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What’s that. Who is it? Where are they from? What are they talking about? What’s that
again? Don’t make videos for YouTube unless you’re going to take these important extra
steps to be found by those who are looking for you.
Hi Adam in the Vlog Pod and today I’m talking YouTube and how to stop using “post and
hope” as your SEO tactic. YouTube is the second biggest search engine after Google,
which just so happens to own YouTube. So be sure to do these 5 things with every video
on your YouTube channel to get your videos found.
Number one. Use a title that includes your keywords and that a viewer can connect with
immediately. You can use our video search optimization guide by following the link with
this video to find more details on how to identify keywords. But there’s no point
finding these if you’re not going to use them in the title. Check this video. See how
the title is “How to optimise your YouTube videos for Search Engines / YouTube SEO / Vlog
Pod”. All of this helps us to get found. So be clear. Use both individual keywords,
and longer phrases (or longtail keywords). And be sure to include your business name
in your titles. Or if you’re an individual, use your own name. You want to rank on YouTube
when people search for you. Well, unless your parents were so kind as to give you the same
name as some sort of celebrity. In that case you might just be up against it.
Number two. Fill out that little box under the title that’s says description. First
thing you’ll want is a clickable link to your webpage. That means you need the whole
http:// part. Follow that with some tagline that you use in every description. You want
this at the top and not the bottom so that people can see an easy way to your website
without having to expand the description to find it. Then YouTube gives you a good deal
of real estate to fill with a well written description that again hits on your primary
and secondary keywords. Use that space, don’t go with a one sentence description. I’m
talking paragraphs here… well written and useful to a viewer.
Number 3. Tag your video with relevant tags. Again, use keywords and phrases separated
by a comma. And think about what unique tags could be valuable. Things like your location,
a specific product name or tag the person presenting. And use your business name again.
Just remember, anytime you do use keywords, they’d better be relevant to the video content
and your business.
Number 4. Upload a custom thumbnail. An easy way to do this is to screenshot a frame from
the video and add some text to it. Canva is a great tool for putting the text on if you’re
not familiar with image editing software. A great looking custom thumbnail increases
the likelihood of people choosing to watch your video over other options.
Number 5. Be sure to upload a transcription. You’ve written out a script so put it to
good use. Upload the transcription. This means there’s more text for search engines to
crawl over. But also that people can watch your video with captions. A handy addition
for when they’re watching something at work and can’t have the sound cranking for instance.
And lastly, make use of YouTube's annotation and cards features. This gives you the ability
to create dynamic links between videos and other content and places across the interwebs.
Truly the future at our fingertips.
So I know that’s a lot to remember. That’s why we’ve stuck it all into this nifty little
download that’s going to be a lifesaver when you actually sit down to do a bit of
SEO on your next video upload. Get it from the link here. And be sure to subscribe to
hear what else you need to do for using Facebook. Yep, that’s right. If you want to reach
users on Facebook, it’s no longer enough to post on YouTube and share. You’ve got
to embrace Facebook video. But that’s for next time. See you then.