Watching online videos has become a favourite pastime for many Canadian consumers. With an abundance of video topics and formats – from how-to videos to documentaries – Canadian consumers watch almost any type of videos online. According to comScore, YouTube reaches 95% of online adults aged 35+ in a month. The popularity of online videos has created a massive opportunity for brands to connect with their patrons, especially today with the avid usage of technological devices to access information.

With YouTube being one of the most visited online video platforms right now, brands are and should leverage this popular social tool to engage with their local audience as well as with audiences worldwide. Brands can develop and upload how-to or product reveal videos onto YouTube to provide useful informational content to their audiences and engage with them. To maximize their online visibility and reach more viewers, brands should use search engine optimization (SEO) for YouTube strategies. YouTube SEO strategies help brands’ videos appear higher in YouTube search results, thus making these videos more likely to be viewed by prospective clients. Here are four YouTube SEO strategies you can use to optimize your YouTube videos’ search rankings.

1. Include Relevant Keywords in the Video File Name

   Include more descriptive keywords in the video file name such as “how-to-train-dogs-to-sit.mp4” instead of writing something like “video-file-version-1.mp4”. Using a more thematic and descriptive file name helps Google and YouTube have more textual understanding of a video. For example, naming the file “how-to-train-dogs-to-sit.mp4” helps Google understand that the video is related to “how to train dogs to sit” which will help the video appear on YouTube search results for search queries related to “how to train dogs sit” or recommended videos to users who have explicit or implicit interest in watching videos about training dogs to sit.

Add Videos to Playlists

A playlist is a collection of videos that generally share the same topic. For example, a brand can create a playlist for “baking recipes” or “fall fashion 2022”. Creating a playlist and adding videos to it creates context and theme for the videos. For example, creating a playlist about “Christmas baking recipes 2021” and adding baking recipes to the playlist, helps Google understand that the videos are related to Christmas baking recipes, and will show the videos on YouTube search results or recommended videos to users who are interested in Christmas baking recipe ideas.

2. Add Subtitles

   Google and YouTube’s algorithm technology has advanced tremendously in the past decade but we are not sure precisely how well the algorithm understands a video’s content and theme based solely on the video (can Google or YouTube’s algorithm technology watch a video and gain full understanding of what the video is about?). To increase your chance of having Google or YouTube understand what your video is about, include subtitles in your YouTube videos. Subtitles are text that Google and YouTube can read to gain textual and thematic understanding of your video. This understanding helps YouTube serve your video according to YouTube users’ interests.

3. Promote Your YouTube Channel on Other Online and Offline Channels

   The number of subscribers and new subscribers a channel has plays a vital role in influencing the channel’s videos search rankings. The reason for this is that if a channel continues to gain new followers in a steady manner, it shows Google and YouTube that the channel produces engaging content and Google will likely display videos from that channel higher in YouTube search results compared to videos from channels that have fewer subscribers, given other YouTube SEO ranking factors remain the same.

   Building an audience when you first create a YouTube channel is incredibly difficult because you do not have many subscribers and Google and YouTube do not think that a video from that channel is engaging; this further prevents your channel from gaining more subscribers and the adverse cycle continues. The easy path to gain new subscribers in the beginning is by sharing your YouTube channel directly to your existing network such as family, friends and business associates, and asking them to subscribe. Frequently sharing your YouTube videos in your social networks such as LinkedIn or Facebook is also a cost-effective way to gain new subscribers. You can also organize events to promote your business and advertise your YouTube channel at the event. There is certainly some hustle and bustle to get your YouTube off the ground in the beginning!

Videos remain one of the most influential and effective advertising approaches in the marketing industry today. Businesses can use videos to entice their audiences by producing and sharing how-to, box opening, or walkaround videos of the businesses’ products or services. To amplify a video’s reach and maximize its ability to engage with as many prospects as possible, businesses should upload their videos onto YouTube and utilize this potent social media platform to engage with shoppers worldwide. Businesses should also use strategic YouTube SEO techniques to appear higher on YouTube search results for related topics. By using the four techniques above, you will enable Google to understand the content of your videos and display them more prominently!