YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine next to its parent Google. Learn how to optimize your channel and videos to reap the benefits of YouTube video marketing.
If you want to gain exposure, drive traffic to your website and reach people who are searching for what you have to offer, you need to understand how YouTube’s powerful algorithms work. Watch this video…
YouTube Marketing & Optimization Basics
YouTube Stats…
- YouTube is the 2nd most-used social media platform, next to Facebook.
- It is the 2nd largest search engine next to its parent, Google.
- YouTube has almost 2 billion unique monthly visitors worldwide.
- They get over 35 billion monthly visits with an average visit duration of over 21 minutes.
- With over 500 hours uploaded each minute.
YouTube Algorithms
- Their algorithm offers suggestions based on…
- What viewers watch & don’t watch
- How long they watch videos
- What they share, save, & like
- Multiple Algorithms
- Your homepage – Recommendation System
- Search
- Up Next
- Shorts
YouTube’s algorithm tries to match each viewer to the videos they’re most likely to watch and enjoy. But, with over 500 hours of video content uploaded every minute, this is a Herculean task.
Their search and discovery system “finds” videos for each viewer and their varying interests in order to get them to watch more videos that they’ll enjoy so they’ll come back to YouTube regularly.
YouTube wants both short and long videos to succeed. Shorts are like Instagram Reels — short, vertical videos.
Your Homepage – Recommendation Algorithm
Your homepage is what you see when you first sign in to YouTube. This is YouTube’s recommendation system, which is designed to find videos for viewers, rather than viewers for videos. When a user visits YouTube the recommendation system pulls in videos and ranks the best candidates according to what that user is most likely to watch.
YouTube aims to help each viewer find what they want to watch and maximize long-term viewer satisfaction so they keep coming back.
Top Ranking Factors
- Viewer Satisfaction
- Surveys
- Engagement Signals
- Likes
- Dislikes
- Clicking on the Not-Interested button
- Subscriptions
- What you are most likely to watch
- Performance Tips
- Put yourself in your target viewer’s shoes
- Upload consistently to sustain audience interest, increase subscriptions
- Personalization
- Watch history
- Engagement
Suggested Videos — “Up Next”
Suggested videos or “up next” is where YouTube aims to ensure videos pulled into the suggested section are both personalized and related to what a user is currently watching. The ranking of suggested videos is based on machine learning’s understanding of which ones viewers are most likely to watch next. These videos are often related to the video a viewer is watching, but they can also be personalized based on the viewer’s watch history.
- Which videos are often watched together
- Related by topic
- Previously watched
- Tips…
- Develop a series of videos that will help you get featured.
- Identifiable Branding
- Consistent calls-to-action
- Utilize playlists and end screens
YouTube Search
Videos are ranked based on how well titles, descriptions, and video content match the viewer’s search and which videos get the most engagement for a search.
Voice search is something to consider when writing your video descriptions. People don’t talk like they write. Whether they’re using their smartphone, Amazon’s Alexa, Siri, Google Home, or another voice command system, they’ll ask a question. It’s up to you to have the answer to the questions your target market is asking! Keyword research!
It’s similar to Google’s goal of providing the best match for the search term, however, freshness doesn’t factor in. You may get videos that are years old as long as they match these criteria. Don’t delete old videos if the content is still relevant! Obviously, if you record a new video with updated information, delete the old outdated, or obsolete one.
Content Strategy
- Know your audience
- Keyword research & common search terms
- Discoverability with optimized titles
- Smart video descriptions
- Use both hashtags and tags
- Closed captioning (CC) or SRT (SubRip Subtitle files) for SEO
- Create good, strong, quality content
- Encourage interaction
If people aren’t watching the majority of the video — just a few seconds, YouTube thinks the content is not relevant and will push it down in rankings as a result.
How to Live Stream from a Mobile Device
To stream live from a mobile device you need to
- Have at least 50 subscribers.
- No live streaming restrictions within the last 90 days on your channel.
- Verify your channel.
- Turn on live streaming. (You may need to wait 24 hours before you can start your first live stream.)
- Make sure you have a good wifi signal and your device’s battery is charged.
The Community Tab
A highly underused feature is the Community tab. This is where you can post and chat directly with your subscribers. You can post blog articles from your website, text, photos, videos, GIFs, and polls.
Furthermore, you can request questions from your viewers. This is the real “social” part of YouTube. Community posts are social media-style updates. This feature is visible on desktops or phones — not on tablets at the moment.
