YouTube Ranking Factors – An attractive, professional website may be the first step to effectively market your business, but it shouldn’t be your only step.
Creating different types of content, such as videos, increases the likelihood your business will rank well in search results.
Posting your videos to YouTube – the most popular site for free video hosting and sharing online – is an ideal way to market a product or service. YouTube gets more than 800 million unique visitors monthly who watch three billion hours of video.
There’s no doubt about it – YouTube can boost the online exposure of your brand. But, with so many videos on YouTube, how do you ensure your marketing clips will grab viewers?
Jeff McRitchie, vice president of marketing at MyBinding, has the answers. He has shared 12 YouTube ranking factors grouped into two main categories: creating awesome content and viewer engagement.
Creating Awesome Content for YouTube Ranking Factors
Content is key and it’s under your control. You are the one who plans, designs and creates your content. Take advantage of that by transforming creative ideas into an awesome video presentation. The following are the six ranking factors under this category:
- Title
Have a unique title that best describes your content. Perform keyword research ahead of time to determine what netizens (also known as Internet users) want and need to see in a video presentation. After identifying your title, ensure your presentation delivers on that topic and meets the expectation of viewers. If a number of viewers “dislike” your video, the “dislikes” will discourage other netizens from viewing your clip, resulting in a poor click-through rate.
- Description
A well-written video description is crucial. A great description increases your chance of getting a high click-through rate. Write an interesting 300 to 500-word description about your video. You can also add a link to direct viewers to your website.
- Tags
Make at least 10 tags for your video based on your keyword research. These tags must be relevant to the subject of your video. Make sure you include the singular and plural forms of these tags so both YouTube and Google will give your video a better ranking.
- Transcription
Video transcription not only makes your presentation more viewer-friendly, it helps your video achieve a higher ranking. It is better to do your own transcriptions rather than rely on YouTube which now produces video transcriptions with a machine. The result is awful. Remember, transcriptions are used for ranking videos according to keywords. By transcribing your video yourself, you can ensure the keywords you used in your title and descriptions will be included. This will boost your click-through rate and help your video receive a better ranking.
- Channel Authority
Controlling your content means controlling your authority. Google uses channel authority as a basis for ranking. Consistent posting of awesome videos with great content will gain authority for your channel. It will also impact your current video, giving it better rankings. Therefore, to get better rankings for your channel, look at the quality and content of all your uploaded videos.
- Delivery
The quality of your content delivery is important for viewer engagement. Even awesome content will trigger viewer “dislikes” if it is delivered poorly. The more “dislikes” your video has, the lower click-through rate it will receive.
Viewer Engagement
You need to promote your video in social networks to receive a lot of views. A YouTube video can go viral but still collect “dislikes.” The number of views in this case will not garner your video a higher ranking. To improve rankings for your video, you need a lot of views and “likes” from viewers.
Quality of Views
As already mentioned, your video needs a lot of views and “likes.” This means your audience should be watching your video all the way through. Getting the attention of your viewers is not enough. You need to them to watch your entire video.
Inbound Links
YouTube uses inbound links on videos as a basis of ranking. Both Google and YouTube look for channel links and links under a particular video. You need to build links to your channel and video. These links must look natural. You can build links naturally through your social media and blog. Your social media followers will link back to your video when they are interested in your content. You can also create profile links. You can put the link of your YouTube channel below your e-mail signature or on press releases. You can also embed your video on your website.
Social Shares
Promote your video on your social media accounts because Google looks for social signals for your content. The more netizens who share your video, the better ranking it will receive.
Embeds
Aside from embedding your video on your site, encourage bloggers and site owners to embed your video as well. The more your clip is embedded, the better its rankings.
Comments and Video Responses
Comments made by viewers on your video are a good sign of engagement. A video that builds a social following and engages viewers will receive better rankings from Google. Google can easily figure out real comments from the spam, so don’t try to scam the system. Build relations with your viewers by immediately responding to their comments or queries.
Videos created by viewers in response to one of your clips are a huge ranking factor. Video responses tell Google your clip is a worthwhile video to rank. Consider trading video responses: request friends and followers to write a response to your video and, in return, you can write a response for their content. You can also create a video in response to your clip. These videos, though not as powerful as those created by others, can contribute to your video’s rankings.
Likes and Favorites
“Likes,” lead to video sharing. Video sharing leads to a better ranking.
The internal page rank system of Google and YouTube causes your video’s rankings to fluctuate. Those who share your video on their channel or sites are passing their page rank and authority to your video and channel.
Article by Tribble Agency. Link building and inbound links are important in getting better rankings. If you are inept in video SEO, you can hire SEO professionals to do the task for you.
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