Most businesses and marketers understand the importance of video content in achieving marketing goals and building their brand image. Today we will discuss how to rank your YouTube videos on the first page of Google.
Except for a few big businesses, not many can boast of huge traffic to their website and millions of followers on social media.
The majority of businesses still rely on Google to drive viewers toward their videos. Today, we’ll discuss how to rank your videos higher on Google.
1. Perform Keyword Research
The first key to how to rank your YouTube video on Google is keywords. Keywords are still an important part of search engine optimization and marketing.
Even before you create video content, research keywords that match your video goals and messages.
Research shows that 55% of Google searches with keywords throw up at least one video.
Nowadays, you can create any type of video with ease by hiring a video editing company.
Certain types of videos are constantly performing well on Google. It’s believed that Google has a slight bias towards them because these video types have better engagement potential.
You can also improve the chances of ranking higher by focusing on entertainment, tutorial, product review, how-to, and explainer videos.
But, what kind of keywords should you use?
General or short keywords that are searched hundreds of thousands of times might appear attractive, but you need to invest plenty of time and effort to rank higher for these terms.
The other extreme is very specific keyword terms with hardly a hundred searches. These keywords will not generate any traffic.
Target Medium-High Search Volume & Industry-Specific Keywords
If you’re wondering how to rank YouTube videos on the first page of Google, your aim should be to target keywords with decent search volumes in your industry. Furthermore, consider using terms that don’t have too much competition.
Keyword research is the first and most important step in video marketing.
Hence, don’t rush the process, take a reasonable time to find terms that’ll increase search traffic and boost Google ranking.
2. Create Longer Videos For Better Ranking
Short-form videos are all the rage on social media platforms. We have heard many video consumers confess they would view any video that’s less than one minute. The rise of TikTok also proves the popularity of short videos.
At the same time, user behavior data shows that longer videos tend to perform better on Google and YouTube. This is a fact that isn’t very hard to prove.
Focus On Average Video Length & Depth of Information
Another trick to discovering how to rank your YouTube videos on the first page of Google is to perform a few searches on Google and check the lengths of videos that rank higher in the search results. The chances of finding longer videos (between 1 to 9 minutes) are considerably higher.
One of the reasons that push longer videos up the ranking is the depth of information. You’ll find the average length of the most popular types of visual content such as how-to, tutorial, and review videos, is around 4 minutes 20 seconds. Nowadays, people are more receptive to longer videos. That’s because they are now used to watching movies, TV shows, and other long-form videos online.
At the end of the day, the success of your longer videos depends on the topic, depth of information, and how the message is conveyed. Make sure the content is useful, engaging, and entertaining.
3. Optimize The Title And Description
You thought we forgot about SEO, didn’t you? SEO is a staple subject in any discussion about Google search engine ranking. Optimizing the title and description of the video content is the most important part of SEO.
Search engine crawlers aren’t yet advanced enough to understand the information conveyed by the video. Hence, it’s up to you to supply them with tit-bits that’ll help the search engine algorithm understand and rank your videos.
Title: Optimizing the title and description isn’t as simple as you think. The title must appeal to the consumers and communicate the right information to the crawlers.
- Try to include the target keyword or keyphrase in the title. The keyword must appear naturally without being forced into the title. Also, don’t stuff the title with keywords; it’s counterproductive.
Description: This is a summary that explains what your video is all about.
- We have seen many people writing long descriptions. Well, the video description isn’t a transcript. It should be simple, concise, and to the point. Studies show that shorter descriptions perform better in the SERP. You’ll find about 61% of top-ranked videos on Google have short descriptions (50 words or less).
Keywords: Also, don’t forget to add the target keywords, a compelling call to action, links to your social media accounts, and a subscribe link.
4. Invest In Outbound & Inbound Links
Although Google and YouTube are owned by the same company, videos that top the search results for a particular keyword on YouTube don’t replicate their performance on the Google SERP.
An important deciding factor on how to rank your video on Google is inbound and outbound links. Analyzing the backlink profile of videos that appeared on Google and YouTube, it was found that videos with better inbound links appeared higher on the Google search results page. When generating backlinks, make sure the anchor text resembles the title of the video.
In inbound link building, both the quantity and quality of the links matter. The probability of ranking higher in Google increases if you get more inbound links from high-quality, authoritative sites.
Plus, it’s also worth knowing that you can use the same anchor text as much as possible without the fear of any negative repercussions.
5. Improve Audience Engagement
Even if you work hard on all the above-mentioned points, the video content won’t make it to the top of the SERP as soon as it’s launched. That’s because Google considers audience engagement as an important factor in ranking video content.
The trick on how to rank YouTube videos on Google is partially man-made and audience-driven. Activities such as views, duration watched, the average percentage of video watched, likes, shares, abandonment rate, and freshness determine the audience’s engagement with the video.
Google wants to give what the audience wants. So, when it sees increased viewer activity, Google assumes that search engine users will like the video. Naturally, the search engine algorithm will place such videos higher on the results page.
Audience engagement depends heavily on the content. Hence, plan your video production and pay attention to the script, goal, message, and call to action. You can also improve the reach and engagement of content by providing closed captions (written description of the video) and infusing brand identity elements like logo, colors, fonts, etc. in the video.
Comparing Optimized Videos To Regular Videos
| YouTube Video | Keyword Research | Video Length | Title & Description Optimization | Links (Inbound/Outbound) | Audience Engagement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Video 1 – Optimized | Utilized targeted keywords | Longer video (6 minutes) | Optimized title and concise description | Quality inbound and outbound links | High audience engagement (likes, shares, comments) |
| Video 2 – Non-Optimized | Minimal keyword research | Short video (2 minutes) | Basic title and lengthy description | Limited or no focus on links | Low audience engagement |
Final Thoughts
There are a lot of factors that go into ranking video content on Google. If you want to know how to rank your YouTube videos on the first page of Google, the answer isn’t easy. However, the ideas given here are at the front and center of our video marketing approach here at Matchbox Design. These tactics might not yield instant results, but the benefits are impossible to ignore. Follow these tips, become torchbearers of perseverance and patience, and sooner rather than later you’ll see your videos climb the Google search engine ranks.
