YouTube’s algorithm is a complex beast with many facets. Its primary goals are to identify videos that suit viewers and keep them watching videos.
Video titles, descriptions, and tags are the key metadata elements that drive visibility. Optimizing these can help you beat YouTube’s algorithm and rank your videos higher.
Optimize your videos
It’s no secret that YouTube’s algorithm is super complex and constantly changing. But, that’s not stopping video content creators and marketers from wanting to know how they can beat the YouTube algorithm to expose their videos to a wider audience and increase their channel’s subscribers.
The answer lies in boosting engagement and making sure your videos are optimized. YouTube’s main aim is to show users videos that they will enjoy and keep them watching for longer. Videos that entertain and answer search queries will be shown above all other videos.
To achieve this, the algorithm considers various factors including the thumbnail, video description, chapters, and keywords. So, make sure you’re feeding the algorithm as much information about your video as possible!
Create effective metadata
The YouTube algorithm is constantly evolving to surface videos that best match a viewer’s search intent. To get your video in front of the right audience, you need to optimize your metadata: title, description, and tags.
Video titles should be concise and clearly describe the content to help viewers find your video. A good video description should include keyword-optimized text and encourage longer watch times to signal to the algorithm that your viewers are engaged.
Tags are another opportunity to include keyword-optimized text, but it is important not to abuse keywords or use them in a way that feels unnatural. Use only three to four tags, and try to choose long tail keywords that are related to your broader video topic. This will improve your performance in YouTube searches.
Research your competitors on YouTube
One of the best ways to beat YouTube’s algorithm is to know your competition. Watching top brands’ videos is the first step to understanding what your audience wants.
YouTube’s algorithms look at your video’s click-through rate and engagement metrics. This means that you want to make sure that your video’s thumbnail and title are catchy enough to get viewers to click on it, and then keep them engaged with good video content.
You can do this research by using a tool like Social Book, which allows you to compare competitor videos side-by-side. This will help you find the best possible way to optimize your video content. This also includes the use of hashtags in video descriptions. This helps YouTube recognize what the video is about and put it in front of users who are searching for that topic.
Do your YouTube keyword research
YouTube algorithms use a combination of internal and external factors to determine what video content viewers see on the site. These factors include the video’s metadata, performance on YouTube, and user engagement metrics such as view duration and social interaction.
The algorithm also considers the time of year and competition when choosing what videos to show a viewer. So, if you’re an avid runner and your competitors are running marathons in the same area, you will likely get fewer views on your YouTube videos.
As a result, it’s important to keep your channel active with fresh content so that the algorithm recognizes that you are a consistent and engaging creator. This will help you to rank higher in search results and recommendations.
Use long tail keywords as YouTube tags
The video description field on YouTube is an important place to use long-tail keywords. When a person searches for a certain keyword, videos with the exact or similar words in their descriptions will appear higher on the search results page.
For example, someone searching for “how to change a flat tire” may use the words “tire,” “car,” or “flat tire how to change.” The videos with the latter two phrases in their description will appear higher in the search results because they are more relevant.
The YouTube algorithm is a complex and ever-changing machine. It can seem almost impossible to keep up with the latest changes. However, if you follow the tips outlined above, your videos can be among the top search results on YouTube.
Source: KeywordTool