How to optimise your videos for YouTube

14th August 2018 by CH

YouTube keeps going from strength to strength, and as a whole, video content is growing .

Almost 2 billion users are visiting YouTube every month and it’s categorised as its own search engine – so the question is “how do I even compete?”

Check out our tips below to maximise your exposure organically.

1. Actually use tags

The tag feature on YouTube is there for a reason, it’s how you get found. Yet, many businesses decide to avoid tagging when going through the upload process – don’t be lazy.

If it makes your life any easier, why not use the Upload Defaults in the settings of your YouTube Channel and set some tags you’d like to use each video. We like to have our brand name in each of the video’s tags – because, why not?

Top Tip: Make sure you add your full video title into the tags, and then build a bunch of keywords around your title and content. These can be added around the description of the video too, but we’ll come to that in a moment.

 2.  Make the description…descriptive

There used to be a time when businesses and individuals alike could spam a whole bunch of keywords in the description and rack in a tonne of views. Those times are no-more, and the description is like a piece of fine art. It has to be done right, especially if you’d like to start building an audience.

First things first, bear in mind you have three lines worth of text that show above the “Show More” button on desktop, tablet and mobile. This is important, as you can use this space for relevant Call-To-Actions that you’d like your viewer to engage with. For example: on our YouTube Channel we like to showcase our website link, a similar video and our portfolio on the top lines of each video.

However, there’s so much more to descriptions – I bet you never thought it went this deep:

• Include all of your social media (if applicable)
• Always link some playlists, so the user can explore further
• Add a subscription link (just add sub_confirmation=1 to the end of your channel URL)
• Keep your keywords high up in the description, as FullScreen explains

3.  Make it look awesome

At CH Video, we like to make things look good . With our YouTube Channel, that’s no exception and it shouldn’t be for you either. Make sure you use bright and interesting thumbnails that attract more users. Find the border between ‘clickbait’ and an attractive thumbnail, grab somebody’s attention but do it properly. See your channel like an Instagram feed – that should steer you in the right direction.

Another brilliant tip is to keep everything tidy. Playlists are brilliant. They keep all of creative videos organised nicely and make it easier for you, and anybody trying to find something.

4. Posting correctly

One of the main reasons you’re probably reading this is to reach the end goal of getting more views. To be really successful, this tip one is definitely critical. Post at the right time. Research and find the best time to upload your content and make sure it’s all done at the right moment.

Something you may be interested in: What’s the best duration for an effective video ?

5. Sharing is caring

We love that phrase because it’s true – especially with YouTube! Make sure you share all of your videos across social media, in fact you can get it setup automatically. Video on social media is now an essential part of getting your stuff out there. Our top tip here: use channels like Instagram and Snapchat, or even Facebook, to post short video snippets as a tease.

So, have our top 5 tips helped you? If they have, let us know on Facebook , Twitter or check out our YouTube Channel. These tips can (in-a-way) be applied to the rival platform Vimeo too, but that’s a blog for a different time.