How To Rank Your Video On YouTube: Quick Optimisation Tips

Ranking your video on YouTube can seem like an impossible task but by applying these simple tricks to all of your videos it can instantly help you rank higher in search results and get more people clicking through to your video. Some of these tips may seem obvious but you’d be surprised how many people that are trying to grow a channel, just throw a video up and hope for the best, without making any efforts to optimise their video.

Don’t be one of those people, check out these quick tips for ranking your YouTube video below and start applying them straight away.

1. Make the video at least 10 mins long

Longer videos tend to rank much better but it’s important to make sure that people are going to stick around to watch most of your video. Tease the topic and reveal later in the video. Be enthusiastic and speak clearly.

2. Pick a high rated longtail keyword

A longtail keyword is essentially a phrase. For example, “best affiliate product”. Using a simple extension like TubeBuddy you can analyse your keyword in terms of search volume and competition. Once you’ve selected one be sure to use it in your title, description and in the video.

2. Mention keyword in the video whilst speaking

YouTube is a clever beast. As such, it can pick out words in your video and potentially as part of their algorithm, decipher whether your content actually matches your title etc. So be sure to mention the keyword as you talk. Naturally of course.

3. Search your keyword and research the top 3 results

Search your keyword on YouTube and see how the top 3 results have their videos set-up. Pay attention to their thumbnail, title, description and how they start their video. Try to emulate this for your own. (Don’t copy!)

4. Fill the tags section with other relevant keywords

There’s a character limit for tags on videos. If YouTube hasn’t told you that you’ve exceeded it, add more! Including as many relevant keywords in the tag section as you can helps to increase the chances of someone coming across your video.

5. Write a comment including your link and pin it to the top

YouTube allows you to pin a comment to the top of the feed just like in Facebook groups. Use this to hack people attention. Post a comment yourself, including your affiliate link and a call to action and pin it. This is great because most people won’t read the description but will look at the first few comments.

6. Include link above the fold in the description

Most people won’t bother to read the description, let alone click on read more. So including your link above the fold ensures that it’s immediately visible and more likely for people to click on it.

7. Create an eye-catching thumbnail

If you’ve spent any time on YouTube before then you know from experience that you’re much more likely to click on the video that has a thumbnail with bright colours, bold text perhaps an emoji or logo. Why? It’s just human nature. Use this to your advantage. It’s pretty easy to throw one together using free software like Canva but if you’re not up to it then pay someone else to make one. Try Fiverr or drop me a message.