Want your YouTube videos to blow up? Of course, you do, but you may have no idea how to make that happen. Fortunately, there’s a handy-dandy keyword research process you can follow. Gone are the days when video marketing was gravy – it’s become a digital marketing staple, and if you’re missing out, your business is paying the price. If you haven’t dipped a toe in the video marketing pool, it’s time to come on in – the water’s fine, and if you’ve already tried your hand but haven’t found your groove, there are tips for you, too.

People Love Watching Videos

It’s established that people love watching videos, and with the number of videos out there, it may seem like not a lot of discretion goes into the viewing process, but that’s misleading. One universal truth is that if you don’t avail yourself of what videos have to offer, you’re depriving your business of a valuable marketing tool that could help you crack the code. As with everything in the digital marketing world, however, your path forward toward video greatness begins with well-chosen words. Regardless of how fine your video is, you need to attract YouTube’s algorithm, which involves myriad mysterious factors, before it can be ranked. In other words, it comes down to culling the right keywords and using them strategically.

Using Your Words

The idea is to identify keywords that connect with searchers and drive them to your videos, which boils down to pinpointing the phrases that your target audience is most likely to employ in their search efforts. One of the best resources for YouTube keywords is the source itself – YouTube.

When you start a search on YouTube, it offers you search predictions, which are keyword phrases that others are already using. This is an excellent place to do some exploring and get a feel for the keywords that are making the grade – and to get a gander at a wide range of video content, which might help you improve your own.

While this is great for entry-level research, paid keyword search tools such as Semrush and Moz offer more robust guidance that can be well worth the investment. While these tools are geared for Google search, much can also be gleaned for YouTube usage – especially from those videos that make an appearance in the SERP features.

Guidance Specific to YouTube

You’re trying to get your YouTube videos viewed, which makes giving YouTube-specific SEO tools a spin another fine option.

Keyword Search

Keyword Search has an AI algorithm that comes straight from the horse’s mouth – a top YouTube marketing expert – and that brings all the following to the table:

All its findings are based directly on user-perspective YouTube results.
This product scrapes and analyzes YouTube data to help you optimize your videos through keywords.
This program allows you to conduct research on your competitors’ channels, videos, keywords, and rankings.
Keyword Search highlights trending topics, which allows you to get out in front of those keywords that afford you the best chance of making a splash.

All told, Keyword Search provides you with the tools you need to develop a more comprehensive video marketing content strategy.

TubeBuddy and VidIQ

Both TubeBuddy and VidIQ allow you to check out your higher-ranking competitors’ videos for keyword information that can help guide your own efforts. You can also explore related keyword search phrases and tags. Each of these tools is intuitive and provides self-fill options in the keyword box once you begin typing – allowing you to drill down a bit deeper into the possibilities. Both also showcase analytics, so you can take a look at what your competitors are doing right and what they’re not doing as well – and can use this data to improve your own videos.

Getting Down to Business

Once you’ve done the math and found some targeted keywords along with a few complimentary semantic keywords that allow you to expand your reach, it’s time to put your keywords through their paces, and there are several basic points to keep in mind:

Massage Your Keywords into Your YouTube Video’s Title

There is a lot riding on your title – it lets potential viewers know what they’re getting into and makes that ever-important first impression. When your video title is well-optimized, you play well with YouTube’s algorithms and are likely to attract more traffic and views in the process. To finetune even further, keep your highest priority keywords towards the front of your title – within the first 60 characters – which can improve your rank and garner more suggestions. Additional points include:

Keep your title as tight as possible. If you can keep it in the five-word range, you’re golden.
Employ words in your title that tie your video to others in the same category.
Keep things catchy and compelling but make accuracy your guide – false advertising is not going to do your video any favors.

Polish Your Descriptions

Regardless of what your video is about, there are a lot of them out there, but your video description is a golden opportunity to make yours stand out from the crowd. When it comes to crafting descriptions that get the job done, keep all the following in mind:

Keep your descriptions short and sweet but packed with details in relation to the video’s topic, what it has to teach the viewer, and how it sets itself apart from all the others.
Remember that your viewers may only see part of your description right out of the gate, which makes weaving those keywords into the front an excellent strategy.
Your descriptions should flow – rather than read like an amalgamation of words you’re attempting to squeeze into a given space.

In other words, it’s a tall order, but a savvy digital marketing pro can help.

A Digital Marketing Pro Can Help Your YouTube Videos Shine Bright

If you need help making the most out of your video content, The Web Guys are here! We have the kind of digital marketing know-how and insight to help your videos stick their landings, so contact us at (317) 805-4933 for more information today.