So Frustrated With SEO

[wcrb15]

Ok I have researched and reviewed SEO techniques for YouTube and I can't seem to be getting anywhere. Am I correct in thinking that I might be doing everything right as far as title/tag/description keyword density but won't be ranked because my channel is still so small? It's so hard to grow a fanbase if no one can find your channel! I'm trying to put our name out there everywhere that seems appropriate but nothing seems to help.

 

[MostShockingEP]

Yes first you make sure this is seo friendly ( title/tag/description keyword density ) and mak sure to use keywords that are being searched and have low competition.

Then your video will be ranked according to number of backlinks / shares / likes dislikes. If you will try to do this by yourself then you can be penalise for this, because it will have the same IP .

In short you produce video and hope other people will share it if they do your rank growth and it will be easier and easier.

 

[wcrb15]

Thanks for confirming that. I guess I need to just be patient and hope the channel grows.

 

[shinyvictreebel]

Are you just changing the keywords, titles, descriptions, and tags of your old videos, or are you doing it for new videos? When you release a video with good SEO, it gets ranked higher for the first 48 hours, and after that, it will go up or down depending on how it went over with viewers.

 

[wcrb15]

I haven't gone back and changed tags for older videos. Just going forward I am using better SEO techniques for tagging and titling my uploads.

 

[Super Pawsitive]

Ok I have researched and reviewed SEO techniques for YouTube and I can't seem to be getting anywhere. Am I correct in thinking that I might be doing everything right as far as title/tag/description keyword density but won't be ranked because my channel is still so small? It's so hard to grow a fanbase if no one can find your channel! I'm trying to put our name out there everywhere that seems appropriate but nothing seems to help.

Perhaps. Though let's not assume you're doing everything right.

So I took the time to look at your video stuff for you ^__^

Alright, so immediately I see a few things that can be improved on based on the first few titles.

I don't generally know what happened between your last five videos, though I think you were doing it correctly before. Putting the game title first without the words "Let's Play" is generally better than putting it in. Not to mention if you're doing this format: Fable 3 - Part 46 - The Backlog

You have an appealing title that also implies you're doing a LP. Most people on YouTube imply that "parts" generally means LP or Walkthrough. Generally you want to keep the title of your video short and simple. (Edit: Keeping the game title first also makes it the direct subject of your video. Make sure the most important keywords go first in the title. Which generally is of the game you're playing.)

Description.

Generally, this is an OK description. You have some of your keywords in there, as well as your social media links. Though, I again would say that "Let's Play" hardly has to be in there. Might just be me. If you have the tag "Let's Play" in your tags. You should be fine with it only being in your tags. It'll appear either way.

Speaking of your tags. Let's have a look at them.

I will definitely find you on YouTube if you type your name into the search bar. That's for sure.

Generally, for an LP I prefer to name off what part of the game you are in within the tag and description. This is more or less for the gamer that is looking for a tutorial or reference to that particular part of the game. I'm sure there's a name for each section of the game. It'll help your search rankings if people find that your videos not only entertain, but inform. Generally that's what I think most LPers should do, but that's besides the point

Your thumbnails also need work, that doesn't have anything to do with SEO, but it is something you need to work on so when people DO find you, you can get them to click on your video.

Hope I helped c:

 

[Munchito696]

Ok I have researched and reviewed SEO techniques for YouTube and I can't seem to be getting anywhere. Am I correct in thinking that I might be doing everything right as far as title/tag/description keyword density but won't be ranked because my channel is still so small? It's so hard to grow a fanbase if no one can find your channel! I'm trying to put our name out there everywhere that seems appropriate but nothing seems to help.

I have found that the title has the biggest effect on my video rankings. I've gotten a few videos to rank at the top of the first page for basic searches. They rank higher than videos with more views and for channels with more subs. Not sure how it works exactly because I use the same strategy on other videos and it doesn't seem to help, but I've experimented and by changing the title and searching for key words, I noticed the ranking moved instantly

 

[wcrb15]

@Super Pawsitive Thank you for taking a look. I am always ok with an extra set of eyes checking what I'm doing. The more recent videos I decided to change it up and put "Let's Play" in the title. I thought maybe that would help the videos get found. So I should drop off the "Let's Play" phrase from the title? I gather that my tags seem to be ok? When I search for "The Backlog" the first hit my channel has is on page 5. Then as far as the thumbnails go should I grab a new screenshot of that video that is relevant to what we are doing in that one and put some branding/text on it? I thought a uniform thumbnail for each game would be nice, but if that isn't a good idea I'm completely open to changing it. Again thank you for taking time to help out a newbie [DOUBLEPOST=1412617611,1412617584][/DOUBLEPOST]

I have found that the title has the biggest effect on my video rankings. I've gotten a few videos to rank at the top of the first page for basic searches. They rank higher than videos with more views and for channels with more subs. Not sure how it works exactly because I use the same strategy on other videos and it doesn't seem to help, but I've experimented and by changing the title and searching for key words, I noticed the ranking moved instantly

Thanks! I have been trying to play with the titles quite a bit to see what works the best.

 

[Super Pawsitive]

@Super Pawsitive Thank you for taking a look. I am always ok with an extra set of eyes checking what I'm doing. The more recent videos I decided to change it up and put "Let's Play" in the title. I thought maybe that would help the videos get found. So I should drop off the "Let's Play" phrase from the title? I gather that my tags seem to be ok? When I search for "The Backlog" the first hit my channel has is on page 5. Then as far as the thumbnails go should I grab a new screenshot of that video that is relevant to what we are doing in that one and put some branding/text on it? I thought a uniform thumbnail for each game would be nice, but if that isn't a good idea I'm completely open to changing it. Again thank you for taking time to help out a newbie

Video Titles: I think you could do without the "Let's Play!" on the title. Having the format be "(Game Title Here) - (Part # Here) - (Channel Branding Here)" is probably my preferred way of doing it. It puts a focus on the game you're playing. Let's people know it's part of a series, and shows them your name at the end. If you want to keep the "Let's Play" bit, by all means! It won't hurt. Just know that people might not be able to see your channel branding at all due to keeping those words.

Tags: Again, I would say that your tags as they are, seem fine. I would recommend adding the section of the game you're in. (An example of this would be like Mario games. "World 1-1" or something of the sorts.) And potentially adding more tags corresponding to the episode. Like, "Maze Puzzle" "Collect-A-Thon" "Grindfest" and other tags of the sort. Just things that correspond to that one particular episode. So if you by chance see a puzzle that's particularly difficult. Tag the puzzle so people could find it easier.

Thumbnails: Not the worst thumbnails ever, though they could use some improvement. I know lot's of LPers have screenshots of a particular moment of the video be the thumbnail, but for me that doesn't necessarily do it. I think I'd much rather have some type of branding thumbnail. Kind of like the ones I currently use for my videos. Ex:

It looks appealing, and people know who's upload it is. You could probably add a number somewhere. Though you get the point. Something that is appealing and has your brand on it.

I only hope that I've been of some assistance

 

[wcrb15]

You've been a tremendous help! For the thumbnails do the ones for resident evil/dragon's dogma/dino crisis look better than the Fable ones? I will definitely go back to the old way of titling vids. How do you feel about having part of the title being a phrase that describes something we commented on in the video. For instance in the Dino Crisis video we talked about red heads so I put in "Something About Red Heads" in the title. Also would you mind looking at my newest video and see how that looks? I know I didn't change that thumbnail much because this series is almost over.