South Korean rapper Psy managed to create a real internet video hype in the middle of last year. Over a billion people worldwide clicked on his song “Gangnam Style” on the video platform YouTube. It was not until this huge number of clicks became known that companies became aware of the enormous traffic potential that a video can bring. Below we briefly present a few tips on search engine optimization of videos so that your video can land at the top of the search and thus generate more clicks.
At first glance, it is of course the relevance of the video to the topic that decides whether the video is clicked on or not. Therefore, the title of the video should be determined with the help of an in-depth keyword analysis. For example, you can use the Google AdWords Keyword Tool. However, the title of the video is not enough. The description of the video and the tags used are also extremely important. You have influence over these factors and you should use this. One factor that is difficult to influence is the comments posted under your video.
In addition to the relevance of the topic and the keywords, there are of course many other factors that affect the placement of the video in searches. One of these is the length of the video. If you look at the videos with the most clicks, you will notice that extremely short and extremely long videos are the exception. The attention span on the Internet is relatively short. The average user is more likely to jump from website to website, or in this case from video to video, than to stay in front of the same video for hours. Videos that only last a few seconds are also less likely to be clicked on, as the user does not expect any real benefit from them. The optimal length of a video is between one and three minutes.
Furthermore, YouTube announced in August of last year that viewer loyalty influences the ranking. This means the length of time a user spends watching a video. While it used to be the case that the number of clicks was the most important thing, the length of time spent watching a video is now taking precedence. This particularly affects well-made videos that can captivate the user with exciting and high-quality content. In general, this is referred to as the user signals that influence the ranking of your video.
There are various options available to you to positively influence the length of time people spend watching. Firstly, the video should be shot in an appealing and contemporary quality. 360p videos will no longer entice anyone out of their comfort zone. You should also be aware that YouTube is also a communicative platform. Through lively exchanges and regularly published videos, you can increase your subscriber numbers and thus make your videos known to a wider audience. You could also increase your subscriber numbers by adding a “Subscribe now” button at the end of the video.
There is a lot to consider if you want to reach the top with your videos. However, if you take the time beforehand to find out exactly which factors influence ranking, you can lay the crucial foundations.