands. They handle analytics, keyword research, and content optimization. Plus, they can help you hone your brand identity, maintain playlists, boost engagement through Community Posts, and deliver actionable insights to inform your channel strategy.
Ready to get started? Tasty Edits provides professional YouTube SEO services, thanks to our hand-picked team of YouTube channel managers.
Let your personal YouTube SEO expert handle the technical and admin workflows, while you focus on what you do best – creating more amazing content!
Book a call with Tasty Edits’ SEO pros today!
FAQs
How to rank YouTube videos fast?
In order to rank YouTube videos fast, you need to master video SEO and optimize your title, description, tags, thumbnail, as well as your video script and the visuals you show on-screen. This will help the YouTube algorithm match your content to the perfect target audience.
What are YouTube channel keywords?
YouTube channel keywords are those keywords and key-phrases that your entire channel is optimized for. They distill the essence of your content and position you firmly within your niche.
How to SEO a YouTube video?
To SEO a YouTube video, you first need to define the keywords you want to optimize it for. Ideally, you do this before you start filming since it is also critical to incorporate these keywords into your video script and visuals. Once you have finished filming and editing your video, you need to optimize your title, tags, description, and thumbnail.
Do timestamps improve YouTube SEO?
Yes. Adding timestamps manually to your video, instead of relying on automatic chaptering, is a major asset when it comes to YouTube SEO. You can define your own chapter titles and make sure to strategically place target keywords and related key-phrases.
How to set up proper SEO for my YouTube channel?
To set up SEO for your YouTube channel, you need to optimize your channel description as well as setting up a video SEO workflow for each piece of content, optimizing your title, description, tags, and thumbnail. Critically, you need to develop an overarching SEO content strategy, which will help you frame video ideas and incorporate target keywords into video scripts and visuals as well.
Does SEO actually matter on my YouTube video?
Yes. Video SEO is mission critical for ensuring that your content gets picked up by the YouTube algorithm and appears in search results and recommendations.
