Optimizing

YouTube is taking the world by storm with over 5 billion (with a ‘b’) video views per day. So, how do you get your videos viewed? By optimizing. Today we’ll tell you what it takes to get to your YouTube audience through successful channel optimization tactics. 

Design a Creative Homepage 

While we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, many of us often do. Your channel’s homepage is the first thing your viewers see; make it count. You want to give them a reason to watch your videos, and the homepage is where you can capture their attention with creative design and appealing content. 

Your YouTube channel’s homepage should consist of five important elements:

• Profile picture. This is the icon that shows up when you leave a comment anywhere or wherever you are when you’re within the YouTube universe. It should be easy to see and understand; it’s a small space to make a big impact. A nice image of your face is always a crowd-pleaser.
• About page. Here you can tell potential viewers about who you are and why you’ve created this channel. Be creative and convincing. 
• Channel trailer. Like with the movies, your trailer needs to be interesting and compelling so your viewers stay, watch, and subscribe. Tell them what they’ll be getting when they watch your channel. Make it short and sweet, relevant, and honest; if it serves your image, have fun with it. People like fun.
• Create great playlists. On your homepage, you can show off your finest work, so take full advantage of that. You have 10 sections to work with. 
• Add featured channels. These channels appear on the right side of your homepage, and they align you with other members of the YouTube community. Add your friends’ videos or videos of those you have a relationship with or just videos you enjoy. 

Do your keyword research 

Just like with Google, keywords will really pay off when it comes to optimizing your YouTube channel. Keywords will help bring in new viewers, so do some research so you can implement them in your tags, titles, descriptions, and on the channel itself.

The right keywords will help improve your videos, playlists, and channel rankings, which will lead to subscribers. 

If you haven’t started using keyword tools, now is a great time to start. Check out Google AdWords Keyword Planner and Google Trends for some great insight. And don’t forget the tried and true, easy way of merely starting a search in the Google and YouTube search bars to see what automatically populates. 

YouTube algorithms are a big fan of long-tail keywords. So, when you create your tags, titles, and descriptions, think about how users are searching and use the long-tail keywords throughout the channel. 

Let your playlists do the work

Your playlists tell viewers who you are, use them to organize and categorize on your homepage, and this explains to viewers what your channel is about. However, you can also use them to keep your audience viewing for longer periods. Something YouTube will reward you for. 

Set up your playlists so they go from one video to the next automatically and use keywords that support your users finding you easily. Offering the right playlists for your audience will make your channel more desirable, benefiting you, your viewers, and the search engines. 

Update your playlists so your viewers find new, valuable information regularly and keep returning to your channel. Add new playlists consisting of three to 10 videos at least twice a week for maximum results. 

The takeaway

YouTube is the second biggest search engine behind Google, and optimizing for views and subscribers is going to help get you the audience you want. Think big-picture here. Yes, you may create great videos, but if your channel isn’t optimized well, your audience may never make it to your homepage. The channel is what gets the subscribers, so make sure it generates the buzz it needs to secure the conversion.

If you have any questions about your YouTube page or your SEO campaign, we’d love the chance to talk with you. Our digital marketing team can get you more subscribers through quality YouTube channel optimization. Contact us today to learn more.