What is YouTube SEO?
YouTube SEO describes the process of improving your YouTube channel and video content to increase organic traffic and rankings.
Optimising your YouTube channel benefits your business as videos can even appear in Google search results for key terms - improving your visibility.
How YouTube SEO works
SEO for YouTube involves optimising all elements of your YouTube channel including playlists, descriptions, titles and the video content itself, in order to make it the most useful and engaging resource for your target user.
YouTube bots rely on the accompanying text data to identify and index your videos. This means that it’s vital that all of your video titles and descriptions are detailed and correct, and that transcripts, subtitles and closed captions are included. If this is done right, your videos are more likely to be shown to your target audience and come up in key searches.
YouTube SEO Benefits
Did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google? This offers huge potential for reaching new and wider audiences.
- YouTube accounts for around 25% of global mobile traffic (Global Media Insight)
- 90% of people think YouTube helps them find new businesses or goods (Bloggers Ideas)
- Video results are 50x more likely to be organically ranked in Google than text (Forrester)
Optimising your YouTube channel for SEO can result in:
- Better engagement on videos
- More subscribers - leading to greater brand awareness
- Higher rankings in Google search results
- More clicks back to your website
- Leading to higher revenue
Our YouTube SEO services in London
Discover our services to help improve your YouTube rankings…
YouTube SEO audit
During a YouTube SEO audit, we will analyse all elements of your YouTube videos and channel to identify any issues or opportunities. This includes video content, video descriptions, target keywords, playlists, technical elements and more.
Youtube digital marketing strategy
Our strategy consultants will work with you to design an integrated promotion plan that works holistically with all platforms and marketing streams. Helping you to achieve your business goals - be it awareness, leads or conversions.
Competitor research
To keep an edge over your competitors, we will conduct comprehensive sector and competitor research to identify popular themes. We will then help you to identify any gaps or opportunities in your current YouTube strategy.
Keyword research
Keyword targeting is an important part of optimising your YouTube channel. Using relevant, popular keywords strategically across your channel can help to attract more views from highly relevant audiences. We are experienced at conducting bespoke keyword research that aligns with the needs and goals of your business.
YouTube SEO optimisation
Optimising your videos and channel for SEO includes multiple elements, including:
- Relevant, engaging content topics
- Video descriptions
- Video titles
- Keywords and tags
- Playlist curation
- End screens
- Intro and outros
YouTube analytics
As part of our services, we regularly monitor your performance and progress. From user demographics to watch times and engagement - we provide you with essential analytics to help you continually improve your video content and promotion.
Reporting
We provide monthly performance reports for all of our clients. This will provide up-to-date insights into your YouTube performance, alongside issues and recommendations for further improvement.
Creative and design
Building a consistent look and feel on YouTube inspires trust and familiarity with potential leads or customers. Our creative team can provide you with compelling branded banners and thumbnails to customise your channel and help you stand out from your competitors.
How to improve your YouTube SEO - tips and guidelines
There are several ranking factors that can help your video content get seen. Find tips for improving your YouTube SEO…
Optimise your videos for YouTube search
Optimising your YouTube channel for SEO improves the chances your content will be shown to larger numbers of potential clients or customers.
Optimise video titles with keywords
When choosing a title for your video, it’s worth doing some keyword research to find the most searched for and relevant keywords for your audience. This will make it more likely that your video content is found by relevant users.
Optimised video descriptions
Try to include your target keywords, phrases and synonyms naturally throughout your video descriptions. Ensure your keywords are in the first few lines of your introduction and that it entices people to watch.
Engaging video thumbnails
The thumbnail is the image users see when scrolling through YouTube. An engaging thumbnail will make it more likely for users to click on and watch your video. Thumbnails should be visually appealing, branded and relevant to the video content topic.
Add tags to videos
Adding tags to your videos works in a similar way to hashtags on Instagram - helping new users to find your content on a particular topic. Include your target keyword as the first tag, then add variations.
