A Study of Factors Affecting YouTube SEO in 2020

Mr. Abhijit Vhatkar Dr. Nitin Mali

Assistant Professor Assistant Director/Assistant Professor
Dr. D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth’s Global Yashwantrao Chavan School of Rural
Business School & Research Centre Pune Management
[email protected] Shivaji University, Kolhapur

Abstract 1. Introduction:
YouTube is the most successful online video YouTube is the second most popular social
sharing platform. Millions of users come on media platform after Google. It has 2 Billion
this platform to see informative, funny, active users all over the world (1). It is the top
motivational etc. videos. There are millions engaging & entertaining video sharing &
of creators present on this platform who video consumption platform available today.
make videos on similar topics. Thousands of People from all age groups watch videos on
videos are available on this platform on the YouTube.
same topic. When viewers search on As YouTube has a large number of users,
YouTube regarding their query, they will see number of marketers are attracted towards
only a few videos on the first search result the platform. Marketers prefer to upload
page. Videos on the first page gain most of videos regarding the products and services,
the views. Hence it is important to be at top offers, discounts, features etc.
rankings of the first search result page. Till a few years back, there were few video
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a creators on this platform. Any uploaded
technique to bring the video in higher video used to get attention by the viewers.
rankings on the first page. This research But today's scenario is altogether different.
paper discusses about various factors which Large numbers of video creators are putting
affects the SEO of YouTube in 2020. their work on YouTube and a large number
of marketers are considering YouTube for
Keywords: YouTube SEO, YouTube promotion of their products & services. This
ranking factors, Search Engine Optimization has created a competition among the video
for YouTube videos creators to be in the top list of videos so that
maximum viewers can watch their videos.
If you want that your video to be in top 3 or  Y.K. Sharma, Atharva Ashthaputre, Vishal
top 5 then focusing on SEO is very Jaiswal, Anvay Joshi, Shah Ali Raza Zaidi
important. This research paper focuses on (2019) discussed the effect of sentiment
various SEO factors important to rank the analysis on SEO of YouTube. YouTube
video in 2020. search mainly focuses on keywords. It also
focuses on likes, dislikes, number of

2. Literature Review subscribers, view count, watch time etc.

YouTube does not consider the sentiment
 Meng Cui, Songyun Hu (2011)
of the comments provided by the viewers
studied search engine optimization
(4)
.
concept and tools for promotion of
 Gokhan Egri, Coskun Bayrak (2014)
websites. Search Engine Optimization
discussed the importance of search
(SEO) is a process developed and
engine optimization from a website point
adopted by search engines which
of view. Search engines have considered
improves the search performance of
it as an important source of information.
users. Various tools such as Keyword
Search engines provide the right
tool, Link tool, Usability tool etc. are
information to the right user at the right
useful in SEO (2).
time. As the competition is increased
 Krishna Choudhari, Vinod K Bhalla
between creators, it is important to use
(2015) researched about the search
search engine optimization for higher
engine optimization of videos with
search engine rankings (5).
the help of keyword and feature
 Nursel Yalcm, Utku Kose (2010)
analysis. For video SEO keyword
discussed the basic meaning of search
research, video tags, title, description,
engine optimization. The Internet has
video transcript, thumbnail,
millions of users as well as millions of
annotations are important. These all
creators. When any user searches on any
points should be considered before
search engine for a query then there are
publishing or while publishing the
thousands of search results appear on it.
video. Views, shares, comments,
Users generally go through the search
channel authority etc. points should
results on the first page of the search
be considered after publishing the
engine. Users generally go through only
video (3).
first five results (6).
 Sergiu Chelaru, Claudia Orellana- 3. Objectives:
Rodriguez, Ismail Sengor Altingovde 1) To learn about Search Engine
(2013) discusses about the usefulness Optimization
of social feedbacks for ranking video. 2) To explore & identify the factors
Top rank videos for any search has affecting YouTube SEO
high number of like and dislikes. Top
rank videos have more views. That
4. Research Methodology
means videos in higher ranks have
This is an exploratory research where
more viewer engagement. YouTube
researcher has explored various factors which
and Google have similar nature of
affect YouTube SEO.
search trend for any query (7).
Scope
 Xu Cheng, Cameron Dhale,
There are various video sharing platforms but
Jiangchuan Liu (2008) discussed that
this research paper focuses on YouTube only.
viewers can view the video on
Similarly, the SEO concept is applicable for
YouTube platform without logging in
websites as well as videos. This research
but for commenting and rating they
focuses on SEO of YouTube videos only.
have to login. So, comments show the
more user engagement. Views are in
Important Factors/Enablers Identification
large numbers but rating and
As an outcome of literature review,
comments are in comparatively less.
researcher has identified Ten important
This shows that viewers are more
factors which make impact on YouTube SEO
interested in watching the video than
in 2020.
(8)
rating and commenting on it .
 Sr.
Factor Source
No
E1 Keyword Research Krishna Choudhari, Vinod K Bhalla (2015)
E2 Tags Krishna Choudhari, Vinod K Bhalla (2015)
Y.K. Sharma, Atharva Ashthaputre, Vishal Jaiswal,
E3 Length of Video
Anvay Joshi, Shah Ali Raza Zaidi (2019)
E4 Competition Brian Dean (2020)
E5 Click Through Rate Brian Dean (2020)
Y.K. Sharma, Atharva Ashthaputre, Vishal Jaiswal,
E6 Audience Retention
Anvay Joshi, Shah Ali Raza Zaidi (2019)
Y.K. Sharma, Atharva Ashthaputre, Vishal Jaiswal,
E7 Like, Comment & Share
Anvay Joshi, Shah Ali Raza Zaidi (2019)
E8 Video Description Krishna Choudhari, Vinod K Bhalla (2015)
E9 Closed Caption Krishna Choudhari, Vinod K Bhalla (2015)
E10 Keep Viewers on YouTube Sam Oh (2020)
Enablers/Factors of YouTube SEO 2020

