By now, you may have heard to a lot of so called Youtube SEO experts, who may have given you a bunch of bullshit advices ranging from description to proper lighting condition. In this article, we are going to cut all that crap and only focus on those Youtube SEO factors that actually matter. And you'll be surprised to know that there are only two SEO factors that actually matter. Yes! Only two.
Look, SEO is constantly changing. There are factors which mitigate over time and some new factors replace them. What we commonly do is that we take care of all the factors, the old factors, the new factors and waste a lot of our time. We need to only focus on the factors that actually matter.
Okay, there are only two SEO factors that actually matter on youtube.
One is channel's total watch-time and the second is that video's watch-time. It's technically same. Let me explain you this with an example. Consider a case where two different youtube channels upload a same new video. The video is exactly same. The title, descripion and tags, They are also same. Whom will youtube rank over other? You got the answer! The channel whose watch-time is more will rank over other. Let's say channel A ranked.
There's is a new factor that youtube has rolled out few years ago. It is that, if a video is getting views from some external source, youtube will consider 20% of those views while considering rankings. If means if you've got 100 views, youtube will consider average watch-time of 20 views to rank it. This is important. That's why, It becomes really difficult for a video to get viral using audience reffered from external sources.
Coming back to the case. So, channel A has ranked it's video over channel B. Let's say a lot of people searched that query and clicked and watched channel B's video that was ranking at 2nd place. This boosts the watch-time of channel B's video marginally high over its competitor. Youtube has an alogrithm which considers some portion of channel's watch time and primarily individual video's watch-time to decide rankings. Initially, the video uploaded by both the channels had no views and Channel A was ranking. But now, channel B has decent advantage of views over channel A. And without any surprise, it's video will rank.
Keywords that are massively competitive are almost impossible to rank. Because there are already channels and videos with huge amount of watch-time ranking those keywords.
The best practice is to find long tail keywords with decent audience and not so high competition. I'll cover Youtube keyword research in some other video.
Okay, now you've found right keywords. It is important to use them properly in the beginning of title and description of the video and also tags. Always use your keywords in the tags.
That's all about Youtube SEO. All the factors that people say. Long descriptions and 4K videos. They hardly matter. Though they're important to rank your videos on Google.
And always use thumbnails to lure your audience. This is not a part of SEO. But even if you've ranked your video, you're going to loose a lot of audience that won't click on your video if you'll use a boring thumbnail.
Youtube SEO factors that Matter
Look, SEO is constantly changing. There are factors which mitigate over time and some new factors replace them. What we commonly do is that we take care of all the factors, the old factors, the new factors and waste a lot of our time. We need to only focus on the factors that actually matter.
First things first. The first thing you need to decide is that you've to choose Google or Youtube SEO. If you're Optimizing a youtube video to rank on google, you've to look for different parameters.I have made a different video on that. However, it's good to merge both SEOs. In this video, we are going to talk only about Youtube SEO.
Okay, there are only two SEO factors that actually matter on youtube.
The WatchTime
The first and the most important factor is watch-time, which is also sometimes referred as audience retention. Watch-time is the number of hours people have watched your video in total. There are two watch-times that youtube calculates.One is channel's total watch-time and the second is that video's watch-time. It's technically same. Let me explain you this with an example. Consider a case where two different youtube channels upload a same new video. The video is exactly same. The title, descripion and tags, They are also same. Whom will youtube rank over other? You got the answer! The channel whose watch-time is more will rank over other. Let's say channel A ranked.
There's is a new factor that youtube has rolled out few years ago. It is that, if a video is getting views from some external source, youtube will consider 20% of those views while considering rankings. If means if you've got 100 views, youtube will consider average watch-time of 20 views to rank it. This is important. That's why, It becomes really difficult for a video to get viral using audience reffered from external sources.
Coming back to the case. So, channel A has ranked it's video over channel B. Let's say a lot of people searched that query and clicked and watched channel B's video that was ranking at 2nd place. This boosts the watch-time of channel B's video marginally high over its competitor. Youtube has an alogrithm which considers some portion of channel's watch time and primarily individual video's watch-time to decide rankings. Initially, the video uploaded by both the channels had no views and Channel A was ranking. But now, channel B has decent advantage of views over channel A. And without any surprise, it's video will rank.
Mind the Watchtime
So, watch-time is important. And how you'll get more watchtime? By making people watch your complete video. If viewers clicks on your video and quit within 15 seconds, it will result in a very poor watch-time and your video will stand nowhere. That's what all those SEO experts are actually meant to say when they talk about proper lighting and good camera. They're actually telling you to make you audience to watch your content. The same is the case with longer videos. If you'll make long videos and if you succeed in making viewers watch it completely. You'll endup with a lot of watchtime.The game of Keywords
The second SEO factor is keywords. If you're going to make videos on topics that no one searches. You're not going to get any views. It's that simple. At the same time, it is important to not make videos on topics that are impossible to rank.Keywords that are massively competitive are almost impossible to rank. Because there are already channels and videos with huge amount of watch-time ranking those keywords.
The best practice is to find long tail keywords with decent audience and not so high competition. I'll cover Youtube keyword research in some other video.
Here is a professional tip. What most youtuber's do is that they take a bunch of long tail keywords use one video to rank all those keywords.This brings decent traffic and the they easily win the low competition for those long tail keywords.
Okay, now you've found right keywords. It is important to use them properly in the beginning of title and description of the video and also tags. Always use your keywords in the tags.
That's all about Youtube SEO. All the factors that people say. Long descriptions and 4K videos. They hardly matter. Though they're important to rank your videos on Google.
And always use thumbnails to lure your audience. This is not a part of SEO. But even if you've ranked your video, you're going to loose a lot of audience that won't click on your video if you'll use a boring thumbnail.
0 Comments