Want your YouTube channel to thrive? This episode is your starting point for understanding and utilizing powerful SEO tools specifically designed for YouTube. We’ll break down the fundamentals of YouTube SEO, explore both free and premium tool options, and clarify the difference between common advice and what truly delivers results. More importantly, I’ll show you how to position every single one of your videos to rank at the very top of YouTube search.
The Power of YouTube Search Traffic: An Eye-Opening Example
To truly grasp the impact of effective YouTube SEO, let’s look at an example. Take Noelle Randall’s YouTube channel. One of her videos gained significant traction through suggested and browse traffic, amassing 91,000 views and generating a substantial $10,788 in ad revenue over 102 days.
Now, compare that to another of her videos with a modest 2,200 views, which only earned $69 in ad revenue over a much longer period of 294 days.
So, which video do you think made Noelle more money overall? The answer might surprise you. While the first video generated impressive ad revenue, Noelle is a business owner who strategically uses YouTube to generate leads. The viewers who find her channel through YouTube search are highly targeted and often convert into valuable leads for her business. In contrast, videos that go viral through broader discovery methods often attract an audience that isn’t as likely to become paying customers.
SEO Basics: Understanding the Terminology
Let’s establish some foundational knowledge. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. This involves optimizing your content to rank higher within search engines like Google and, crucially for our discussion, YouTube. While other platforms like LinkedIn have search functionalities, YouTube excels at content discovery.
You’ve likely heard the term keyword. In the context of SEO, a keyword can be a single word or even a sentence or phrase (up to 10 words). It’s the term or combination of terms that users type into a search engine.
SEO Has Evolved: From Websites to Content
The world of SEO has undergone a significant transformation, especially in the last decade. Historically, around ten years ago and earlier, Google primarily functioned as a website search engine. The focus was on optimizing your website to achieve top rankings in Google’s search results.
However, this approach is largely outdated. Google has evolved into a content search engine, mirroring YouTube’s long-standing nature as a content-focused search platform.
In the past, website SEO often involved creating intricate networks of backlinks from various Web 2.0 sites and other entities to your primary “money site.” This often necessitated generating a significant amount of low-value, even spammy, content simply to build authority through links.
Thankfully, these cumbersome and often misleading tactics are no longer effective. With search engines now prioritizing content, the focus has shifted to creating valuable content and publishing it strategically.
Today, a single well-optimized video on YouTube can act as a powerful SEO tool, attracting new viewers who have never encountered your brand before and converting them into leads. A single video can be your SEO strategy.
Beware of Harmful SEO Services
Be cautious of services claiming to offer specialized YouTube SEO. Many of these providers still rely on outdated website SEO tactics. They might attempt to build or buy links to your videos or artificially inflate views and subscribers through bots or other non-genuine methods.
The YouTube algorithm is sophisticated. Powered by AI, it’s designed to identify authentic human engagement. Its goal is to connect real viewers who genuinely enjoy your content, and then it proactively seeks out more viewers with similar interests.
YouTube SEO Today: Focus on Keyword Research
The key to effective YouTube SEO today lies in keyword research conducted before you create your content. Your primary focus should be on identifying the specific questions your target audience is asking. This is the core of modern YouTube SEO.
Once you understand the questions your audience is searching for, your content naturally becomes optimized for the search engine because you are directly addressing their needs. After you upload your video, YouTube’s algorithm analyzes it and then presents it to relevant viewers.
The Myth of Fake Software
Just as there are questionable SEO services, there’s also popular software in the YouTube space that can be misleading. While tools like VidIQ and TubeBuddy have become commonplace, their “SEO scores” often don’t reflect actual ranking potential.
For example, a video ranking at the top of YouTube search might receive a low score from these tools based on a checklist of often irrelevant factors, rather than assessing its actual visibility. These tools might suggest actions like including your target keyword naturally in the title, even when the title already perfectly matches the keyword.
The Real YouTube SEO Score: Your Search Traffic Growth
The most accurate way to gauge your YouTube SEO success is by analyzing your channel’s search traffic growth directly within YouTube Analytics. By comparing your search views over different time periods (e.g., the last 90 days versus the previous 90 days, or the last 28 days versus the prior 28 days), you can see if your optimization efforts are genuinely increasing your visibility in search results. Consistent growth in search traffic indicates that your SEO strategy is working.
Free SEO Tools: Proceed with Caution
While TubeBuddy and VidIQ offer free or low-cost versions, I wouldn’t recommend investing heavily in them based on their misleading scoring systems.
However, YouTube itself offers a valuable free tool within its Analytics section called Trends, accessible through the Inspiration tab. This AI-powered tool can help you discover trending topics. However, it’s important to note that this tool isn’t personalized to your specific channel and is more geared towards channels focused on broad appeal and ad revenue by following general trends.
HeroKeywordTool.com: A Powerful Premium Solution
For serious YouTube SEO focused on attracting a targeted audience and generating leads for your business, premium tools offer a significant advantage. I personally use semrush.com and its Keyword Magic Tool. While there are other similar tools like Ahrefs, Semrush has proven to be highly effective and meets my specific needs.
The Keyword Magic Tool allows you to enter a broad keyword (e.g., “real estate investor”) and then refine your search to find specific questions your target audience is asking. You can even filter by word count to identify long-tail, highly specific questions. This enables you to create content that directly answers these questions, making it easier to rank at the top of YouTube search.
YouTube SEO Results: The Proof is in the Ranking
The effectiveness of this question-based SEO strategy is evident in the results we’ve achieved for clients like Noelle Randall. By identifying relevant questions within a specific category (e.g., “real estate investor become”) using a tool like Semrush, we’ve been able to track her video rankings over time.
Initially, only a few of her videos ranked in the top three for these targeted questions. Over a period of just five months, through consistent application of this SEO strategy, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in top rankings, effectively dominating this entire category on YouTube.
Unlock Your YouTube Potential: Take the Next Step
In another episode right here on YouTube, I provide a comprehensive YouTube SEO course, detailing all the steps to achieve the same remarkable results as Noelle. You’ll learn how to conduct effective keyword research, craft compelling titles, and ultimately get your videos to rank at the top of YouTube search, driving valuable leads for your business.
I encourage you to watch that episode next to take your YouTube strategy to the next level. I’ll link it right over here.
