How can I enhance my traffic in 2023 with YouTube SEO?

How do I do YouTube SEO?

Conduct an assessment of your channel's performance, taking into consideration the traffic it has received and the audience's actions over the past 12 months.

Research specific keywords on YouTube.

Make your existing videos' titles, descriptions, tags, thumbnails, and end screens as effective as possible.

Produce fresh material in accordance with YouTube best practises.

Use additional platforms to promote your material.

The processes for each of these tasks are explained in the article that follows, using free tools that are readily available.

Let's get going!

What does YouTube consider to be a view?

YouTube wants to ensure that only views from actual humans and not automated software are being counted.

The platform needs the user to watch the video for longer than 30 seconds in order to take their interruption into account upon playback.

There is no evidence to show how YouTube increases views for shorter videos.

The 30-second threshold is used by the platform to determine whether or not a video is eligible for monetization; videos that are less than that cannot do so.

How can I analyse analytics from YouTube Studio?

focusing mostly on two components
the volume of visitors to the videos.

the characteristics and actions of your audience's users.

Let's say you started a YouTube channel. You started posting episodes of your podcast, how-to guides for making crafts, or detailed cooking instructions.

The only specific is that you didn't get the outcomes you were hoping for.

Or maybe you have 10,000 members already and want to get to 20,000.

Whatever the case, the first step in improving the performance of your YouTube videos is to review the analytics of the ones you've already uploaded.

Traffic analysis for YouTube

What material has received the most views?

How can people find your channel?

Has the social media marketing you've done for your content been successful?

This will serve as the basis for your examination of YouTube SEO.

The first thing you need to know is which of your videos are the best:

Introducing YouTube Studio.
From the menu on the left sidebar, choose “Analytics”.
The “Advanced Mode” button on the right should be selected.
Change the default option in the upper right corner from “Last 28 days” to “Last 365 days.”
The picture will be more lucid if you analyse a wider time range.

Sometimes the data provided won't be appropriately read if the magnifying glass is too close.

It's helpful to know which videos have had the best results when you ask yourself:

What makes those videos so unique?
Do they have any traits in common?
What title did they have?
What do they deal with?
They last how long?

You might learn the following if you detect certain similarities between the videos:

issues that will interest your readers.
the kind of video that your viewers prefer.

When you wish to produce new material, the following knowledge will be quite helpful:

You'll be prepared with topic ideas and conversation starters.
traffic generating

You must now:

Introducing YouTube Studio.
From the menu on the left sidebar, choose “Analytics”.
(Under the “Advanced mode” button) Increase the time frame from 28 to 365 days.

“Scope” tab should be selected.
Go to “Traffic Source Types” by scrolling down.

You'll see a graph looking somewhat like this:

Depending on what you find out, you'll know why you've been so successful up to this point.

It's highly likely that one of these sources accounts for the majority of your traffic:

Search on YouTube: Here, traffic that was attained as a result of being discovered naturally on the platform is tallied. If so, you are undoubtedly using some SEO tactics, whether consciously or unconsciously.

These are all the copies that are sourced from other websites, social networks, and messaging services. If this is the choice with the highest percentage, your content's promotion was successful.

Videos that have been suggested to you are shown here along with the videos that are now playing. You are probably making the most of your video tags if this is where the majority of your visitors originate from.

Similar to that, YouTube clarifies what the other items that might be on the list mean:

Traffic coming from your YouTube channel page, other YouTube channel pages, or channel pages with specific themes.

Views of suggestions that pop up in users' home feeds are browsing features.

Views resulting from notifications that were sent to subscribers are known as notifications.

Playlists: Visitors coming from any playlist that contains your video, whether it be your own or someone else's.

End Screens: Traffic from end screens for first-party video.

Views from partner promotions or the dashboard are examples of other YouTube features. YouTube traffic that doesn't fall under any other category.

external source of traffic

What particular websites besides YouTube are bringing more viewers to your channel?

To access this data, you must:

To access advanced mode, go to YouTube Studio > Analytics.
A “Traffic Source” tab should be selected.
Select the “External Sources” table item located below the line chart.
Regardless of how many advertising efforts you have done, you will learn here which ones were most successful.
As a result, you can duplicate them when you post fresh material and make adjustments to tactics that aren't performing.

Words that were used to get your videos

You only need to: to locate this information:

To access advanced mode, go to YouTube Studio > Analytics.
A “Traffic Source” tab should be selected.
Click on the “YouTube Search” table item to the right of the line graph.

It would be helpful to you if you are aware of the keywords that users used to find you naturally on YouTube:

Make existing titles even more search engine-friendly by optimising them.
When you publish new videos, create optimised titles.

Participation and subscriptions

What demographics make up the viewers of our YouTube channel?

What are the origins of those users and how do they act?

Do they have a subscription?

We can make informed judgements to grow the audience's loyalty to our channel by using this data.

recurring versus one-time users

You must: in order to see this info.

Go to Analytics on YouTube Studio.
A “Public” tab should be chosen.

We can assume the following even though they are not exactly the same:

Subscribers make up the majority of the repeat consumers.
Many of the distinct users aren't.

