If you’ve been struggling to up the views on your YouTube channel, chances are that you asked yourself: what am I doing wrong? If you’re creating quality videos regularly but there’s still no improvement, you’re probably wondering how to get views on YouTube. Hack the Youtube game with our top tips.
Note that we’re not talking about unethical stuff like buying views or tricking someone into watching your videos. The goal is to increase genuine views by bringing real people, interested in the kind of content that you offer, to your channel. It’s about helping them find what they’re looking for and discovering a great resource, aka your marvelous content.
You’ve probably guessed what we’re talking about. Yes, it’s that good old SEO.
How to Use SEO to Get More Views on YouTube
YouTube SEO is a bit different from optimizing a site for Google search. That’s because YouTube has its own search algorithm and rules that don’t apply to textual content you can find throughout the internet.
If you’re serious about your channel, you definitely need to learn how YouTube SEO works and use its perks.
YouTube Is a Search Engine
Of course, we can define YouTube in many ways: the largest base of user-generated content, video publishing platform, social network website, and so on. YouTube indeed is all of that. Guess what? It’s also a search engine. The highest-earning video creators are well aware of it and they use YouTube SEO best practices.
Just as you’d wish to get your blog articles as high as possible on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP), you should do all you can to get your video content to the top of the YouTube SERP.
How to Get Views on YouTube? Hack SEO Strategy
If you’re familiar with general SEO and optimizing websites for Google and other search engines (such as Bing, Facebook search, and others), it will be easier for you to understand the logic behind optimizing a video for a YouTube search.
But even if you’re totally new to the topic and not sure what SEO is, not to worry. We’ve prepared a clear and detailed checklist of actions you can take to get views on your channel by using the YouTube search engine.
1. Identify Top Keywords
Keywords are essential. You simply can’t do any SEO without the proper use of keywords and key phrases. Every time you create a new video, you can do keyword research and use those phrases in your titles and descriptions.
Now, doing keyword research might sound intimidating, but it is easier than you may think.
Notice how many popular videos have titles that include “how to.” That’s what people are asking. For instance, a video that shows steps for baking pita bread should feature keywords such as “pita bread recipe” and “how to bake pita bread.”
There are several ways to find relevant keywords for your videos. You can use a keyword research tool – there are many decent ones available today. Alternatively, you can experiment with relevant search terms, type them into both YouTube search and Google search, and see what comes up.
The most important thing is to nail down what someone who’s trying to find a video such as yours type in the search bar. What would make the most sense? Are there multiple phrases? Good, note them all.
Be aware that you can’t rely solely on your own logic to find out what people really search for and which queries are most popular. That’s why we recommend using an SEO tool, like Google Keyword Planner, or better yet, a keyword planning tool specialized for YouTube SEO.
2. Optimize the Video Title
Now that you’ve identified the keywords, it’s time to use them. The prevalent keyword (aka the focus keyword) should be included in the title – which should also be as clear and precise as possible.
The viewer is looking for something. Your title must be written in a way that tells them they’ve found what they’re looking for.
If someone asks YouTube for a recipe and detailed instructions about how to make pita bread, videos titled “How to Make Pita Bread in Four Easy Steps” or “The Traditional Pita Bread Recipe” will appear higher in the search results than a video titled “My Great Aunt Made this for Dinner.”
Of course, you can be creative and still mention your lovely great aunt in a title such as: “My Great Aunt’s Pita Bread Recipe” or “My Aunt Taught Me How to Make Pita Bread.” You’re free to experiment with the title, but make sure to keep it clear and persuasive, with keywords in their proper form.
3. Use Tags Properly
Tagging allows you to include a larger number of appropriate keywords that you can’t include in the title – because if we used them all, the title would be a mess.
Return to your keyword list. Now that you know which keywords are the most relevant to the topic of your video, turn them into tags. That way, you’ll inform the YouTube search engine what your video is about and in which search results it should be included.
What does that mean for our pita bread recipe? If we pick the title “How to Make Pita Bread in Four Easy Steps,” we’ve missed the chance to use the phrase “pita bread recipe,” but we can use this phrase as a tag. Other tags can be “flatbread recipe, ”Syrian bread,” “Arabic bread,” “Mediterranean cuisine,” and so on. The optimal number of tags is 10 to 12 per video.
4. Optimize the Video Description
Make sure to include all relevant keywords in the description, but make sure it doesn’t look like another list of tags. Make it sound natural, as a part of a short persuasive piece of text.
The description is both an important SEO tool for organic search and a chance to communicate with potential viewers and make them give your video a chance.
5. Pro Hack: Optimize the File Title
The need for the optimization of the title, description, and tags is relatively obvious. But did you know that optimizing your file name makes a difference, as well?
Yes, we’re referring to the title that you give to the video file before you upload it to YouTube. Once it’s been uploaded, it becomes invisible for the viewers, but not for the search engine. Use this excellent opportunity and enrich the file title with keywords.
6. Encourage Viewers to Leave Comments
Asking people to leave comments doesn’t have the same purpose as asking them to like your videos and subscribe to your channel. Comments are special because they can include useful phrases that can place your video higher on the SERPs. It’s textual content that can be read by your audience and the search engine.
If you’d like to have more comments, see your videos as conversation starters. Ask questions and offer multiple answers. Try to appear interested in what your viewers have to say. In fact, the feedback from your audience is the most valuable asset that you can use to improve the quality of your videos in the future.
That being said, a large number of comments (as well as a high number of likes and subscribers) tells YouTube’s algorithm that your content is popular. As a result, your videos get featured more often in individual user’s feeds.
7. Enhance Video Quality
When you’re already putting in lots of effort in search engine optimization, you certainly don’t want the viewers to be disappointed by the video quality. To get an idea of what kind of gear your competition uses, see the list of cameras top-earners use.
If you can’t afford high-end equipment, there’s still room for improvement. Filming with a decent mobile device such as an iPhone or Android phone can have pretty good results. But don’t allow unwanted movements to spoil the impression. If you’re using your phone, the least you can do is to get a tripod to stabilize the video and make it appear more professional.
If you’re filming indoors and you don’t have access to a professional studio (which is the case for most vloggers), do yourself a favor, and get a microphone and a ring light. These don’t have to be expensive, but they make your videos look and sound much better. You’ll see that a small investment can make a real difference.
8. Pro Tip: Use Closed Captions
This is another less-known ‘how to get views on YouTube’ hack that we can use to make our videos appear higher in search results.
Closed captions have the purpose of helping people with damaged sense hearing consume video content. In addition to that, if you use it, this option gives you a huge SEO advantage. Enable it, and the entire content of your video will instantly become crawlable by search engines.
Note that automatic captioning can be seriously flawed and inaccurate, so it is much better to edit the automatic captions or add your own.
Final Word
As you can see, getting more views isn’t rocket science. So, how to get views on YouTube? Hack the SEO system, try the techniques we outlined, and come back to share the results with us. Happy vlogging!
Leave a Reply