Relationship Building Among Factors 1) V - When i leads to j but j doesn’t

Relationships among different factors which lead to i
are considered for the study are mentioned 2) A - When i doesn’t lead to j but j
in Table number 1. Researcher has leads to i
considered opinion of various experts in this 3) X - When both i & j are unrelated
field regarding the factors. 4) O - When i & j lead to each other
VAXO Model is used for comparing factors
pair wise. Relationship existence and Use of Structural Self Interaction Matrix is
relationship direction is produced by the done from all factors considered for the
discussion done with experts. Two factors study. Pair wise interaction is shown in the
are denoted by character ‘i, j’. Following table-1:
symbols are used to give the relationship
 E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10
E1 A V V A V X V V A A
E2 V X V O V V V X V V
E3 A V X O V O V V A V
E4 V V V X X V V V X X

E5 A O O A A X O A V V
E6 A V V A V A A V V O
E7 O X X A X O V X X V
E8 O O A O O A V A A V
E9 O X V A V A A A X V

E10 O A A V A O O X V A

E1- Keyword Research, E2 - Tags, E3 - Length of Video, E4 – Competition, E5 - Click Through

Rate, E6 - Audience Retention, E7 - Like, Comment & Share, E8 - Video Description, E9 -
Closed Caption, E10 - Keep Viewers on YouTube.
Final Reachability Matrix: Table-2
Driving
E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10
Power
E1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 6

E2 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 9

E3 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 6

E4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10

E5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 3

E6 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 5

E7 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 7

E8 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2

E9 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 5

E10 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 3

Dependence 2 7 7 2 7 4 6 7 7 7 56
Power
Level Matrix: Table-3
Enabler Level
E8 1
E5, E10 2
E6, E9 3
E1, E3 4
E7 5
E2 6
E4 7

