From Novice to Narrative: YouTube SEO Strategies

The 12-step YouTube SEO Guide for Beginners Who Want More Views

Shanoon Cox

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

The joy of creating on YouTube is often dampened by the disappointment of underperforming videos. You have published your content and it’s not getting the views you had hoped.

Well, let’s change that!

In this guide, I’m going to walk you through YouTube SEO from the very start to the very end.

Nothing complicated. No paid programs or expensive apps needed. We are going back to basics and get your videos discovered.

Ready?

Let’s Go!

Part 1: Research Your Topic and Competitors

Come up with a video idea . Can’t come up with one? Let me help. I heard you can make a mean scrambled egg, why don’t you show the world how you do it?

Excellent! Let’s go with that idea.

Wait, don’t go making the video yet. First, we have to do some research. We need to know what videos already exist out there.

Do a quick search on YouTube to see what videos already exist on your topic.

Uh oh… your video will be competing against celebrities like Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver.

Okay, don’t panic! There is a fantastic quote, credited to bestselling author, Jon Acuff , that goes:

While researching your competition, you will feel overwhelmed, but remember, you are at the beginning, and Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver are not even at their middle, they are way passed the finish line. You still have a long journey to go, so don’t get discouraged, get inspired!

Watch those videos and understand what they are all about.

Understand that people watch YouTube for 3 key reasons:

- To be entertained

- To learn something new

- To be inspired

A video that can hit all 3 marks is going to be positioned for success. Don’t fret too much about the competition, as long as your content is good, you will see improvement.

So if you think this scrambled egg idea can hit those 3 marks, then I encourage you to go to the next step. If you don’t, let’s regroup and brainstorm some more YouTube video ideas .

Step 2: Find Keywords

Now that we’ve decided that we are sticking with the video idea, we are ready to do some keyword research. Keywords are the words and phrases people type in the YouTube search bar to discover videos.

Come up with as many relevant keywords as you can. Start by entering a keyword into the YouTube search bar. This will tell you what are the most popular searches associated with that keyword:

Once you have an idea of what people are searching for related to your topic, you’ll want to find more relevant keywords. I like to use the free app, Ubersuggest to do that.

This app gives you a whole list of long-tail keywords, which are 3-4-word phrases which is specific to what your video is about.

Some you will use to dig deeper in and other you will deem irrelevant to your videos. A good way of determining the value of a keyword is by the stats the application shows.

How to Read Keyword Suggestions

Once you have a list of keywords, you will see some numbers on the right-hand side. Here is what each one is about:

- Search volume is the number used to identify the popularity of the keyword. The higher the number the more people are searching for it.

- CPC is the value accredited by YouTube, determining how much advertisers are paying to target audiences who search for that keyword and click on the link.

- Competition is the number used to qualify how many other content are using that keyword.

The two categories that matter most to us right now is Search Volume and Competition. We want keywords with high search volume and low competition rate.

In the example above, you can see that the keyword “avocado scrambled eggs” has a Search Volume of 1,000 and a competition rate of 0.0. This is a good keyword to target, if you can incorporate an avocado to your dish… which of course you can!

Step 3: Write Title

I know you might want to deal with the Title, Description, and Tags after you’ve filmed and edited your video. But if you want to apply a YouTube SEO-focused strategy, then these should be addressed before you even pick up a camera as it can greatly dictate the content you end up creating.

A good YouTube title sparks curiosity, evokes emotional reaction, and promises value to your viewers.

Of course you can title your video simply: Making Scrambled Eggs

But does it spark curiosity? Not really… most people can make scrambled eggs.

Does it evoke any emotion? Maybe hunger… but even then, not really…

Finally, does it promise value? Well, assuming that most people can at least crack an egg into a pan, then hardly.

Your scrambled egg is special! Your video is special! We need to evoke that in the title — and as long as you are not writing any clickbait and deliver on what the title suggest, you can do this.

So, how about this: Are My Amazing Scrambled Eggs Better Than Gordon Ramsay’s?

Hmmm… Well, is it? We know that the Gordon Ramsay’s video has almost 30M views. Many people have already tried cooking it, I’m sure. There is only one way to find out, by encouraging others to try it over Gordon’s.

