YouTube is equal parts an excellent source of entertainment and information. Therefore, it is critical to optimize YouTube content and the channel itself to be found online. Anyone can make a video and upload it to their own YouTube channel for the world to see. This means there are hundreds or thousands of videos being shared each day and millions of videos available online. Content creators often utilize their channels to create content for a large group of people whether it be on a particular topic or utilizing a consistent format but covering a wide variety of topics. Having good quality video content on your channel is a lot like having excellent written content on a website. Is it well produced? Does it answer specific questions? Is it easy to be found through search? While having excellent content is at the forefront for any creator, ensuring the channel and each corresponding video is well optimized is imperative. Let’s take a look at a few reasons why you should optimize your YouTube content.
How YouTube & Google Are Connected
YouTube is owned by Google. This means they share a lot of similarities when it comes to who uses the channel, how it is accessed, why someone may be using it, and from a search interface perspective as well. It also means YouTube and Google can work together to help your small business appear online. It is a great idea to optimize your YouTube content to help drive more clicks and help with conversion. While many people may use YouTube content as a distraction or a break during the day, there are a significant number of people who use the platform to stay up to date on the news or to learn new information. For example, an “unboxing” video in which the creator opens a package containing the latest pair of headphones, make-up, or other consumer products to demonstrate what it is, and how it works while sharing their opinion or additional information for their viewers. This type of content helps inform a consumer before making their own purchase decision. Often, this is part of an affiliated or sponsored content post from a creator in combination with a brand but it can also be completely organic.
When someone conducts a search on Google, such as “how to unclog a sink”, the first few results are likely to be Featured Snippets (specific and direct answers taken from a website), People Also Ask, the topic organic & paid search results, and YouTube video results. This is essentially how the search functionality works on the YouTube platform. As you type a query into the search bar, it will automatically start to complete your search with commonly searched items. Once you enter the search, you can then filter the results down but the most relevant and popular videos will appear first. Much like they do on Google. In fact, having a strong YouTube presence along with a strong website presence simply increases the ways people can find your small business online by giving more variety & results in search.
Optimize Your YouTube Content & Channel
As noted at the top of this Harv Communications Blog post, it is imperative to optimize both your YouTube channel and individual videos. There are dozens of new videos uploaded each day to join the thousands already available online. Standing out can be difficult, but it all starts with creating strong content that can be optimized for search. Use a relevant video title that has a high amount of search volume but lower levels of difficulty, and descriptive text that explains what the video is about while relating back to tags, category, hashtags, the uploaded video file name, and the corresponding content of the channel profile itself. Linking the YouTube channel to your website (and vice versa) helps with conversion as well as improving the connection between the two channels – much like you would with Social Media in general. Utilizing a catchy thumbnail to encourage people to click on the video is similar to having a strong Title Tag and/or Meta Description. Encouraging viewers to Like & Subscribe can be just as valuable as adding to cart from your eCommerce platform so ensure you are always giving reason to follow the channel including specifically mentioning this within the content to help build the community.
As a quick recap to help optimize your YouTube content:
- utilize a relevant video title by first conducting keyword research
- utilize descriptive text including hashtags to help with search visibility & encourage clicks
- utilize a catchy thumbnail that correlates with the video title & uploaded file name
- utilize corresponding video tags, category classification, and subtitles/closed captions all relating back to the video’s purpose
- build your community by giving reason to Subscribe/Like/Share the video content & channel
If you are a small business looking for additional support to optimize your YouTube content, looking to generate new content or create a new channel, or otherwise searching for other digital marketing tools to help grow your business online, contact Harv Communications today!