As indicated in table -3, E8 is level one means there is a huge competition between
enabler whereas E4 is having level7. various video creators.
SEO Thousands of video options are available for
What is SEO? a single keyword. Whenever anyone
SEO is a short form of ‘Search Engine searches for a particular keyword then
Optimization’. When we search any thousands of videos appear on YouTube.
keyword on any search engine then that Viewers generally click on top ranking
search engine ranks the results of that videos.
keyword. So, it is important to rank the video in the
Search Engine Optimization is Optimization top five. For ranking the video, SEO is very
of your website, video etc. so that it will important. Marketer/ Video Creator can rank
come in the higher rank on search engines the video with the help of SEO.
(9)
.
‘SEO for YouTube’ in simple words is the Factors affecting the YouTube SEO
marketing practices or tactics a creator Achieving the high ranking is not an easy
follows so that the video appears in higher task. Top video creators & marketers around
ranks of YouTube search. the world try to achieve top position on
YouTube.
Why is SEO important on YouTube? Many factors are responsible for higher
Three hundred hours of video content is rankings/ SEO on YouTube. Following are
(10)
uploaded on YouTube every hour . This some of the main factors affecting YouTube
SEO in 2020.
 1) Keyword Research: The video should be built around the
Keyword research is the most important keyword and it should genuinely contain
point in YouTube SEO. Marketers should information related to the keyword. Multiple
identify various terms (which are considered keywords can be used in a single video but it
as ‘Keywords’) which viewers search on is recommended to use only few keywords
YouTube. Videos should be created around in a single video.
Keywords. Keywords should be used in the
video, video title, tags etc. Exact match as 2) Tags:
well as similar keywords should be used in a Tags are the terms or words video
video. creators/marketers use in the description of
(12)
While considering the keywords for video, YouTube videos . YouTube allows
keyword search volume should be multiple tags for every video. Five to eight
considered. Keywords with few search tags should be used for each video for
(13)
volumes will give few views. So, keywords optimization . Tags should be related to
should be substantial search volume. video, so that YouTube can send a particular
Keyword search volume can be found with traffic searching for the video regarding the
the help of various paid tools such as tags.
Ahrefs.com, Semrush.com. Keyword ideas Tags can be copied from competitor videos
can be freely identified with the help of with the help of some paid tools such as
YouTube suggested videos. Popular videos ytubetool.com, tubebuddy.com
in the same niche can be viewed to find After creating the video tags should be
keywords for free (11). identified. Tags should be related to video
While creating any new video first important which can give indication to YouTube about
point should be taken care is the ‘Keyword the topic of video. Tags should be related to
Research’. Keyword should be researched the search queries which people usually
with keyword research tools and search on the YouTube when they want to
competition should be identified for the watch a particular video. Adding popular
keyword. If competition is high for the tags which are not related to the video must
keyword then it will be difficult to rank the be avoided as it will give wrong indication
video. So, an alternative keyword should be to YouTube algorithm. Wrong tags will
identified. increase the bounce rate of the video.
 3) Length of Video:
YouTube is a video sharing platform difficult to rank the video, a huge amount of
which allows creators to upload effort is required to rank the video. If the
videos of any length. Videos with keyword has low competition then it is
short length are generally considered comparatively easy to rank the video.
as less informative. Hence YouTube So, creators should first analyze the
generally prefers and ranks videos competition in the niche and competition for
with longer length (14). the particular keyword. Keyword
Creator should consider this point competition can be analyzed with the help of
while creating the videos. The video paid YouTube SEO tools such as
should contain in depth information Keywordtool.io, Kparser, and Keyword Keg
(15)
so that it will be of more length and . It's always recommended to start with
more informative. Unnecessary low competition keywords. After certain
increasing the length of video should experience of video creation, the creator can
be avoided because this will lose the go for high competition keywords.
interest of viewers and search Competition should be analyzed before
rankings may go down. making the video. It is easy to dominate in
Video creator should identify topics the less competition hence first preference
which can justice to a long video. should be given to less competitive niches. It
Small length videos should be is not impossible to rank high in more
avoided as it is less preferred by the competitive keywords. High end video
YouTube. Video should have in quality, good quality sound recording, low
depth information and the viewer bounce rate, high Click Through Rate etc.
should get the satisfaction after can rank the video even if in high
watching the video. Unnecessarily competition.
increasing the length of video should
be avoided as it will lower the 5) Click Through Rate (CTR):
audience retention. Click Through Rate is one of the most
important SEO factors on YouTube. It is
4) Competition: shown in percentage value. CTR is the
Competition in the niche or competition for percentage of viewers click on your video
a keyword is very important in SEO. If the when it is shown to them as search results.
keyword has high competition then it is If CTR is low then YouTube considers it as
a negative factor & lower the video tendency to leave the video in between and
