Today, I’ll walk you through my 8-step strategy for how to rank YouTube videos. You’ll learn the most important YouTube SEO ranking variables for getting your videos to the top.
My previous faceless YouTube channel was suffering a few years ago. I routinely produced high-quality videos and added significant value, but nothing happened when I published my video.
Needless to say, I was dissatisfied. I discovered the hard way that video only works if people see it.
Now, fast forward to today, my videos consistently receive a decent number of views and my subscriber base rises month after month.
I studied every aspect of YouTube SEO and YouTube ranking factors that I could get my hands on.
And these are the ranking factors that few people are aware of. When I included these ranking elements in my videos, my ranking skyrocketed.
I began ranking for extremely competitive keywords that I’ll show later in this guide.
So let’s get into it.
Table of Contents
1. Make Longer Videos
Let’s begin with step one, which is to publish lengthy videos. Longer videos will do better on YouTube as you may have noticed. Why?
The total watch time of your video is the most crucial ranking factor on YouTube. As you’re aware, the more people that see your video, the higher your ranking.
This is referred to as audience retention, and it’s a significant ranking element.
Even though audience retention is crucial, it is not nearly as important as the total watch duration of your video. This is because YouTube prefers to promote videos that keep users on the site for an extended period of time.
As a result, the more cumulative minutes people view your video, the higher will rank in the search result.
Assume you recently published 2 separate videos. The first video is 2 minutes long while the second video is 10 minutes long.
As opposed to that each video receives 1000 views and the audience retention for both videos is exactly 50%, which indicates that on average people watch half of your video. The 2-minute video will be watched for a total of 1000 minutes.
However, the longer video will have a watch time of 5,000 minutes. That means that video number 2 will have 5 times the watch time of video number 1, and it’s very likely that it will outright video number 1.
That is the power of lengthier video content. In fact, my video, which comes in the top three for the Builderall review, it’s over 28 minutes long, which is much longer than a typical YouTube video. Because it’s longer, my video has more total watch time than my competitors.
2. Create a Killer Video Title
Step number 2 for ranking a YouTube video fast is making sure that you’re spending 90% of your time actually focusing on your title.
And this is the exact opposite of what a lot of YouTubers do. In fact, you’re probably spending the majority of time creating your content, which is a huge mistake and you need to stop doing this.
A great YouTube video title will help people click on your video. If your video doesn’t show up on the feed, well then guess what’s going to happen?
Somebody’s going to have to click on your video, which is why your title and your thumbnail are more important. If nobody clicks on the video, nobody watches the video.
So why are you spending 90% of your time creating the video when you should be spending your time, getting people to click on your video, which is making a better title and making a better thumbnail.
The second thing YouTube uses titles for is whether or not they actually have an audience for your content.
So many creators that are doing stuff about, fitness, gaming, or fashion, you’re not actually using keywords that YouTube knows they have an audience for in your content.
And guess what? This is resulting in you not getting views.
This is why when you post a video, it doesn’t get pushed out like all the other small, medium, and large creators that you see on YouTube and everybody else that you’ve seen blowing up in your niche.
So if you have a lot of content out there and the content didn’t do well, but you think the video could do well, you need to find a title structure that actually works.
Include Keywords Front and Center
The very first thing you need to do is to include your exact keyword in your title. There’s no denying that Google and YouTube are becoming smarter by the day. As a result, these days of keyword stuff in your video to the top of YouTube are over.
Having said that, Google and YouTube both utilize your video’s title to determine what your video’s about. As a result, make sure to mention your specific term in your title at least once, perfectly at the starting of your title.
For example, let’s say I made a video that I wanted to rank for the keyword “Builderall Review”. So, I made sure to include my precise keyword, Builderall review at the very beginning of the title and I ranked in the top 3 for my go keyword.
Make Sure Your Title Matches Your Video
Video titles are one of the most important parts of your Youtube ranking strategy. Match the title of your video to the content in the video for a more effective and engaging experience for viewers.
