YouTube SEO: How to rank YouTube videos fast in 8 steps

With over 1 billion hours of YouTube videos watched every day, more than Netflix and Facebook video combined, it is no wonder YouTubers, vloggers, and businesses are desperately searching for how to rank YouTube videos fast to increase their views and so their conversions.

In the past decade, YouTube has transformed from a popular video-sharing platform to a high income generating media platform. Hence, it’s even a full-time profession for many vloggers and YouTubers such as the top richest YouTubers in the world.

Today, many professional YouTubers such as PewDiePie are earning a living through affiliate marketing or through Google ads revenue, which can generate up to $18 per 1,000 ad views, according to Forbes.

In the old days, if you had any exciting video, you uploaded it on YouTube where your friends and family could see it, and that was pretty much it.

These days YouTube has become much more than just a video sharing platform. People can start their own channels and show their skills and creativity to the entire world.

Even big businesses aren’t staying behind. TV Channels like CNN, FOX News, and other popular networks have also started their own YouTube channels where they post content that you might have missed on the television. These channels face tough competition from hundreds of other exclusively YouTube-based news channels.

With 500 hours of video uploaded every minute to YouTube, there is really something for everyone on the platform. You can find many different channels offering any thinkable type of content.

More channels might mean more entertainment; however, things aren’t all fun and joy for the channel owners as they are in an everlasting competition with each other.

Youtubers are constantly trying to outrank each other so that more and more people can see their content. The more views you get on your channel, the more income you generate.

It is the dream of every YouTuber to have their channel on top of the search results. Trying to rank your videos isn’t a one-time activity. You have to keep working on keeping your videos on top of Youtube’s search results.

Whether you are a new YouTuber or you have been posting content for years, it is very important to put in continuous efforts to improve your channel’s ranking on the platform.

How to rank YouTube videos fast

The following guide will be very beneficial for you if you are looking to rank your videos on YouTube to get more organic traffic or views to your videos and channel.

1. YouTube keyword research

Keywords research is one of the most important aspects of SEO. When you are looking to rank your videos on YouTube, you need to perform detailed keyword research.

You need to optimize your videos with relevant keywords. Fortunately, there are many different ways to perform keyword research on YouTube.

YouTube is a video sharing platform, so we have to analyze keywords to be used on the title, description, as well as the keywords spoken in the video.

One simple way to research for keywords is through observing your competitor’s videos. Start by searching the most popular channel related to your niche on YouTube. Now sort the videos out according to the popularity and check the first video on the top of your screen.

This simple practice will help you understand which keywords to use for your own videos. One thing to keep in mind is that each video has its own keywords, so if you are looking to create a video around the topic of the most popular video from the above-mentioned channel, then you have to watch through the video and note which verbal keywords the speaker uses in the video.

You should also read the video’s description and title to see which keywords the video is ranked for. The title is a great place to find out the main primary keyword for any Youtube video. SEO experts would always tell you that it is necessary to have the keyword in both the title and description. 

2. Post high retention video

Uploading high-quality videos is another way to rank high on YouTube. Nobody likes to watch dull and boring content. Your goal should be for people to keep watching your videos till the end. You don’t want them to leave your channel in between the video stream.

When you retain viewers, then it naturally increases your video’s watch time. The watch time of your videos consequently helps in ranking your videos on top of the Youtube search results.

There are many things that add to the overall quality of the video. If you upload a high definition video, then people would be more interested in watching your videos.

On the other hand, if your video’s screen quality or audio isn’t good enough, people would look for better videos in the suggestions area.

Another thing to focus on is the quality and creativity of the content. You need to come up with good ideas for your videos.

Good ideas will always keep the viewers hooked both to your video and to your channel. So from the content to the quality of the recording, you need to offer a full package to the viewers. 

3. YouTube video optimization

To rank higher on YouTube, you need to optimize your channel and each individual video as much as you can.

First and foremost, you need to mention your target keywords in the video. This shouldn’t just be in the description of the video, but you should speak the target keywords in the video as well. You can perform the following things to fully optimize your videos on YouTube.

• Include your keyword in the title, and make sure your title is around five words or longer.
• Mention the keywords in the description and try to have a description of around 250 words.
• It is recommended to mention the keyword at the start of the title and in the first 25 words of the description.
• Avoid keyword stuffing (over-optimizing is never a good idea).

Performing all these steps will optimize your videos and help you rank better on the platform.

4. Click through rate (CTR)

Followers attract followers. If you want more people to view your content, you need to have more people watching your videos. The more people click on your video, the better your rank gets on YouTube.

There are many different ways to improve the click-through rate (CTR) on your videos. One way is to have a high-quality thumbnail that will attract people to click and watch your videos.

