Today, with over 500 hours of video content being uploaded to YouTube every minute, ensuring your videos stand out amidst the noise is crucial. And with the rise of Shorts, optimizing YouTube videos for mobile viewing is more important than ever. Your content is enough to stand out from the crowd, but SEO helps you reach the right audience.
If you’re on the verge of an eye-roll, we get it. Yet another best practice? One more thing to do? We hear you but we promise, this one's easy. Now that you've done the hard part and created the video (learn the easy way to create videos here), this checklist will help ensure that it ends up in front of the right people.
So, let’s make it easy for ‘ya! Get the YouTube SEO optimization checklist below and continue reading as we break it down step by step.
Full YouTube SEO checklist
TLDR: To get your videos discovered on YouTube, focus on optimizing your content to align with what viewers are searching for.
- Do Keyword Research: Identify keywords with high search volume and moderate competition.
- Optimize Your Metadata: Use your primary and secondary keywords in your video titles, descriptions, and tags.
- Create Strong Visuals: Design compelling thumbnails and add closed captions to improve watchability and reach.
- Analyze Performance: Use YouTube Analytics to track what's working and inform your future content strategy.
First things first: Keyword research
The key to YouTube SEO is identifying what your audience is looking for, and creating videos that fit that need. YouTube employee Rene Ritchie says it best: “People think, ‘I made a video, why isn’t the algorithm pushing it?’ When in reality, the algorithm pulls videos for users.”
Not only will this research help drive organic traffic to your channel now, but it becomes an invaluable asset for future videos. You'll have a pre-built bank of relevant terms to guide your content creation, saving you time brainstorming and ensuring each video has strong search optimization from the start. This focus on keywords, alongside audience intent, positions your videos for maximum discoverability, propelling your channel towards organic growth.
Where to start
If you’ve already done your research, great! This could be a helpful refresher to identify new opportunities. Or, if you’re starting from square one, this guide will detail all the steps and YouTube SEO tools you need to build your unique keyword strategy.
Start by brainstorming relevant topics and phrases related to the specific video(s) you want to upload, as well as your channel overall. Then, use YouTube SEO tools like TubeBuddy, VidIQ, or Google Keyword Planner to find:
- Search volume
- Competition
- Related keywords
What keywords should you choose?
Target keywords with high search volume and moderate competition (31-60) that align with your content. The "sweet spot" is where search popularity and competition overlap. Instead of broad terms like "financial coach," use specific, "long-tail" keywords like "small business financial coach" to attract viewers further along in their search journey.
Tools like Answer The Public can help you identify these long-tail keywords. Once you have a list, prioritize the best ones based on search volume, competition, and relevance.
Then, we'll strategically incorporate them into your video's title, description, and tags to maximize its YouTube SEO potential and unlock organic growth for your channel.
YouTube SEO optimization checklist
Now that you have completed your preliminary keyword research, you can follow along with this blog or make a copy of this free YouTube SEO optimization checklist to use in all future videos. The same guidelines that we’re using for long-form videos can also be applied to YouTube Shorts! Just upload your video and use this checklist step-by-step to optimize and shore up your video’s discoverability.
Step 1: Craft a captivating title
Your title should include your primary keyword and entice viewers to click.
In under 60 characters, create a title that sparks curiosity and speaks to the value of your channel and video. For example, rather than titling your video “10 Personal Finance Tips” you could try something like “10 Proven Personal Finance Tips from a Finance Coach”.
Need help? Use AI to your advantage! Ask ChatGPT or another AI writer to create an SEO-optimized title and description using your keywords.
Step 2: Optimize your description
Your description should provide a concise summary of your video while naturally incorporating your keywords. Here are some tips:
- First Few Lines: Place your primary keyword in the first few sentences.
- Provide Value: Include relevant links, calls to action, and resources.
- Use an Authentic Tone: Write in an approachable style that connects with your viewers.
