YouTube’s different than other social platforms like Facebook or Instagram; it’s a 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞. What’s more, in terms of global website popularity, it’s second only to its parent company, Google. With that being said, it’s critical to search-engine-optimize your YouTube uploads.

Here’s how:

1️⃣ ᴋᴇʏᴡᴏʀᴅꜱ. Your title is make or break! In other words, the title is the primary component YouTube analyzes to detect your keyword.
Sidebar: the term, 𝚔𝚎𝚢𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 (singular tense), may be be a tad confusing in that, technically, it could be multiple words or even a phrase.

The video description should reinforce your title. Avoid writing copy that wanders off the core theme of your title.

2️⃣ ᴛʜᴜᴍʙɴᴀɪʟꜱ. Algorithmically, YouTube places a high premium on “click-through-rates” (CTR). What that means is if someone conducts a YouTube search and your video ranks in the results, if that individual does or doesn’t click your video to watch, either way, it signals YT about whether or not your video should be shown in future searches. In effect, every click improves your vid’s future ranking prospects.

The thumbnail, which is an image attached to your video upload, should draw the searcher’s gaze as well as line up w/ the intent of the search.

3️⃣ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀꜱ. In the video description section you can add timestamps and titles to build a table of contents for your video... like the chapters of a book. Format it like this:

00:00 - Introduction Section of the Vid
01:32 - Whatever I Wanna Call This Chapter
03:54 - And My Final Chapter

The chapters are shown visually as markers (or sections) in your video’s progress bar vs. a single red line at the bottom of the viewer window, which helps keep folks’ attention. What’s more, Google is increasingly making use of the “suggested clip” snippet in Google searches—meaning, a chapter of your video could rank in a standard Google search. That’s the big payoff!