Youtube Ranking Optimization (YRO)

[Abruzzo Villas]

hi all

ive seen very little information with regards to YRO and was wondering if the same "laws of SEO" also apply to youtube?

Any information or further reading on how to rank high with a Youtube video for certain keywords searches (both within youtube and google) would be greatly appreciated

many thanks

[Fernando Veloso]

There was this amazing Youtube WSO by Mark Hess, perhaps you can PM him and buy it.

Really good stuff, from top to bottom. Every time I need to create a new account I follow these exact steps. It's that good.

[hurn]

Yes same SEO rules apply to the you tube videos and few extra points.
1. No of views, likes and comments
2. no of pages that video is attached

[Abruzzo Villas]

Originally Posted by hurn

Yes same SEO rules apply to the you tube videos

Thanks! but do you still apply anchor texts on websites with the keywords that you are ranking for on youtube?

[hurn]

yes i use anchor texts. You can get idea from youtube keyword tool also..

[linksbuilder12]

The youtube search engine uses three basic items to initially rank your video:
• The title of your video
• The description of your video
• The tags that you assign to your video

[kaseyp]

If you're trying to rank your video in Youtube search results they pay a lot of attention to the number of views, likes, and comments. Even channel views and # of subscribers can have some influence on your Youtube rankings. Backlinks can help you rank in Youtube as well, but not quite as important.

If you're trying to rank your video in google the same seo principles apply with building backlinks. However, I'm not sure if views, likes, etc will help you rank in Google. But I suspect it might because Google loves Youtube and if it sees that your video is ranked high in Youtube that might influence your Google ranking as well.

[TomBuck]

Embed the video on a page of a website, then promote that page and the link juice will flow to your video.

[bigcat1967]

Not sure if the backlinks really work - I have tried it before w/ limited success.

[Sebastian Oudot]

Hello,


Here is what you can do to give your Youtube videos the best chances to reach the top Youtube and Google positions.


Keyword research:


As for any content you want to rank on the search results, you have to select a good keyword.

For that you can of course check with the Google keyword tool first. And look at the competition by typing your main keyword on Google.

Then you can make the same thing with Youtube. Check first the Youtube keyword tool at https://ads.youtube.com/keyword_tool. It works like the Google keyword tool but gives you results for Youtube only. Then you can check the competition by typing your main keyword on Youtube.

Finally, a good indication is if you can see a Youtube video on the search results when you type your main keyword.
Because first it means that usually, you will find this same video on the first 5 Youtube results for this same keyword.
Secondly, if Google put this video on the first page result, you now know that it will be more easy for you to rank your video for the same keyword.

If you want to outrank the videos already on the first page, it can be done by building more backlinks than the videos already on the first page (I'll come on that later)


Once your keyword research is done, you can create your video.


Video Creation:


When you create your video, try to not create a too long one. Of course it depends on your niche, but usually, you get more chances for your videos
to be watched entirely if your the time is less than 5 minutes.

I mention this because, if people enjoy your video, they will probably see it multiple times and/or make more comments resulting in more views and better ranking...


If you can do it for your niche, try to create a video that have the most chances of going viral. If you look at the videos with pets, impressive skills, funny videos accidents etc... they generally are really popular. Look at this video for example:

Funny Video - YouTube

The quality is really average. It's a simple video montage of multiple sequence and the video got more than 38 millions views.

People appreciate tutorial videos too.

For your video creation, you can make your own ones with your camcorder or by using screen capture software.

Or you can use free tools or software like Animoto or Windows Movie Maker to download existing videos and make your own video montage.


Here is as well a good link of Royalty Free Online Resources for video production: Royalty Free Video Resources: List of Royalty-free Music Image & Video Sites


An other excellent resource as well is the Youtube video editor service where you can use Creative Commons videos:

1. Enter the YouTube Video Editor (accessible by clicking your username in the top right corner of any page, selecting "My Videos" from the drop-down menu, and selecting "Video Editor" from the options up top).

2. Click the CC tab located under the YouTube logo.


For music, if you don't want have problems with Youtube for copyright issues, use the Youtube free copyright music service.

You will find it inside the video Editor or when you upload your video as "AudioSwap".


When your video is created, it's time to upload it and to optimize it.


