YouTube is the world’s largest video-sharing platform, offering fantastic opportunities for creativity, discoverability, and social media growth.
Currently, a whopping 33% of the global population over the age of 13 log into YouTube every month. For creators, this means you have access to a huge potential audience. With the right strategies, you can optimize your YouTube channel and achieve incredible results with YouTube SEO tools.
With an optimized YouTube channel that taps into the power of SEO, you can direct more traffic to your content and ensure you’re reaching a niche audience of high-intent viewers. This is what will help you boost brand awareness intentionally, ensuring your viewers have a high chance of converting into paying customers.
Wondering how to optimize YouTube and get your video content discovered online? You’ve come to the right place! This is your ultimate Plann guide to setting your YouTube channel up for organic discoverability and success.
Why Is Optimizing Your YouTube Channel Important?
Optimizing your channel allows you to work with search algorithms, harnessing YouTube SEO so that people can easily find your content. What does this really mean? No more shouting into the void!
A strong, strategic, well-planned optimization approach allows you to reach for the stars and achieve amazing high organic reach and a boost in video views more easily and intuitively than ever before.
Still not convinced? Here is why you need to prioritize your YouTube channel and optimize your account for organic search visibility:
• 90% of people say they’ve discovered new brands or products on YouTube.
• 8 out of 10 videos that appear on Google searches come from YouTube.
• 50% of shoppers say online video has helped them decide which brand or product to purchase.
More people will be able to see your content, and this means you’ll have more chances to capture attention and even go viral.
Going one step further, good SEO drives more good SEO. When more people find and view your videos with high watch time and retention rates, you’ll benefit from increased potential for more search engine discovery.
How To Optimize Your YouTube Channel
Your YouTube channel is a hub for all of the video content you produce. But optimizing performance doesn’t have to wait until you start sharing and publishing YouTube videos. You can start right now.
Long before you begin creating content, there are many things you can do to optimize your YouTube channel itself. These strategies are all geared towards helping you rank on the first page of YouTube’s search results, as well as boosting your organic visibility on search engines like Google.
With the right settings, strategic keyword research and a few simple tweaks to your channel, you can help relevant viewers discover your content, subscribe to your channel and engage with your brand time and time again.
Get started with these focus areas, and level-up your YouTube channel before you’ve even published your first video.
1. Channel Name
Your channel name is a critical first step in defining who you are as a brand and a YouTube creator. Your name influences how audiences see and know you on the YouTube platform.
Who are you, and how do you want audiences to recognize you online? What kind of name will help to establish you as a trusted leader within your content niche? These are the first all-important steps to YouTube success.
Think carefully about how you want to represent yourself on YouTube and the kind of content you plan to share. When you share your first YouTube video, what kind of audience will it speak to, and what will this audience look for from your online identity?
Aim to craft a clever, memorable channel name that speaks clearly to your target audience. Ideally, align this name with the names and handles you use across other social media platforms for consistency.
Your YouTube name also plays into YouTube SEO (a.k.a. how likely your channel is to show up in YouTube’s search results). That’s what makes it so important that you get it right.
Where possible, it can be a good idea to use a primary keyword relevant to your niche as part of your YouTube channel name. This can help your channel show up in YouTube search results and via larger search engines.
For example, at Plann, our YouTube name includes our brand name and a hint at who we are: an effortless social media scheduler.
2. Your Bio
Next, it’s time to think about the impact of your YouTube bio, or your channel description. This is an opportunity for you to introduce your audience to your mission, your personality, and the purpose of your YouTube channel (and your broader social presence).
Use your bio to describe what makes your channel stand out from the crowd, and tell people what they can expect from your YouTube video content. Offer insight into who you are, along with the expertise you bring to your channel.
Keep YouTube SEO tips in mind, and feature a mix of primary, secondary, and long-tail keywords that could help relevant users find your account when searching. These can help with search volume and ultimately boost your content’s reach.
Remember to highlight the value you can offer. If you run a business, this might mean addressing consumer pain points your product or service can help solve. If you’re a creator or influencer, you can focus on the solutions you bring with your videos, from entertaining to educating.
It’s also a good idea to add a call to action. Encourage users to sign up, make a purchase, visit your website, or otherwise take action in response to your bio content. More clicks can help SEO by telling the algorithm that your videos are worth interacting with.
On YouTube, your bio also includes space for external links. This is the perfect way to direct viewers to your other social media accounts, like your Instagram or TikTok, or to drive website or blog traffic.
3. Profile Picture
Your profile picture is an important part of your online identity, so it’s essential that you choose it wisely! A clear, well-branded profile picture can help you stand out from other YouTube channels and appeal to new viewers while remaining easily recognizable among existing fans.