Curate YouTube playlists for SEO
Creating themed playlists not only helps users navigate your channel and find related videos they want to watch, but they can also rank on search engines. By optimising your playlist’s titles, descriptions and thumbnails, your playlists can come up in user’s search results. Playlists also encourage users to watch multiple videos in the list.
Add cards, chapters and end screens
- Chapters help to break up your videos into chunks and make them more watchable
- Cards can be added when uploading your video to signpost people to other related videos or playlists
- End screens appear at the end of your video to encourage people to click on a related video or playlist. You can also add a clickable logo to encourage users to subscribe to your channel
Pin a comment
Add a comment on each of your videos from the brand account and pin it to the top. This is an opportunity to link to other relevant content or web pages you want to direct users to.
YouTube SEO optimisation
Optimising your videos and channel for SEO includes multiple elements, including:
- Relevant, engaging content topics
- Video descriptions
- Video titles
- Keywords and tags
- Playlist curation
- End screens
- Intro and outros
YouTube analytics
As part of our services, we regularly monitor your performance and progress. From user demographics to watch times and engagement - we provide you with essential analytics to help you continually improve your video content and promotion.
Reporting
We provide monthly performance reports for all of our clients. This will provide up-to-date insights into your YouTube performance, alongside issues and recommendations for further improvement.
Creative and design
Building a consistent look and feel on YouTube inspires trust and familiarity with potential leads or customers. Our creative team can provide you with compelling branded banners and thumbnails to customise your channel and help you stand out from your competitors.
How to improve your YouTube SEO - tips and guidelines
There are several ranking factors that can help your video content get seen. Find tips for improving your YouTube SEO…
Optimise your videos for YouTube search
Optimising your YouTube channel for SEO improves the chances your content will be shown to larger numbers of potential clients or customers.
Optimise video titles with keywords
When choosing a title for your video, it’s worth doing some keyword research to find the most searched for and relevant keywords for your audience. This will make it more likely that your video content is found by relevant users.
Optimised video descriptions
Try to include your target keywords, phrases and synonyms naturally throughout your video descriptions. Ensure your keywords are in the first few lines of your introduction and that it entices people to watch.
Engaging video thumbnails
The thumbnail is the image users see when scrolling through YouTube. An engaging thumbnail will make it more likely for users to click on and watch your video. Thumbnails should be visually appealing, branded and relevant to the video content topic.
Add tags to videos
Adding tags to your videos works in a similar way to hashtags on Instagram - helping new users to find your content on a particular topic. Include your target keyword as the first tag, then add variations.
Curate YouTube playlists for SEO
Creating themed playlists not only helps users navigate your channel and find related videos they want to watch, but they can also rank on search engines. By optimising your playlist’s titles, descriptions and thumbnails, your playlists can come up in user’s search results. Playlists also encourage users to watch multiple videos in the list.
Add cards, chapters and end screens
- Chapters help to break up your videos into chunks and make them more watchable
- Cards can be added when uploading your video to signpost people to other related videos or playlists
- End screens appear at the end of your video to encourage people to click on a related video or playlist. You can also add a clickable logo to encourage users to subscribe to your channel
Pin a comment
Add a comment on each of your videos from the brand account and pin it to the top. This is an opportunity to link to other relevant content or web pages you want to direct users to.
YouTube SEO checklist
When optimising your YouTube videos and channel, don’t forget to consider the following elements and ranking factors:
- Choose a relevant and engaging topic
- Conduct keyword research
- Include keywords in content
- Optimise titles and descriptions
- Add tags
- Add hashtags
- Include an optimised thumbnail
- Add chapters
- Add cards
- Add captions
- Add end screens
- Add intro and outro screens
- Organise videos into playlists
- Add a comment, like and pin it
- Optimise banners and icon
- Optimise channel description
Best YouTube SEO tools
We use a range of digital tools to monitor, analyse and optimise YouTube content.