You don’t need to go for a somewhat contentious title like this, but that’s the idea, you want something that gets people curious, make them feel a certain way, and in the end, make them better for having watched your video.

See how a good title can guide the rest of your video?

Step 4: Write Description

You aren’t going to be writing the description for the viewers necessarily, you are going to be writing it for YouTube’s algorithms. The better YouTube understands what your video is about, the better they can show it to people searching for it.

This means you need to include the keywords you were researching at the beginning of your description, as YouTube will be using them to identify the content of your video. 1 or 2 keywords that best represent your video is enough. Don’t stuff the title with too many keywords or you’ll risk sounding like a robot.

But also use the description for practical uses too, if you have additional information such as supportive links, outline of the video’s content, a list of materials, step-by-step guide, or a recipe that you think your human viewers will find useful, you should input that in the description as well.

Step 5: Write Tags

Thank goodness we did the keyword research in Step 2, because coming up with tags is not as easy as it looks.

Pull 15 keywords from the list and keep it somewhere safe.

Note: The keywords you used in the title should be found in your tags, and since they are the most important ones, you should place them first.

Organize your keywords in the tag as such:

Have the specific keywords at the top, followed by more general keywords, and then branded ones:

Specific: How to make scrambled eggs

General: Scrambled eggs

Branded: Gordon Ramsay scrambled eggs

Part 2: Make The Best Darn Video Possible

It doesn’t matter how relevant your keywords are or how epic your title is, if you video sucks (i.e. your viewers click in and leave right away), YouTube will not show it in search.

Even if you haven’t created any videos yet, you can follow these next steps to ensure you are following the best practices to structure your video.

Step 6: Plan and Film the Hook

The first few seconds is where the largest percentage of your earned viewership will drop off. Odds are 20% of your viewers won’t even get past the first 10 seconds .

What you need is a hook, an intro that ensures this video is what they want to watch and let’s them know what they can expect.

Step 7: Film B-Roll

One static camera shot of you talking or cooking or giving a tutorial can cause your viewers to lose attention.

In order to keep your viewers interest, you will need b-roll, or supplemental footage you can cut to give you video more life.

While jump cuts (cuts made on a sequential clip of the same subject or in the same camera position) are fine, having additional footage to cut to will make your video feel more fluid.

So when you are filming your scrambled egg video, make sure you get some footage of you cracking the egg, scrambling it, and serving it on the plate.

Step 8: Encourage Viewers to Engage in Video

Liking, disliking, subscribing, and commenting on your video will all help your performance indirectly.

While YouTube wouldn’t rank your video higher simply because you have more likes subscribers, or comments, engagement from viewers help your video get discovered. If you get a like or comment from a YouTuber with a lot of subscribers, your video may be visible to those who are following that YouTuber for a while.

The best way to get engagement from your audience is to encourage them to like and subscribe or ask them a question or start a dialogue.

For example, in this scrambled egg video you are making, at the end you can ask, “So what do you think, is this better than Gordon Ramsay?”

Who knows, who will respond.

Step 9: Design a Thumbnail

You could have made a brilliant video, but if you have a poor quality thumbnail that is unattractive, then the overall performance of your video will suffer — and good SEO can only do so much after that.

Your viewers will absolutely judge your video by its cover so it’s important to put some thought into it and not solely rely on the three random thumbnail choices that YouTube picks for you.

Take a look at your competition. If they all look the same, do something different. Add text or a human face (preferably yours) to evoke emotion, as viewers are more likely to click into a video if they see an expressive image.

Don’t want to pay money for a photo editing software such as Photoshop?

You can use an online service called Canva or download GIMP , an open-source photo editor much like Photoshop, but far less powerful. These will help you get the job done as you are starting out.

Want to know more thumbnail maker? Check our picks of the best free YouTube thumbnail makers .

Part 3: Publishing With Attention to Optimization

Well done finishing the video! You are almost there… but not there yet.

Come on, keep going!

Step 10: Fill Out Your Videos Assets

The video is done, the thumbnail is designed, and you have all your title, description, and tags ready to go. This step is easy, upload the video, and fill out the assets, and give yourself a pat on the back.

