You’ve succeeded in creating a beautiful video, making it attractive and dynamic: congratulations! After all that filming and editing, all you can do is click on the publish button on your Youtube channel. Halt! This step is not to be taken lightly, as it is afterwards that the Google robots index your video on search engines. Stay tuned, there are still a few small steps involved in referencing a YouTube video.
Depending on your area of expertise and sector of activity, maintaining a YouTube channel can be highly relevant, as it enables you to develop your reputation and credibility with your target audience.
To improve your referencing on YouTube and get the best possible visibilityPanda Communication offers you 6 fundamentals on SEO for YouTube videos.
1- Optimize your metadata: keywords, titles, descriptions, subtitles
Just as you pay special attention to your
natural referencing
and theuse of keywords on the pages of your website, all textual content linked to a YouTube video must be tailored to your objectives and your
digital strategy
. Let’s start with the basics of SEO on YouTube:
File name and title of a Youtube video
Optimization begins before the video is imported into the platform: remember to rename your filesfiles, just as you would for the
title attribute of an image
(without accents, the words separated by a hyphen, with the word “video”).
Once your file is ready, you need to think about the video title. Unlike the filename, which is not visible to Internet users, the title is given prominence. It must contain keywords and attractattention. (without being misleading). For example, you can write in uppercase or add emojis.
To find the ideal title, put yourself in the shoes of an Internet user: what would they type into the search bar to access the content you offer?
Don’t neglect the description of your YouTube video
The next step is to write the description, which, as its name suggests, should briefly summarize your content. Once again, consider the use of keywords. Only the first 100 characters of your description are displayed by default on YouTube. Click on “more” to scroll through the text. So get to the point in the very first sentence.
Feel free to insert a summarylinks to your website or sites relevant to the content and your social networks. It’s always traffic!
The power of YouTube subtitles
As with images, the algorithms of YouTube and Google still can’t “read” video as a human would. However, you can give it a boost by writing subtitles. The task is a bit time-consuming, but well worth it: it allows both search engines and people who can’t listen to your video to understanding your content. Besides, who hasn’t watched a subtitled video in a noisy environment, such as public transport, with the sound muted? You’ve got to admit, it’s pretty handy!
Once a hashtag, always a hashtag!
In the same way as for Twitter (king of the hashtag), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and other social networks, add tags is very useful for “categorizing” your videos. So don’t hesitate to use them for best describe your files using a few relevant terms. YouTube will be able to rank your content and recommend it to users with similar interests.
Here, for example, is the description of a video by
Sofyan
a French Youtubeur whose channel has almost 2 million subscribers:
It includes a brief, eye-catching description in the first 100 words, an attractive title, links to your social networks, clear, well-defined chapters, an invitation to comment and a small ad to maintain the link with your community. 20/20 !
2- Create an attractive YouTube thumbnail
The thumbnail of a YouTube video is this little rectangular icon which appears next to the title. In fact, it’s often the reason why you click or don’t click on a video. “A picture’s worth a thousand words”, so give it a whirl!
By default, YouTube suggests that you highlight an extract from your video. Instead, we advise you to use your artistic talents (or those of a graphic designer ;-)) to create a truly beautiful miniature. You need play with colorsstyle and font by adding a few words, or even icons or emojis (if the video’s theme lends itself to this).
Here’s the thumbnail of Sofyan’s video, mentioned above. Not bad, eh?
3- Divide the video into chapters
Just like subtitles, segment by chapter allows YouTube to better understand the content of the video, and users to easily find the part that interests them (especially if the video is long). Visit keywords are welcome in chapter titles. For example, if your video is a cooking tutorial, you could name the different chapters “Preparing the recipe”, “Cutting the vegetables”, “Baking” and so on.
4- Create Youtube playlists so you don’t lose your fans
As your channel accumulates more and more videos, you can group together those sharing similar similar themes into playlists. If you run a culinary channel, you can create a “Desserts” playlist. Internet users are more easily guided in their search, and can even discover more content.
A “well-ordered” channel is more likely to appear in the first search results, because your playlists can be suggested to users. Content is easier to understand for YouTube, which naturally references your chain better.
5- Integration and links for referencing a YouTube video
Your videos, and your channel as a whole, must not be “isolated”. You need create links between your website, your social networks and your YouTube channel. It’s also a good way to encourage visitors to click on your links and discover more content. Make the most of the platform’s potential and its billions of users!
If you’re integrate numerous videos on your websitethen opt for a sitemap. This site map is a kind of specialized directory presenting them, which can also be a good idea to give the engine spiders a single entry point to browse your files with a limited number of clicks. Here again, the text of the links will be crucial, so take care with the reputation of your videos.
6- Generate interaction
L’YouTube algorithm algorithm highlights videos that generate clicks and traffic. It’s not just the content itself, but all the links to which it refers, as well as its statistics. You’ve probably heard phrases like “tell us your favorite animal in the comments”, “don’t hesitate to give us a thumbs-up”, and so on. These are call-to-actionto encourage users to comment, share and like. These interactions are very important because they engage your community by generating dialogue. It’s also a great way to get some feedbacki.e. reviews of your video. Feel free to create conversation topics to invite users to express themselves and share your content.
Generate qualified traffic on its YouTube channel, it’s more complex than it sounds! The exercise requires not only production work (scripting, good video and audio quality, editing, miniatures, etc.) but also a real sense of responsibility. search engine optimization. Engaging a community is no easy task!
In conclusion, don’t forget to take care of your textual content on the SEO basics and make your channel attractive with visuals. You can also take advantage of all YouTube features (playlists, descriptions, chapters) to satisfy its algorithm. Now you have all the keys to success!