Thumbnails are important, so it is better to get help from a professional graphic designer to create your thumbnail. High quality and alluring thumbnails are a great way to make people click on your videos but make sure the thumbnails don’t feel or sound like clickbait.

Another way to increase your click-through rate (CTR) is through the use of brackets in the title. Mention important information in the brackets, so visitors are inclined to click on your video. A high click-through rate (CTR) also helps in ranking your video.

4. Engagement signals rank your videos

YouTube management has acknowledged that engaging signals play a huge role in ranking your videos. Anything that engages your clients, like comments, shares, and likes, are all engagement signals. They show how interested viewers are in your videos.

You might think it is hard to improve your engagement signals, but that is not the case. First, you need to post high-quality and compelling content that makes people want to like or share your video.

Try uploading content that has the potential to go viral. One of the most important ways to improve your engagement signals is by asking your viewers questions.

Instead of asking your audience what they thought about your video or any other question related to the video that makes the audience think, go for a multiple-choice question.

People are more inclined to comment on your videos if you give them a few choices to choose from. Improving engaging signals can have a very positive effect on your channel’s ranking on YouTube.

5. YouTube video embeds

Embed your YouTube video links on other platforms. For example, if you have a blog site or getting your written content posted on other people’s blogs or forums, try to embed or include a link to your video in the written content.

Videos are known to be more effective than written content. So, for example, if your blog is about a step-by-step guide on how to tie a tie, people would be more inclined to watching your video instead of going through written guidelines.

So when you want to talk about things like steps, guides, or tips, mention them in written form but try to direct the audience to your video.

6. Use proper tags

Tags can do wonders for your videos, given that they are used well. Including tags in your video descriptions and titles can be a great way to rank your videos on YouTube.

Even though many people know that tags are useful and quite effective in SEO, very few people use the right. The biggest mistake people make while adding tags is that they try to stuff all the possible tags they can think of.

They feel that if they add more tags, their videos would show up in more searches. This is a common misconception. More steps do not necessarily mean more views or clicks.

When you have 20 tags lined up on a single video, the YouTube algorithm will get confused, and even if the tags are somewhat related the algorithm will skip categorizing your video. 

Adding unnecessary tags will also attract people that are not interested in your content to watch your video, as your video just showed up in suggestions because of a certain tag. This could consequently harm your video’s watching time rate.

Try to keep the tags short and to the point. Try to use 3 to 4 tags in every video. This is a generous number, and adding more than four tags is simply overstuffing tags.

When you have less and ‘to the point’ tags, your video will rank higher, and you will get organic traffic comprised of an interested audience to your videos.

7. Increase your watch time 

Every channel on YouTube has a total watch time. It is the overall total time people have spent watching your videos. You can also rank your YouTube videos based on the watch time.

The more people watch and love your videos, the better your ranking. This is why YouTubers don’t just ask you to watch their videos; they try to ask you to engage and stick around till the end of the video. This is because they want to retain the viewers and increase their watch time. 

One way to make your videos more interesting for people is to record your videos using a high-quality camera, have a good speaker, use different camera angles, have a good background, use effects, and don’t forget the music.

It is also advised to edit your video and audio using one of the recommended video editing software and audio editing software to improve the lighting cut the unnecessary clips, and make your video catchy and fun.

All these things will make people enjoy and want to keep on watching your videos. Keep your videos fresh and post creative and updated content.

Follow the on-going trends on social media and make videos regarding those trends. This will make you retain viewers and increase your watch time, which will eventually improve your ranking on YouTube.

8. Promote your video

Finally, if you want to rank your videos on YouTube, you have to promote your videos. There are many different ways you can promote your Youtube videos and your channel.

No advertisement is bad advertising so try to promote your channel in different ways. You might think that investing in radio advertisement isn’t a good option as these days no one considers radio as their primary source of information.

However, many people may learn about your YouTube channel on the radio while driving to work. So once again, no advertising is bad advertising. If you can afford it, try to advertise on any platform that you can. 

Of course, promoting your YouTube videos online is by far the best option; however, you shouldn’t shy away from promoting your video and YouTube channel on other traditional mediums of advertisements like TVs and Radio.

Try sharing your video on your social media pages. TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter have billions of active users, so once you start posting your videos on these platforms, your videos will definitely get a boost.

You can also collaborate with other content creators on YouTube and other social media platforms and ask them to give you a shout out. This is a great way to promote your videos.

When you promote your videos that naturally increase your video’s views, which eventually results in improving your YouTube rankings. 

Final thoughts

If you are a serious YouTuber who wants to get popular and earn a decent income concurrently, it is imperative for you to invest time, money, and effort in getting your videos ranked.

If you don’t try to rank your videos, you would be left behind because your competitors will definitely be putting in the necessary effort to rank their videos.