15 Ultimate YouTube Video Ranking Hacks for Higher Ranks
Naturally, as YouTube is becoming a content hub, everyone is racing to push their video on top. That is precisely why most of you are searching for YouTube video ranking hacks.
And the reason is legitimate because, according to Statista, YouTube has 2.1 billion active users worldwide as of 2020 . Why would anyone not want to capture this market?
Nonetheless, in 2021, if you aim to rank your video on top of the searches, you have to optimize both Google and YouTube tactfully.
But do not be demotivated at all. Because all the top-ranked videos started from zero. Our study says, ranking higher is a very competitive task but reasonably achievable. And we are here to show you that.
But before we get down to our YouTube video ranking hacks, here are our two cents on the difference between Google and YouTube SEO.
How YouTube SEO is different from Google SEO
Basically, while Google takes a lot of time and rigorous SEO metrics to rank content or a webpage, YouTube focuses more on engagement.
Well, this might give an idea that if it’s on engagement, then getting an unimaginably huge number of likes and views will do.
The much that is true, you have to keep in mind that it gets popular when people search it.
So, in the case of marketing YouTube content, you have to optimize the titles, keywords, content length, etc., to make people watch it from their search.
For YouTube, one other crucial factor is the first day of launching content.
If you can get enough engagement for your video on the first day, YouTube will rank the video higher than other content of the same search.
15 essential YouTube video ranking hacks that will take your video to the top
Certainly, YouTube is full of potentials with all the positive indicators on its side. However, the competition is intimidating.
According to Statista, till August 2020, 500 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube .
1. Research a focus keyword, apply it everywhere possible
Since YouTube is not a text-based content site, the Keyword SEO works differently here.
So, firstly, search your topic on YouTube and wait for YouTube to suggest to show you popular keywords.
For better depth, observe your competitors and most popular videos on the keyword you wish to target and see how they used the keyword.
Now, although we’ve mentioned that Google search works differently than YouTube, it can still be of great use.
Search your keyword on Google and add “site: youtube.com” to get search results of the top-ranked YouTube videos.
Plus, you can check the video carousel to see what videos overall ranked higher on this keyword. Lastly, make sure to check the competitiveness of the keyword.
2. Optimize your title, the star of the show
For YouTube, the title of the video is the best thing to use SEO on. This is why this is on top of our YouTube video ranking hacks list.
Indeed, you have to make sure you put that primary keyword you researched on the title and highlight it as much as possible.
Most marketers who choose to use video marketing do not get enough traction. Because they treat YouTube as a social media, whereas YouTube has an algorithm that is quite similar to a traditional search engine.
So, a not-so SEO-friendly title is surely going to be a bummer. Also, make sure the title is within 60 characters because nobody gives in to fancy adjectives. Instead, putting some solid words to make people curious.
3. Craft the best yet concise description
The second thing that adds up to text SEO optimizing for YouTube videos is their descriptions.
For this, make sure that you include your primary keyword as well as 3-4 secondary keywords in the description. Make sure there’s at least 200 words of optimized texts in your description.
Apart from that, you may include important disclaimers or a short backstory in your description which is relevant to the video.
Certainly, do not forget to include links to your social media sites and other reference videos for a better reach of your overall channel or organization.
And if you are struggling with your texts and SEO-optimized content, our YouTube SEO services can be your savior!
4. Add secondary keyword tags that are used in similar contents
Undoubtedly, YouTube tags have stirred up the entire YouTube SEO game. Because these tags are the easiest way to place your content for certain keywords and criteria.
We suggest you use at least 10 tags for a particular video. Of course, the tags should be a smart combination of primary and secondary keywords.
5. Make the video long but the intro short
Here we are with one of our YouTube video ranking hacks that might not seem so aligned with video.
Hear us out; basically, YouTube end of the day is a video-sharing app that competes with television. Undoubtedly, we can say it is winning too!
So, it is essential that you provide high-quality long videos to your viewers. Always divide your content and plan a clear structure of your idea and content.
The beginning is the magnet. Which is why, try to keep a short yet mind-blowing intro that makes your viewers want to watch it till the end. On the flip side, an overly long video is likely to lose your viewers.
For great video editing and motion graphics for your YouTube video, don’t forget to contact us!
6. Adding timestamps help you provide a better experience
Most people will not even consider this to be one of the YouTube video ranking hacks. But when you have a long video tutorial, interview, event, or how-to video on YouTube, not everyone will need the entire video.
Although it might seem like a negative step, segmenting your videos into distinct parts to help specific viewers to watch exactly the portion they want actually increases your number of viewers,
Additionally, Google takes all these segmented parts as snippet contents and ranks them individually! Providing timecode is like casting the magic spell for increasing user experience.
7. Create a custom YouTube thumbnail
Even if it does not have a direct impact on the YouTube algorithm, thumbnails are one of the best YouTube video ranking hacks to increase clicks.
