16 Tips to Rank Videos on YouTube

How to Rank Videos on YouTube

Table Of Contents

We all know that just like every other search engine, YouTube has certain algorithms in place to rank videos. This is to deliver the best possible results depending on the user’s likes and interests. The videos we see whenever we initiate a search query are filtered through these algorithms. Either you make vlogs in Hawaii, use the app for marketing purposes or you belong to a video production company; everybody wants their videos to reach a large number of audiences. Read more to learn the expert tips to rank videos on YouTube.

Tested Strategies to Rank Videos on YouTube

The only way to rank videos on YouTube is to have a set strategy that follows the algorithms. However, sometimes it gets tricky as the algorithms change often. This blog will underline 15 tried and tested strategies to rank videos on YouTube.

Nothing is better than YouTube

The best place to seek help is none other than YouTube. The YouTube creators’ channel is considered as an ideal place to learn what’s trending. The internal team of YouTube operates it, you’ll be able to learn about YouTube’s new features as soon as they’re launched. So, keep track of all the happenings in YouTube creators’ channel.

The earlier you familiarize yourself with it, the faster will your channel grow? A YouTube creator playbook is recommended if you are a content creator or looking for new strategies to increase views. You’ll be able to explore, experiment, and chose the perfect strategy for your channel.

Consistent and sustainable

We all have heard the fact that consistency is the key. Brendan Gahan, a partner, and chief officer at Mechanism, advised YouTube content creators to produce sustainable content. We surely agree with Brendan, there are several tips to improve the number of viewers out there, but not many people talk about sustainability and consistency of the kind of content they create.

You might want to follow trends or do something exciting and innovative. Though for sure, it’ll catch a lot of views, there are odds that you won’t be able to go a long way because you’ll burn out after a few times. It’s important to do what you’ll be able to carry on.

Learn and grow

The most important thing is to make your mind. Every video that you create won’t reach a million; that’s what you’ll have to understand instead of stressing over it. Continuing to create content is the key to long term success on YouTube.

It’s important to learn from your mistakes, critically analyze those videos, and point out where you lack. You must consider every video as a learning opportunity. You have to figure out key takeaways from each video and, step by step, get better.

Engage with your viewers

If you’re on a content creation block, we recommend you go through your comment section. Honestly, going through comments can be a task at times; those trolls can be very harsh, but YouTube has got you covered.

YouTube has a special feature to filter out those trolls so that you can focus on the real ones. At times, you might be able to pick an amazing idea from these comments as well.

Plan ahead

If you plan ahead for seasonal events, you’ll have a lot more time to focus on creating valuable content rather than wasting your time thinking about what to do. Making ever-green videos will get you more views over time because they will stay relevant even after quite a lot of time passes by.

Seasonal, holidays, sports, religious, national, or international events are the best. How-to-do’s, hauls, and informational videos are the most in-demand videos on YouTube. These videos are fun to watch and are trendy all year long.

Stick to the niche

Sticking to a certain niche is more important than you can imagine. You might want to be creative and put out content that’s about a variety of topics. However, it decreases reliability.

Viewers will not perceive your channel as an authority in your topic area. It will eventually lead to people not trusting you and not subscribing to your channel. This is disastrous because gaining a new audience for every video is definitely not the right way of building a channel.

You can always find trendy content about your topic and create videos about that. Following trends indeed is a strategy that garners a lot of views, but you should do it the right way, by following trends about your niche.

Words matter

YouTube is certainly a medium for sharing videos, but it’s simply not just that. YouTube is a search engine itself, and words do matter when it comes to search a video. If the title of your video will have a specific keyword related to the niche of your video, your content will for sure get more views.

The title should be interesting but adding keywords is a must if you want your channel to grow. The description of your video should have keywords too. Keywords are what algorithms look for in order to rank content and you certainly don’t want to create amazing content that doesn’t rank, just because it is not optimized properly.

Keyword Research is the key

To make good content amazing, it’s important to do keyword research. Keyword research is identifying the exact phrases that the users use when it comes to searching content. Keyword research is a secret weapon that takes a channel uphill but is underutilized.