Avoid General Titles
Titles that are too general, such as “How to Market on YouTube” or “5 Tips for Successful YouTube Marketing”, can be difficult for viewers to understand and can lower viewership. Try to come up with a catchy, descriptive title that accurately reflects the content of your video. For example,
- “How to Make a Badass Video Title” or
- “The 3 Types of Videos You Should Make”.
Failure to create a sense of curiosity or urgency in your title and failure to include keywords that are going to allow YouTube to push your content out to the right people is going to result in you failing to get views and subscribers on YouTube.
Now at this point, you’re probably wondering, where can I find the best titles for my videos?
Where can I find the best sounds to add to my videos?
And what kind of content should I actually be creating for my niche on YouTube?
Well, I’m glad you asked because I’m about to show you just that.
Here are some great strategies on how to title your YouTube videos from VidIQ.
3. Re-Create Viral Youtube Videos
When it comes to finding topics and titles that are going to work best within your niche, you need to look for two things.
First, you need to make sure that you know what the top or trending videos in your niche are at any given time.
Secondly, you need to make sure that you have a list of 2-3 creators that you’re looking up to within your niche.
You’re going to be looking at these creators in order to find titles that work for them.
So make sure that you have a list of these YouTubers, and know exactly what is trending in your niche, and if you don’t know how to find either of those, I’m about to tell you how.
All you have to do is go to YouTube and search for something in your niche. You have to search for whatever your video topic’s going to be about, whatever somebody in your niche would be searching for.
For example, if you’re in the fitness niche, you can type in fitness workout and filter by view counts.
And then you need to look at those videos that pop up. Then you need to watch those videos, and then recreate that video.
You’re going to want to make it the same length and use a similar title.
Now obviously, if somebody has an original sound added to that, then don’t do that because you’ll violate Youtube copyright.
But pay attention to what the actual format of the video is because again, that is a format that’s going to be successful on YouTube.
That might sound like copying. It is not copying. You’re going to be adding your own thing to it. You’re going to be adding your own personality to it.
If you look at the biggest YouTubers on the platform, they all use the same thumbnails, they all use the same title structure, and they use the same things in their videos.
They all use the same video topics over and over again. It’s like this with everything in the world.
So stop reinventing the wheel with your YouTube content. Simply take somebody’s title, tweak it a little bit, take that length of the video, take the video concept, and put your own twist on it.
💡 Pro Tip
One of the easier ways to recreate YouTube videos is by using Videly which is a video marketing tool that helps optimize and promote YouTube videos.
It has 5 different tools like niche analysis, rank tracker, keyword research tool, and more.
But what sets this tool apart from others is that it actually scans searches on different search engines to give you the lowest competition with the highest amount of search volume.
It also has real-time video analytics to help you understand how their videos are performing and make data-driven marketing decisions.
if you want to learn more about this new YouTube SEO tool, you read my Videly review.
And here you get Videly 75% OFF discount (not available on the official website)
4. Create an Attention-Grabbing Hook
Let’s go on to the next step, which is the perfect hook. Longer videos, as I previously said, tend to rank higher because they generate more overall watch time.
However, there’s a major flaw with this strategy. On the internet, you must keep someone’s interest. Fortunately, trial and error have shown me that if you could hook someone in the first 15 seconds to a video, you have them hooked for the rest of the video.
To optimize watch time, YouTube recommends focusing on the first 30 seconds of your video. The question is, how do you grab people’s attention in the first 30 seconds of your video?
Begin your video with the PPP formula. The PPP stands for preview, proof, preview. And this is how it works.
First, give a synopsis of your video. When I initially started making videos, my intros have rambled on and on about why the topic of the video was so essential.
And these long-winded introductions will drive people away. So today, I cut the fluff and tell them exactly what to anticipate.
Assume your video contains 10 paleo diet recommendations, you should begin the video by saying “In this video, you’ll learn 10 of my favorite paleo diet advice”, and that’s it.
Now it’s time for the proof. As proof that you can provide, stick that you’ve already completed, what the viewer desires, that you have a lot of experience in your profession, or that you’ve done a lot of research on your issue.