Try to select a high-quality profile image that uses your brand colors and catches the eye. When users find your channel in search results, you want your profile picture to stop them in their tracks and convince them to check out your videos.
If possible, it’s best to choose a profile picture that matches the one you use for your other social media accounts. This can help to improve brand consistency, encouraging people who are already familiar with you to subscribe on a new platform.
Using a logo? Make sure it is clear and easy to read with no key elements cut off by the image frame. Choosing a picture of you instead? Keep it high resolution and professional, offering a close-up shot of you to humanize your brand and YouTube channel.
4. Other Details
Customizing your channel doesn’t have to stop there. You can also adjust your YouTube layout, taking complete control of the way that other users will experience their interaction with your account.
That’s not to mention adjustments you can make to alter your YouTube banner and even video watermarks. There are so many ways to make your channel your own and incorporate branding details that continuously remind viewers of who you are.
This customization menu also offers an opportunity for you to control where your audience’s journey begins when they visit your channel’s dashboard.
Here, you can set a trailer video to appear at the top of your screen, as well as create a list of other videos that you think showcase your best work, as well as those that align closely with your brand message. You can even make playlists based on specific topics and categories.
Optimize at Any Time
Uh-oh! You didn’t know you needed to optimize your channel itself, and you’ve been sharing videos for a while without every considering your channel’s structure. Now what?
First, don’t panic. The good news is that you can revisit and edit your channel layout at any time in your YouTube journey, so you can always go back and correct any SEO mistakes you’ve made in the past.
Check your YouTube analytics, and look for ways to improve. Review your videos, and get to know who your audience is and what they want. Then use this valuable information to inform the changes you make to bring your channel dashboard up to scratch.
Optimizing YouTube Videos
Once your YouTube channel is up to scratch, you can start focusing on how to optimize your videos themselves!
There are many steps you can take to optimize video elements and drive more interest in your content (and your channel overall). These include strategically adding SEO-friendly keywords to your Youtube video titles and trialling a variety of keyword variations. You can add relevent terms to your video description and tags, as well as crafting bespoke video thumbnails to inspire users to engage with your content.
You can also enhance your videos by incorporating compelling YouTube intros that captures viewers’ attention right from the beginning. A well-designed intro can help establish your brand identity and create anticipation for what’s to come in your content.
Want to learn how to gain more subscribers by optimizing your YouTube videos for SEO best practices? On the Plann blog, we reveal 10 expert video SEO tips from creating a custom thumbnail to adding cards and end screens as well as the need to add subtitles to your video file.
YouTube Creators Who Optimize Well
Sometimes, the best way to learn optimization is by reviewing good examples of brands already thriving on the YouTube platform! Here are a few great channels to watch.
Example #1: Plann
That’s right; it’s us! We put our money where our mouth is and rely on strong optimization tools and strategies to get people interested in our insights.
The Plann YouTube channel boasts a clear, instantly recognizable logo alongside a well-branded banner that highlights what we offer. The channel name includes commonly searched keywords, and our bio includes keyword-rich information alongside a clear CTA.
That’s not all. We’ve also pinned an introductory video to the top of our channel dashboard so that new users have an easy starting point as they learn about Plann’s amazing benefits.
Example #2: Target
The Target YouTube channel is an excellent example of what it means to optimize well. The channel features clear branding elements for instant recognition, along with an easy-to-search no-frills name and handle.
Plus, Target includes a simple yet keyword-dense channel bio that addresses key concerns that draw consumers to the company. This is in addition to a strong CTA and an extensive list of other social media platforms where users can stay in touch.
Target uses the pinned video and playlist tools to direct traffic toward specific campaigns and products, updating these elements regularly to keep them fresh for page visitors.
Example #3: Riverside
Riverside’s YouTube channel is another good example of optimization done well. The channel includes an easily recognizable logo and a banner that aligns with branding and tells visitors how often to expect new content.
Riverside’s channel description is clear and SEO-enriched, with direct links to other social platforms and relevant content on the Riverside website. The company even uses its bio to highlight important selling points!
Scrolling down, users can find a welcome video, followed by a long list of tutorials and how-to guides designed to help even total beginners learn the ropes from related videos. Riverside takes control of the audience’s journey instead of leaving viewing order up to fate or the algorithm.
Master Your Social Media Marketing With Plann
With these strategies, you’ll have grown your YouTube subscriber count in no time, all while increasing brand awareness. Once you’ve got your content mapped out, consider using a tool like Plann’s all-in-one content suite to get your YouTube content sorted with ease.
Go on, and redeem your 7-day free trial of Plann Plus. If you don’t like it, keep using Plann for free!
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