Using the search bar is a simple way to figure out trendy keywords. Write the topic and see what YouTube suggests. Those are the phrases that people are using to search for videos. Use it wisely and it can garner amazing results.

YouTube SEO Checklist

Closed captions help a video rank quickly

Closed captions are indeed underrated but are great when it comes to ranking and getting views. Closed captions are helpful for viewers, and whatever helps them will benefit you.

You can either chose the automated closed caption feature, which is available for free on YouTube or If you want to work a bit harder, you can write catchy captions yourself or get them written by an expert.

Consistent uploading is the key to success

Consistency is the key to success, especially on YouTube. You must have a fixed uploading schedule for catching the audience. The most important part is to stick to that schedule and let your audience know about it. If you aren’t consistent, your loyal audience won’t stay or build up.

Know your audience.

This is the first rule when it comes to creating content for any platform, especially YouTube. You must know the audience you are creating content for. Moreover, simply knowing your audience isn’t enough.

You should do your homework regarding the psychology of your audience. You should know what motivates them, what puts them off.

This may look complicated and a bit unnecessary, but it really helps in the long run. Knowing your audience means that you’ll create content according to the interest of your audience and in a way that they like to see, thus it’ll get more appreciated.

The thumbnail will catch the views for you

Thumbnails are your ways to success. Ever heard the proverb “never judge a book by its cover” well, that doesn’t apply here. Good thumbnails will attract more viewers. According to experts, a bright-colored thumbnail with simple texts and a human element is considered the best to attract viewers.

Embed your videos on relevant websites

One way to get more views on your YouTube videos is to embed them on different websites. Of course, on relevant websites with similar content. YouTube loves it and makes it pretty easy to embed videos on a website and even provides you a code to do it.

This will bring in traffic from external platforms, which will eventually help the video rank as well, along with giving it views.

Make use of Google ads

Buying Google ads is another effective strategy to get a bunch of extra views in exchange for a few bucks. There are many different kinds of google ads out there, but experts recommended-roll ads.

You’ll pay for the ad if a user views your ad more for than 30 seconds. To make your ad reach the right audience, you have to filter targeting options. It takes a bit of effort but if done right, it can garner positive results.

Content creation for YouTube

Content is the real deal; no matter how much you work on your strategy; content is what matters the most. YouTube simply promotes content that people like to see. Engaging content will pull views like a magnet.

Here are a few tips to make your content better.

  • You can make it funny and relatable- people don’t prefer depressive stuff.
  • A lot of people also like storytelling, meaning a message is delivered in a creative story format.
  • People tend to like educational information a lot.

There are numerous other aspects to focus on, but these are indeed a few important ones to get you started.

Teasers aren't always good

Buying teasers is a big NO-NO. People aren’t interested in teasers, and nobody wants to see an unwanted video for a long time. If you buy teasers, make sure that they are skippable.

Instead of forcefully slapping the whole video on the user's face, make the first 30 seconds as interesting as you can so that the user is hooked to it. The title and the thumbnail play an important role in the success of any video, but it’s more important when it comes to teasers.

Try out these strategies even if you have been making YouTube videos for quite a while. You might have been missing out on a few because when people think of a lot of stuff, they tend to forget the small things that matter.

These YouTube ranking strategies are especially important for you if you are starting out. These will make you get those first bunch of views and get you started in no time.

Conclusion

This is it for today’s blog. I hope you enjoyed reading it and that you’ve learned a few tricks to rank videos on YouTube. Be sure to share your feedback and if you have any queries, reach out to me. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. If you want to use YouTube to increase your brand visibility and give your brand the exposure that it needs, reach out to Prism Digital, the best YouTube Video marketing agency in Dubai and we will help rank your videos following our tailored strategies that are sure to work.

Lovetto Nazareth

About The Author: Lovetto Nazareth

Lovetto Nazareth is a digital marketing consultant and agency owner of Prism Digital. He has been in the advertising and digital marketing business for the last 2 decades and has managed thousands of campaigns and generated millions of dollars of new leads. He is an avid adventure sports enthusiast and a singer-songwriter. Follow him on social media on @Lovetto Nazareth