Content Creation Tips For YouTube

YouTubehas become the second largest search engine in the world, next to Google. When audiences are looking for “how-to” videos or explanations on topics, they tend to go straight to YouTube for an answer. Most consumers even choose to get their news information from YouTubers or influencers they trust. YouTube’s SEO algorithm is an ever-changing practice of designing web content to rank highly in searches. In this article, we’re sharing more about YouTube and our best content creation tips. Keep on reading to learn more!

 KEYWORD RESEARCH FOR YOUTUBE TITLES/SEO OPTIMIZATION

Firstly, there are many apps that help YouTube content creators optimize their channels. Apps and websites use keyword finders to help guide you towards a search target that has a larger audience. This is extremely important in the early stages of building a channel because you need to cultivate your audience. Once you have developed a loyal audience, you can be more liberal with your choice of keywords and try catchy titles to draw clicks. 

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TUBEBUDDY

Tubebuddy is the gold standard of applications for this keyword optimization. Tubebuddy focuses on all the metrics that any content creator would want to know. This application pairs with your account, and manages all of your numbers and insights. It compares with videos in your genre and helps you optimize what people are searching for. Tubebuddy makes YouTube easy by providing easy, key metrics and helps give you the green light on proper titles. Tubebuddy remains the top dog in YouTube optimization.

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OTHER KEYWORD/SEO APPLICATIONS

There are a few other applications you can compare to TubeBuddy. They essentially do the same thing and help you optimize your channel with titles, descriptions, chapters, thumbnails, and everything in-between. VidIQ has a similar program using SEO optimization with keywords and titles. They show your competitors and what your “niche” or space looks like. Other applications you can look into are Neil Patel Keyword Planner, Keywords Everywhere, and Google Keyword Planner.

HOW LONG SHOULD A YOUTUBE VIDEO BE?

Every video can vary depending on the genre and niche you’re trying to fill. There are plenty of YouTubers that break these perimeters and rules, but for full optimization, the sweet spot of video length should be around 6-8 minutes long. A video of this size has much more likelihood to hold “engagement” or “audience retention”. This retention is very important for the YouTube algorithm and is factored in when YouTube decides what ranks on top. You want your audience to watch your videos as long as possible. If your content is getting clicked off of in the first minute, then that isn’t good for the app or for your channel.

DO I NEED A PROFESSIONAL CAMERA OR WILL AN IPHONE DO?

An iPhone is more than enough to get your channel going and monetized. The new iPhone 13 Pro has phenomenal quality and really can give you everything you need. In fact, there are many ways you can complete the whole process of making a YouTube video right on your iPhone! There are a plethora of video apps that are free and extremely cheap that can make a very professional looking video with transitions, titles, captions, and more. Even older iPhone models still shoot 1080p. We would always recommend you make sure you’re shooting at least 1080p. 

WHAT APPS ON THE IPHONE SHOULD I DOWNLOAD TO EDIT?

Adobe Suite is a great app to try! It is a complex tool but it is the professional standard if you’re looking to go into the videography and editing space. That being said, Adobe also makes an app for a more intuitive-based experience for someone not looking to pour themselves into “how to videos” just to learn to edit.

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Adobe RUSHis a simplified version of Adobe Premier. It makes editing simple and easy. You can even upload directly to the social media applications you’re looking to post directly. This app can edit sound, music, video, transitions and has many fun options.

INSHOT is also a go-to app on the iPhone for quick video edits. It’s very easy, intuitive, and one of the best features is to be able to copyright free music. This app is free with an option to pay for premium. The free version will have a watermark applied and you do not have access to all the features. However, it’s still a powerful tool if you need to just line up clips and get your feet wet in the editing space.

THUMBNAILS & MORE EDITING APPS

A good thumbnail to your videos might be the single most important thing you can do for your channel and optimization. To draw an audience, you first need clicks. Yes, your content needs to be solid and engaging, but for that to even happen, you need a good thumbnail for viewers to click on your video. Some favorite apps for making thumbnails include Snapfeed, Adobe Lightroom, Aviary, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Canva.

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Snapseedis an amazing free app. It includes all sorts of presets to add filters to your images, really unique text templates, and cropping tools. It is a great tool to take your thumbnail or images to the next level in a very easy to use, intuitive app.

Adobe Lightroomis great as well. This is a great way to modify the images you take or save. If you want to get into complex editing techniques like masking or adding layers, you can start here.

Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator is very complex. This is the professional standard for compositing images and graphic design. If you can fight through the learning curve, you will get the best thumbnails made.

Canvais an online website that specializes in graphics, resumes, templates, flyers, and more. This is a great place to make thumbnails and they have templates that you can start with. It is intuitive and quick to learn and all you need to do is set up an account on their website.

TAGS, DESCRIPTIONS, HASHTAGS, CHAPTERS, PLAYLISTS

Tagging is very important for optimization on your YouTube videos. In the “YouTube Studio” you can go into a specific video, and edit in whatever tags you think will help users find your videos. Using YouTube itself is a great way to help with this and TubeBuddy and VidIQ are also great tools to help you expand on your tags.

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Choose a category your video is niched in. Look through the 15 options YouTube gives you to choose from. Choose the best fit for your genre of content.

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In your description box, you’ll want to include SEO keywords to help you get ranked higher in the SEO algorithm. Using different keywords tools will help with this and you’ll want to describe in full detail what your video is about. This helps aid the search result process! You’ll also want to reference your channel's name, your social media channels, other related video content, a call to action to your personal website and a relevant email opt-in. Some great tools to help set this up include MailChimp, Leadpages, CovertKit, SquareSpace, and ShowIt.

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Chapters are important as well. This is where you can use time stamps to tell viewers where they can find certain information in the video. This will help them if they need to watch your video multiple times, and go back to specific parts of the video. You can do this by adding time stamps in the description box. This will set chapters and segments in the video's time bar.

Playlistsare also important for grouping “like videos” together. If you have a photography channel, you can use a playlist for “camera settings”. Or if you want to do “VLOGS”, make a playlist for those. Every vlog you make will go into that category and can be played in a chain of videos for your viewers. These playlists can help chain content your viewers like from you, so they will stay on your page longer.

MONETIZATION

This of course is on all of our minds. How do I start making money on YouTube? It’s simple really - it just requires time, consistency, and posting a lot of videos. Some of the metrics your channel needs to achieve for this are 4,000 hours of watch time and at least 1,000 subscribers on your channel. We recommend posting frequently and consistently. If at all possible, make it a goal to post 2-3 times a week. Your subscribers will build over time as you find your audience, but the watch hours are the difficult metric to hit. By increasing the amount of videos you have accessible, you will increase your chances at hitting these metrics. Once you hit these goals, you can start monetizing your videos with ads.

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Affiliate companies will also take note of your page, which is also a great tool to have as a content creator. You can go to brands and advertise for them for a paid rate or product. Companies will give you a specific code for a discount to their products for your audience. This can help to get you paid. Seek out brands to collaborate with that pair well with your channel’s niche.

This article has given you a deeper understanding of the inner workings of YouTube and what goes into optimizing your channel. All of these topics help to greatly increase the volume of people able to find your channel. The power of SEO’s, thumbnails, catchy titles, and intros, can make all the difference in retaining an audience and keeping them coming back for more.

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