- YouTube Studio - Uncover real-time insights and analytics such as engagement, reach and audience demographics to refine and optimise your strategy
- Tubebuddy - This browser extension is designed to help you optimise your channel by giving recommendations on everything from keywords to best practices and A/B testing
- SEMRush - Find relevant keywords, SEO insights and analysis to inform your video content and titles
- Canva - Easily design branded banners and thumbnails to customise your channel, create a consistent look and feel and attract new audiences
- Ahrefs keyword tool - This is another great tool for researching the best keywords for local and global search
Why choose us - A YouTube SEO agency in London
We’ve been helping clients improve their YouTube SEO in London for years.
We can offer:
- A wide network of digital experts
- Award-winning creative expertise
- Experienced copywriters specialising in SEO for YouTube
- Transparent reporting and honest advice
- A tried and tested approach to YouTube optimisation
- Relentless execution
We can also provide your teams with a comprehensive and tailored PDF guide with step by step instructions on how to master YouTube SEO for your business.
Success stories.
Our SEO work has achieved:
growth in YouTube views in 6 months for a music creation tool
growth in online enquiries for a large commercial kitchen provider
rise in year-on-year organic traffic for a public innovation agency
growth in sales revenue year on year for a leading mattress retailer
Video SEO FAQ:
Find answers to commonly asked questions…
Is YouTube SEO the same as Google SEO?
There are some similarities and differences in strategy for YouTube and Google SEO. As YouTube and Google use different ranking criteria, you need to tailor your strategy appropriately.
While Google SEO relies heavily on keywords, YouTube best practices are all about personalisation and video targeting, as the algorithm prioritises the most relevant and interesting videos to the user.
Is SEO important for YouTube?
Yes. By prioritising SEO, your videos are more likely to be ranked for key searches and be seen by those that matter.
With more and more brands and organisations utilising SEO best practices on YouTube, you may be left behind if you don’t step up.
How do I start SEO on YouTube?
If you already have a YouTube channel, the best place to start is with an audit. This will help you to see what’s working and where there is an opportunity for growth.
If you’re starting from scratch, it’s worth mapping out some SMART goals - what do you want to achieve for your business and how can YouTube help you do this? Then, you can start to plan regular video content that is targeted to your audience and build your channel according to best practices.
How long does SEO take to work on YouTube?
It can take time to see the results of your SEO optimisation efforts. While we can’t give you an exact timeframe, we can tell you that a consistent approach is the way forward. Regular video publication, combined with continual tweaks and improvements over the course of a few months should have a big impact on views and rankings.
How do I rank my YouTube video on Google?
By following the tips and steps above, your videos will have a good chance of ranking on YouTube. If you’re not seeing the results you want after a few months, you may want to call in the experts for help finding a new, untapped angle or spotting any gaps in your strategy.
How do I promote my YouTube channel?
YouTube should be one cog in your overall marketing strategy. By including video in your marketing plan, you can promote your video content naturally and holistically to the right audiences. Promotion on your other social media channels such as LinkedIn or Facebook works well. As does including links to videos in newsletters and emails.
Do captions increase SEO on YouTube?
Yes, adding accurate, closed captions have been found to improve SEO, increase views and boost user experience. Search engines can crawl the captioned text for keywords, leading to higher rankings. In addition, with more people watching YouTube on a mobile device, accurate captions are more important than ever for those watching without audio.
Is it worth paying for YouTube SEO services?
The extent to which you decide to invest in YouTube SEO will depend on the specific needs of your business. As YouTube is one of the largest search engines, with a steadily growing audience of engaged users - it could pay to invest time, effort and money into this high-potential platform. We are happy to provide a free consultation to help you determine whether this is the right strategy for you.
How do I find the best YouTube SEO agency?
When searching for the right SEO agency to help boost your YouTube performance, consider the following:
- Have they taken the time to listen and understand the needs of your business?
- Have they provided a free initial consultation and answered any questions?
- Have they managed expectations and set realistic goals?
- Do they have experience in your sector?
- What success have they had with other YouTube projects?
- Do they conduct regular external training sessions for their team?
- Do they seem like people you would be happy working with?