Top Ranking Factors in YouTube Search

Top Ranking Factors in YouTube Search

YouTube is one of the marketing channels you need if you want your brand to be known online. According to a study, nine out of 10 online consumers wanted to see more videos from brands and businesses they support. As a digital marketing company in Los Angeles, we highly suggest our clients use YouTube to market their brands. But to successfully do so, you must know how to rank a video on YouTube.

Here are the top five factors that YouTube search considers when ranking a video on their results:

1 – Video Total Views and Watch Time

YouTube focuses on placing videos with a higher number of views and longer watch time on top of their search results. The number of views on a video tells YouTube how many users have clicked the thumbnail and watched it. This implies a lot about how engaging the context of the video is.

On the other hand, watch time refers to the length of each viewing session a user does. It tells a lot about the quality of the video and if it was able to deliver the information a user is searching for.

2 – YouTube Video Title

A keyword-rich title is the best way to tell YouTube and search users what your video context is about. It is another factor YouTube considers when ranking your video on a search result. You need to add the most relevant keyword in your video title so that when people use the term in their search, your video will display on the search results.

You can use YouTube Insights to know which search terms your audience uses when searching for your videos.

3 – YouTube Video Length

The length of your video also plays a vital role in YouTube ranking your video. This is because it increases the watch time of users.

According to a study by Visme, the ideal length for a YouTube video is 10 minutes. Their analysis shows that videos that run between seven to 15 minutes perform well. However, content creators must remember that your video needs to be as long as the video needs to be.

4 – Keyword Rich Description and Tags

Another place to add your keywords is in the video’s description and tags. Adding keywords in those areas can help YouTube search algorithms understand what a video’s content is all about. On the other hand, tags also help users find your content when searching YouTube. Furthermore, YouTube also suggested videos with similar tags.

5 – User Experience and Engagement

Most importantly, YouTube focuses on user experience and engagement when measuring the quality of videos. How users engage and experience your content can directly affect your video’s ranking. 

Pay attention to YouTube’s metrics such as subscribers, comments, likes, dislikes, and shares. These metrics play a significant role in your video’s ranking on YouTube.