Upload and Optimize your video:


Video title: You need to insert your main keyword in your title. Preferably as first word. (If you want to outrank an existing video, you need to use the exact same main keyword than this video).


Video description: The description will be an important part of your video. You will have to write first any links that you want to promote.

You want write your link first because when your video will be live, only a small part of your description will be displayed under your video.

Then you can rewrite your title and a short paragraph that describes your video. In this short paragraph you want use your main keyword at least once and some LSI keywords that you will find by using the Google Wonder Wheel feature.


Video tags: In your videos tags box, write as much keywords as you can. (Again, if you want to outrank an existing video, you need to use the same tags than this video)

For your tags, you want use your main keyword and some LSI keywords. You can use as well some tags from popular videos relative to your main keyword.


Video thumbnail: Once you uploaded your video, you will have the choice of three different thumbnail. Choose carefully yours as it can make a big difference about your number of views later.

To demonstrate that, go to Youtube and type "fitness". Look at the search results for videos from charliejames1975. This user has 10 of his videos on the first page. Look at the huge amount of view it got. His videos are about fitness but I'm pretty sure a large part of the views doesn't come from users interested on fitness . And the main reason is probably because of his thumbnails.


Video Annotations: You should use as well the "Annotations" service. It allows you to write everything you want on your video.

Use this service to encourage people to click on your link, to comment, to like your video etc...


Now that you optimized your video on Youtube, it is time to promote it.


Video Promotion:


The video promotion can be directly on Youtube and outside Youtube.


On Youtube: For every video you upload on Youtube, search for other popular videos and make some videos responses. It's easy, quick and it's free traffic.


Use the "Activity sharing" service accessible by clicking your username in the top right corner of any page, selecting "Settings" from the drop-down menu, and selecting "Activity Sharing" from the options on the left.

If you don't have one already, create an account for Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Orkut, and MySpace.

Once it's done, connect all your accounts with your Youtube channel and don't forget to select the good options inside the "What activities do I share?" section.

Now, everytime you upload a video, this video will automatically be posted on these five sites.


Outside Youtube:


1 - Article promotion:

Write an article about your niche and in the resource box, put a link back to your video. You can use the most popular articles directories as well as some software for spinning the content and using mass submission.

The good thing here is that each article can brings you traffic to your video but above all else each article is a backlink for your video.


2 - Social Bookmarks:

Social bookmarking sites are good because, they have great PageRank and they can bring you additional traffic.

If you manually submit your videos url, use the list below. It's a small list but with some of the best and most popular social bookmarking sites.

PR 8 Digg
PR 8 Mixx
PR 8 StumbleUpon
PR 8 Slashdot
PR 8 Reddit
PR 8 Connotea

PR 7 Delicious
PR 7 Jumptags
PR 7 Blinklist
PR 7 Bibsonomy
PR 7 Diigo

PR 6 Folkd

PR 5 Tagza
PR 5 BuddyMarks
PR 5 MyLinkVault


3 - Forum Profile Backlinks:

To make sure you get a good position on the search results and specially if you want to outrank an existing video, you need to build some great quality backlinks.

Use high PageRank forum profile signature with your main keyword as anchor text.

To outrank an existing video, check its backlinks with Yahoo Site Explorer : https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com and check the PageRank for each backlink.

To outrank an existing video, you need to get backlinks with better PageRank and in more quantity.


Sometimes, you won't have enough backlinks to outrank the videos on the Google search results but you can still have a good position on Youtube search results.

The good thing here is that you have two chances to get free traffic, with Youtube and with Google.


You can as well build from time to time backlinks directly to your Youtube channel profile. With time you'll get a better PageRank for your Youtube profile, so for your videos too.



It will take you a little bit of time to do all these actions. But by doing so, you will have the best chances to rank your videos to the top of the search results on Youtube and on Google.


Hope this helps,


Sebastian

[PaulV]

Sebastian really covered a lot about this already.

But I will also add you will also want to include your iframe text (the code you get when you click to Embed) and your URL when you do your backlinking.

Fortunately there are blog networks like Article Ranks that will allow you to embed this iframe code as well as your anchor text backlink using your URL.

If you do not have an account with article ranks (or do not want to pay for it to be done there) you can also post your embed code and anchor texts on Web 2.0 properties.

This is a powerful way to get some nice link juice to your video.

All the best!

Paul

[mianriz]

Thanks! but do you still apply anchor texts on websites with the keywords that you are ranking for on youtube?

[PaulV]

Originally Posted by mianriz

Thanks! but do you still apply anchor texts on websites with the keywords that you are ranking for on youtube?

Yes, you can still use your keyword in the anchor texts on websites like profile sites or whatever else.

[Talkreal]

This is a very helpful and insightful thread, I've learned a lot. I would like to add that your channel title is very important too. Be sure to use your important keywords in the title. I have found my channel ranked in searches higher than some of my videos, it works!

[Bullpen]

Sebastian,

Great breakdown of what is needed!

Also, consider making sure that the audio portion of the video has the keyword for which you want to optimize at least once. YouTube now pulls the audio and makes a "transcript" (which you later can alter), so it serves almost as a "mini-article". Having YouTube recognize the keywords in the transcript, which match up with the title/description/tags/etc., should help boost your video.

If you want to buy traffic to the video then consider cheap Google Display/Content Network traffic, SocialADR bookmarks, Twiends.com bookmarks, and other low-cost traffic. As recommended earlier, consider embedding the video (w/ a raw hyperlink or anchor text link along with the embedded video) on an optimized page and then drive traffic to the page.

Combining all of these elements will show YouTube (and Google) that you are playing "nice" by making it easy for their robots to index everything as well as making the experience for the end user very clear to your intentions.

Hope this helps!
Matt

[Bullpen]

Paul and TalkReal,

Great job on also mentioning the "ArticleRanks" iFrame suggestion and the channel tags suggestions! I forgot about the ArticleRanks iFrame suggestion as I was considering SENuke (outsourced per project), but that suggestion may better suit some people's purposes.

[xxxJamesxxx]

Embedding it as many website helps massively too.

James

[Tom Albas]

Thanks you for terrific tips

[PaulV]

Originally Posted by Talkreal

This is a very helpful and insightful thread, I've learned a lot. I would like to add that your channel title is very important too. Be sure to use your important keywords in the title. I have found my channel ranked in searches higher than some of my videos, it works!

Yes I do agree with that. To make, that's kind of a Sniper approach and can be similar to adding your keyword in your domain (if building a sniper site).

However, sometimes it can be advantages to build an authority channel and have somewhat of a general channel name. This is good if you plan on making a lot of videos.

But if you just want to target a few keywords then I certainly agree that having your keyword in your channel is a great approach!

Originally Posted by Bullpen

Paul and TalkReal,

Great job on also mentioning the "ArticleRanks" iFrame suggestion and the channel tags suggestions! I forgot about the ArticleRanks iFrame suggestion as I was considering SENuke (outsourced per project), but that suggestion may better suit some people's purposes.

Thanks! I am glad you liked it.

One thing you could do is start off with an Article Ranks submission. And then outsource a SENuke project on Fiverr for building Web 2.0 properties.

This can be great too because these web 2.0 sites (like Squidoo, Hubpages, etc.) will allow you to add the iframe code as well.

All the best,

Paul

[Sebastian Oudot]

Sebastian,

Great breakdown of what is needed!

Also, consider making sure that the audio portion of the video has the keyword for which you want to optimize at least once. YouTube now pulls the audio and makes a "transcript" (which you later can alter), so it serves almost as a "mini-article". Having YouTube recognize the keywords in the transcript, which match up with the title/description/tags/etc., should help boost your video.

If you want to buy traffic to the video then consider cheap Google Display/Content Network traffic, SocialADR bookmarks, Twiends.com bookmarks, and other low-cost traffic. As recommended earlier, consider embedding the video (w/ a raw hyperlink or anchor text link along with the embedded video) on an optimized page and then drive traffic to the page.

Combining all of these elements will show YouTube (and Google) that you are playing "nice" by making it easy for their robots to index everything as well as making the experience for the end user very clear to your intentions.

Hope this helps!
Matt

Thanks Matt,

You make me think of something else that can help too.

When you created you video, give the video file the same name of your video title with your main keyword in it.

Not sure if the backlinks really work - I have tried it before w/ limited success.

It works well. I created a video montage for a popular movie trailer. Then I built some backlinks to it. In about three weeks, the video went among the four first results on Youtube.

The good thing about reaching the first positions on Youtube is once it's done, you start getting more and more views and after that, your video can usually stay in good positions even without doing any more work to it.


Sebastian

[xylement]

Wow, didn't know that they have this YRO... all the while i thought was only SEO. I'm still figuring out how to register adsense for Youtube, anyone here can help?

[Dr Livingston]

Originally Posted by xylement

Wow, didn't know that they have this YRO... all the while i thought was only SEO. I'm still figuring out how to register adsense for Youtube, anyone here can help?

Great post guys! Xylement, go to Make Money Online By Sharing Videos that is ron douglas's site that allows you to advertise yt vids with adsense. Great idea and lots are making good money! (that is NOT an aff link from me) just thought it was a cool concept.

As for other Video SEO, getting likes and favorites on your videos is also a big deal. YT is not only about backlinks, but how popular the video is and how much it is liked and relevant.

[m1985nehal]

Thanks for useful tips...that really helped me.

[wayne71]

Hey,

Thanks for your detailed explanations. You have covered a couple points that I have not covered in my YouTube Optimization course. I will definitely be adding what I learned here to the next version release.

Thanks a bunch

[wayne71]

Hey Guys,


Wayne Hatter here and before we get into the benefits of YouTube, I must say that it is an honor to be writing this article.


Ok, now down to business.

YouTube Search: What Are People Looking For?

People search the web for many reasons.

One of the biggest reasons is because they are looking for help or to solve a problem. The first place that people usually go for information is Google. After all Google is the number one search engine in the world.

Now check this out! YouTube is the now the second largest search engine in the world (Google being number one). So What…?

Well, people are becoming more and more visual and they don’t want to read. Hence, YouTube is where they can see the solutions to their problems rather than read about it.

So what does all this mean for you? Basically, it comes down to this. If you have a business, then you have the power of YouTube!
The benefits are crazy amazing if you choose to use YouTube for one of your marketing vehicles.

Here are 7 POWERFUL benefits to the reason why you should consider using YouTube in your marketing campaigns:

YouTube Benefits

1. It’s Free – Think about how much you would be spending on yellow page ads, billboards, etc. Those advertising methods are not free. However, YouTube is.
2. Video Content Is Powerful – You have all heard that content is king. Well video is content and some would consider it the king of kings (I personally agree). Like I said before, “people would rather watch their problems being solved rather that read about it”
3. Virality – There are 2 different types of virality that I have learned. General and Relative.
   
   General Virality is when a video has become popular by chance or if it is a celebrity.
   
   Relative Virality – Is when your video or videos are produced in a way to target your audience. For instance… Let’s say that you have created a course on YouTube SEO, then your target audience would be small businesses and online marketers.
   
   At any rate, YouTube had over 3 billion views a day, back in May of 2011. That means the potential for viewers is astronomical.
4. Global and Local Audience – This one is my favorite because depending on the keywords that you are targeting, you can target the same audience in different regions of the world. That means that you have the potential for customers buying your product from all over the world.
5. You Are Viewed As The Expert – When you are demonstrating your product or giving away some great valued tips and tricks. People begin to know that you are the guy or gal that they can trust.
6. YouTube Is Always Selling For You – 24 hours a day and 7 days a week; Your message, product or service is being broadcasted. Which means more potential traffic to your site and more cash in ‘yo’ pocket.
7. Video is SEO Friendly – This is the big kahuna. As you begin to learn how to optimize your YouTube videos. You will see the amount of views and traffic that you are getting to your site. However, there are some techniques that are ninja certified to get you more views. More views = More Traffic = More Cash In Yo Pocket.

With all of these benefits the question is, why wouldn’t you want to start using YouTube for your marketing?

[AzzamS]

My one suggestion is to upload a transcript. Make sure it has your keywords included with the correct density. Since it is text Google Algorithm will apply it, of course this will only assist in the YRO if you have the basics sorted.

[wayne71]

Yes Transcripts are way cool and you can export them too to use for content. YouTube Rocks!

[Vampy]

I always suffer when optimze any video streaming websites, because its quite different as compare to content based websites, but nice info you guys shared

[Marcinao]

What software do you use to check your video rankings in bulk?

[fiberoptic]

YouTube is similar in many ways to Google, perhaps becuase it's owned by Google. However, one major difference is the role that backlinks play in the ranking of a youtube video

By default, videos are sorted by pagerank when you search a keyword. How do you get a high PR? Backlinks, right? Using a tool such as Scrapebox, you can see how many backlinks each video has.

Every video automatically gets 3,342,525 Backlinks.

From this we can see that backlinks do not play a role in PR.

After anylizing all of the variables (i.e. views, likes/dislikes, comments, age) that the top ranked videos share, I've found that the determining factor in getting a high PR video, is the age and PR of the channel / user.

[fiberoptic]

I would like to get other peoples opinions on the idea of Ranking Youtube videos. Any experience you have in getting youtube videos to the top for competitive keywords would be much appreciated.

[gearmonkey]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Oudot

Hello,


Here is what you can do to give your Youtube videos the best chances to reach the top Youtube and Google positions.


Keyword research:


As for any content you want to rank on the search results, you have to select a good keyword.

For that you can of course check with the Google keyword tool first. And look at the competition by typing your main keyword on Google.

Then you can make the same thing with Youtube. Check first the Youtube keyword tool at https://ads.youtube.com/keyword_tool. It works like the Google keyword tool but gives you results for Youtube only. Then you can check the competition by typing your main keyword on Youtube.

Finally, a good indication is if you can see a Youtube video on the search results when you type your main keyword.
Because first it means that usually, you will find this same video on the first 5 Youtube results for this same keyword.
Secondly, if Google put this video on the first page result, you now know that it will be more easy for you to rank your video for the same keyword.

If you want to outrank the videos already on the first page, it can be done by building more backlinks than the videos already on the first page (I'll come on that later)


Once your keyword research is done, you can create your video.


Video Creation:


When you create your video, try to not create a too long one. Of course it depends on your niche, but usually, you get more chances for your videos
to be watched entirely if your the time is less than 5 minutes.

I mention this because, if people enjoy your video, they will probably see it multiple times and/or make more comments resulting in more views and better ranking...


If you can do it for your niche, try to create a video that have the most chances of going viral. If you look at the videos with pets, impressive skills, funny videos accidents etc... they generally are really popular. Look at this video for example:

Funny Video - YouTube

The quality is really average. It's a simple video montage of multiple sequence and the video got more than 38 millions views.

People appreciate tutorial videos too.

For your video creation, you can make your own ones with your camcorder or by using screen capture software.

Or you can use free tools or software like Animoto or Windows Movie Maker to download existing videos and make your own video montage.


Here is as well a good link of Royalty Free Online Resources for video production: Royalty Free Video Resources: List of Royalty-free Music Image & Video Sites


An other excellent resource as well is the Youtube video editor service where you can use Creative Commons videos:

1. Enter the YouTube Video Editor (accessible by clicking your username in the top right corner of any page, selecting "My Videos" from the drop-down menu, and selecting "Video Editor" from the options up top).

2. Click the CC tab located under the YouTube logo.


For music, if you don't want have problems with Youtube for copyright issues, use the Youtube free copyright music service.

You will find it inside the video Editor or when you upload your video as "AudioSwap".


When your video is created, it's time to upload it and to optimize it.


Upload and Optimize your video:


Video title: You need to insert your main keyword in your title. Preferably as first word. (If you want to outrank an existing video, you need to use the exact same main keyword than this video).


Video description: The description will be an important part of your video. You will have to write first any links that you want to promote.

You want write your link first because when your video will be live, only a small part of your description will be displayed under your video.

Then you can rewrite your title and a short paragraph that describes your video. In this short paragraph you want use your main keyword at least once and some LSI keywords that you will find by using the Google Wonder Wheel feature.


Video tags: In your videos tags box, write as much keywords as you can. (Again, if you want to outrank an existing video, you need to use the same tags than this video)

For your tags, you want use your main keyword and some LSI keywords. You can use as well some tags from popular videos relative to your main keyword.


Video thumbnail: Once you uploaded your video, you will have the choice of three different thumbnail. Choose carefully yours as it can make a big difference about your number of views later.

To demonstrate that, go to Youtube and type "fitness". Look at the search results for videos from charliejames1975. This user has 10 of his videos on the first page. Look at the huge amount of view it got. His videos are about fitness but I'm pretty sure a large part of the views doesn't come from users interested on fitness . And the main reason is probably because of his thumbnails.


Video Annotations: You should use as well the "Annotations" service. It allows you to write everything you want on your video.

Use this service to encourage people to click on your link, to comment, to like your video etc...


Now that you optimized your video on Youtube, it is time to promote it.


Video Promotion:


The video promotion can be directly on Youtube and outside Youtube.


On Youtube: For every video you upload on Youtube, search for other popular videos and make some videos responses. It's easy, quick and it's free traffic.


Use the "Activity sharing" service accessible by clicking your username in the top right corner of any page, selecting "Settings" from the drop-down menu, and selecting "Activity Sharing" from the options on the left.

If you don't have one already, create an account for Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Orkut, and MySpace.

Once it's done, connect all your accounts with your Youtube channel and don't forget to select the good options inside the "What activities do I share?" section.

Now, everytime you upload a video, this video will automatically be posted on these five sites.


Outside Youtube:


1 - Article promotion:

Write an article about your niche and in the resource box, put a link back to your video. You can use the most popular articles directories as well as some software for spinning the content and using mass submission.

The good thing here is that each article can brings you traffic to your video but above all else each article is a backlink for your video.


2 - Social Bookmarks:

Social bookmarking sites are good because, they have great PageRank and they can bring you additional traffic.

If you manually submit your videos url, use the list below. It's a small list but with some of the best and most popular social bookmarking sites.

PR 8 Digg
PR 8 Mixx
PR 8 StumbleUpon
PR 8 Slashdot
PR 8 Reddit
PR 8 Connotea

PR 7 Delicious
PR 7 Jumptags
PR 7 Blinklist
PR 7 Bibsonomy
PR 7 Diigo

PR 6 Folkd

PR 5 Tagza
PR 5 BuddyMarks
PR 5 MyLinkVault


3 - Forum Profile Backlinks:

To make sure you get a good position on the search results and specially if you want to outrank an existing video, you need to build some great quality backlinks.

Use high PageRank forum profile signature with your main keyword as anchor text.

To outrank an existing video, check its backlinks with Yahoo Site Explorer : https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com and check the PageRank for each backlink.

To outrank an existing video, you need to get backlinks with better PageRank and in more quantity.


Sometimes, you won't have enough backlinks to outrank the videos on the Google search results but you can still have a good position on Youtube search results.

The good thing here is that you have two chances to get free traffic, with Youtube and with Google.


You can as well build from time to time backlinks directly to your Youtube channel profile. With time you'll get a better PageRank for your Youtube profile, so for your videos too.



It will take you a little bit of time to do all these actions. But by doing so, you will have the best chances to rank your videos to the top of the search results on Youtube and on Google.


Hope this helps,


Sebastian

^^ GOLD post there!

[fiberoptic]

Yea, I read it twice but it's not based on any facts. It's a great way to market your video outside of youtube but I'm asking how to get ranked #1 for any keyword on youtube.com

If you'll read my post, I have anylized the role that backlinks, likes/dislikes, comments, video age, channel PR and video PR play in the ranking of a youtube video.

[bungto]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Oudot

Hello,


Here is what you can do to give your Youtube videos the best chances to reach the top Youtube and Google positions.


Keyword research:


As for any content you want to rank on the search results, you have to select a good keyword.

For that you can of course check with the Google keyword tool first. And look at the competition by typing your main keyword on Google.

Then you can make the same thing with Youtube. Check first the Youtube keyword tool at google keyword. It works like the Google keyword tool but gives you results for Youtube only. Then you can check the competition by typing your main keyword on Youtube.

Finally, a good indication is if you can see a Youtube video on the search results when you type your main keyword.
Because first it means that usually, you will find this same video on the first 5 Youtube results for this same keyword.
Secondly, if Google put this video on the first page result, you now know that it will be more easy for you to rank your video for the same keyword.

If you want to outrank the videos already on the first page, it can be done by building more backlinks than the videos already on the first page (I'll come on that later)
...

Sebastian

Great post!

[phpdevelopment]

Yes, same "laws of SEO" also apply to youtube

[fiberoptic]

Originally Posted by phpdevelopment

Yes, same "laws of SEO" also apply to youtube

Then how do you explain this?

Every video automatically gets the same number of Backlinks: