How to Optimise YouTube Videos For Search
- Matt Kerr
- Nov 11
- 4 min read
If you are using YouTube as part of your content strategy, then making sure your videos can be found in YouTube search results is essential.
YouTube is not just a video platform; it is a social media platform and also the world’s second-largest search engine. This means it works in a similar way to Google when responding to user searches, ranking videos based on relevance, performance, and user engagement.
Whether you are a seasoned content creator or just starting out, understanding how to optimise your videos will help you drive traffic, increase watch time, improve your click-through rate (CTR), and strengthen your overall video rank. In this guide, we will break down practical steps to make your videos more discoverable, engaging, and effective.
Start with Keyword Research
Before you upload your video, you need to understand what people are searching for. Use keyword research tools to explore search terms, long-tail keywords, and phrases your audience is typing into YouTube when looking for inspiration, help, or advice.
These insights reveal search intent, which is the purpose behind a search query. Understanding intent ensures your video answers real questions. For example, someone searching “how to edit vlogs on a phone” needs guidance, not theory.
Choose a specific keyword that aligns with your video topic. You will use this in:
Video titles and descriptions
Description and tags
Related blog posts
Supporting types of content across your website or social channels
Using long-tail keywords can be particularly useful because they attract more qualified viewers and allow your video to rank more easily in search engine result pages.
Create Strong Titles, Descriptions and Tags
Once you have selected your keywords, it is time to optimise your metadata. This is one of the most important aspects of any YouTube SEO strategy.
Video Titles: Your video titles should be clear and direct. Use your main search term early in the title so the topic is immediately clear. For example: How to Optimise YouTube Videos for Search: A Step-by-Step Guide.
Video Description: The video description should be keyword rich without sounding forced. Provide a helpful summary of your video, link to relevant landing pages or blog posts, and set clear expectations for the viewer. A good description supports user experience and can increase both watch time and click-through rates.
Tags: Tags should include your primary keyword, variations, and related topic terms. When your title, description and tags are aligned, YouTube can understand the focus of your video more accurately and ranks videos accordingly. Tags also help your video appear for additional search query variations that you may not have used in your title.
Prepare Before You Upload
When you upload your video, take time to complete the optimisation steps rather than rushing through.
Use a strong thumbnail to improve click-through rate (CTR)
Include your primary search term in the title
Write a complete description with links to landing pages
Add end screens and cards to encourage viewers to watch your videos longer
Include subtitles to improve accessibility and search visibility
Choose the appropriate category and language
These steps improve user experience and help YouTube understand how to categorise and promote your content via different traffic source channels.
Understand YouTube’s Algorithms
To improve your video rank, it helps to know how YouTube’s algorithms decide what to show. Key factors include:
Watch time: How long viewers stay engaged. Higher watch time suggests valuable content.
Traffic source: Where your views come from, such as search, suggested videos, or external links.
Click-through rate (CTR): How often users click on your video when it appears in search results or recommendations.
User engagement: Likes, comments, shares and replays signal YouTube that viewers value your content.
Videos that perform well across these signals are more likely to be recommended to others and appear in more YouTube search results. Understanding these behaviours informs better content creation decisions.
Promote and Optimise After Publishing
Publishing your video is only the beginning. Ongoing improvement is essential.
Embed your video into related blog posts
Share your video across other social media platforms
Encourage comments and conversation to increase user engagement
Review Google Analytics and YouTube Studio data to see which traffic sources perform best
Update thumbnails, descriptions, or tags if performance is low
Use Supporting Written Content
Combining video with written content improves discoverability and authority. When you create a new video:
Write a supporting blog post that embeds the video
Link to relevant landing pages
Reinforce the same specific keyword focus across multiple channels
Develop supporting types of content for social channels
This cross-channel approach allows digital marketers to drive traffic from multiple sources and strengthens the relevance of your message. It also signals to YouTube that your content is trusted and well-referenced.
Analyse, Learn and Refine
Growing a successful YouTube presence requires ongoing learning. Use AI powered and SEO tools to:
Identify which search terms bring the most traffic
Review which traffic source performs best
Analyse where viewers drop off to improve watch time
Determine which types of content generate discussion and engagement
The more insight you gather, the easier it becomes to create videos that match search intent, hold attention, and improve video rank.
Final Thoughts
Optimising YouTube videos for search is not just about adding keywords. It is about understanding how users search, how YouTube ranks content, and how to create videos that provide a positive user experience. When your video content is relevant, discoverable and engaging, YouTube is more likely to recommend it and showcase it in search.
