If you want YouTube videos to rank fast in 2023, you need to optimize your videos and channel for Google search and YouTube’s recommendation system. Here are 6 simple hacks to help you rank your YouTube videos fast.
In this post, we’ll go over some practical tips and strategies for content creators, small business owners, and anyone who wants to share their ideas, thoughts, and insights with the world. This guide will help you get your YouTube videos discovered by your audience.
Before we get to the hacks, let us discuss how to plan the strategies
How to plan your YouTube video creation strategy
There are 3 ways to plan videos… It’s best to use a combination of all 3 ways, but let us face it, if you do not want to become a full-time YouTube tuber, you might as well just stick to the first way (keywords).
1. Keywords
Targeting keywords will help you rank on Google and YouTube so your videos can be found in searches. One mistake most people make is ranking for a keyword with very little traffic. We recommend choosing keywords with estimated searches of at least 1000 per month.
You can use YouTube-specific keyword research tools like vidIQ, which will give you most of this data for free. A more advanced tool for YouTube keyword research is Ahrefs or SEMrush, but these tools are quite expensive if you use them only for your YouTube research.
2. Related content
You can show up on “Recommended” in YouTube next to certain videos by creating videos on the same topic that are roughly the same length, mentioning certain keywords in the video (that the similar video also uses), and using the same/similar tags (more on this below). You can do this by searching for popular videos by a similar creator in your niche and creating a similar video on that topic in your own style.
3. Trends
With the free Google tool Google Trends you can find out what’s hot on a certain topic right now. For example, if you type in “how to YouTube” you will also find “how to youtube download” and “how to youtube channel”. So if you create a video on that topic today, you’ll probably get a lot of views for it.
Combine “trending” with creating “similar content” and you are almost guaranteed to rank for your keyword on YouTube and probably Google. If the video is good and people watch it all the way through, the number of views will increase and you’ll get lots of new subscribers.
Why should you go through the trouble of ranking YouTube videos?
1. How to title your YouTube videos
Video titles on YouTube can be up to 100 characters long. However, Google cuts off the title after 70 characters. Put the most important information at the beginning of the title, including the keyword. Keywords are the most important key to YouTube video ranking. When choosing your keywords, consider what question you are answering with your video. These keywords are what people will type into their Google or YouTube searches.
State a clear and specific benefit. Right in the title, tell the viewer why they should watch your video. How will it change their life?
When thinking about possible titles, search them in Google and compare your competition. Try different ways of asking the questions to see which ones have the best chance of ranking for YouTube videos. Look at the search results and go from there.
If one variation already has some very good videos, it’s not the best choice. Try something else.
Remember that Google usually shows results for YouTube videos for the following types of search terms:
- “How To”
- “Review”
- “Tutorial”
- “[year in title]” (e.g. How to Rank Videos Fast in 2023)
If it’s appropriate (considering your content) to include these keywords in the title, you are sure to get some Google search volume.
2. YouTube tags
Keywords rank well on Google, but tags help rank YouTube videos within YouTube.
To find out which tags you should use, go to vidIQ and enter your keyword idea. Then select all the tags that are related to your keyword. Do not overdo it! You can add up to 500 characters of tags to avoid confusing the YouTube algorithm. Focus on tags that relate to the keyword/phrase you want to rank for. Do not try to rank for more than one term.
You can use free YouTube tools to see tags in other YouTuber’s videos. Just create a vidIQ account, download the browser plugin, go back to YouTube and sign in to vidIQ (you’ll see the plugin on the right side of YouTube.
You can watch the tags for free, you do not need a paid account. This fits with the “like content” strategy described above.
3: YouTube video description
In each video, you have the option to add a description. If you want YouTube videos to rank quickly, you should follow these video description guidelines:
- Your description should be at least 250 words long
- Include your keywords within the first 25 words
Recommended tips:
- Do not rely on people clicking back to your profile. Tell them directly in the video description what you are about.
- use calls to action (CTA)
- Offer resources that answer the reader’s follow-up questions. Ideally, offer another video or a link to your website for more information.
- Mention links to social media profiles
- Include hashtags in your description that appear as a blue, clickable link above your title.
4: YouTube thumbnail
YouTube automatically assigns a thumbnail to your video. It can be flattering or represent your brand well, but it does not have to. Take control and create the perfect thumbnail for your video, complete with overlay text that describes it and makes it enticing. This will not directly help you rank YouTube videos quickly, but it will increase the chances that people will click on your video in search results. If your video ranks well but no one clicks on it, you will not be able to maintain the ranking for long.
Tips for creating a YouTube thumbnail:
Large text that illustrates the benefit of the video Your face or another person’s face shows a lot of emotion. Put an outline around the thumbnail or an image inside the thumbnail
5: YouTube subtitle file
For a long time, we recommended that you need a subtitle file if you want to rate YouTube videos. In case you are not familiar with it: A subtitle file links written text to a timestamp. They help people who are hard of hearing, deaf, or speak another language. You can use YouTube’s subtitle editor in YouTube Studio to edit the subtitle files after they are automatically generated by YouTube’s AI.
SEOs still say you should customize your subtitle file. I would focus on making sure that YouTube’s AI renders the most important keywords correctly, because sometimes it does not understand brand names, for example.
6: YouTube backlinks
When other websites or social profiles link to your video, it shows Google that your video is relevant and high quality. Google ranks YouTube videos with more backlinks higher.
To get more backlinks, share it on social platforms and comment on relevant blogs with the link to answer others’ questions.
But not all links are good. If a shady tabloid site links to you, then you’re linked to an untrustworthy source. Too many of these bad links will hurt your efforts to rank YouTube videos.
You could use your video as an “answer” to questions on Quora, Reddit, and other sites. And you could create a blog post by embedding the video in your blog and writing about it.
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