This might came as a surprise, but the most important part of video SEO is NOT your keywords.
Yes. It is NOT keywords. So, what is the most important part of ranking your videos in YouTube?
It’s engagement.
I’m going to share three secrets about engagement and how you can use that to skyrocket your sales and subscribers, and build an entire business off your YouTube channel.
1. You need to get people to click your videos.
That’s the first secret — plain and simple. You need to create thumbnails and titles that not only contain your keywords, but also entice people to want to learn more. Take a look at my video on growing your YouTube channel. It has a title that explains the topic AND a thumbnail that creates an open loop. Never heard of an open loop? I’ll explain more in the next secret.
This is important because All of the most successful channels on YouTube have grown their audience not just by vlogging and cult of personality, but by creating evergreen content that makes people want to click!
2. Once people click and start watching, you have to hook them in the first 15 seconds.
YouTube is very democratic so if people are even the slightest bit bored with your video, they can click away to another video. You have to have a strategy for holding people’s attention. I like to use a formula: hook, story, and offer. I also use open loops. This means teasing or suggesting what I’m going to talk about at a later time, which keeps you watching to see what it is.
3. You need to get them to stick around for the whole video.
The basic ways to retain viewers is to educate, empower, and entertain them. The best videos do all three! You have to give them what they came to learn, give them the tools to do it, and also, hopefully, entertain them along the way.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: it’s not that easy.
These are definitely the building blocks, but yup, there is a lot more to it. To go deeper on this, check out:
- 3 Secrets – Start & Grow Your YouTube Channel From Zero
- Ahrefs’ Top YouTube SEO Strategies with Sam Oh
- Should I Start a YouTube Channel in 2019?