You can claim for example, that “These are the exact strategies I use to gain 5 pounds of muscle in 60 days”.
Finally, give them a sneak peek. Here’s another reminder of what your video is about.
You definitely don’t want to just repeat what you stated at that start so highlight anything particular from the video, such as advice, a detail from a case study, or that you’re about to reveal something completely new.
This will peak your viewer’s interest and make them want to keep watching.
For example, you may say, “Today, you’re going to learn about the extensively helpful paleo diet foods that are actually harmful to you”
5. Mention Your Primary Keyword In Your Video
Okay, now it’s time for ranking factor number 4, which is your video’s keyword. When I first started with video SEO, I’d go back and tweak previous videos for keywords I wanted to rank for, and it almost never worked.
This is due to the fact that Google and YouTube have AI algorithms that can listen to your videos even if they don’t have a transcript.
Assume you’ve recently published a video about healthy desserts, then after a few weeks, you realize that the keyword, “healthy desserts” is overly competitive, so you go back and optimize it for a different keyword, such as Low-carb desserts.
This appears to be a good idea, but is it as effective as it used to be?
Well, despite the fact that the keyword, Low-Carb desserts appear in your title, description, and tags, you never use it in the video.
YouTube is aware of this and it appears suspicious to YouTube that your video is about healthy suites, however, because your on-page metadata is all about low-carb desserts, they will not rank you for either keyword.
That’s why I make an effort to include my target keyword in every video.
6. Optimize For a Click Through Rate (CTR)
When somebody searches for something on YouTube, YouTube closely monitors the video they click on.
Assume you’re ranked 5th for your target keyword. As you are surely aware, videos rank 1 through 4 and receive the vast majority of clicks.
However, for some reason, a large number of people are clicking on your video in the search result.
What do you expect YouTube to think of your video? It’s a great result for that keyword and they’ll boost your video’s ranking to make it easier to find.
So how can you increase your click-through rate?
In the search results, YouTube displays 3 major pieces of information: your title, thumbnail, and a snippet of your description.
Here’s how to fast improve all 3 in terms of click-through rate.
Thumbnail
The important feature of the thumbnail is that it sticks out. That is, you want to make a unique thumbnail that stands out from other videos. You can even try an entirely different style and color scheme than your competition for your thumbnail.
Title
As previously said, you should include your target keyword only once. Aside from that, the goal of your title should be to maximize your click-through rate.
It’s a wonderful idea to make an emotionally appealing video title. I also give the current year to let people know that the information is still current.
Description
Finally, in the first few lines of your description, you should write something engaging. The majority of people put a link to their website or channel here, which is a huge mistake.
Nothing looks less appealing than a link to someone’s website. Instead, write a compelling sentence or two that includes your target keyword.
Now, the strategies I’ve shown you thus far will assist you in naturally getting more user interaction.
However, there is still one simple technique that I employ in every video to increase user interaction.
7. Tell People To Like, Comment, and Subscribe
Next, you need to make sure that your YouTube videos have a call to action in them. You need to be getting people to subscribe for a reason that is not selfish.
You clicked on this article because you want to know how to rank YouTube videos fast. So now I’m going to tell you how to do that in future videos if you subscribe.
This is going to work best if you do it at the end. Remember, don’t have it be for a selfish reason, don’t have it be a sub for more content, and don’t have it be followed for more content.
It needs to be very specific to what that viewer wants, what that viewer is interested in.
After much trial and error, I discovered that this little suggestion greatly increases the number of likes that my videos receive.
YouTube wants to see that people are watching a video and interacting with it. The higher your video ranks on YouTube search results, the more people who watch, like, subscribe, and comment on it.
At the end of my video, I also urge viewers to subscribe and comment, which enhances the quantity of user engagement signals on my video.
And again, if you don’t know who your audience is on YouTube, you’re not going to be successful. The biggest YouTube creators, the most successful YouTubers really understand who is watching their videos, and you need to be the same exact way if you want to make Youtube shorts viral.
8. Promote Your YouTube Videos
The last tip to rank Youtube videos fast is to promote them.
