Videos take up 82% of all internet data and are unsurprisingly the most popular tool online to promote, educate, entertain, and communicate through. Both watching and creating video content have become accessible to most people worldwide – with cameras handy anytime and a fast-developing video editing technology. No wonder the competition is growing.
Being a YouTuber part-time or full-time can be really fun, but it also has challenges. One of them is finding ways to become noticed – not only by people, but also by search engine robots, as they are deciding the ranking of your video content in the search engines, and thereby the destiny of how visible OR invisible your videos will become.
Although the audience on YouTube is enormous, it can be difficult to be discovered when competing with millions of others. Usually, success doesn’t happen overnight unless you are extremely lucky!
However, with a little knowledge and a few tricks, you can achieve better visibility and a higher number of views without paying for it.
#1 – Add Keywords
One thing you can do without too much brain pain is to add detectable keywords to your videos – detectable to the search engine robots. You simply add important keywords to your title, tags, subtitles, and video description that the robots can index. This enables them to rank your content in the right search inquiries. A higher density of keywords will improve your ranking, so fit them in where it makes sense. For example, try to add some keywords to your subtitles when no one is speaking.
Remember to add closed caption subtitles – the ones added as a subtitle file – as they are the one’s search engine robots can detect. That’s a direct way to achieve better keyword-based ranking.
Hardcoded subtitles (open captions) don’t contribute to your keyword profile, as robots can’t detect the visible part of videos. However, both kinds of subtitles help attention to, comprehension, and memory of videos. And, you can say that indirectly hardcoded subtitles also increase visibility, because they increase engagement metrics, which usually leads to better ranking.
You can use an auto subtitle generator to create hardcoded or closed caption subtitles. Further, subtitles and captions also make your videos comprehensible even when they are watched without sound, and therefore are very meaningful ingredients in videos nowadays.
#2 – Improve Video Content
The fact, that the quality of your video content is really important probably isn’t something you didn’t already know. However, it’s worth taking a closer look at to understand the effect of your content and how you can improve it significantly.
First, you must make an eye-catching first impression with a good thumbnail or video preview. You only have around 3 seconds to catch your viewers’ attention, so the intro is crucial. If the first 10 seconds of your video are boring chances are small that anyone will continue watching, which can give you some unwanted high bouncing rates.
Give yourself and your videos some characteristics for your audience to remember you by. It can be anything a bit unusual or special. Just something they recognize you by as a YouTuber. Distinguish yourself and your videos from the crowd.
Most importantly, videos need to have an effect on their audience to make an impression. Whether they amaze them, make them laugh, excite them, shock them, or cause a mix of emotions, it is key that a video’s impact is strong enough to make viewers want to like, common, or even share.
#3 – Consider Video Length
Both shorter and longer videos can gain popularity. Even so, shorter videos are naturally easier to watch and are more likely to get more views, and obviously a better watch duration. So, if you are usually making mostly longer videos, you can consider making some shorter ones (“YouTube Shorts”) as well for the sake of attracting more viewers to your channel. You might also start to like it.
#4 – Plan Your Calendar
It’s beneficial to plan a calendar with the videos you’d like to create and when you intend to share them. Sit down, get inspired, and make a mind map of your ideas. Maybe some videos will take some extra preparation, special weather, or just be really suitable for specific dates. For instance, you might want to make a Christmas special video, or a video honoring someone important to you on their birthday. Any day can be or become special, and it’s only a matter of what matters to you and your viewers.
Keep your subscribers engaged by regularly updating your channel with new content. Keep some room for spontaneous videos that might suddenly become relevant. For instance, if a new trend pops up or something suddenly goes viral and you’d like to include it in a video.
Also, if there’s a long period where you cannot make new content, let your viewers know that you are still there and are excited to create unique content. If you already know what you will be doing, it’s worth giving a sneak peek to prepare your audience for what’s next.
#5 – Share Your Videos in More Places
Sharing your videos on more platforms is actually great for your visibility and distribution, so don’t feel shy to spam a bit from time to time.
#6 – Include Popular People or Products
You might want to borrow a bit of someone’s or something’s fame. This is perfectly fine as long as it makes sense to include it in your content. You might be doing reviews of products you would naturally like to try out. It’s allowed to criticize if something isn’t to your taste, but it’s always a good style to be respectful and true to facts – jokes and sarcasm obviously forgiven. Whatever you decide to include an influential person or thing can potentially lead to a lot more views due to the product or person already being popular.
