Let’s face it, we are addicted to YouTube! Connect, entertain, laugh, cry, inform, or inspire, viewers can’t get enough of this video sharing website. In 2018, users no longer use YouTube just to watch mishaps, behind the scenes, or legendary feats, YouTube now acts as a company’s distribution podium for advertisements.
One billion visitors reportedly use YouTube on a monthly basis, solidifying YouTube’s position as the second most used search engine, right behind parent company Google. Given these statistics, optimizing your videos for maximum viewership can go a long way. But how do you go about enhancing your YouTube channel to increase the number of visitors watching your videos?
How to Target the Correct Audience
You must first identify your ideal audience: “Who do I want to watch my videos?” Single parents, sports lovers, or even comic book enthusiasts, doesn’t matter the target audience. Just make sure you have appealing videos that speak to that demographic. For the most part, people watch videos for two reasons: emotional or educational. Emotional videos effectively evoke a certain reaction from the viewer, whether it is happiness, laughter, shock, or anger. In contrast, educational videos attempt to educate viewers about a particular topic or product, providing valuable benefits for viewers who learning better through observation.
Ok so you have the content and the demographic, but how do you find where your audience lurks? Start by adding a location to your videos. This helps pinpoint members of your audience based on their geographic area.
To add a location to your video, sign in and navigate to the YouTube Video Manager located on your main dashboard. Next, select a video, and press the edit button. You’ll then want to move over to the “Advanced Settings” tab, where you can then select the option to choose a specific location for your video. Voila! Your YouTube video will now list a geographical location in its description. Enabling this setting now allows your video to appear in geographical searches.
Controlling Embedded Links for Longer Watch Times
Most web viewers have a short attention span. YouTube’s goal is to serve up more and more videos to viewers, but as a marketer, you want to keep them engaged with your products. By adding parameters to your video’s URL, you can reduce the number of competing videos served up to your viewers. For instance, you could add “REL” into your video’s URL, which turns off any related videos shown while the video plays as well once the viewer reaches the end of the video.
Character Counts Really Do Count
Nobody likes clutter. In this age of instant gratification, viewers want information in the least amount of characters possible: short, sweet, and to the point. As such, you’ll have to make edits to your YouTube channel and videos, so it clears away any clutter. You can start by tightening up your video’s title. As a general rule of thumb, try to limit your video’s title to around fifty characters to ensure that you capture a watcher’s attention. If you’re looking for other ways to arrest viewer’s eyes, try experimenting with these variables in your title:
- Insert rich keywords
- Rephrase your title in the form of a question
- Emphasize a solution to a problem, or phrase the title as a case study
- Include numbers
These modest changes all give viewers a better understanding of your video focus while simultaneously increasing your chances of appearing in related search queries. Another aspect that plays an important role in viewership is your video’s description. Although YouTube allows for 1,000 characters in the description, only the first two lines are visible without having to click “See More.” Thus, your description needs to lead with the most important information, which should include relevant keywords to help rank your video higher on search results.
Lights, Camera, Action!
With the growing speed and usage of YouTube, you must implement and adhere to tried and proven practices to avoid going unnoticed. Do you need help optimizing your YouTube channel for search engines? Or maybe need help creating content that satisfies your audience? Let Premiere Creative give your YouTube videos the treatment it needs to increase its view count. Contact us today and give the marketing experts a call at (973) 346-8100.