Currently, there are more than 1.8 billion active users on YouTube. 68% of them watch YouTube videos to make purchase decisions.
Whether you’re starting your YouTube channel or looking to increase your rank, take a gander at our list below.
And remember: Growing your YouTube following takes time. While digital marketers are magical beings, we can’t time travel… yet. ????
Steps to Increase Your Rank on YouTube:
- Understand How to Rank on YouTube
- Use Keywords
- Channel Art
- Featured Video
- YouTube Description
- Use Playlists
- Post Consistently
- Post High-Quality Videos
- Practice Community Management
Understand How to Rank on YouTube
Here are the key metrics for increasing your rank on YouTube:
Average Watch Time: The average time your audience spends watching a video.
Video Length: Video length is something that should be experimented with as average watch time is key.
Subscribers: The more subscribers, the higher your channel authority.
User Interaction: Likes, shares, comments, subscribers & backlinks.
Retention Rate: The percentage of time people watched your video.
Let’s talk about how to make the most of them.
Use Keywords to Build YouTube SEO
Think of your YouTube channel like a blog. Your videos are the posts.
Use keywords to improve your YouTube SEO and make your channel more search-friendly… while still providing value!
The best way to do this is by focusing on keywords that are relevant to a specific video.
Here is where you can include keywords in YouTube videos:
- Video title
- Video description
- Tags
- Video categories
- Closed captions (subtitles)
- Intro & Outro cards
Pro-Tip: Your video title, description and tags are called “metadata”.
Other places to include keywords on your channel:
- Include your top keyword in the title of your channel
- Under your Advanced Settings, use the 100 characters to add your top keywords
- Include Channel Art, Featured Video & YouTube Bios
Channel Art
First impressions count! Make sure you’re setting the tone for your brand with your channel art.
Use something that is eye-catching and aligns with your brand guidelines. It should resonate with your target audience (it’s all about those guys).
Also, use the right side of the graphic to highlight your “Like” and “Subscribe” buttons. For example, you can include the text “Click below to subscribe!” in your channel art.
Pro Tip: 2560 x 1440 pixels is the recommended size for a YouTube channel art image.
Featured Video
Your featured video doubles as your channel trailer. This is another opportunity for your brand to shine, so crank up that spotlight. ✨
Your YouTube Featured Video should answer these questions:
- Who are you?
- What are you offering?
- Why are you offering it?
- How can someone learn more?
YouTube Description
Your YouTube description is the largest description you can write, compared to other social platforms — Hello world! You have a total of 5,000 characters to work with here.
I recommend you do the following for your channel’s ‘About’ section:
- Match the length of YouTube descriptions for channels like yours. (Channels promoting something similar)
- Take advantage of the character limit to include your top keywords
- Summarize your featured video
Use Playlists
Playlists are a great way to break longer YouTube videos into more digestible segments.
It allows one video to play directly after another. Use playlists to increase the amount of time that your audience spends on your overall channel.
Since one of the primary YouTube ranking factors is Watch Time, that’s a big win for rank. ????
Post Consistently
When it comes to your posting schedule, consistency and quality are more important than frequency.
I recommend posting 2 videos per week on your channel.
Publishing a high-quality video at least twice a week (with a focus on keywords and content) will build a foundation for your YouTube SEO. Over time, your channel’s traffic will grow from search results and recommendations.
Post High-Quality Videos
Think of the last free trial that you canceled. Why did you cancel it?
I’m betting you canceled your free trial early because you had a bad experience. ????
A video on your channel may be the first time your audience interacts with your brand. If it’s poor video quality, you’ll lose potential subscribers. In other words, they’ve canceled a free trial of YOU.
At Social Ally Media, we have our own set of guidelines for video best practices. Here is what we recommend:
- Crisp visuals (no blur, pixelation or shadows)
- A steady screen (no shaky footage)
- Clean Audio
- Include closed captioning on all videos
Practice Strong Community Management
Your channel’s success is measured by user interaction. By responding to likes and comments, you can create further discussion. This will increase your overall user interaction metrics.
[Tweet “If your YouTube channel is a great viewer experience, results will follow. ???? #youtube #marketing”]When in doubt, remember that the core of social media marketing is providing the best possible user experience. Focus on making your YouTube channel a great experience for the people who watch it and results will follow. ????
By the way, we can help you increase your rank on YouTube.
Find out more about Social Ally’s services in social media management, including YouTube.