This will enable us to determine whether or not our audience is already familiar with our brand.

Here, we're trying to see whether we can more effectively invite folks to subscribe and join our community.

viewers' time on the site

You can view both subscribers' and non-subscribers' viewing times in the same “Public” tab:

This will probably be consistent with data on both new and returning users.

The responsibility is to concentrate on turning more views into subscribers if the majority of our audience consists of unique, unsubscribed people.

nation of origin

We can learn demographic information about our audience.

The “Public” tab of the main Analytics panel contains this data.

This is practical for:

Adapt your material to the areas where you receive the most traffic.
When conducting keyword research for YouTube, keep this in mind.

Always keep in mind that the more you think about what your audience are interested in, the better your material will be.

the source of subscriptions

We can learn demographic information about our audience.

The “Public” tab of the main Analytics panel contains this data.

This is practical for:

Adapt your material to the areas where you receive the most traffic.

When conducting keyword research for YouTube, keep this in mind.

Always keep in mind that the more you think about what your audience are interested in, the better your material will be.

the source of subscriptions

These are the steps to view this data:

To access advanced mode, go to YouTube Studio > Analytics.
To learn more, select “More” from the main tabs (Video, Traffic Source…).
“Source of subscriptions” should be chosen.

These items' individual explanations are as follows:

Subscriptions via the Subscribe button that appears on video viewing pages on YouTube.

Search results for YouTube: Subscriptions.

YouTube channel you have: subscriptions made through the channel page's Subscribe button.

Most of your followers coming via the YouTube watch page is one of the ideal possibilities.

Why?

This is significant because it indicates that people are so awestruck by your content as they are watching it that they decide not to miss anything fresh you publish.

Instead, the fact that someone subscribed via YouTube search could indicate that they looked up your channel directly.

This is in no way a bad thing, but we must remember that there are many more people who do not know about us than there are who do.

Free keyword analysis for YouTube

After researching Brian Dean's methods and putting them to the test, we developed our own procedure for performing totally free YouTube keyword research:

Use YouTube Suggest to come up with keyword ideas.
On Google, look for queries with little competition.
Verify your Google ranking to see if it can compete with YouTube.
Examine Google Keyword Planner's search volume.
Determine a keyword based on the investigation.

Let's try each of them out!

Utilise YouTube Suggest to create keyword suggestions

Nothing will be more helpful for coming up with keyword suggestions than YouTube itself.

In this step, you should enter your keyword into the YouTube search bar and note any suggested results that appear.

The words displayed are items that previous users have looked for, making them the greatest example for defining the final title of your videos.

We advise you to enter this data into a table, which you will continue to fill out in the investigation's subsequent steps as follows:

Find Google searches with little competition.

Once we have some keyword suggestions, we need to research how competitive each one is on YouTube.

How?

very simple

Search for each keyword in Google by adding site:youtube.com after the keyword.

Google is informed that we only want results from the domain that comes after the “site:” search operator.

In other words, in this instance, the only results available will be from YouTube pages.

The quantity of outcomes for each keyword must be considered:

According to how much existing content there is on the subject, this number will show us which term is more competitive than another.

Is there a scale that indicates whether competition is low, medium, or high?

No.

Depending on your niche and how much information there is about it online.

Verify your Google ranking (in addition to YouTube).

You must have noticed that depending on the search you conduct, the Google results page changes:

For some searches, videos will show up in addition to featured snippets with instructions, while other times Google will place photos higher on the page:

The next step is to conduct an incognito search for each word in our table to see if Google ranks videos for them or not.

Why are we curious about this?

Since the keywords with a tick in this box have the potential to bring us visitors from Google as well as YouTube.

Check Google Keyword Planner for search volume.

Let's look at the number of monthly Google searches for each keyword.

This will give us a better understanding of how much it will cost us to rank for a particular term.

You only need to visit Google Keyword Planner, choose the nations where you wish to position your material, and type in the study's keyword phrases:

choosing a keyword based on research

Once your table is complete, it's time to decide which keyword to focus your content optimisation efforts on.

One is the best keyword to use:

with a weaker level of opposition than the others.
In the Google search results, there are videos available.
have a lot of monthly searches.

How can a YouTube video be optimised? (Packing)

Well! We already know what the keyword is. It's time to decide which fields to apply it to now:

Qualification

The keyword selected for the video should be used as the first word of the title.

This increases the likelihood that it will rank for that keyword.

This can then be followed by the title of the channel section, a useful plugin, or the video format.

For instance:

Cooking with Karla #15: Microwave instructions for brownies
Dessert in 5 minutes: How to cook brownies in the microwave
(INSTALLABLE RECIPE!) How to cook brownies in the microwave

Description

over 200 words is required.

As a result, YouTube will have more text to mine for video-related data and display it in the results when it is pertinent.

The YouTube results page only displays your first 125 characters, thus it is preferable that they offer a click incentive:

Breaking down the content into minutes in this category is a very beneficial practise, especially for lengthy videos:

Users may explore information that interests them easily in this way, and Google is better able to understand each video.

thumbnail

It must be appealing and prominently display the title of the video or a complementary concept.

