How YouTube Can Improve Your Website’s SEO Ranking

youtube seo ranking

Source: Unsplash, NordWood Themes

With over 3 billion searches processed every single month, it’s no wonder why so many content creators are making the leap to YouTube. After all, if they don’t get in on that action, someone else will. 

And given that YouTube is the top video platform and the second most popular social media platform on the internet, ignoring it’s content creation opportunities would be like skipping out on the party of the decade.

That being said, if you’re a serious content creator looking to increase your website traffic and acquire higher engagement rates, you’re likely aware of the importance of SEO.

Countless SEOs have already given their two cents on how YouTube SEO ranking works and what it can do for your channel. And a lot of them will charge some pretty high consulting rates to do the work for you.

So how can you use YouTube to improve your website’s SEO ranking yourself? 

That’s what we’re going to dive into today. 

The Basics: YouTube SEO Ranking

Iphone being used to record videos

Source: Unsplash – Thomas Russell

Before getting into some of the grittier details of how YouTube can improve your website’s SEO, you should have a basic grasp on the relationship video has with SEO.

Increased Click-Through-Rates

Click-through-rate (CTR) is the metric that tells you how many people clicked on one of your links compared to how many people saw it. 

The higher your rate, the better. 

One of the ways in which YouTube videos can improve your website’s CTR is by providing further opportunities for your audience to click on your links. For instance, let’s say you have a blog article about cooking breakfast. 

If you created a YouTube video about that same topic, you could leave links to a corresponding article on your website in your video description, in the comments, and even in the video itself—though perhaps not all at the same time!  

Decreased Bounce Rates

Bounce rate is a metric that shows what percentage of site visitors navigate away from your website after viewing only one page. 

There are a ton of factors that play into this, like how fast your site loads, how well your content matches the needs of your visitor, whether you use good website color schemes.

Having YouTube videos on your pages makes website visitors more likely to engage with other areas of your website, especially if the video’s call-to-action links to a different page. In turn, your website’s bounce rate will decrease.

Generate More Backlinks

Backlinks are external links that lead to your website. Simply put, having a lot of backlinks from websites that have a high domain authority increase the authority of your own site, which is great for your SEO. 

What does this have to do with video?

Having quality YouTube videos on your pages will add more value to your visitors. Since valuable content is more likely to be shared on other websites, your videos could turn into backlinks and improve the SEO of your site. 

Increased Dwell Time

Dwell time is the metric that tells you the length of time people spend on a webpage. If your visitors have a high average dwell time, it must mean they like your content! 

One way to increase dwell time is to create longer blog articles, but we know that many people like to scan long-form content rather than reading it. 

Solution? 

Add some awesome videos, shot with high production values (like great soundproofing and quality editing).

It isn’t so easy to scan the content a video, so if you have a video that’s 10 minutes long, your page’s dwell time will probably average around the length of the video. 

Creating YouTube Videos Increases Your Google Real-Estate

At this stage, the benefits that YouTube brings to your website’s SEO become less obvious. 

‘Google Real-Estate’ refers to the amount of space your website occupies on Google’s SERPs. It typically looks like this: 

Ahrefs and Optin Monster and Backlinko all have their own Google Real Estate

But it can also look like this: 

Niel patel and ahrefs and Backlinko all use video for more Google real estate

If you don’t create any video content, you won’t show up on Google’s video tab, which means you’re missing out on an entire SERP. 

That being said, not all videos that appear on this SERP are from YouTube, so why should you make videos with that platform over others? We mentioned some of the more obvious reasons earlier, but it’s also a little known secret that…

Google Prefers YouTube Over Other Video Platforms

This makes sense given that Google has owned YouTube since 2006. 

Google still prioritizes videos that add value above all else, but if two videos of the same quality came head to head, and the only difference was that one was made with YouTube, it’s highly likely that Google is going to prefer its own video platform over a competitor’s. 

Use YouTube Search Suggestions to Complement Your Keyword Research

YouTube search suggestions can give you keyword ideas

Every SEOs bread and butter is some good old fashioned keyword research, but if your mind is starting to run dry on ideas, YouTube’s search suggestions can offer some much-needed help.

 On-top of the fact that YouTube is the top video platform, it’s also the second largest search engine on the internet, so the fact that offers you insight into what people search for on the platform is no small matter. 

If you’re still looking for a way to compliment your content topic research, you can take things to the next level by analyzing the number of views different videos have. 

If a video has a significant amount of views but is outdated, that’s an opportunity for you to overtake its position by creating an even better video that’s up-to-date. This is similar to the Skyscraper Technique coined by Brian Dean. 

Moving Forward With YouTube SEO Ranking

We live in a rare moment in history where various forms of content creation lay available to us at our fingertips. We all carry in our pockets the ability to record podcasts, film YouTube videos, and write blog posts–all on one device. 

Most content creators are used to generating blog articles, infographics, audios, and other common content types, but many still haven’t made the move to video. With almost everyone having access to smartphones, it begs the question: why? 

Some claim that video production is too expensive. Others don’t like the time-consuming aspect of the medium. And then there are those who simply say that they lack the skills to do a good job.

Those are all valid points, but frankly, they still present a low barrier of entry to the craft. 

Like any skill, video can be learned given enough time and energy if you’re willing to commit to it.

With all that being said, have you changed your mind about creating YouTube content?

How do you think you can improve your online brand/business with YouTube?

Let us know in the comments!

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