I'm using SEO; why am I not ranking in search?

[Acerthorn]

SEO is supposed to be the secret weapon whereby smaller channels can get noticed despite bigger channels making superior content, right?

If your video has a phrase in its tags that bigger youtubers don't have in theirs, then your video is supposed to rank higher in search results when people search for that specific phrase, right?

In that case, why isn't my newest video at the top of the search results for its titular phrase?

"Super Mario RPG vs Paper Mario - Who Nostalgias it Better?"

If you have tubebuddy, you can see that one of my tags for that video is "super mario rpg vs paper mario." According to Tubebuddy's keyword explorer, that has low search volume, but even low is better than nothing.

However, when I switch to a private window and search for the phrase "super mario rpg vs paper mario ," my video is only #29 in the search results.

Are the other 28 videos just better optimized than me for that search phrase? Not really. None of the other videos that rank higher than me appear to have the phrase "super mario rpg vs paper mario " anywhere in the video's title, description, or tags, nor do they appear to offer any phrasing that suggests that the video plans to juxtapose those two games in any way. The closest we get is RabbidLuigi's video "Top Five Mario RPGs," who is #1 in the rankings, but even that is hardly optimized for this specific phrase.

Granted, everyone who ranks higher than me are themselves a large youtuber. But here's the thing: Everything I have been taught about how youtube SEO works tells me that this shouldn't f*****g matter! If I am better optimized for search than X person, then I should rank higher in search than X person and that's all there is to it. It doesn't matter if he has a million times as many subscribers as me.

So what the hell?

 

[zerocache]

Leave it for now. You are ranking now at #10 for that term for me. A few moments ago it was at 20+ (I stopped counting at 20).

Just give it time.

Maybe at a later date, after the premiere, if you're not holding a higher spot, maybe you can try, "Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars vs Paper Mario - Who Nostalgias it Better?"

 

[Dave2017]

It has been said but give it time dude. SEO works, no doubt about it but you got to give it time

 

[Acerthorn]

Leave it for now. You are ranking now at #10 for that term for me. A few moments ago it was at 20+ (I stopped counting at 20).

Just give it time.

Maybe at a later date, after the premiere, if you're not holding a higher spot, maybe you can try, "Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars vs Paper Mario - Who Nostalgias it Better?"

This is coming from a guy who has been at this for three months and only has 7 subscribers.

Sorry, but at an average rate of growth of 28 subscribers per year, you don't seem to have the credentials that I'm looking for when it comes to giving youtube advice. I got 237 subscribers in my first year (May 14, 2018 thru May 13, 2019). Hell, my first three months (May 14, 2018 thru August 13, 2018) got me 31 subscribers. That's more than four times the rate of growth that you got in the same time period.

That's not to say that I still can't learn a thing or two (if I felt that way, I wouldn't be posting here in the first place), but I prefer to learn from someone who actually knows what he's talking about and has the results to prove his own credentials.

 

[zerocache]

This is coming from a guy who has been at this for three months and only has 7 subscribers.

Sorry, but at an average rate of growth of 28 subscribers per year, you don't seem to have the credentials that I'm looking for when it comes to giving youtube advice. I got 237 subscribers in my first year (May 14, 2018 thru May 13, 2019). Hell, my first three months (May 14, 2018 thru August 13, 2018) got me 31 subscribers. That's more than four times the rate of growth that you got in the same time period.

That's not to say that I still can't learn a thing or two (if I felt that way, I wouldn't be posting here in the first place), but I prefer to learn from someone who actually knows what he's talking about and has the results to prove his own credentials.

lol?...

I get it ... taking advice on "face" value is not always a good thing. Your Social Blade's stats approach for sizing someone's advice is interesting and valid, in a way, but it's not going to stop me from giving it when I believe it's sound and only logical considering what I do know.

By the end of it, you don't have to take it. I won't be offended... I promise

 

[djcraigtro]

try posting on a few forums ask friends and family just to like the video and comment on it can bump viewers and raking up and post at different times of day also has an affect if big youtubers are posting at that time then theirs will bump up the queue if you use a mic iv watched a few videos where they are live and ask people to give a #hype chain and all comments thats like 1k comments in 10 seconds that will then bump the video right to the top of list but i may be wrong please if any1 can collaborate on this to explain a bit better than i can

 

[Fun withSammy]

I had a similar question! I've been using tube buddy and putting the best tags I can! but I didn't even see my latest video on the first page at all... whereas the tags others before me on the page have not been as good???

 

[Bobby Rhodunda]

I agree that SEO is a very time sensitive trick, not everything trends the same throughout the day. Maybe see if your topics trend at a specific time each day, then tailor you video postings to that time so you can be the first or few results when the bulk of people search for your topic.

 

[markkaz]

You can have the best SEO but how many people are interested/searching for it and how many results appear?

 

[BrettTaylorYT]

You’re ranked #3 currently I don’t get how that’s a problem. That’s a really good ranking. On mobile you pop up immediately with no need to scroll