{"id":26919,"date":"2020-10-21T06:38:32","date_gmt":"2020-10-21T11:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?p=26919"},"modified":"2020-10-20T12:57:49","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T17:57:49","slug":"optimize-youtube-channel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/optimize-youtube-channel\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimize Your YouTube Channel Like a Pro with Our Expert Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by Emily Hill and Kevin Williams<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is part of HostGator\u2019s Web Pros Series. In this series, we feature articles from our team of experts here at HostGator. Our Product Managers, Linux Administrators, Marketers, and Tech Support engineers share their best tips for getting the most out of your website.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, you\u2019ve set up a YouTube channel for your business and now you need to build your audience. And not just any audience an audience that will grow into a community that has a strong relationship with your brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you do that? Optimize your channel<\/strong>. As HostGator\u2019s YouTube web pros, we know that YouTube can be a beast to work with at first, because there are so many things to learn. But that learning curve can help you grow your audience and your customer base. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, YouTube can be super powerful for SEO because Google owns it-something to think about if you\u2019re trying to boost your visibility in Google search results. Your content doesn\u2019t need to be overly produced to get results, but it does need to get found. If you create useful content and optimize it, you can start showing up in YouTube and Google search results, attracting viewers and growing your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready? Let\u2019s get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plan your YouTube content schedule for consistency and focus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before you start posting videos, there are a few things to do first. Taking these steps now can help you start off strong and avoid having to redo your strategy in a few weeks or months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Decide how often you\u2019re going to post <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you look at the most successful YouTubers, what you’ll notice is that they keep to a schedule and their fans know when videos are coming out. Consistently delivering new content is the key to setting and meeting YouTube audience expectations, so you need a schedule<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That doesn\u2019t mean you have to produce a new video every day or every week. Once a month can be plenty, especially if you run a small business and don\u2019t have time to devote to constant video shoots. Once you decide on a schedule, include it in your banner or a card (which we\u2019ll explain in a bit), so viewers know to expect new videos, say, every Wednesday at 1 p.m. or on the first Monday of every month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever schedule you set, stick to it<\/strong> so that viewers know you\u2019re reliable-and so they\u2019ll build the habit of watching your content when it drops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Focus on your niche and audience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Remember that you\u2019re creating content for your target audience persona<\/a> a very specific type of person with distinct habits, needs and preferences. When you focus on niche content for your audience, you can see your views increase. But if you start adding in content that\u2019s not relevant to your audience, you may lose viewers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if you run a niche comic book brand for dudes who love to argue, and you start posting reviews of shows from the CW, those guys are going to unsubscribe. They don’t want to follow that content. So, keep your content focused on your audience\u2019s interests. If you add another audience persona later, you can branch out carefully and slowly. But for starters, stay tightly focused on your core persona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Evergreen videos versus trending and timely videos<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Timeless (aka 'evergreen'\u009d) content like our how-to videos with Josh<\/a> can be great for earning views. But it’s usually not the heaviest draw for subscribers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"hostgator<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To get people to subscribe, you may want to create some lighter or timely content, too. That way your YouTube channel can attract people who are looking for information on a specific issue and people who subscribe because they want to see more from your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"hostgator<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. Plan your first half dozen videos before you launch<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Map out the content for your first few videos so you don\u2019t get stuck and fall behind on your schedule right after you start. Having a plan will give you more confidence to keep going-and it will keep you focused on the topics your audience cares about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know the key things you\u2019ll want to optimize with every video<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Don’t ignore any little part of YouTube when you\u2019re uploading new videos or optimizing your existing content. Here are some of the most important elements to include and refine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Keywords<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Already have keywords that work?<\/a> Great! If you don\u2019t-or if you want to find more-Google and YouTube\u2019s autofill function can help you see what people are searching for in your niche. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, a physical therapist making a video series on back pain could check the autofill results on 'back pain'\u009d to find new topics to tackle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also look at channels like yours to see what your competition is doing<\/strong> and what they haven\u2019t covered yet. Our physical therapist might find that their closest competitors are doing a lot of videos lately on 'back pain when you work from home,'\u009d because it\u2019s a trending topic. They might also discover that no one\u2019s done a lot on 'sports massage for back pain when you work from home,'\u009d so that\u2019s a niche they can work on that ties their area of expertise to a popular topic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, check out resources like Ahrefs\u2019 YouTube Keyword Tool<\/a>, which will generate a list of the 100 most frequent phrases and questions YouTube users search for that include your keywords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Title<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Keywords belong in your video titles, too. The more specific your titles are, the more helpful they are to viewers. In our physical therapy example, they might want to use search autosuggestions like 'back pain stretches'\u009d and 'back pain treatment'\u009d in the titles of their videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Description<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Give viewers a specific reason to click on your YouTube video. Be sure to use your keywords! Our philosophy is to use as many keywords in the description as possible-without making the copy feel like it was written by a robot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Thumbnail<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many people only look at the thumbnail images<\/strong> when they\u2019re searching. Your thumbnail image needs to pop to get noticed, and if your image doesn\u2019t explain at a glance what your video is about,  it should include text so people know what they\u2019re looking at. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"hostgator<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of our favorite YouTube hacks is to create a branded slide you can use for all your thumbnails, like HostGator does with our 'Hosted'\u009d with Scott web series<\/a> pictured above. Spend some time creating a beautiful thumbnail upfront, and then you can quickly change out part of the image and text for each video. It\u2019s a win–win-win:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Viewers know right away that it\u2019s your content and can see what each video is about. <\/li>
  • You don\u2019t have to spend time and money creating unique thumbnails for each video launch. <\/li>
  • You avoid getting burned out on thumbnail slide creation.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Pro tip: <\/em><\/strong>Remember that when thumbnails are viewed in playlists, the right side is covered up. Because of that, we always put our text on the left:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"youtube<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    This kind of visual consistency is important for building your brand and establishing trust in your audience. If someone watches your first video and likes it, they\u2019re likely to seek out your content again the next time they\u2019re looking for something. If your content is easy to spot, they\u2019re probably going to click your videos instead of going to an unfamiliar channel. When more viewers start looking for and choosing your videos, you\u2019re growing your brand!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5. Tags<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Use your keywords as tags so more people will find your videos in search results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How many? We\u2019re advocates of smushing as many tags in as you can fit for each video — up to 500 characters total. If you don\u2019t have enough keywords to hit the character limit, consider using a tool like vidIQ<\/a>. You can do keyword research, score your keywords and use vidIQ\u2019s Tag Autocomplete function to get keyword suggestions as you add your tags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    6. Timestamps<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    If you\u2019re posting longer videos, like webinars or live event recaps, viewers may be more likely to watch if you include timestamps for the most relevant parts in the description. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For example, our 2020 tutorial on How to Build a WordPress Website<\/a> is awesome. It\u2019s also 24 minutes long. To keep busy viewers from bouncing, we\u2019ve included timestamps for each section, so they can go right to the part of the video that tells them exactly what they want to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"hostgator<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    7. Subtitles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Subtitles or closed captions<\/a> are important for accessibility and convenience. They can also help with SEO. You can upload your own .SRT file for closed captioning, or you can let YouTube automatically generate subtitles (which you can edit) by selecting those options in YouTube Studio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    8. Info and end cards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    If one of your popular videos gets out of date, should you take it down? Not necessarily. For SEO, it can be smarter to leave it up and add an info card directing viewers to a newer, updated version of the video. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    That\u2019s because it can take a few weeks or months for your new video to start ranking well in YouTube search results. If you pull down your old video, you\u2019ll lose your presence in search results for that topic, at least for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To give your viewers the latest info without losing SEO juice, add an info or end card to the out-of-date video directing people to your new video. We used this approach to point viewers to our recent video 'How to Create & Login to Free HostGator Email<\/a>'\u009d from an older video that needed an update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n