Marketeers are finally cottoning on to the fact that YouTube is not just for watching Gangnam Style, fail videos or kittens. Nowadays YouTube is an integral part of many companies marketing strategy, including ours.
Below is a short introduction into the things you can do to achieve better synergy between YouTube and your SEO optimisation.
Optimising For YouTube
Filenames:
It’s important that the filename of your uploaded video is optimised. Using the primary key phrase as the filename of the video is a great start.
Titles:
Include only the most important info
Put the primary key phrase at the front
Include the business name & location (if relevant)
Descriptions:
A meta description is the description visible to YouTube and Google within search results – this isn’t about shoehorning in keywords, but rather clever placement of them.
A good description must follow a few simple rules;
Describe what the video is about and include keywords & phrases.
Include a link to a relevant page on your website where more information can be found or people can make an enquiry.
Beyond the second line include things like brand names or other keywords or phrases.
Tags:
At 500 characters to add keywords relevant to your video, using tags to categorise your video can help it appear in the suggested videos section. Create tags out of keywords relevant to the business, products, location, competitors.
Thumbnails:
These speak for themselves, but be sure to select a thumbnail that best describes your video content.
Annotations:
Best used towards the end of a video, annotations appear on screen within your viewing window and can link to other videos on your channel.
They are therefore more appropriate towards the end of a video.
Location:
Ensure you add the location of your business if you are targeting a local area.
Creating playlists
YouTube also ranks playlists and channels. This means you get ‘three’ chances to rank your video.
Once you have multiple videos in your channel you should then consider creating playlists, splitting them into different categories. Once again you should optimise these based on existing video key phrases and the broader topics of the playlist. This will require some further research.
Playlists can be found within YouTubes Video Manager.
Optimising Your YouTube Channel
Many of the items set in your Channel Settings such as ‘comments’ or ‘approval only’ are global and will change the default for future videos you upload.
Meta data:
Once again, you need to set your title, description, tags and also a category. Be even more broad this time than in the playlists, your keywords and phrases have to be relevant across the whole channel.
Watermark:
Adding a small watermark to your videos makes you look more professional and is good for branding.
Advertisements:
Advertising for most brands should be disabled. It is distracting and the ads that appear may very well be for your competitors.
Optimising Your YouTube Channel Homepage
You want your channel homepage to present a clear image of your business. It needs to look professional displaying your feature video prominently and your video playlists in order of importance below.
Channel Art / Icon:
You need to design your header banner to fit a standard computer screen, mobile devices and tablets as well as TV screens.
Your Icon is now taken directly from Google+
Website & Social Media Icons:
You can add your website and social media profiles as icons that sit above your channel art. It is accessible through the ‘Edit Links’ menu.
Add Sections
The section below your feature video is customisable depending on what you wish to display and you can add as many customised sections as you wish.
Showcasing the different playlists in order of popularity and relevance is good practice.
Note: The only thing we can say for certain is that YouTube optimisation, just like engine optimisation will continue to evolve quickly. One thing that is certain is there is no ‘right’ answer.
