You may have noticed several times that whenever you visit the website www.youtube.com to watch something there are also other videos being recommended by YouTube itself at the right hand side. Haven’t this make you wonder whether those channels pay extra bucks to boost themselves up or just strategically do the trick so as to fit into the site’s algorithm, or simply both? Well, it’s the latter one. If you want that your uploaded video must be recommended by this website, you have certain protocols to follow up.
It is quite evident that the recommended videos play an important part when it comes to increasing the views, because most viewers tend to click on the recommended videos appearing at the right hand side, even though it sounds unrelatable. Ever wondered how come you started watching the recipes and ended up in “Top 10 World’s Most Bizarre Diseases” or “Haunted Stories”?
1. Relevant Title – Your title must seem interesting and must contain those keywords that are usually searched by the users. This is extremely important because your title shows whether the video content is worth watching (or not). Sometimes the content is really good but doesn’t get the viewers it deserves because of the poor title and other relevant factors.
2. Metadata – Yes, not only the title that matters but also the meta-description. Those who have little to no knowledge about the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) would find writing the description as a boring task. This isn’t simply about filling up the blank lines with random characters. It is one of the most important strategies for SEO. Since the search engines cannot understand what’s in the videos, they go for reading the description part to know better about the videos and decide whether it is worth ranking it on the first page. And the ranking isn’t just confined to the YouTube but also Google’s search engine.
The more you describe it through words, the better. You are free to write it as you write a blog, possibly between 500 to 800 words. For instance, if your video content contains Arthritis Home Remedies, you can also write that in words, all those points that you discuss in your video. Repeat the focus keywords specific number of times, depending on the total words, which should appear natural and not being stuffed.
3. Thumbnail – You also need to have an attractive thumbnail because this leads to clicking on that video at the first place. Never try to mislead the viewers, or they will lose interest too soon. They might not even click on it, forget about skipping in the middle. For example, if your video is something related to psychiatric disorder and you show a celebrity’s face, particularly those about whom you have no idea whether they battled such issues, is a minus. If you want to make a video content on depression and the thumbnail contains Deepika Padukone, it might interest the viewers because she confessed herself that she battled this mental disease. But if you picture Katrina Kaif, it won’t make any sense. Just because a lady figure attracts male viewers (comprise about 96% of the total viewers on Web), does not imply that each time you do this strategy
4. Interesting Content – If someone clicks on your video content, which wasn’t easy either, he/she should not skip it for at least 7 minutes (or watches 70% of the total content if it is less than 7 minutes). YouTube doesn’t value the number of views, but the total watch time. Your contents must be interesting enough to let users view throughout and if they hit the Like/Dislike button, Comment, Subscribe and/or Share, it is a huge plus, not just at the recommended section but also if the searches are made. This is because the viewers express through the Likes, Comments, Subscribes and Shares that they felt something about this, and obviously they watched it whole.
Sometimes specific video contents are too common and competitive. For example, fitness blogs, vlogs, recipe videos, reaction channels, etc. If you plan to make similar videos, that would be an extreme challenge. Alternatively, if your video is too unique that nobody even searches for that then also it is problematic to get the desired views. Some YouTube channel owners are really capable to get the attention through sharing it everywhere, literally! Once you get the users to view your content, it is up to you whether that content would keep them longer.
5. Tags – The tags hold a special place when it comes to YouTube’s recommendations. This is the reason why some YouTubers place irrelevant tags many a times. It is not uncommon that their videos have no relation with the Bollywood gossips or Bahubali but they still use those tags. It is not recommended to do that because it might bring in the audience but they may not keep watching your contents.
Here it goes: Use the most relevant tags. For instance, if you plan to launch a video which contains SpongeBob facts, then preferred tags would be – SpongeBob, SpongeBob SquarePants, facts about SpongeBob, SpongeBob interesting facts, and so on. The idea is to use the focus (as well as related) keyword(s) somehow in your tag. Don’t fill that area with 50 tags straight (whether relevant or irrelevant), else it would negatively impact your video SEO.
6. Recency – Videos that are most recent likely show up on the front page. So, it is always recommended to publish and remain consistent after, say after every week or two. If you stop publishing, your videos would lose probability of showing up in front of viewers.
The recommended videos also depend on your own search history. The channels to which you have subscribed plus the videos which are similar to those videos that you recently watched would show up in front of you. The same happens in case of the viewers. Those who are interested in watching the types of videos you have developed, chances are it will show up, especially if your tags match the tags of the most (or moderately) watched videos. That is also based on where you reside because the searches do cover country/state specific results.
Even the most popular YouTubers haven’t reached overnight success. It takes around 2 years to do the trial-and-error and then finally make it. There is no fixed protocol to get it done right. Like most daily soaps and commercial movies, only viewers decide whether or not your channel is worth watching. So, if you are really determined to share something interesting, keep improving and publishing after a certain interval. You will eventually reach success. And the journey just begins from here because maintaining that level is even harder.