YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world and is owned by Google. It allows uploading of videos in 54 languages and has localized interfaces in 61 countries. The document provides tips on optimizing videos on YouTube for search engine optimization including using relevant metadata, captions, descriptions, custom thumbnails, annotations and links to drive views, engagement and rankings. Frequent and consistent uploading of shorter, keyword rich videos optimized for multiple devices can help increase traffic from YouTube to other websites and channels.

1. Very well understood as a website for videos.(owned by Google since
2006)
Studies have shown that only about half of YouTube's primary users
bracket, actively go to the site to use it as a search engine.
YouTube website is available in 54 language versions & the interface
of the website is available with localized versions in 61 countries.
Video humanizes your content and is easier to consume.

2. 2nd largest search engine in the world
The „how to‟ video category is the fastest
growing vertical on YouTube
1 hour of video is uploaded every second.
YouTube says that on an average there are
more than 400 tweets per minute containing a
YouTube link.
Age group statistics of watching videos

3. Videos are Panda friendly
VIDEO REQUIRES A BIGGER EFFORT = LESS LIKELY TO BE SPAMMY
Videos are SEO friendly
Stickiness – Visitors spend an average of two more minutes on websites that host
videos than on sites that don’t. Video helps to increase a website’ quality score too.
A ‘long click’, which leads to more time spent on site, results from higher quality
content, ultimately enhancing user engagement.
Ranking – According to Forrester's, chances of getting a page one listing on Google
increase 53 times* with video because there is still much less competition for video
pages.
CTR – A video thumbnail in the SERPs attracts
attention.

4. Benefits of Hosting Video
• New incoming links directly from YouTube (even if they
are NOFOLLOW).
• The generation of new video subscribers to your video
channel (if you have one).
• Great for driving traffic to the site and (hopefully)
converting that traffic
Video Sitemaps for search engines
Using video sitemaps is a recommended way to give us information about your
videos. Submitting a sitemap pushes your video metadata to Google and
reduces the time it takes for us to discover your video.
Benefits of adding sitemap
• Lets the search engines know about the video content
• Tells the search engines what the focus of the video is with the help of title,
descriptions & thumbnails which are required field.

6. YouTube Metadata
Titles
• Keyword rich (not keyword stuffed)
• Use YouTube Keyword Suggestion Tool
• Make the first 27 characters count
Tags
• Use the right keywords
• Use “.......” otherwise all the tags would
be separated
• Ignore „the‟, „and‟, „it‟, etc.
Descriptions
There is plenty of information you can put
in the YouTube description including calls
to action, text that frames the content or
provides context, links to similar content or
websites etc.

7. YouTube open & closed captions
1. Captions and subtitles are rich in
keywords. Unlike the audio/visual
content of a video, captions and
subtitles can be indexed and
understood by search engines, like
any other text. This means that
your videos are more likely to be
found if you use closed captioning
2. Including captions and/or subtitles
in your videos is good practice
because it makes your videos
accessible to people with visual
and hearing impairments.
BIG reasons why you should use closed captioning
The ‘closed’ captioning is that only viewers who choose to activate them
will see them. ‘Open’ captions are visible to all viewers.

8. Thumbnail Optimization
Thumbnails act as miniature marketing posters
for your videos – they attract viewers to your
content and compel them to click through to
watch. Create high-quality, custom thumbnails
for your videos that accurately represent the
content.
Annotations
Annotations are unique to YouTube which are
clickable text overlays on YouTube videos. It drive
viewers to more content, increase community
actions on your videos, and attract new
subscribers.
Channel Optimization
Optimize your channel for placement in
search, related channels, browse channels
and the feed so you’ll engage current and
potential subscribers across YouTube
Channel Name
Channel Icon
Channel Description
Channel Art
Some Common terms of YouTube which is to be focused

9. How YouTube ranks search & how it is strongly influenced
• FULL views of video
• Number of Comments
• Number of Likes
• Video Inventory
• Upload frequency/consistency
• Engagement /Interaction (views, likes, comments, being
added to playlists, shares etc.)
• How many people use the embed code on their own site
• Subscriber numbers
• Inbound links to the video
Shorter videos generate more views.  More views means more popular videos. 
The more popular the video, the more comments and bookmarks are generated. 
Comments and bookmarks lead to incoming links.  Incoming links lead to the
generation of Google PageRank.  Google PageRank results in a higher ranking
video in organic results.

10. Optimize YouTube Videos for SEO
• Add back links to your website and blog.
• Offer multiple video formats & languages
• Encode your video files with relevant, targeted metadata
• Add Closed Captions! They are indexed by the Search Engines.
• Auto play one of your videos.

11. Guide lines
• Keep your YouTube Video Under 3 Minutes in Length
• Use your Website Name as your YouTube User Name
• Post the videos to YOUR channel (not your agency)
• Use a keyword rich file name for the video
• Use the description feature!
• Use CTAs, captions and annotations (In Video Overlays)
• Customise your own landing pages
• Make sure video is enabled for all devices (mobile phones, tablets, iOS5 (HTML5)
• Use JW Player (WP plugin available) or Wistia. Both provide cross platform support
YouTube General Tips