When we think of SEO , we mainly think of Google, but you can also get videos noticed within YouTube. How? Below you can read useful tips to improve your YouTube SEO.

Like Google, YouTube wants to show ''the best'' search results for visitors' searches. So you have to make sure that you clearly state what your video is about, and of course there are several ways to do that. If you are new, of course, you will have to try hard to catch up with the competition. Fortunately, this is not impossible for you, as long as you go through the right steps. The YouTube SEO tips below will help you do just that.

Keyword

The first step in YouTube SEO is choosing the right keywords. You have probably searched for a video on YouTube yourself and you must admit that your search behavior is different from that of Google. Hence, keywords cannot be copied one-to-one. There are two simple ways to see which keywords are interesting.

• Type in a search within YouTube and see which suggestions become visible, as these are search results that visitors have posted. Note that this does not necessarily mean they are good search results for your video.

• Within Google Trends, you can choose to search within Google and within YouTube. After entering your keyword(s), choose YouTube search.

Structure of the video

The structure of the video is very important for YouTube SEO. At the beginning, immediately let people know what the video is about and what you are going to discuss or show. Visitors have millions of videos to choose from so they want quick results otherwise they will click onwards again. After the intro also show exactly what you promised because this creates curiosity. You get "plus points" when viewers finish your video and don't quickly drop out.

If you have multiple videos you obviously want people to watch them. A tip for this is to warm up your visitors towards the end of the video. Tell them which follow-up topic you will discuss in the next video, for example. Chances are that they will also watch this one because you have satisfied the viewer with this video. Of course the same applies to the next video as to this video (and of course all other videos) and that is that you tell them what it is about.

The correct title

Make sure your video has the right title for YouTube SEO success. So first, according to the above resources, see what keywords fit your video and incorporate them into your title. Don't just list them, make sure you come up with a catchy title that makes people interested and want to watch your video. In addition, it is important that your title is a maximum of 60 characters long, otherwise your title is not fully visible and you might miss the message of your title.

In any case, always make sure your title matches the content of your video. Is your title "The 10 best tips to get fit" but your video reflects something completely different then viewers will quickly drop out. This is obviously negative for the effect of your video and will therefore also have negative effects on your ranking.

Description

In addition to the title, of course, you also need a catchy description. This is where you can make great strides in YouTube SEO because you can put a lot of keywords in it. Here too, you need to come up with a catchy description but you also need to include the right keywords in this description. Keywords alone will not get you there because the text will not appeal to anyone. In addition, again, you need to describe what the video is about and make sure this matches the video. If you describe that you have a video about the unboxing of a new iPhone and in reality it is a Samsung phone, then of course visitors will leave immediately.

Thumbnail

Ever since we were little, we have preferred looking at pictures to reading books, and seemingly we take that habit with us as we get older. Even with YouTube, it appears that we look at the pictures first. If we don't like the picture, the whole video is already not interesting. There are two ways to choose a thumbnail. The first is an excerpt from your video and the second is a thumbnail you create yourself. We recommend choosing the second option because here you can decide exactly what you want to show. So YouTube SEO does not stop at words but also applies to images.

Other YouTube SEO tips

Even with the above points, there is still room for improvement in terms of YouTube SEO. Consider, for example, adding #hashtags. Here you can insert relevant keywords that ensure that your video is found sooner.

As with a website, it is interesting to use backlinks. Link from your website to specific videos or your channel and do the same the other way around. From your video you can highlight a specific page of your site.

Data is gold and so is improving your YouTube SEO. So be sure to analyze the data from your videos. There are several tools available that give you insight into visitor behavior on your videos. Find a tool that suits you and see, for example, when people drop out and what happens in your videos at that time. This will let you know what you could adjust in order to retain viewers longer.