YouTube Video: How to Perfectly Optimise for Maximum Views
YouTube videos are a fantastic way to engage your audience, but many creators make common mistakes that hurt their channel’s growth. Here’s a guide on how to avoid 16 upload mistakes that can ruin your YouTube videos, ensuring they get the attention they deserve.
Just in case you missed it, this is a step-by-step “How To” guide designed to optimise your YouTube video’s SEO directly within the platform.
1. How to Follow a Proper Upload Process
When uploading YouTube videos, many creators rush through the process, believing the platform will do the heavy lifting. However, skipping important steps like optimising your title, description, tags, and metadata can seriously impact your video’s performance. These elements are crucial for helping YouTube’s algorithm categorise your content and suggest it to the right audience.
To avoid this mistake, take your time reviewing and refining your upload. Use keyword-rich descriptions, relevant tags, and a title that accurately reflects the content. By fully optimising your video before hitting ‘publish’, you increase your chances of ranking higher in search results.
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2. How to Choose the Right Video Category
Choosing the correct category is essential for your YouTube videos to reach the right audience. Creators often either overlook this step or select the wrong category, which can affect how YouTube classifies your content. If your video is placed in an incorrect category, it may not reach viewers who are interested in your topic.
To ensure you choose the right category, look at similar videos and check how they’re categorised. Align your content with the appropriate category to help YouTube recommend your video to the right viewers.
3. How to Use Metadata Effectively
Metadata is key to ensuring your YouTube videos show up in search results. Without properly embedding metadata, like the video’s title, description, and tags, your video could be harder to find. Rename your video file to include a title that matches popular search terms and ensure your metadata is accurate and keyword-rich.
This small step can significantly improve how search engines like Google and YouTube understand and rank your video. Always ensure your video’s metadata is optimised before uploading.
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4. How to Name Thumbnails for Better Searchability
Did you know that even your video thumbnail’s file name impacts searchability? Many creators miss out on extra visibility by not renaming their thumbnails with relevant keywords. Your thumbnail file name should be tied to the video’s topic or a major keyword to improve search results on both YouTube and Google Images.
Renaming your thumbnail file helps ensure that both the video and its preview are indexed properly by search engines. This small step can lead to better visibility across platforms.
5. How to Optimise Chapters for SEO
YouTube’s automatic chapters feature might seem helpful, but manually editing them is crucial for better search rankings. Auto-generated chapters are often inaccurate and not SEO-friendly. By manually adding chapters, you can optimise them with relevant keywords and guide viewers through the most important sections of your video.
Start your chapters at 0:00, and make sure each one is a minimum of 10 seconds long. This improves both viewer experience and your chances of ranking higher in search results.
6. How to Use Hashtags Effectively
Hashtags might seem redundant in YouTube’s robust search system, but they’re still valuable for categorising content and boosting visibility. Every video can have up to three hashtags in the description, helping YouTube understand your video’s topic better.
Choose your hashtags wisely, focusing on long-tail keywords to avoid heavy competition. Hashtags also increase your chances of being found when viewers search for similar content.
Want to know more? Read the article Keyword Research 101: From Beginner to Expert in No Time
7. How to Add Subtitles and Closed Captions
Adding subtitles or closed captions, especially with an SRT file, greatly improves the accessibility of your YouTube videos. Nearly 20% of the global population has some form of hearing impairment, so subtitles help you reach a broader audience. Additionally, subtitles can improve your SEO and engagement, as search engines use them to index your content.
You can generate an SRT file from your editing software or use a tool like TubeBuddy to translate subtitles into multiple languages, expanding your reach even further.
8. How to Research Tags Properly
Tags might not seem as important as titles and descriptions, but they play a big role in helping YouTube categorise your video. When done right, they increase your chances of showing up in search results.
Use a mix of short-tail and long-tail keywords in your tags to target both broad and niche audiences. Ensure your tags align with your content, as random or irrelevant tags can hurt your ranking.
9. How to Set Audience Targeting
Setting your video to “Made for Kids” when it isn’t can severely limit its reach. YouTube’s algorithm will serve it only to children, reducing your potential audience. Similarly, leaving the audience setting blank can also affect how your video is distributed.
Make sure to correctly choose your audience setting to ensure your video reaches the right viewers. If your content isn’t explicitly for kids, select “Not made for kids.”
10. How to Handle Unlisted Videos
Publishing your video as unlisted before it goes live may seem harmless, but it can damage its performance. YouTube treats unlisted videos as already published, so when you eventually make it public, it may not receive the same level of engagement.
Instead of unlisting, set your video to private or schedule it for a future time. This gives your video the best chance to gather views and engagement as soon as it goes live.
Create Engaging YouTube Shorts, Meta Reels, and TikTok Short Form Videos
11. How to Use Pinned Comments
Pinned comments are a simple yet effective way to boost engagement on your YouTube videos. After publishing a video, don’t leave the comment section empty. Use pinned comments to spark conversation, direct viewers to additional resources, or encourage them to share their thoughts.
A well-crafted pinned comment can increase interaction, keeping viewers engaged longer and prompting YouTube to recommend your video to more people.
12. How to Allow Time for HD Processing
Many creators make the mistake of publishing their video too quickly after uploading. YouTube needs time to process videos, especially in HD or 4K quality. If you publish too soon, your viewers might have to watch a low-quality version, which can hurt engagement.
To avoid this, schedule your video for at least 2-4 hours after uploading. This ensures the video is fully processed and ready to be viewed in the best quality.
13. How to Manage Ad Breaks
If you’re monetising your channel, placing ads in the right spots is essential. Allowing YouTube to automatically place ads can lead to interruptions at awkward moments, causing viewers to drop off. Instead, manually select ad breaks at natural points in your video.
This keeps viewers engaged while still allowing you to earn from ads, improving the overall viewer experience and your channel’s performance.
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14. How to Use Playlists for Increased Viewership
Many viewers now watch content on TV, making playlists more valuable than ever. Playlists allow viewers to consume multiple videos without having to select new ones, increasing watch time. Optimise your playlists with relevant titles and descriptions to keep viewers engaged and encourage YouTube to recommend more of your content.
Regularly update your playlists to reflect your latest videos and keep them organised for viewers looking to dive deeper into your content.
Conclusion
By avoiding these 16 common mistakes, you’ll improve the performance of your YouTube videos and help them reach a larger audience. From properly categorising your content to optimising your metadata and playlists, small changes can make a big difference in your video’s success.
About the Author
Crom Salvatera is a Sydney-based social media consultant and digital marketing mentor who has helped businesses and creators maximise their online presence. With over 20 years of experience, Crom provides practical strategies that drive growth and success on YouTube and other platforms.
Follow or connect with Crom Salvatera on LinkedIn to get more digital insights.
