How To Optimize Video for YouTube

(1) Pick Your Keyword

Google Adwords Keyword Tool, allows you to research valuable keywords, that prospective customers, might be searching for in search engines. You want to pick keywords that are in low competition, specifically niche terms. For example, instead of choosing “SEO Video” for a title to a video showing users how to SEO their video, you would want to choose a title like “How to SEO Video for YouTube”. Longer keywords (referred to as “long-tailed keywords”) that get a good amount of searches with low competition are usually best.

(2) Change the Video File Name

HALT!!! Before you upload your video to ANY hosting services, make sure to change the video file name to the keyword you chose in step 1. This will increase the likelihood of it showing up on your hosting site with a higher ranking spot.

(3) Upload Your Video

NOW it’s time to upload your video. You can use YouTube, Vimeo, or Ydraw hosting for different features, where learning how to SEO video for YouTube encompasses most of the same principles as for all of these sites. Research more about each hosting site and play around with all the features to see what each offers, and remember… it is okay to choose more than one!

(4) Basic Info 

Once your video is uploaded, YouTube takes you to a screen with the tab “basic info” open. You want to change your title to your main keyword choice, and write your description so that the keywords are written first, before anything else. You also want to make sure your description is informative and shares valuable information with your viewer, it is better for it to be a few paragraphs in length. 

This is important to remember, as again, it will increase the likelihood your video will show up with a higher ranking on YouTube. Next onto tags, make sure to highlight your desired keyword in your tags as well, and many other niche keywords that you feel someone might search for when looking for your type of video. Last, remember to pick the category you want your video to be in.

(5) Advanced Settings

Make sure to change the advanced settings of your video to make sure it is customized to what you like. One thing to remember is that video comments are always good for SEO, so allowing users to comment on your video is something that might be important to allow.

(6) Share

 Now that the video is correctly key-worded and uploaded, its ready to take launch. Share your video across all the social media channels you can think of, Google+, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Try to remind people about the video periodically, because some people might have not seen that it was released at first, and completely missed it.

With these simple steps, I hope you learned a little more about how to optimize video for YouTube, and some of the basic principles of beginner key-wording.  We LOVE to hear feedback and what we can do to help our clients, prospects, and fellow marketing enthusiasts!

+Jace Vernon