Step 11: Add Transcripts

In addition to making your content accessible for people who don’t want to or can’t listen to the audio in your video, adding subtitles and closed captions will help YouTube understand the spoken content in your video.

While YouTube does have an automatic subtitle generator, it’s not reliable enough to be used for identifying the keywords you use in your video.

You can choose to write out the whole transcript of your video yourself, but if you are press on time, which of course you are, you can simply go and edit the automatic transcript already available in your video. By the way, you can also use some automatic transcription software.

Step 12: Add Video to Playlist

Finally the last thing you need to do for your video is to add it to a playlist. Even though it might be the first video in the playlist, it helps YouTube identify your video if you organize it in a playlist. As you accumulate more content, having videos in playlists makes content easier to find and keeps relevant videos together.

When viewers searches, having your videos in playlists increases the chance of it being discovered.

So if your first video is about scrambled eggs, maybe you next video can be about the awesome butter toasts.

I guess, you are on your way to making a pretty badass breakfast playlist. I personally can’t wait to see it!

If you treat SEO as an afterthought, only after your video is created, you are not using it to its full potential. If you follow these 12 steps during the course of your production, you will find that SEO doesn’t simply help your video perform at the end, but contributes in all the other phases of creating your video as well.

Besides considering YouTube SEO, you should make a good YouTube video as well. Filmora is a powerful video editing software that features lots of templates and effects. Get the free trial version below and have a try today.

Do you have any questions about SEO? Please leave us a comment below.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Are Annual Payments for YouTube Premium Better Than Monthly?

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Try It Free Try It Free

It was formerly known as YouTube Red three years ago when it first launched. It brings to your screen tones of perks for better viewing. However, the service isn’t still widely known, and most people are on the verge of understanding what is entailed in the subscription. Most YouTube premium subscribers attest that the service is of value and are even relieved of the constant ads in the Free version. Dive into the article for more insights.

What is YouTube Premium?

This streaming service was initially launched in 2014 and was later rebranded in 2018 as YouTube Premium. It includes YouTube music and other features that Google added to it. You can download content, perform background playback and even get access to YouTube original content. Note that this came at a cost as its price was raised. But what remains is that you get value for your money.

1. What service is included in the Premium subscription?

The Premium subscription is an after-sought service that includes these services.

Background play: It allows one to play your videos in the background, enabling you to use the app as a music player.

Offline playback: Easily view your videos on your phone or tablet. It means you can download a video or music and play them while not on the internet.

Ad-free videos: Say goodbye to popular ads with YouTube Free subscription. You already catered for your freedom in the subscription.

YouTube Music Premium: YouTube music is available for free even though you won’t download it for offline playback on this tier.

Flip between apps swiftly: Your videos will continue playing even if you switch to another app. You can flip apps on your device, like check emails, read Twitter, scroll to texts and still play your videos.

2. The price of a YouTube Premium subscription

YouTube Premium isn’t different from other services. Like most streaming services, you get family and student plans. YouTube Premium costs your $6.99 monthly subscription for students’ plans. You, however, need to verify that you are a student. A family plan comes at $17.99 per month, where you can add up to five members. Single YouTube Premium will cost you $11.99 a month

3. Does YouTube Premium provide an annual plan?

No. YouTube Premium does not provide an annual plan. You can only pay your subscription per month.

4. What is the difference between YouTube TV and YouTube Premium

Even though they sound similar, YouTube TV and YouTube Premium are different in many aspects. While YouTube Premium is a paid subscription, YouTube TV is a live streaming service. Let’s explore more differences.

What is included

If you subscribe to YouTube Premium, then you unlock other streaming features. These include watching YouTube without ads on its apps, managing offline viewing, playing your videos in the background, and getting YouTube Music, among others.

You can watch various channels over the internet with YouTube TV, live. It offers you close to 90 channels cutting across lifestyle, news, entertainment, sports, etc. Likewise, you can stream live broadcasts from top networks like NBC, FOX, ABC, etc. It will also splash your screen with news channels from BBC America, CNN, FOX News, etc.

Cost

When it comes to pricing, YouTube Premium costs $11.00 per month with a free, one-month trial for new subscribers. It also has different plans for students and families. On the other hand, YouTube TV starts at $64.99 per month. However, first-time subscribers can get a free offer of up to one week at no cost. This rate may seem high, but it is competitive with other live TV streaming services.

