Gain Popularity on YouTube: 11 Powerful SEO Techniques for Video Content

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More than 85% of businesses use YouTube videos as a marketing tool. YouTube is the second most visited website on the internet, with users uploading over 500 hours of video content every minute. Because video SEO is constantly evolving, you need to stay current on optimization best practices to rank higher on search results.

Luckily, this article offers YouTube SEO tips to help you create a solid strategy that will help you rank your videos.

In this article

How Does YouTube SEO Work?

11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking

How Does YouTube SEO Work?

YouTube SEO is an excellent way to ensure your videos get more views. The main goal of YouTube SEO is to rank high for specific keywords in search engines. As such, it is crucial to know how YouTube SEO works if you want to boost the ranking of your videos.

Whether you are a blogger, market researcher, or video marketer, you need YouTube SEO to generate traffic to your videos. YouTube SEO involves optimizing your videos, channel, descriptions, metadata, and playlists. You can optimize videos for search within and outside YouTube.

Because search engine bots can’t watch YouTube videos, they depend on accompanying text data when indexing them. So you must also know how to harness the power of text in your video, which can positively impact SEO, viewership, engagement, and user experience.

Watch Video: YouTube SEO Tips 2022: Boost Your Video Ranking

11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking

Want to drive more traffic and increase your video views? Here are eleven YouTube SEO tips that will help you to boost your video ranking.

1. Conduct Keyword Research First

When it comes to YouTube SEO, keywords are crucial. YouTube uses these keywords to determine the subject of your video, index the content, and then associate it with what users are searching for. As such, you must add them to certain fields, including description, tags, and title, when you are uploading the video file. YouTube will then get this information and use it to rank your video.

For this reason, you have to know the keywords that best identify your videos and have the potential to attract viewers to your channel.

2. Use a Good Video Title

The title of your video is the first thing other people see, and it’s what decides whether or not they watch it. Given how important it is, you’ll want to make sure that your title accurately reflects the content of your video and includes all relevant keywords.

3. Link Your Videos Directly to Your Website

Each time you publish a new video, make sure you embed it on your website or blog. Not only will this encourage viewers to stay on your website instead of leaving immediately, but it will also make it easier for search engines crawlers to index your website.

4. Add Tags To The Video Description

When you upload your video, remember to add tags to the “About” section of the page. You can do this by adding some relevant keywords with each tag like you would with blog posts.

When planning your strategy for YouTube keywords, you need to find 10-20 single keyword tags you want to rank for; keep in mind that this platform limits the number of tags users can include in a video. So you should first add the most relevant keyword phrases then include specific multi-word tags that will easily rank on top of search results.

5. Edit The Filename

The filename of your video, or the “video URL,” can also affect its rankings. Including keywords in this section will help the crawlers index your video faster, which will increase its chances of ranking higher.

6. Add Subtitles and Closed Captions

Adding subtitles and closed captions to your videos is also a good idea, especially if you want the video’s ranking and viewership to improve. Subtitles make it easier for new viewers to understand your videos, especially if your audience comes from different linguistic backgrounds.

7. Select Video Category

When uploading a video, be sure to select the most appropriate category for it. Essentially, this helps with SEO optimization because choosing the right category means that YouTube’s algorithm will place your video in the proper search results. In turn, viewers will easily find your video and watch it.

8. Use a Compelling Thumbnail

Make sure you use the right YouTube video thumbnail image , as this makes a big difference in the click-through rate. You might want to use high-quality, high-contrast images with a 16:9 aspect ratio. YouTube will choose which frame it will display as the video thumbnail. The platform will present three screenshots that you can choose from; however, you can upload your image or select a shot of another moment in the video.

Remember that YouTube overlays the duration of the video in the corner of your thumbnail. So make sure it does not obstruct any relevant details in your thumbnail. Google also uses image recognition to filter out specific imagery, including the YouTube logo.

Ideally, you need an image that is a perfect visual representation of the keywords you are targeting. In turn, this is going to take your presence in relevant search results even further.

9. Make High-Quality Longer

Videos that are less than 2 minutes long often rank low. The duration of most of the videos in the first five positions is usually 11 minutes 44 seconds. Therefore, you need to invest in longer videos that are around 10 minutes long. These videos meet the expectations of many users seeking complete and in-depth content. Additionally, you should create high-quality videos to ensure your viewers will keep watching.

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The Filmmaker’s Guide to Avoiding Overused Channel Labels

How To Pick a YouTube Channel Name

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Choosing the name of your YouTube channel is one of the most important decisions you will make as a vlogger. If your channel name sticks in the minds of people who watch your videos it will help to ensure viewers return and watch more of your work. An especially catchy channel name can even draw in new viewers who just have to find out what kind of videos somebody with that particular name makes. Most successful noted YouTubers carefully planned their names.

