How to Improve Your SEO on Youtube
Here is the summary…
When fans search for your artist name, it’s possible to curate their experience by ensuring that the question they’ve posed is answered in the search results. This extends to delivering video results in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) so that a potential new fan or existing fan can engage, discover and explore. – Using Dillon Francis as an example, let’s search for just his artist name (i.e. a broad search). The SERP below features several of his most well-known videos.
A screenshot of a google search page showing a group of people.
Let’s take the first song, his collaboration with DJ Snake, “Get Low,” and see how the SERP changes as we dig into the mid-tail keyword “Dillon Francis Get Low.”
A google search page showing a video of a woman's mouth.
You can see how the YouTube video is embedded; the artist names, track names, and the words “Official Music Video” are clearly displayed. There are more ways to listen and additional tracks listed in the Knowledge Panel section. All of this information appears because the video has been optimized for SEO.
How to optimize your videos
Optimizing your videos for SEO is the specific practice of properly tagging your videos (the title, keywords, tags, and description) for search engines so that YouTube knows what your video content is about and when to return it in search queries when a fan types a related keyword into the search bar.
There are five main elements that YouTube takes into account when ranking videos:
1. Title
It may seem obvious, but you should always include your band name and the title of your music video in your YouTube video title so that it appears in search engine results. An example could be: [Your Band Name] – Song Title = Olivia Rodrigo – Driver’s License
2. Description
A portion of your video is displayed before the searcher clicks on a drop-down menu to learn more, so describe your video in the “description,” making sure it evokes both uk number list curiosity (i.e. the desire to click on the video link) and functionality (i.e. the important information). It’s good practice to also include links to your website, as well as a direct link to your artist page in PSDs.
Adding the full lyrics, chorus, or hook of the song will ensure that your video shows up in fans' lyric searches. The more descriptive it is, the better. However, be sure to put important information at the beginning of the description, so it shows up first and guarantees clicks.
3. Tags
Tags are short phrases or descriptive keywords that help you rank in searches. So the more relevant your tags are, the more potential visibility your video will have. YouTube will automatically generate some based on your video title, but you'll want to make sure you go a step further and add your band name, the name of your video, and any lyrics people use to search for the song, as well as any key genres, playlists, or content descriptions that are relevant.
4. Views
At first, you may not have any views or rankings, so you'll be focusing primarily on the points above. However, while your thumbnail doesn't directly influence your ranking in search results, it can influence the number of views you receive on your video, which will help determine how your video is returned in search results over time. The number of views (or plays) on your video helps Google understand the authority of your video. Therefore, it's important to choose the thumbnail that best visually illustrates and helps "sell" your video.