How to Optimize Online Videos for SEO

Place Your Keywords Correctly

You probably recognize that keywords remain an essential part of the SEO process – so, of course, is the keyword research.

In terms of online videos, there are a few specific places where keywords are necessary if you want to improve your search engine performance. They are:

• Title

  Use the exact keyword once in your title, preferably at the beginning.

• Description

  Use your keyword a few times throughout the description, making sure to include the exact keyword once in the first sentence.

• Filename

  Use your exact keyword in the filename of your video.

• Thumbnail

  Create a custom thumbnail that uses all or part of your keyword as text on the image (use large font size to make it more visible in search results).

• Tags

  Include your keyword, or keywords, within the tags you assign to your video.

• Hashtags

  Use your keyword for one of the three hashtags you are allowed to place at the bottom of your video’s description.

• In Your Video

  Google and YouTube can both listen to your video, so be sure to say your keyword a few times throughout the video content.

Optimize for User Interaction

User interaction – the number of people liking, subscribing, and commenting on your video – is a big ranking signal for your video content. 

To encourage viewers to like or subscribe to your video, or leave a comment, you should utilize annotations or end screens. These two features can significantly boost user interaction for your video, which makes it more likely for search engines to recommend your videos to more people.

Create Longer Videos

The longer your videos, the better your chances of ranking higher in search results.

That’s because one of the most important ranking factors (for YouTube, at least) is the total watch time.

Total watch time is the overall percentage of time that viewers watch your video. The longer your total watch time, the more likely it is YouTube will rank your video content higher in search results. Why? Because YouTube wants to promote videos that keep viewers on their platform longer.

Let’s say you have two different videos – one is 8 minutes long, and the other is 10 minutes long. If both videos have a total watch time of 50 percent, then your longer video is naturally going to have a longer total watch time, which will help it rank higher in YouTube and Google. 

Grab People’s Attention

If you want to learn how to optimize online videos for better SEO, then one of the most important pieces is creating an attention-grabbing start to your content.

YouTube says you need to do this in the first 15 seconds of your video.

That’s not much time, but it can be done by:

• Letting people know what to expect from your video
• Showing them you’ve already proven it works or stating your experience with it
• Mentioning something specific they’ll get from watching your video

If you can grab someone’s attention in this period, then it’s much more likely they will continue watching your video, which ultimately sends a signal that your video is worth promoting in search results.

Optimizing your online videos is crucial for getting discovered, gaining views and subscribers, and – ultimately – maintaining your position in search results.

Try these tips with your existing and future videos, and keep tabs on your metrics to see how much progress you’ve made with these improvements. You should also check out and enroll in our world-class Professional Certificate Program in Digital Marketing to master YouTube and other in-demand digital marketing skills.