With nearly four million new videos being uploaded to YouTube daily, it’s crucial to optimally utilize the platform to reach your target audience. As YouTube is the second most popular search engine and its largest demographic is Generation Z, optimizing your videos for better visibility and ranking is a must.
One way to optimize your videos is by using custom thumbnails. These images represent your video in search results, so it’s essential to choose something enticing. Ensure the image is of high quality, using JPG, GIF, BPM, or PNG formats and sizing it at 1280x720px. The thumbnail should feature people showing obvious emotions or actions, as viewers respond positively to this. Maintaining brand consistency is also important, as is ensuring the subject and any text are large enough to be easily seen. Avoid using misleading thumbnails as this is considered spam or “clickbait.”
When it comes to optimizing video content, keywords play a crucial role. YouTube prioritizes a 1:1 match, so it’s important to consider what your target audience is searching for and use that as your title. YouTube Studio’s Channel Analytics can help identify what keywords your audience is using. Additionally, YouTube’s autosuggestions feature can also provide insights into popular searches.
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