Since YouTube cannot read the text that is inserted in the image, it is not necessary to repeat the video's name verbatim.

However, it is the most obvious when searching YouTube, and users will also pay attention to it when browsing pages:

Because of this, it's crucial that it is appealing, readable, and effectively captures the essence of your brand.

tags

Here, it's crucial to use the competition's tags along with the keywords selected for the video.

Why?

Because when viewers of content from related channels view content, your videos will appear as recommended content.

Knowing the brands of your rivals is quite simple:

Install the VidIQ Chrome extension for free.
For a better user experience when using the tool, register with your email.
Enter the competitor's video to get a wealth of useful information.

Final or closing screens

Although we cannot strategically place our keywords here, this area is excellent for keeping viewers on your channel.

Make the most of your videos' final screen:

To encourage as many visitors to stick around as possible, add a button to your channel and recommend related content.
Recommended Techniques for New YouTube Videos
Additionally, it's important to keep a few things in mind when producing new videos.

Applying these recommendations will make your videos more appealing to users and YouTube alike:

Create a succinct introduction

People must be hooked within the first 15 seconds.

They will search for another video if they are still unsure by that point that it is what they require.

It's important to explain what the video is about, give a rundown of the subjects that will be covered, and explain what the viewer will accomplish with the knowledge gained in this introduction.

to invite subscribers

It's best to invite folks to subscribe and switch on notifications once they've decided to stay.

Those who stay to the end are more likely to heed your request, so you can make it again then.

say the video's primary keyword.

Videos' audio can be processed by YouTube. If not, you wouldn't be able to generate the subtitles automatically.

Because of this, it's crucial to mention the video's keywords so that the platform can collect them in a separate area.

Of course, don't force yourself to do it.

Speaking the key phrase from your video's subtitles will inevitably happen naturally.

Prepare for video content

Topics that will be developed later in the text should be mentioned to improve audience retention.

It has the potential to pique viewers' interest and keep them watching for a short while.

It cannot be abused, just like the preceding suggestion:

We advise not doing it more than a few times for each 15 minutes of content on average, as this will likely result in more resentment than interest.

Requesting comments on a specific item

The mind is set up to exert the least amount of effort feasible.

Many people will assume they have nothing to say if we ask them to “comment” (plainly).

On the other hand, more users will be enticed to do so if a closed question with specific options is asked:

How long does a YouTube video need to be to be successful?

Each video should be as long as is necessary to provide the information that the user wants to watch.

It is true that YouTube prefers long-form material since it keeps users on the site longer.

A video's user retention time will drop if it is lengthened needlessly, therefore doing so won't be beneficial in the long term.

What to do after uploading a YouTube video to promote it

It's crucial to publicise your video after you've posted it:

Your website's external traffic will assist YouTube in determining the quality of your content so that it can be ranked higher in organic search results.

Among the most successful tactics are:

Use it to respond to relevant queries on Quora.

The goal of inbound marketing is to draw customers to our business by assisting them.

Searching for issues on Quora that can be addressed with our information and addressing those concerns is a fantastic suggestion for putting it into practise.

Despite our desire to promote videos, it's crucial that we not confine ourselves to that format. The video is an add-on that is optional but is required that we respond to the inquiry in writing.

There's a good possibility they'll watch the video even without the questions because it's actual individuals asking the questions.

Additionally, this effort won't result in a single reproduction:

Both Google and Quora can be used by many users to find the solution.

Put a newsletter announcement about the video's release online.

Use a database of people who have previously expressed interest in your material if you have one.

You shouldn't undervalue the past dedication these individuals have demonstrated to your project or business.

If you're mailing it, make sure you send it through a link rather than downloading it and attaching it as a file because doing so won't add a copy.

Make it extremely clear in the email and in the video's introduction that:

What do you discuss in the video?
Why it might be interesting or beneficial.
What will they learn or be able to do after viewing it.

use your social media to advertise

Finally, use the followers you already have on social media to promote your new videos.

Despite being the most popular tactic, we purposely saved it till last:

In contrast to Quora, this strategy entails distributing your content at a time when few people are online.

Additionally, unlike newsletter promotion, you cannot access your audience's inbox directly with this option.

As a result, they will have to pay more to visit your YouTube channel once you are just one more post in their feed.

It's always worthwhile using these platforms to promote your fresh material because your followers are people who already know you and are connected to your business.

In response to feedback, our final piece of advice

The goal of all the initiatives and tactics discussed in this article is to increase channel activity, but this calls for dedication.

We must regularly examine channel notifications and reply to every comment submitted, if at all possible.

A team of employees will need to be in charge of maintaining the platform if you have a really large channel because you won't be able to meet all the demand on your own.

If your channel receives few comments instead, you will have more time to attempt and transform each one into a fruitful exchange with your audience.

Conclusion: What is YouTube SEO?

Using the best of both worlds, YouTube

Similar to a search engine (Google), it returns results following a query and, like a social network, it also enables user interaction through buttons (likes, dislikes, and comments).

It can only be utilised to its full potential if the best practises of both categories of platforms are used.

Be mindful of: