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Ten Tips for Driving 31% More YouTube Video Views in 3 Months – A Case Study

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Learn How To Optimize Videos for 31% More Views

The client’s YouTube channel had a rich collection of over 80 videos that were languishing with low views. In 3 1/2 months after optimizing the channel, total video views jumped 31% when compared to the previous 2 years of data. The biggest bonus was that YouTube became one of the top converting referrers to the website, where previously it generated almost no traffic.

Video Optimization

Learn How to Achieve This Success on Your Video Channel

#1 – Re-write video titles to be more compelling to the audience and to include a relevant keyword phrase near the beginning of the title.

  • There are many different formats available when viewing a YouTube page and often your title will appear truncated. Keep the titles to about 60 characters in length.  Download our Video-Title-Counter to make this easier.

#2 – Write a brief description that will appear above the “show more” area (directly below the video) that includes the a URL.

  • Keep this to about 120 characters so that the URL is visible in the default mode – meaning that the visitor does not need to click “show more” to see the link. Keep this text fairly generic about the company’s offerings to encourage visitors to click through to the site.Here’s an example:

    Learn how ToTheWeb’s search marketing programs drive pipeline leads: https://totheweb.com

Ten Tips for Getting 31% More YouTube Video Views in 3 Months – A Case Study Click To Tweet

#3 – Transcribe and search optimize the video into text

  • YouTube allows up to 5,000 characters to be added to the body area of the video. speechpad-transcription-logoBe sure and search optimized this content for an extra boost in search engines. Viewers don’t see this text unless they select the “show more” link that appears under the video – but search engines do! 5,000 characters is roughly 750 words. If you download your transcript as a .doc file you can use the Word Count function under Tools to get your character count.

    Our Preferred Video Transcription Services

    Use Speechpad.com for video transcriptions: it provides accurate transcriptions with good pricing. The price is based on the video length and the turnaround time.

  • Use the full transcript on your blog: You may not be able to use the full transcript on YouTube but you can use it on your website.
    Follow  SEOMoz’s example of using the text as part of a blog post and give search engines even more text to index!The views that occur for embedded videos count.

#4 – Each video should have different tags from each other.

  • Add the maximum number of tags to each video:Use as many well-constructed tags as you can fit in the tag space.Watch this video from RealSEO to learn more about adding tabs.

#5 – Adjust the video advanced settings

  • There are a number of settings relating to when a viewer comment will appear.  It’s safest to require approval before comments are posted.
Ten Tips for Getting 31% More YouTube Video Views in 3 Months – A Case Study Click To Tweet

#6 – Add annotations to each video

  • Add annotations such as “like” and “subscribe” to the videos, it encourages people to subscribe to the channel.
    InstructionsSee sample annotations.

    Note: We did end up removing the annotation bubbles because the client was using the same YouTube videos we were optimizing on their website. The issue is that the annotations appear when embedded on a website but they provide no way for the user to take that action. 

    In the 6 months we had the annotations present on the videos, we saw a steady increase in subscriptions so once the client pulls the videos that they use on their website from another source, we will add them back.

#7 – Create multiple playlists

  • Organize videos into playlists by themes. These playlists – especially if they are case studies – are a great tool for the sales team. Instructions
  • Customize channel settings and create text descriptions in multiple areas of the channel:Improve the look and feel of your channel by adding your company logo, adding your best video in the “Featured” area and select a template style.There are multiple locations within the YouTube channel to add additional text about either the company, the video or the channel. Take full advantage of these features to help the search engines know more about your channel.Within the settings area, you can select the option to allow your video to be embedded on other websites or blogs.  Instructions

#8 – Document the baseline numbers

  • It’s a good idea to establish the baseline of views, subscribers, likes and shares before you make your changes: Unless you have hundreds of videos, set the baseline number of views for each video just before you make your updates.In about 3 months, take another snapshot to see the growth trendline. Use YouTube’s Analytics to pull historical data.Favorite Video Tracking Service: VidIQ
  • Looking to start and promote your YouTube Channel? Click here to see Youtube’s excellent resources to help you: from developing ideas and producing videos, to uploading files and optimizing your YouTube channel.

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