Optimise your YouTube video referencing (infographic)

Four main categories of factors influencing the ranking of your videos on YouTube.

The factors that influence the credibility of your YouTube Channel.

• The frequency of publications: number of connections to your YouTube account, number of video downloads, number of contributions (comments, responses…) to other videos,
• The degree of confidence that your channel is credited by YouTube: its age, the number of members, total number of views, connection to a Google+ account, even having an Adsense account,
• The credibility of your channel: its title, its keywords and its description, the link to the homepage of a third party site, other linked channels, playlists (title, description, keywords).

Influence factors associated with a video.

• The pertinence of keywords: title of the video, name of downloaded file, keywords and description (including links towards external sites), annotations and video script,
• HD quality also has a positive influence on the ranking,
• The attractiveness of a video thumbnail: while you cannot choose it, you can select the most pertinent among 3 that are offered. It is important as this thumbnail has an important influence on the click rates (thus on the number of views) when it is posted in the results list or in the “More Videos” section.

Number of views and internet user interactions.

• The number of views (very important),
• The number of minutes viewed: in absolute (depends on the length of the video) and relative terms, compared to other videos of the same format,
• The reaction from internet users: number of comments (importance of keywords inserted in comments), discussion threads, the “thumbs up/thumbs down” ratio, the number of favorites and adds to third party playlists.

Sharing videos on social networks.

• Facebook, Twitter, Google + … The power of the signal given to the YouTube algorithm depends on the “social influence” of the profile that shared the video,
• The “embedding” or integration of a video in a third party site using JavaScript. Here as well, the power of the signal depends both on the number and influence of the sites that integrated a YouTube video,
• External links towards third party sites: the influence of this factor is rather limited.

Conclusion.

Begin your plan for optimising your video ranking in YouTube at the start of the infographic: first, a credible channel is the cornerstone; then, a systematic qualification of each video published (titles, keywords, etc.)

On these strong foundations, you can animate a virtual community, promote sharing and motivate reactions from internet users. In all the cases, it is a long-term process, but with sustainable results.