Optimization can be tricky and time-consuming. Deciding what to optimize isn't always straightforward. Answering the following questions can help you decide what kinds of videos to focus on.
Does your video make sense in the search results?
Google the keyword you are considering. Does your video answer questions that are addressed in the search results? In a search for “dental implant procedure,” for example, users are likely looking for information on what steps are in the procedures, what’s the recovery like, success rates - users are looking for information. They are not looking for testimonials, dentists profiles, or research into new implant materials.
In this example, optimizing a patient story about dental implants is not likely to send qualified traffic to your website. Unless, of course, that video illustrates the procedure and answers users’ questions; if so, consider starting the video with that information and following up with the testimonial.
Does it make sense for users to start here?
This video may be the first time users have heard of UT Health San Antonio- is this the first interaction you want them to have with you? What does it say about your organization? And does it give them enough context to know who you are, what you do, and how that is relevant to them?
Is there a clear next step?
Do you have a clear action that you want users to do after watching your video? That next step could be a more traditional conversation like making a gift or scheduling an appointment, or it might be watching a related video or clicking through to your website.
Does your video align with business goals?
Where do we want to increase interest- and also, where are we able to accommodate those increases? Think about the services, degrees, and other offerings that want to boost numbers. It doesn’t make sense to optimize a video that would increase interest in a clinic that isn’t accepting new patients.
Optimize individual YouTube videos
When uploading videos to YouTube, you have many options to set. The following guidelines will help you figure out what to put in those fields.
Video file name
Before uploading your video, rename the video file to include your targeted keywords.
Video title
With limited plain text for search engines to crawl, the title of you video is probably the most important SEO to consider. Titles for YouTube videos should include relevant keywords to ensure high ranking in Google and YouTube searches, while still being compelling enough to encourage clicks and views.
Video description
Write lengthy descriptions. Generally, you should aim for descriptions that are at least 150 words. Both YouTube and Google rely heavily on the text surrounding the video to understand you video’s topic. The more YouTube knows about your video, the more confidently it can rank it for your targeted keywords.
When writing a description, you should also:
- Put your website’s URL at the beginning of the description. This will be a no-follow link, but when users click on the video, the URL will show up in the description without the expanded view.
- Mention UT Health San Antonio and your school/department/institute/center/practice/etc... after the URL.
- Include three to five keywords
- Include links to your Facebook and Twitter pages at the end of the video description.
Tags
Tags are very important in optimizing videos for search. To set strong tags,
- Choose three to five keywords you want to target; use those keywords for your tags
- Separate each keyword using quotation marks, just like you do when entering tags for the channel. They should look like this: “endodontics certificate” “dental hygiene degree” “pediatric dentistry”
Thumbnail
- Before uploading your thumbnail, rename the image file to include your targeted keywords.
- Choose an attractive thumbnail that gives viewers a sense of what the video is about. If your thumbnail shows a person, choose a still with a pleasant facial expression that isn’t blurry.
Broadcasting and sharing options
YouTube converts videos into Java, which makes the content unable to be crawled by search engines. By uploading a caption file, you give Google a giant block of copy to read.
- Transcribe the video to a .txt file
- Use periods and commas to signify breaks in speech. This will help Google’s voice recognition service to time the captions properly.
- If the video contains no speech, use the annotations feature to create a caption with a call-to-action to your website or social networking page. Make sure the timing is set on the annotation to give the caption ample display time.
- Upload the transcript or caption file. It may take several minutes to process.
Date and map
Set the video’s location to UT Health San Antonio’s address - 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, Texas, 78229
Optimize your YouTube channel
In addition to individual videos, you can optimize your main channel page (e.g. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC62Bzdr5j-wKGqODlPIJMrQ)
Channel setting
- Title: Include UT Health San Antonio with your school/department/institute/center/practice/etc… name in the title
- Visibility: Check the visibility box to make your channel visible
- Email location: Check the box so others can find your channel via email
- Channel tags: This is the most important part of channel optimization. Choose three to five relevant keywords that are the same ones you use on your website’s homepage. Separate each keyword with quotation marks to look like this: “endodontics certificate” “dental hygiene degree” “pediatric dentistry”
Modules
You may include any modules, but these three are necessary for optimization:
- Commenting
- Subscriptions
- Friends
Videos and playlists
- Always select the “My Uploaded Videos” option in the featured content box
- Always set one of your videos as the featured video
- Check the box to play your featured video automatically
You may also consider creating playlists organized around keywords once you have more than 10 videos.
Profile
- Use UT Health San Antonio with your school/department/institute/center/practice/etc… name as the name of the profile
- Write your exact website URL in the website section- this is the only followable link you can obtain through YouTube.
- In your channel description, summarize the content of the channel and include a link to your company’s Facebook or Twitter page. (These will be no-follow links.)
- In the “About Me” section, give a brief description of your company using targeted keywords.
All other sections of the profile are great to have, but they will not help optimize the channel.