How to come up with the best YouTube name? Below we will introduce some useful tips that you should think about before choosing a YouTube channel name and some best online YouTube name generators that you can use to pick up a good YouTube name.

• Part 1: How To Pick a Name for Your YouTube Channel
• Part 2: Best Free Online Name Generator Tools for YouTube Channel
• Part 3: YouTube Channel Name vs. YouTube Usernames
• Part 4: How to Change YouTube Channel Name

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Part 1: How To Pick a YouTube Channel Name: 5 Tips for Choosing a Better YouTube Name

Of course, it is best to choose an amazing channel name in the first place so you never have to worry about changing it. Here are five tips for naming your YouTube channel.

1. Keep it Short and Impressive

In order to be memorable, your channel name should be short and catchy. Generally, it is a bad idea to have a name that is more than five syllables long. Longer channel names are both harder to remember, and harder to tell your friends about since they do not tend to roll off the tongue.

The worst way you can end up with an overly long username is by adding numbers or extra letters to the end of it. People often decide to do this because their desired channel name was taken. It is always a terrible idea. Your username might still look short, but that is deceptive. A username like ‘Lucas423’ is really ‘Lucasfourtwentythree’. Nobody will remember the exact numbers. If anyone remembers that username at all they will only remember ‘Lucas’, which will make it extremely difficult for them to find your channel again.

For the sake of keeping their channel names short and memorable, some successful YouTubers have actually made up words, i.e ‘Smosh’. This only works if a silly made-up word suits the tone of your channel, and even a lot of made-up words are taken by this point.

2. It’s All About You

Regardless of the topic of your vlog, your vlog will also be about you as a personality, so your channel name should have something to do with who you are as a person. It can even include your real name or some variation of it. Real-life nicknames work great.

If you do not want to use your actual name, or do not think your actual name would stick in people’s minds very well, then think about what your hobbies are and what kind of words could be used to describe you. Come up with a list of nouns and describing words and try out different combinations. You might even decide to try out some of your describing words with your real name.

3. It’s Also About Your Audience

Your name should reflect who you are, but it should also be relevant to the people who will be watching your vlog. For example, people who are tuning in to a daily life vlog might appreciate it if you use your real name or some variation on your name. People who are tuning into a vlog to learn something – beauty or cooking tips, for example – will be confused if your channel name is something like ‘LucasIsCool’. If you have a channel that is about anything besides your daily life, experiences, or opinions then your channel name needs to reference your topic. If Lucas’s channel is about baking then rather than ‘LucasIsCool’ he should try something like ‘LucasBakes’ or ‘CookiesByLucas’.

4. Test Drive It

It is a bad idea to rush over to YouTube and sign up for the first channel name you decide you like. First, say it out loud and see if it sounds as catchy as it seemed in your head. If it does, then there are still a couple of other “test drives” you need to do.

Plunk the channel name you are considering into a search engine to make sure it is not already strongly associated with something besides you. If there is actually a website with your channel name as its URL then you should almost definitely discard that name and choose a new one. If you have some success with your vlog then you will probably want to acquire the associated URL later on. Even if you do not think you want a website it is a bad idea to choose a channel name that already has a strong association with something else. For example, if you play music on your channel and your channel has the same name as a music festival people might automatically think you and that festival are affiliated.

You will also want to check and make sure nobody is using your channel name as their username on Instagram, Vimeo, or any other social media site. If your name is already being used elsewhere then it will be difficult for you to expand.

5. Don’t Give up

YouTube is a huge site and a lot of the really good names are already being used or – more frustratingly – have been taken by people who are not actually using them. The first few names you come up with will probably be unavailable. This is where a lot of YouTubers get discouraged and start weakening their channel name by typing numbers after it. It is easy to get pulled into settling for any name that sort of sounds like the one you want, but which is actually available. Do not do this! You will be able to create a catchy, unique, name that is all you own.

Coming up with the perfect name for your channel can take time, sometimes a lot of time. If you can get it done in one evening then you are lucky because this is something that can take days. The name of your YouTube channel is extremely important and you should take as long as you need to pick a good one.

Part 2: 5 Best Free Online YouTube Name Generators in 2021

1. YouTube Name Generator:

In case if you need a YouTube name with a specific keyword, this YouTube Name Generator tool can help you better. The unique algorithm of this online tool is capable enough to generate unique channel names that can match certain keywords of your need. All that you need to do is provide it with the total number of names it should generate for you along with your target keyword. It will soon open a long list of actual names and made-up names that you can choose for your channel.