Adding posts to the Community tab is easy. You can even schedule posts for the future!
How to Monetize Your YouTube Channel
How do you make money on YouTube? It’s well-known that many people have made millions on YouTube. What does it take?
- Partner Program
- Minimum eligibility requirements
- Follow all the YT channel monetization policies
- Live in a specific country/region where it’s available
- Have never violated any of their community guidelines
- Have more than 4,000 valid public watch hours in the 12 months
- Have more than 10,000 subscribers
- Have a linked AdSense account
- Minimum eligibility requirements
- Nonprofits can use YouTube as a fundraiser.
The YouTube channel monetization policies are a collection of policies that allow you to monetize on YouTube. As a YouTube partner, your agreements, including the YouTube channel monetization policies require compliance with these monetization policies to potentially earn money on YouTube.
YouTube
So, if this is your objective, you have some goals to shoot for. Now, don’t expect to get 4000 hours viewed and 10K subscribers in a month. Depending on your business and industry, it may take 2-6 months of posting videos consistently — several a week — and diligently marketing them, as well as engaging your community.
Data, Analytics & Insights
Check your analytics at the end of each month to get the following insights…
- Views
- How many hours
- How many subscribers & growth
- Top videos — important!
- How they found your videos
- Impressions vs clicks-to-view
- Returning vs new viewers
- Viewing duration
Branding & SEO
If you want to impress people, you only have 1 time to make a good first impression! Your channel branding should be consistent with your website and other social media channels.
- Logo
- User name
- Channel Art – Cover
- URL
- Links
- Video thumbnails
YouTube channel art needs to be a hi-def graphic that looks good on all sizes of screens from HD TVs to a smartphone. If you upload a picture, make sure it looks good on all devices. Make sure you completely optimize your YouTube Channel so it will come up in their algorithm.
Click on Customize Channel and then Branding to upload your logo — use the same logo that you use for your social media at 400 x 400 pixels, then upload the channel cover. Moreover, use one of the many free graphics tools. They have YouTube templates.
By the way, don’t forget to add your links!
Furthermore, keep personal & business separate. If you have a personal YT account, create a new one for your business with a different Gmail address. YouTube is owned by Google so everything connects to your Google Account.
Channel Customization
Here’s where you add the channel trailer — an introduction to you, your business, and what people can expect from your channel. You can also add a video for returning subscribers. Once you have some videos up, you can feature them on the channel home page in the featured sections.
Under Settings, start with Channel basic info, country, and then keyword, these are tags — not hashtags! There’s a difference! These are generic keywords that apply to your channel’s current and future content. You have 500 characters — use them!
Upload Defaults
Consequently, here is where you can enter default information on your videos so you don’t have to include this each time you upload a video. However, you do need to edit and tweak it for each video. Don’t get lazy here! This will affect your SEO! Use hashtags in the description and then you have the keyword tags. Remove any that are not relevant to the video you are uploading. This comes up when you are uploading a video. It’s OK to repeat keywords that you’ve put in the channel info. Then, when you upload a video, push this description down and type in the description of the particular video you are uploading above it. Keep the title blank in the default as that will change depending on the video you are uploading.
Additional Video Marketing Tips
- Know your target audience
- Know your competition
- Get creative
- Set SMART Goals
- Plan it out — develop strategic and tactical marketing plans
- Weigh your options — how much is your time worth?
Sources & Resources:
- https://www.searchenginejournal.com/youtube-algorithm-facts/403984/
- https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/creating-quality-videos-with-smartphones/
- https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/video-content-strategy-how-to-get-started/
- https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-easily-create-youtube-shorts-with-youtube-remix/
- https://www.convinceandconvert.com/digital-marketing/8-tips-for-how-to-optimize-youtube-for-search/
Recommended Channels
- Financial Potion: https://www.youtube.com/@FinancialPotion
- Creator Insider: https://youtube.com/@creatorinsider
- Google Analytics: https://youtube.com/@GoogleAnalytics
- AZ Social Media Wiz: https://youtube.com/@Azsocialmediawiz
- Social Media Examiner: https://www.youtube.com/@SocialMediaExaminer
- Search Engine Journal: https://www.youtube.com/@searchenginejournal
- Channel Makers: https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelMakers
- Search Engine Land: https://www.youtube.com/@SearchEngineLand
Don’t Be Overwhelmed!
Let’s do a FREE 15-minute brainstorming session!
Get it on Amazon Kindle!
