How to rank your video #1 with YouTube SEO?
🎯 How to rank your video #1 on YouTube: The Complete YouTube SEO Guide
In today's digital age, YouTube is not just an entertainment platform, it is a powerful search engine — the second largest search engine in the world!
But if you think that just uploading videos will get you views, then you are making a big mistake.
👉 To increase views, subscribers, and income, you need to know: **YouTube SEO**.
🚫 Does just uploading videos get you views?
No. YouTube is uploading millions of videos every day. If you don't know SEO, your videos will not be seen by people.
But don't worry! If you follow the steps below, your videos will start ranking on YouTube step by step.
✅ Why is YouTube SEO important?
YouTube SEO means – optimizing your video in such a way that YouTube’s algorithm understands what the video is about, for whom, and for which search terms it should be shown.
If you do SEO correctly, then:
- Your video will come up higher in search results
- Views and watchtime will increase
- Subscribers will increase
- Income from AdSense, Sponsorship and Affiliate Marketing
🔍 Step-by-step guide to YouTube SEO
1. 🎯 Choose the right keywords
The first step of YouTube SEO is keyword research.
You need to know what people are typing when they go to YouTube.
🛠 How to find keywords?
- YouTube Search Suggestion: Type the first two words of your topic in the search box, YouTube itself will suggest what is being searched for.
- TubeBuddy / VidIQ: These tools show SEO score, search volume and competition.
- Google Trends: You can select YouTube filters to see which topics are in increasing demand.
🎯 Where to use keywords?
- Video title (put it first)
- Video description (input the first 200 words)
- Video tags
- Pronunciation in the video dialogue (the algorithm can catch it with speech-to-text)
- File name (put keywords in the file name before uploading the video)
2. 🖼️ Create attractive thumbnails
Thumbnails are an advertisement for your video! Viewers click on the thumbnail first.
🎨 How to create a thumbnail?
- Use bright colors (yellow, red, orange)
- Write text in small words in large fonts (within 5 words)
- Show facial expressions (Emotion increases CTR)
- Put branding (logo or specific style)
📌 Professional thumbnails can be easily created with Canva.
3. 🧠 What you say inside the video is also important
YouTube now also analyzes the audio of the video. If you use your main keywords at the beginning, middle, and end of your video, the algorithm can easily understand the content of the video and rank it.
💡 Example: Video topic “Digital Marketing Tips”
→ Say in the first 30 seconds: “Welcome! Today we will see some important Digital Marketing Tips…
4. 📈 Create High Retention Content
“Retention” means how long the viewer watches your video. If someone leaves at the beginning of the video, then YouTube assumes that the video is not useful.
And if they watch up to 50-70%, then YouTube recommends the video more.
🎯 High Retention Content Tips:
- Hook at the beginning: Tell the viewer what they will learn in the first 15 seconds
- Explain step by step so that the viewer understands and watches with interest
- Use graphics, B-roll, Zoom-in to keep attention
- Don’t make videos too long, keep them concise (8–12 minutes is ideal)
5. 🔁 Use End Screens and Cards
Using End Screens and Cards is very effective for increasing watch time on YouTube.
🧩 End Screen:
In the last 20 seconds of the video, your You can show other videos or playlists on the channel.
🧩 Cards:
Related videos can be suggested by clicking the link in the upper right corner during the video.
💡 When viewers watch one video and go to another of your videos, YouTube assumes that your channel is of high quality – and the rank increases.
6. 🗂️ Create a playlist
Creating a playlist makes the videos fall into a theme, which is easier for viewers and easier for YouTube to understand.
📝 Example:
Put 5 videos in a playlist called “Facebook Marketing Tips”.
7. 💬 Increase comments, likes and shares
YouTube also looks at video engagement.
- If someone likes or comments on your video, the algorithm assumes that it is an interesting video
- You can first pin and comment and ask: “What are your favorite tips?”
8. 📊 Monitor video performance using Analytics
Go to YouTube Studio and see which videos are getting more views, which topics are getting more Watch Time.
📌 CTR, Audience Retention, Average View Duration — Check these three metrics regularly.
📌 Some additional tips:
- 📅 Upload videos regularly (at least 1 per week)
- 📢 Share videos on social media
- 📣 Increase initial views by sharing the video link on Facebook Groups or WhatsApp