YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world after Google. Therefore it is an ideal channel to share video content. But how do you make sure that the users find your video?
Similar to SEO for search engines, the YouTube search is based on an algorithm and therefore on specific ranking factors.
The following infographic contains an overview of these ranking factors. Although this infographic is not very recent it is still a main source of information for YouTube experts.
In summary the following ranking factors are relevant:
- Relevance of the video: For instance based on the number of views and the keyword relevance of the title, the description, the annotations and the transcription.
- Authority of the YouTube channel: Determined for example by the number of subscribers and the number of channel views.
- Shares of the video on other social networks.
- User action such as the audience retention (defined for example by the bounce rate) and reactions like comments, likes and dislikes.
YouTube has released detailed recommendations about some of the optimization possibilities in a Creator Playbook:
- Metadata, in particular title, description and tags.
- Optimization of the thumbnail image.
- Video annotations to encourage likes, sharing the video or subscribing to the YouTube channel.
- Optimizing the YouTube channel, for instance by adjusting the name, the description and the icon.
If you follow these best practice guidelines you establish a good basis for your video to be found on YouTube.