Simply, visuals attract human minds way more than texts. So, even this small box of YouTube thumbnails can leave a huge impact on your viewers.
Essentially, they are going to click on your video, judging it based on thumbnails.
For this, a consistent theme of all your thumbnails is important. Along with that, an attractive and relevant image and keyword or logo are a must to get that click.
Please do not go for that YouTube auto-suggested thumbnails because they are of no good. And if making a good thumbnail is your concern, we welcome you with our graphics design services
8. Name all the video, audio, and image files with the target keyword
Now, this is a technical point amid all our cool YouTube video ranking hacks. Basically, the YouTube algorithm won’t watch your full video firsthand.
So, apart from titles, descriptions, and tags, naming your video file with your target keyword instead of some random name increases your chances for a higher rank.
Essentially, these file names and other metadata of whatever you upload, your link, and whatnot will actually add up to your YouTube SEO.
To get hold of all the nitty-gritty of YouTube SEO right, visit our YouTube channel SEO .
9. Include transcriptions and closed captions
When there’s a lack of text SEO optimizing on YouTube, your closed captions, subtitles, and transcripts will back you up.
These can actually boost your SEO score and get you a higher rank.
YouTube has an auto-generated transcript portion. But honestly, that’s nowhere near perfect.
A cool hack is to get that auto-generated transcript from YouTube and then fix those misspelled words. Now you are good to go!
10. YouTube Backlinks for ranking
Backlinks are links to your YouTube videos posted or embedded in other social media sites, websites, and blog posts.
Basically, whenever a good website posts your link, it works like a promotion. Furthermore, Google tends to highlight those videos in search results.
The best way to get more backlinks is to share the YouTube video on social media sites and groups, your blogs and websites with relevant topics, and maybe, if possible, someone else’s blogs.
Beware, some websites are marked sketchy or doubtful. If your video is shared or posted on such websites, it will be counted as doubtful or untrustworthy.
Eventually, this will drop your rank, or worse, keep it unranked.
11. Don’t forget about end screens and cards
If you have a long-term plan with YouTube videos, this is one of the YouTube video ranking hacks that will help you the best.
In each video, YouTube keeps slots for cards which are slots for advertising other video in small boxes or sometimes include a link, donation box, or even a poll.
This way, your video becomes engaging, you get to link more content, and certainly increase the ranks of all your videos alternatively.
End screens are similar. The only difference is, you get to put this at the end of your video. This is more like a call-to-action button.
You can ask your viewers to subscribe to your channel or watch another relevant video. Lastly, make sure you do not put too many cards up that it gets annoying for your viewers to concentrate on the video they are watching.
12. Push people to watch and engage
End of the day, all the above SEO works are for your viewers and to get more viewers. So, if it is for the people, why not use people to get your video n top?
Essentially, this is exactly what celebrities do. They have a huge fanbase who’d watch their video within 24 hours and get them to rank no. 1.
How can you use that?
As soon as you post your video, share it as much as possible through other social media accounts, LinkedIn, Facebook, and your blogs.
Then, make sure you reply to all the comments and engage with people. Share the video in niche groups where people joined for these kinds of content.
With this, your video can rank higher. Do not hesitate to moderately ask people to like, share and subscribe because that’s an important engagement.
13. Create your playlists for your YouTube channel wisely
The playlist feature of YouTube is a blessing for viewers. Usually, when people watch a video that’s likely to have multiple steps or episodes, they would want them all together.
And if you can list them accordingly in a playlist and name it well, your entire playlist gets featured.
This is a great way to make your channel user-friendly as well as neat. Lastly, do not keep unwanted playlists, group videos that are similar or connect to each other.
14. Collab or get featured in another channel
When you are new to YouTube, this one’s going to be hard. But, if possible, get your channel featured in channels of other YouTubers’ who are popular.
This way, you get viewers and traffic from their channel to yours!
Not just in other videos, other blogs, websites playlists, as long as they are good, popular, and relevant to your content, getting a feature is a big bonus.
Eventually, you, in return, can feature them or collab to highlight their product or video in your videos for both party’s benefit.
15. Offer creative and quality content
We have reached the end of this YouTube video ranking hacks list, and here we are to remind you that all of the above points will become invalid if you, end of the day, cannot serve original and quality content.
Always plan out what you want to show your viewers and what your purpose is.
Because if you are imitating someone or posting a video out of whim, you are not likely to succeed in the long run.
So, focus on creativity because the competition on YouTube is surely high.
On your mark, get set, go video ranking!
As the endnote, we can say that YouTube will inevitably see growth in the coming years.
What matters is if you are holding back from being intimidated by the competition or taking a step to be in the game.
Getting your YouTube video on a higher rank is tough but not impossible. It is even easier when you have your knowledge and a solid plan of what you are going to do.
Lastly, you do not need to be able to do everything mentioned above because you can always get high-end services from agencies like I-venture. So, what are you waiting for? Good luck with the race!
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