Optimize Your YouTube Videos for Amazing Results

Video is one of the most engaging forms of advertising. In fact, four times as many people would rather watch a video on a product than read about it. I can’t blame them, as reading requires a bit of effort. I need a quiet space so that I’m able to retain what I’m reading. Watching a video is a bit more effortless. It can be done anytime, anywhere, and I don’t need to be in thinking mode.

YouTube has 1.57 billion monthly active users. Engagement on the social network continues to grow, too. The average viewing session is 40 minutes, up 50% year-over-year. Each day, over 5 billion videos are watched, and millennials prefer YouTube to traditional TV. If you want to get eyeballs on your video content, YouTube is the place to be.

Creating videos is one thing, but getting people to find them is another. On a site like YouTube that has billions of videos, it’s difficult to be noticed. To help, you need to optimize your videos just as you do your blog posts and web content.

I’ll share with you the best tips for optimizing your videos. But first, let’s be clear about what makes a “good” video, as you don’t want to optimize a “bad” one.

What Makes Video Content Worth Watching

If you optimize a poorly done video, people will stop watching right away. This will negatively affect the performance of your video. For this reason, it’s imperative that your video is high in quality before you begin the optimization process. Here are some things to focus on:

• Outstanding visuals. People watch videos for the visuals. Everything should be in check before filming, including a quiet room, a nice background and a professional looking host. Use editing tools for graphics and to transition from one scene to the next

• Great sound quality. Viewers don’t have patience for poor sound. Be sure that you film your video in a quiet room with a clear, quality microphone.

• Relevant theme or message. Each video you create should have a clear message. It’s best to practice your video in advance and write out a script to keep you on track.

Optimizing Videos for the Best Results

The purpose of optimizing your videos is to help people find your content, just as they would on the search engines. YouTube is a video search engine that works similarly to Google. (Google does own it after all!) The best things to pay attention to are:

Keywords

The best way for content to be found is through keywords. When a person is looking for information about something, they enter the keywords into the search box and relevant content is returned to them.

Let’s say that a customer wants to know how to diffuse essential oils. She’s heard about them from a friend and is interested in learning more. She enters the following keywords into the search engine: how to use essential oils, diffusing essential oils, benefits of essential oils.

As the customer does her research, she is led to videos from a company that grows their own products. She watches the videos, which include product demonstrations and tutorials. The customer then decides that this is the company for her, and she completes a sale. Without keywords, the customer may have never found this company’s videos.

To make it easiest for people to find your content, focus on adding keywords to these areas:

• Title. The headline is just as important as the video. It captures attention and entices people to click. Come up with a great headline (66 characters please!) that includes your keywords.

• Meta. The meta description tells viewers what your video is about. Keep it short and simple, and sprinkle in a few keywords.

• Tags. Tags aren’t mandatory, but they are helpful in categorizing your content. Add a few tags and avoid irrelevant ones.

Custom Thumbnails

When you create a video on YouTube, video thumbnails are automatically generated for you. After the video has uploaded, you can choose from three. However, a better option is to create a custom thumbnail.

Custom thumbnails make your videos look more interesting. By creating consistent thumbnails, you can strengthen your brand presence and be identifiable to users. In order to use this feature, you must verify your YouTube account.

User Engagement

User engagement is a ranking factor. YouTube and Google believe that the longer a user watches a video, the more relevant and quality the video is. Getting likes is great, but you also want people watching the video from start to finish.

To encourage this, here are a few things to consider:

• Call to action. What CTA do you have? Viewers need CTAs to tell them what you want them to do next, such as Subscribe to your channel or Comment on your videos.

• YouTube cards. Cards are used to make videos more memorable and interactive. Use them to show customized images, titles, calls to action and more.

• End screen. To share more information, you can also add an end screen. End screens are the last part of the video, and they last around 5-20 seconds. Use this real estate to promote your content or URL.

YouTube is an advertising channel that isn’t slowing down. In fact, it’s on fire! To take advantage of the platform, create your own video content and follow the optimization tips above. WSI Net Advantage can help set you up with amazing visual content that represents your brand. Call us today at 510-687-9737 or fill out our contact form to learn more.