From Zero to Hero in YouTube Traffic

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

Unearthing 8 YouTube Platforms with Stellar Rapid Rise

Create High-Quality Video - Wondershare Filmora

An easy and powerful YouTube video editor

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YouTube is among the most frequently visited streaming channels. It has risen to fame in the last two years when the pandemic hit the whole world. Business owners, students, and the world have turned to social media for business, entertainment, and educational purposes. And YouTube was the first thought channel to bring everyone on board. With an advanced algorithm, you can find content that perfectly matches your interests easily. This also saw an increase in YouTube subscribers as well as content creators. But wait! You must be wondering about the channels that made it to the top. That’s what this article is yet to disclose to you. Keep reading.

How do popular YouTubers affect our lives?

Being a website open to the public, YouTube affects our lives dynamically. It depends on how you use the site. It can affect your life either positively or negatively.

- Learning

Through tutorial videos, YouTube has improved learning. Students who choose to work with visual components can refer to YT for in-depth illustrations of various studies. They can freely acquire course videos and other information.

- Remote access

Users are not limited to accessing any site regardless of their locality. With just a click of a button, you can get any information, such as how to use a product or service. You can also contact a content creator via community comments on their pages.

- Entertainment

This is an excellent platform for people to interact and keep busy with trending videos and music. You can also search for other Do It Yourself videos to try out home remedies.

- Earnings

You can earn money through YouTube once you hit the 1,000-subscription mark. You can also link your Google Adsense account for additional earning opportunities.

The Top 8 YouTubers Who Will Be the Fastest Growing in 2021

Check out the fastest-growing YouTubers who gained high popularity in 2021. They dwell in a variety of sections ranging from film production, children’s stories, gardening, startups, and many other categories.

• Jeferee Star

He started in 2006 and has risen to be a YouTube star today. Before building his YT base, Jeferee started making it big on Myspace. He is still recognized for his make-up talent. But it is his melodious singing that brought him to fame. He currently has about 17 million subscribers, having gained over 5 million followers last year.

• Goldmines Telefilms

With movies, songs, and comedy combined, Goldmines Telefilms has also seen many subscribers resolve to its content. It currently has a subscriber base of about 30 million, having gained over 10 million subscribers in 2020. Their secret lies in driving the audience’s attention.

• Inventor 101

Many people have resolved to do business online lately. More startups are being launched each day. Inventor 101 dwells on giving tips on everyday life hacks and how to survive business shortfalls. This channel has grown immensely since April 2019, going from 50,000 to about 1.3 million subscribers.

• Urban Gardening

Many people become innovative after spending more time at home. Gardening is one activity that topped the list of starter adventures. This saw the Urban Gardening channel rise to fame, getting up to 800 thousand subscribers in a short period. Look through for how-to guides and other tips on home gardening.

• Cocomelon

Kids love singing along to lovely tunes. Cocomelon brings to your screen cute nursery rhymes and knows how to keep kids locked in through 3D videos and fun-filled songs. The YouTube channel saw a drastic rise from 2005 with 36 million subscribers to 85 million subscribers today.

• T-Series

T-Series is among the increasing number of YouTubes in the film industry. It has been keeping viewers entertained with its ever-increasing Indian movies. Led by Sh. Gulshan Kumar, the channel had a rise of about 40 million this year, rising to 166 million subscribers currently.

• Felix Arvid

Known as PewDiePie, Felix has seen a drastic increase in the past year. His channel is about jokes that appeal to both young and old viewers. He has so far managed to reach about 101 million subscribers this year. His channel has gained 6.63 million subscribers.

• Just Eat

This is an online takeaway company that has steered home food deliveries. Before the spike in subscribers, Just Eat had been running for over 10 years and currently has a total of 60 million subscribers in 2021, up from the initial 2.4 million in 2011.

How to increase your YouTube subscribers faster

Long videos should be published.
Research shows that the possibility of longer videos ranking high in search engines is greater than shorter ones. Aim for your video to rank high in YouTube’s search engine. The best way is to have longer videos that show detailed information to viewers.
Optimize watch time.
YouTube also factors in the watch time, both for SEO results and promotional purposes. Videos with a high watch time are likely to be promoted on the YouTube homepage. You can use lots of patterns interrupts to keep people watching or include graphics to help them focus more.
Embed your videos into blog posts.
Blogs are a great way to tell your viewers what your product brings to the table. If you can get someone to read your post, then it shows they like your stuff. So, embed your video and let them learn via detailed steps, and they’ll probably subscribe to your channel.
Add a brand watermark.
A branding watermark helps viewers subscribe to your channel right inside the video. You can use a link that looks like a “YT subscribe” button. Also, make it large enough to be visible at a glance.
Promote videos on the end screen.
Remember that the more someone watches your videos, the higher the chances of them subscribing to your channel. So, do the trick and promote your next video on the end screen of the current video. This will make a viewer watch more and more of your videos, and probably subscribe to your channel.
Respond to every comment.
Show that you care. And note that every comment or review matters a lot to your brand. So, strive to respond to every comment that a viewer leaves on your page.
Give thought to the channel description.
Here is where some YouTube channels miss it all. The description should be engaging and inviting. That’s the only way to lure viewers to hit that subscribe button. Let the description tell viewers what the channel is about and give other important information.
Video quality
Your video is your voice when it comes to promoting your channel. Ensure you give people quality videos with a piece of detailed advice that works for them. Also, remember to upload quality videos regularly to boost the growth of your channel. A good video should have high resolution, among other good qualities.

Filmora - a useful tool to help make creative videos

Being creative and composing powerful videos is a plus if you want your YouTube channel to grow. That’s the tactic that highly ranked subscribers employ during video creation. We use Filmora, a video editing program with advanced features, to transform your video into a work of art. Use it to edit and export your videos at a high resolution of up to 4K. It also lets you layer several video clips with its Picture in Picture track feature.

Other important characteristics

The video should be edited with as little effect as possible. You can edit your video by splitting, merging, rotating, etc., from its interface. Filmora has simple steps for these.

Noise removal
Polish your video by removing unwanted background noise to help improve the overall outcome.

GIF support
You can add GIF images and then import or export your video to YouTube and other platforms

Detach audio
Filmora lets you do audio separation from your video and edit it separately. You can change the background music to your favorite.

Preview
Preview your video frame by frame and make any precise adjustments necessary before you release it to the public.

Advanced formatting
Stylish effects like overlays and transitions can give you a compelling piece of video that will woe subscribers to your channel.

Conclusion

● YouTube is a trustworthy platform that provides a diverse range of activities such as gaming, tutorials, the film industry, and cooking, among many others. Content creators use it to promote their brands and build a database of subscribers. It takes a considerable amount of effort to match the fastest-growing YouTube channels. A major contributing factor to the highly increasing number of subscribers is a clear video that is easily understood. The best video editor, Filmora, can help you achieve a milestone as far as composing a selling video is concerned.

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How do popular YouTubers affect our lives?

Being a website open to the public, YouTube affects our lives dynamically. It depends on how you use the site. It can affect your life either positively or negatively.