Step 3: Customize your tags
Tags are another way you can incorporate your keyword and get your content in front of the right audience. Use a variety of keywords, not just your primary keywords, to cast a wide net. You can even include common misspellings of your keywords that users might accidentally type!
Generally, most people recommend using 6-12 tags maximum. For our example, the tags might be:
- #finance
- #personalfinance
- #personalfinancetips
- #financecoach
- #financialwellness
- #moneytips
- #investingtips
Step 4: Create scroll-stopping thumbnails
Eye-catching thumbnails play a crucial role in capturing viewers' attention and bringing in the clicks. They serve as a quick visual representation of your video that entices viewers to click and see the rest.
Here's an example:
Best practices for creating thumbnails include using:
- Vibrant color
- High contrast text
- Clear imagery
- Your own pictures for authenticity
- Consistent design
Keep text concise and engaging by highlighting the takeaways of your video or using a cliffhanger. For instance, you can add a picture of yourself in your office with the words “Top 3 personal finance tips everyone under 30 needs to know” or “How to find the right personal finance coach” next to it. Just keep in mind that your thumbnail will display across multiple devices, so ensure that it is legible even on a smartphone.
Step 5: Add closed captions and subtitles
Did you know that a whopping 69% of consumers watch videos with the sound off? Adding subtitles to YouTube videos extends your audience reach by making your video accessible to individuals who are hearing-impaired or prefer watching without sound.
As an added bonus, transcription can improve SEO by working in your keywords.
Step 6: Find the best time to publish YouTube videos
Posting at the optimal time helps your video get seen by your target audience as soon as it's published.
- General rule according to SocialPilot: Weekday evenings (5-9 PM EST) and weekends (9-11 AM EST) generally see high engagement.
- The best time to post YouTube Shorts varies slightly from 12 to 3 PM on weekends and from 7 to 10 PM on weekdays, ideally on Monday and Tuesday.
With that being said, every business will have a different best posting time. You can use YouTube Analytics to identify your audience’s watching patterns and experiment with different publishing times until you find the right one. You can also find your industry’s standard posting time and join in to maximize your video’s reach.
Step 7: Measure and track your video’s success
Last but not least, tune in to your video’s analytics to get insights into what your audience likes!
Monitoring your video's analytics is essential for growth.
- Key Metrics: Track watch time, audience retention, and click-through rate.
- Gain Insights: Use this data to understand what your audience likes and to inform your future content and keyword strategy.
Bonus: Use end screens and cards
End screens can boost viewer engagement and compel them to explore your channels and watch your other videos. Use these intro and end screens to promote other relevant videos by featuring thumbnails and enticing titles that encourage further exploration of your channel's content. You can also use cards throughout your video to insert clickable links to related videos, playlists, or external resources.
Recommended YouTube SEO tools
Looking to simplify the process even further? There are a variety of beginner-friendly YouTube SEO tools that can help take the work out of keyword research and caption-crafting. Here are two free tools that we recommend!
TubeBuddy
TubeBuddy is a comprehensive YouTube SEO tool that offers a wide range of features to optimize your videos and grow your channel. It provides keyword research tools, tag suggestions, and analytics to help you identify the best keywords and optimize your video metadata for higher search rankings. TubeBuddy also offers A/B testing, allowing you to experiment with different titles, thumbnails, and descriptions to improve click-through rates and viewer engagement.
VidIQ
VidIQ is another popular YouTube SEO tool that offers a suite of features to help you optimize your videos and grow your channel. It provides keyword research tools, tag suggestions, and video optimization recommendations to help you improve your search rankings and reach a larger audience. One of its best features is the "Scorecard," which provides an overview of your video's performance and suggests actionable insights to help you improve it.
Make professional YouTube videos in minutes with Animoto
Despite all of these measures that you can take to improve your video’s discoverability, it won’t go far unless you have great content. With Animoto, anyone can create a professional and polished video in hours instead of days. It has hundreds of professionally-designed video templates to choose and customize, so you always hit the ground running.
Just choose a free template, start creating, and use this checklist to watch your video take off. Happy video making!