rankings (16). jump on any other video. This gives low
So, it is important to have a good retention. If viewers see the maximum
Click Through Rate for every video. length of video then that gives a high
That means your video should retention rate.
appear in the search results as well as To get maximum retention it is important
it should be clicked by a maximum that the video should do the justice to the
number of viewers. expectations of the viewers. If viewers find
To get maximum CTR, creators that the video is not providing the
should focus on the thumbnail & title information as per expectations then viewers
of video. The thumbnail is a picture leave the video.
or video icon which represents the The creator should take care that video
(17)
video . Thumbnails should be should be in line with the title and
attractive, clear and customized. keywords. If the viewer finds that title is
Viewers should be tempted to click different from the video content then
on the thumbnail after seeing it. Title viewers will leave the video. Thumbnail
should be self-explanatory. Viewers should not be Click bait (false claims). It has
should be able to guess about the been observed that click bait thumbnails
video after reading the title. Main give low audience retention.
keyword should be mentioned in the To achieve high audience retention, the
title which gives a positive sign to video should be made more engaging. Value
YouTube. should be provided to the viewer throughout
To achieve high CTR the title & the video. Viewer should not feel bored
thumbnail should be attractive. No while watching the video. Some surprise
‘Click bait’ should be used. The title elements can be added in between or at the
and thumbnail should be related to end of the video. This will motivate the
the video and should not make any viewers to watch the video till end.
false claims.
7) Like, Comment and Share:
6) Audience Retention: If viewers hit the like button after
Audience retention is the percentage of watching the video then it gives the
video watched by the viewers. It is in the indication to YouTube algorithm that
(18)
percentage value . Viewers have a
 viewers are linking the video content & the should not be written only considering the
video appears in more search results. YouTube algorithm (21).
If viewers comment on the video or share Video description should give information
the video that means viewers are engaging about the video. Video description must
with the video. That means the video has have few keywords related to the video.
engaging content. So, visibility of video will Exact match keywords related to the video
increase in more search results at higher can rank the video fast. So, creators should
rankings (19). avoid using broad keywords and should use
It is observed that viewers don’t like, exact match keywords.
comment and share the video themselves
(20)
. So, it is advised to ask the viewers to 9) Closed Captions
like, comment & share. YouTube algorithm cannot watch or listen to
Viewers should be told by the creator to the video. It ranks the videos on the basis of
like, shares the video and to comments on the text associated with the video. Adding
the video. Innovative methods such as Closed Caption can be a good SEO strategy
asking questions, experiences related to the to make the video search worthy.
video can increase the likes, comments and Closed Captions are useful in terms of
shares of the video. mobile phone video viewers. Closed
Captions can be more helpful in the case of
8) Video Description: audio disturbance for viewers (22).
Video Description is the description Creators should involve closed captions in
provided by the creator about the video. It is all of their videos. Close caption will make
in the written format. It will help the viewers an ease for YouTube algorithm to identify
to judge the video and they can make the the topic and content of the video. It will
decision whether to watch the video. give boost in ranking.
While writing the description it is useful to
use keywords in it. Keywords can appear 10) Keep Viewers on YouTube
multiple times in the description. Video It is very logical that YouTube will prefer
creators can set the mindset of viewers about the videos which keep the viewers on the
(23)
the video with the description. The platform . If any video motivates the
description should be natural and easy to viewers to go on another platform after
understand for the viewers. The description watching the video then it can be a loss-
making proposal for YouTube.
If viewers remain on YouTube then they keywords should be considered for making
will watch more videos, more ads shown to Videos.
the viewers and more revenue will be Tags should be used in limit. Tags should
generated by YouTube. give proper indication to YouTube
Creators should try to engage and keep the algorithm. Best way to use the tags is to
viewers on the YouTube platform. If videos analyze it from competitor’s videos. Click
motivate viewers to go to another platform Through rate should be maintained by the
after watching video then it will be a title, thumbnail in line with video content.
negative factor for YouTube. So, creator can Video description also need to give correct
refer the viewers to other videos made by information regarding the video and should
him/her. This will keep the viewer on the not mislead the viewers. All of this will
platform and also improve viewership of ensure the audience retention. Audience
YouTube channel. retention will be considered as a positive
sign by YouTube algorithm and the video

5. Conclusion will be recommended to more viewers.

With the help of ‘Search Engine
YouTube is a very competitive but second
Optimization’ Techniques in this research
biggest search engine hence
paper, high video rakings can be achieved
marketers/content creators cannot avoid it.
on YouTube in 2020.
Merely recording and uploading video on
YouTube will not guarantee the views. The
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