2. Kparser:

Those who are more focused on the SEO ranking of their YouTube channel instead of the uniqueness of the YouTube channel name can avail great benefits from Kparser. It is well known as a keyword suggestion tool that is also used as a YouTube Name Generator due to its awesome algorithm that brings out top SEO-ranked channel names from the web. By upgrading to the Pro version of this tool, you can also get information about the volume and CPC of the listed keyword.

3. SpinXo:

Here is the most comprehensive tool for YouTube channel name generation and it provides satisfactory results to most users who don’t have specific requirements. You can add few specific details to this platform in terms of topic, keywords, niche, interests, and important word; SpinXo will soon generate the best channel names by utilizing that information. Observations say that most of the names generated by this tool are of three words. As soon as you like a certain keyword on this platform, you can see its availability on other social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Blogger, etc.

4. Best Username Generator:

It is almost the same as that of the YouTube Username Generator tool as it also brings out made-up YouTube names with its search results. But the great news is that it is also loaded with unique customization options. After listing the essential keyword, this tool also allows users to provide details about the number of characters they want in the name. When you like any one of the generated names, you can also check their availability on YouTube as well as 9 other popular social media websites.

5. Name Generator 2:

When you are interested in getting a funny YouTube channel name to grab the attention of more viewers online, Name Generator 2 is probably the best platform for you. Although it cannot provide you with a long list of keywords, whatever it provides is always full of humor. Note that, this tool does not allow customization options for YouTube Channel Name generations, users can simply add prefix or suffix details and it will combine them to provide you with something unique out of its database.

Part 3: YouTube Channel Name vs. YouTube Usernames

Are you aware of the difference between YouTube Channel name and YouTube Usernames? Most people are confused about this fact, but there is something that you really need to know about. Go through the details below to clear your doubt:

1. YouTube Channel Names

It is the name by which your channel is known on the network online. When viewers watch your videos online, your channel name appears on their screen, and they can click on this name to reach your channel to watch more collections. In a few cases, the channel name can be a username as well, but it is not always so.

2. YouTube Usernames

The YouTube Username is the one that appears on your URL when you visit your channel page. The time when you started your YouTube channel for the very first time, it appeared automatically containing a random string of characters. In the past, you can not change the URL but now YouTube allows you to customize it when you have more than 100 subscribers and your channel is at least 30 days old. For more details about claiming a custom URL for YouTube, check it here.

Since we have already known the differences between YouTube Channel Name and YouTube User name, you may wonder why the YouTube channel name is so important. While the flip side of that is that not choosing a good channel name can really hurt your chances of getting views and subscribers. Your videos might be great, but if viewers who like them cannot remember your name then it will be hard for them to find you again. Other videos of yours might even show up in their searches and be ignored because the viewer does not recognize your name. Also, while the very best channel names make people curious about what you do, the very worst channel names will be a deterrent for people when they are deciding whether to watch your videos. For example, including a sequence of numbers after your name will give people on YouTube the impression that you do not know what you are doing.

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Part 4: How to Change YouTube Channel Name

YouTube does allow you to change the name that is displayed for your channel now (in the past you could not). However, while your display name can be changed, the URL of your channel is permanent. If you change your display name then the two things will no longer match. Also if you manage to build up a following using one name you will probably lose some of those people if you change it. If you feel like your channel name is holding you back then you should definitely update it to something better, but you should also consider whether it is holding you back enough that it is worth losing some of the regular viewers you already have. It probably will be, if you feel like your channel will start growing faster after the change.

Even after selecting the best name for your YouTube channel, if one day you realize that it must be modified to have much better results; you can definitely change it without deleting the existing account. Note that your Google account name is the same as your YouTube Channel name. So, whenever you want to change the name of the channel; you can follow these simple steps to execute this task:

Step 1: First of all, simply sign in to YouTube.com and then hit on the Settings icon option available on the top right corner of your screen.

Step 2: Now go to the settings button and then choose the “Edit on Google” link.

Step 3: It is time to enter the updated Channel name and then finally hit the Ok button on the screen.

You are done with it, and now you can visit your YouTube channel once again to see the new name appearing on it.

Note: changing the channel name in this way will change all your names across Google services, such as Gmail and Google Drive. If you want to use a YouTube channel name different from that in your Google account, you can connect your channel to a Brand Account. For more details about that, please check: Use a different name on YouTube than your Google Account.

Conclusion

Above are some tips about how to pick up a YouTube channel name and some useful online YouTube name generator tools that you can use to choose a YouTube name quickly. Hope these tips and tools can help you when you building your YouTube channel. If can’t think of a good YouTube name, you can take a look at your similar channels’ names, which will give you a hint. InflueNex , the helpful influencer marketing platform, will help you to find similar channels in one click.

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Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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