What is Really the Most Important Factor to High Ranking Videos
on YouTube?
The following article is an excerpt from Video SEO Thunder 2015 from
Kurt Melvin and is published here with permission.
Session Watch Time is very likely the single most important YouTube
ranking factor. Session Watch Time simply means how much and how
many videos do people watch AFTER clicking on your video.
And this makes sense. If you were in charge of YouTube which videos
would you favor and why, it's hard to come up with a better reason
than than to rank the videos that create the most views on YouTube
higher than the videos that people don't watch and cause people to
leave YouTube.
This puts video marketers in a bit of a Catch-22. Our main goal as
marketers is to get people to our videos and then get them off of
YouTube to visit our own web pages were we sell products and
services as well as get email subscribers. However to rank well, we
need people to watch other YouTube videos.
In my opinion, this isn't a chicken and the egg situation. You must
get get people to your videos before they can click to your
site, so ranking should be your first priority. Your videos need to
encourage people to watch more videos with the hopes that while each
video will get a lower percentage of people to click to your own
site, you'll have a much larger total number of people watching your
videos in the first place.
From YouTube's Official Creator blog:
Our video discovery features were
previously designed to drive views. This rewarded videos
that were successful at attracting clicks, rather than the
videos that actually kept viewers engaged. (Cleavage
thumbnails, anyone?)
Now when we suggest videos, we focus on those
that increase the amount of time that the viewer will spend
watching videos on YouTube, not only on the next view, but
also successive views thereafter.
http://YouTubecreator.blogspot.com/2012/08/YouTube-now-why-we-focus-on-watch-time.html
Read the quote from YouTube above again. It's the most important
aspect of ranking videos on YouTube and it's essential you
understand this point.
While the quote above doesn't directly address ranking, but it does
address videos YouTube "suggests". I know from experience, having a
suggested video brings tons and tons of viewers. And it's been made
clear in other places that YouTube appreciates high Session Watch
Time and rewards videos that increase views throughout YouTube.
How To Increase Session Watch Time
Annotations and Cards
Annotations are areas of of videos that you can turn into "hot
spots". This YouTube feature allows you to put clickable links right
on your videos.
Cards are a fairly new feature that are similar to annotations in
that they are clickable areas that appear on videos. The difference
between the two are that cards only appear for 5 seconds and YouTube
controls where they are placed over a video, while annotations can
last as long (or short) as you want them and you control where they
are on the video.
However, cards have the distinct advantage of being "cell phone
friendly". This means if you have clickable links in cards, people
using mobile devices can click the links.
If your videos are getting a good percentage of their views
from wireless devices such as phones and tablets, using cards will
have a much bigger impact than annotations.
Use cards and annotations to increase your video's Session Watch
Time by placing links in them to other popular videos.
End Cards/End Slates/Outros
Some people call them end slates, some call them outros and I
generally call them end cards. Whatever you want to call them, they
are the last part of your video and should include a strong call to
action. Generally, this is where you encourage people to subscribe
or click a link to your site.
Don't confuse end cards with the cards feature I discussed just
above. An end card is simply the last part of your video, while a
"card" can be inserted over any part of the video.
To increase Session Watch Time you should strongly consider a good
call to action to watch another video. Even better, have a link to a
playlist (or two).
Segment Your End Cards and Outros
Instead of giving your viewers a single choice in your end cards,
give them two simple but distinct options.
For example, let's say you have a video about body building. Have a
link to two different videos or playlists:
Segmenting viewers can greatly increase your clicks and video view,
as well as giving your viewers content that is better targeted to
their interests.
You also want to use arrows, pointing fingers and animated text to
highlight links on your end cards. You need to tell people what to
do next. You must make it as obvious and easy for them as possible
to view another video/playlist or to click to your site.
Tip: Segmenting viewers is also an excellent marketing strategy when
sending people to offers or optin forms on your own site. Segment as
much as possible.
Using Playlists to Increase Session Watch Time
Linking to playlists is probably the most effective way to increase
Session Watch Time. A playlist is simply a list of YouTube videos
that will automatically play one after the other.
Playlists can and do get ranked. They can also be listed as related
videos on the pages of other videos.
Virtually every public video on YouTube can be inserted into a
playlist. You can create your own playlists which include only your
own videos, a mixture of your videos and those from other, or just
video from other folks.
Playlists can be embedded and linked to, just like videos. Really
consider adding all of your videos to playlists, with your own video
at the first position, then link to and embed the playlist instead
of just linking or embedding your single video as a way to greatly
increase your session time.
Another strategy to increase Session View Time is to create a video
that is really just an end card and insert it at the end of a
playlist. This is a short video with only one purpose: To get
viewers to click on a link to ANOTHER playlist. Salesmanship and
copy writing principles really come into play...you need to sell
people on clicking the links.
Tip: Create two playlists, segmenting interests as suggested above
and linking to each.
More on playlists in Video
SEO Thunder 2015.
Link to Popular and Trending Videos
If lots of other people are watching a video, chances are your own
viewers will enjoy it too, assuming it's related to your audience.
Add links to popular and trending videos in your description, as
well as annotations and cards.
Even better, add the popular video to a playlist with more popular
videos along with your own videos and link to the playlist.
Encourage Comments
Interesting comments can increase the session time viewers spend on
a video page. You can also link to your other videos in the comments
to encourage people to click which increases their Session Watch
Time.
Session Watch Time is an essential part of modern ranking on
Youtube. For more tips and strategies for getting high ranking for
your YouTube videos, be sure to read Video SEO Thunder 2015 from
Kurt Melvin.
About the author:
Kurt Melvin began his career in search engine optimization in 1996
and helped develop many of the SEO techniques that are commonly used
today. He is presently the moderator and chief content creator for
the Internet
Marketing Warrior Forum's High Voltage Video Forum.
