YouTube is the 2nd most popular search engine online, right behind google, so utilizing YouTube is a huge opportunity. For the majority of videos, it is a good idea to upload on YouTube even when the content will also be available elsewhere. Ultimately, a video that is available on YouTube will be more easily seen by intentional viewers and discovered by your potential target audience.
Following the best practices for YouTube uploads will ensure you are maximizing the opportunities available to make your videos effective.
Upload Relatable and Valuable Content
It can be tempting to start your video journey by creating content in bulk. You may have a whole list of ideas for videos and choose to rapidly produce them. While having an abundance of creative inspiration and enthusiasm is great, you’ll need to ask yourself a few questions:
- Can I keep up with the same level of production consistently?
- Will my content apply to my target audience?
- Does each video provide value that will not only maintain but grow my audience and drive them toward my intended conversions?
The best practice for uploading to YouTube is to publish valuable and relatable content at a consistent frequency. Your target audience should be able to depend on you for the content they want at the time they’ve come to expect it. Subscribers will get alerts when you post and algorithms will prefer you if you’re a consistent creator.
To create high-engagement videos, you should answer your audience’s pain points with information that truly solves their problems. In this way, you’ll build a community of like-minded people that subscribe to your content.
Understand and Implement Effective Video Copy
Promoting videos on any platform requires a bit of copywriting and keyword research (research surrounding which phrases would help the right audience find your content in a search). On YouTube, you’ll need to write a title, description, and tags so that the platform can promote your video to the right audience. YouTube Keyword Planner is a helpful tool, but you can also try other third-party keyword research tools.
It might feel easy to come up with a title you think sounds great, but you’ll want to ensure it is attention-grabbing and relevant to the video’s content and purpose. Keep in mind that before video searchers click on a video, they’ll most likely read the title to see what it is about and decide whether they are interested.
Once the searcher has clicked on a video, they’ll be able to read the description. For most videos, the description should be a quick summary and resources that the viewer might enjoy, such as links to products or further information.
Avoid clickbait, which is content meant to catch attention by being misleading or sensational. You should also avoid keyword stuffing, which is overusing keywords unnaturally throughout the copy. Both clickbait and keyword stuffing is recognizable to algorithms and audiences who will come to distrust you and deprioritize your content.
Include Transcripts and Closed Captions
Not all video creators think about this, but including closed captions, translations, and transcripts is one of the most important things you can do to ensure you reach your full target audience. While excellent audio is important in video production, you’d be surprised by how many people watch videos without sound. They might be watching on a loud form of transportation without headphones or scrolling through their feed watching previews. In these cases, including closed captions can ensure they watch the video and understand the content regardless of the audio.
Not to mention, not all viewers will have the ability to hear or understand, whether it is due to a language barrier or difference in ability.
Never Underestimate a Great Thumbnail Graphic
Thumbnail graphics, aside from video titles, are the first line of defense for capturing viewers. Engaging graphics that have a combination of pictures, clear text, and bright colors make it stand out from the feed. Potential viewers will want to know exactly what they’ll get out of a video before they click on it and spend their time, so it is vital to be as clear and bold as possible in your thumbnail graphic.
Building a successful YouTube channel is not an overnight task. Stick with it and have fun, because the hard work will eventually pay off.
If you’re interested in learning more about the best practices for uploading your videos, contact Monzo Media Productions.