Now I’m going to show you a simple and fast strategy to promote any of your YouTube videos for free in a way that will naturally trigger the algorithm to promote them even more.
And first of all, I want you to understand why promoting your videos on external platforms is so beneficial.
Do Promoting YouTube Videos Work?
So logically thinking, YouTube wants more users spending more time on their platform that’s why they reward you for high watch time and for making their users stay longer on their platform.
But they will reward you even more if you can also bring people from other platforms to their own and keep them engaged.
You’re basically getting them, free customers, from external websites, and that’s why YouTube loves it, and that’s why it will promote your channel even more if you get them external traffic.
Now normally, small YouTubers prefer to choose Facebook groups for promoting their videos and their channel in general.
But I can tell you that, that doesn’t necessarily work anymore. It worked maybe in 2016, but not today.
Those Facebook groups are full of spam and only with people trying to promote their videos.
No one in those Facebook groups actually watches what you have to offer. And even though it might get you a couple of views, it’s just not worth it, plus it won’t get you real targeted views that might become your long-term subscribers.
So, Facebook is no place to promote your channel. Rather than that, you can use this through different platforms.
Quora & Answers.com
The first one is called answers.com and the second platform is called Quora. Answers.com is visited by 8.3 million people every month, and Quora is visited by 500 million people.
And both are great for long-term promotion, and they’re great for attracting targeted eyeballs. So, both Answers and Quora websites, where people come to ask and answer specific questions.
You have all topics covered from weight loss all the way up to finance and business.
So, you have people asking and answering questions about how to lose weight, how to get a six-pack, and you have people asking how to make money, how to invest as a beginner, and more.
And you can use this to promote your videos and get clicks on a long-term scale because replies given on these forums rank high on Google.
Meaning that whenever someone searches for a specific question and answer from Quora or answers.com will most likely show up first. So just imagine how much passive traffic that is. Like millions of people search for questions on Google every day. And you have options for both.
You have two different options for both Quora and Answers.
And the first option is to just go to both platforms, and sign up for free. It’s really easy and simple, and it takes less than a minute. And then just search for questions related to your video.
So, if, for example, your video talks about how to start investing, just search for that question.
If your video is about making money online, search for how to make money online. You want to find people that need solutions, which your video offers.
And after a bit of search, you will come across hundreds if not thousands of people asking that particular question. So, you can reply to those questions with some meaningful comments.
Don’t be spammy, and don’t just paste your link. Don’t just paste your video link immediately, but first of all, provide some value.
Start talking about the subject and at the end, just tell them:
“If you want to learn more about this topic, you can watch this free video I made”
Or something along those lines and just paste your video link.
Now, whoever is interested in this topic can look up this question and will be able to see your video link. And the more replies you leave on both of these websites, the higher your chances of getting more views you will have.
💡 Pro Tip
If you’re struggling to answer some of the questions that you would like to answer, you can use some of the AI writers like Jasper.ai which has a template specifically created to answer Quora questions.
Recommended Reading: 16 ways to promote your YouTube channel for more views
9. Consider Running YouTube Ads to Promote Your Videos
YouTube ads are a form of paid advertising that allows you to promote your videos to a wider audience. When you run a YouTube ad, your video is displayed to users who are most likely to be interested in it, You can target people based on factors such as their location, demographics, and even viewing history.
To run a YouTube ad, you’ll need to create an AdWords account and set up a campaign. You’ll need to choose your target audience, budget, and other settings, and then create your ad using the AdWords video creation tool.
Using YouTube ads is one of the easier ways to rank YouTube videos fast and reach a larger audience. However, it’s important to keep in mind that running ads can be expensive, so you’ll need to weigh the cost against the potential benefits.
Ranking YouTube Videos Fast in 2023 Wrapping Up
So this is how to rank Youtube videos fast in 2023.
Now, it’s up to you to decide which of these strategies from this guide you’ll try first.
Will you try to make longer videos or perhaps you’ll start optimizing your videos for clickthrough rate?
Please let me know right now by writing a comment below.