Accessibility

YouTube TV is readily available on the web, mobile platforms, and media streaming devices like Fire TV and Chromecast. You can also download the YouTube TV app to enjoy it on players like game consoles and PlayStations. For YouTube Premium, you’ll easily access it by subscription.

However, there are areas where both YouTube TV and YouTube Premium overlap. Both will let you watch YouTube Originals.

You will also enjoy your videos without adverts interruption. Additionally, it would be best to have an internet connection to stream your videos before downloading. And after downloading and saving your files, you can stream them offline on YouTube Premium.

So, which is better?

YouTube Premium subscribers think it’s the better choice. For one, if you like entertainment from services like Hulu, Netflix, Disney, and much more, then YouTube Premium has you covered than YouTube TV.

Q&A: Is YouTube Premium subscription available in all countries?

● YouTube Premium is not available in some countries. The likely reason is that those countries’ laws prevent it from being offered.

● But worry less, you can still access YouTube Premium even if it’s not available in your country. You can switch to an alternative county and stream videos.

Make a quick switch by first clicking the “Country” button on the bottom of the YouTube homepage. Here, you’ll view various available countries where YouTube Premium is accessible.
Then click any country of choice to switch to. It will give you that country’s YouTube version.
You can also change your language if it presents a foreign language video and description. Just click on the “Language” button on the page.
Finally, access and play any YouTube premium video virtually from the country you switched to.

Is YouTube Premium worth subscribing to?

Even with the lack of YouTube Premium annual subscription, it still beats all odds to subscribe to this streaming service.

1) Offline playback

Office playback is one reason why YouTube lovers opt for the Premium subscription. Saving your videos for offline listening gives you more advantages than needing to be online to stream your videos. You can do it by simply checking for the “Download” icon below the video you wish to save on your device for later watching. You are then free to stream your files at any time, on the go!

2) Free of ads at last

YouTube streaming is much better without ever interacting with adverts. There are no pop-ups with the Premium version, letting you enjoy every bit of your video streaming. Again, such interruptions aren’t healthy for a tutorial session. Without ads, you can fully concentrate on video playing, letting you get quality value for your time.

3) Get original content

By fact, it is clear that this platform lets you interact with high-end artists who dwell on giving original content to their viewers. You’ll get a perfect chance to subscribe to artists who offer content, i.e., exclusive to the paid tier.

4) Included Google Play Music for free

It’s a double party for YouTube Premium subscribers. You have the advantage of getting Google Play Music when you subscribe to YouTube Music Premium. More so, the Google Play library gives you tones of music from their library. Combined with YouTube Premium offers, you won’t have any reason not to feel entertained from any genre of choice.

Some improvements will go a long way

Despite all the reasons to subscribe to YouTube Premium, it still needs a minor improvement to perfection.

The YouTube Premium service’s availability is limited compared to the initial YouTube version. Therefore, some countries prohibit its usage and are only accessible in about 70 countries. Hopefully, it will be available worldwide so that no user is limited.
YouTube Premium subscription does not give any discounts on any of the subscriptions. And being that it has no yearly subscriptions, the amount remains the same whether you opt for one month or pay it times 12 for the year. There should be some considerations for offers, primarily when you cover the one-year payments.
Some users feel the price is higher than other streaming services. However, YouTube claims to offer free Google Play music. Perhaps this is the reason for the slight rise.
This streaming service lacks some extras like rentals and charged station subscriptions. Other features like “lyrics” to the songs have also not been catered for. Likewise, some extra information like the title or genre of the video you watch is not included. These small extras could go a long way if they were to be added.
YouTube Premium also seems to pay attention to celebrities other than YouTubers. Most originals are not exclusive to Premium subscribers, while you can watch them with ads on a free account.

Conclusion

● Amidst the many YouTube subscriptions, YouTube Premium has come a long way. Additionally, it hasn’t covered all the countries just yet. However, it has eliminated the presence of annoying ads that are prominent with the free YouTube service. More so, you get free access to Google Play Music, among other added values. Despite those, the app still needs some improvements in its services to incorporate YouTube Premium subscribers in its walk fully.