Engaging Stories, Expanding Audiences: Top Three Methods

The Best Storytelling Techniques to Grow Your YouTube Channel

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.

Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:

• Method 1: CREATE SUSPENSE
• Method 2: USE EMPATHY
• Method 3: TAKE THE AUDIENCE ON A MEANINGFUL JOURNEY

1. Create Suspense

The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.

The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.

What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?

When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.

Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:

- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)

- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)

- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)

- Limited time (example: prom is next week)

- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)

You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!

Raise Questions After Questions

A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.

For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?

This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.

Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.

Include a Cliffhanger

We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.

But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.

In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.

How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger

Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.

Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.

A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.

Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.

Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .

Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:

1. Slow Down and Have Pauses

As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.

Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.

2. Use Repetition

Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.

In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.

The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?

Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.

The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.

2. Use Empathy

A storyteller must be empathetic.

If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.

If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.

Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.

Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures

If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.

It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.

However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.

Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.

Evoke the Senses

If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.

Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.

Ask yourself these questions:

- What does it smell like?

- What can you hear?

- What do you see?

- What can you physically feel?

This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.

Use Metaphors

As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.

If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”

That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.

By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.

3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey

Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.

- Is it educational?

- Is it entertaining?

- Is it motivational or inspiring?

Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?

YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.

It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.

His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.

Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.

Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers

Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.

Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:

• Method 1: CREATE SUSPENSE
• Method 2: USE EMPATHY
• Method 3: TAKE THE AUDIENCE ON A MEANINGFUL JOURNEY

1. Create Suspense

The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.

The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.

What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?

When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.

Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:

- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)

- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)

- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)

- Limited time (example: prom is next week)

- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)

You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!

Raise Questions After Questions

A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.

For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?

This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.

Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.

Include a Cliffhanger

We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.

But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.

In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.

How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger

Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.

Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.

A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.

Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.

Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .

Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:

1. Slow Down and Have Pauses

As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.

Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.

2. Use Repetition

Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.

In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.

The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?

Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.

The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.

2. Use Empathy

A storyteller must be empathetic.

If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.

If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.

Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.

Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures

If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.

It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.

However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.

Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.

Evoke the Senses

If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.

Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.

Ask yourself these questions:

- What does it smell like?

- What can you hear?

- What do you see?

- What can you physically feel?

This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.

Use Metaphors

As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.

If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”

That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.

By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.

3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey

Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.

- Is it educational?

- Is it entertaining?

- Is it motivational or inspiring?

Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?

YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.

It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.

His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.

Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.

Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers

Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.

Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:

• Method 1: CREATE SUSPENSE
• Method 2: USE EMPATHY
• Method 3: TAKE THE AUDIENCE ON A MEANINGFUL JOURNEY

1. Create Suspense

The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.

The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.

What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?

When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.

Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:

- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)

- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)

- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)

- Limited time (example: prom is next week)

- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)

You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!

Raise Questions After Questions

A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.

For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?

This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.

Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.

Include a Cliffhanger

We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.

But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.

In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.

How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger

Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.

Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.

A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.

Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.

Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .

Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:

1. Slow Down and Have Pauses

As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.

Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.

2. Use Repetition

Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.

In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.

The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?

Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.

The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.

2. Use Empathy

A storyteller must be empathetic.

If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.

If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.

Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.

Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures

If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.

It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.

However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.

Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.

Evoke the Senses

If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.

Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.

Ask yourself these questions:

- What does it smell like?

- What can you hear?

- What do you see?

- What can you physically feel?

This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.

Use Metaphors

As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.

If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”

That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.

By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.

3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey

Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.

- Is it educational?

- Is it entertaining?

- Is it motivational or inspiring?

Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?

YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.

It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.

His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.

Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.

Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers

Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.

Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:

• Method 1: CREATE SUSPENSE
• Method 2: USE EMPATHY
• Method 3: TAKE THE AUDIENCE ON A MEANINGFUL JOURNEY

1. Create Suspense

The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.

The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.

What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?

When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.

Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:

- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)

- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)

- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)

- Limited time (example: prom is next week)

- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)

You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!

Raise Questions After Questions

A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.

For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?

This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.

Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.

Include a Cliffhanger

We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.

But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.

In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.

How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger

Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.

Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.

A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.

Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.

Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .

Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:

1. Slow Down and Have Pauses

As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.

Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.

2. Use Repetition

Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.

In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.

The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?

Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.

The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.

2. Use Empathy

A storyteller must be empathetic.

If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.

If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.

Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.

Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures

If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.

It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.

However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.

Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.

Evoke the Senses

If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.

Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.

Ask yourself these questions:

- What does it smell like?

- What can you hear?

- What do you see?

- What can you physically feel?

This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.

Use Metaphors

As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.

If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”

That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.

By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.

3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey

Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.

- Is it educational?

- Is it entertaining?

- Is it motivational or inspiring?

Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?

YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.

It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.

His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.

Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.

Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers

Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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Elevate Your Video Visibility: 11 Secrets of Successful SEO

Improve Your YouTube Video Performance with Wondershare Filmora

An easy and powerful video editor

Numerous video and audio effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Try It Free Try It Free

More than 85% of businesses use YouTube videos as a marketing tool. YouTube is the second most visited website on the internet, with users uploading over 500 hours of video content every minute. Because video SEO is constantly evolving, you need to stay current on optimization best practices to rank higher on search results.

Luckily, this article offers YouTube SEO tips to help you create a solid strategy that will help you rank your videos.

In this article

How Does YouTube SEO Work?

11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking

How Does YouTube SEO Work?

YouTube SEO is an excellent way to ensure your videos get more views. The main goal of YouTube SEO is to rank high for specific keywords in search engines. As such, it is crucial to know how YouTube SEO works if you want to boost the ranking of your videos.

Whether you are a blogger, market researcher, or video marketer, you need YouTube SEO to generate traffic to your videos. YouTube SEO involves optimizing your videos, channel, descriptions, metadata, and playlists. You can optimize videos for search within and outside YouTube.

Because search engine bots can’t watch YouTube videos, they depend on accompanying text data when indexing them. So you must also know how to harness the power of text in your video, which can positively impact SEO, viewership, engagement, and user experience.

Watch Video: YouTube SEO Tips 2022: Boost Your Video Ranking

11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking

Want to drive more traffic and increase your video views? Here are eleven YouTube SEO tips that will help you to boost your video ranking.

1. Conduct Keyword Research First

When it comes to YouTube SEO, keywords are crucial. YouTube uses these keywords to determine the subject of your video, index the content, and then associate it with what users are searching for. As such, you must add them to certain fields, including description, tags, and title, when you are uploading the video file. YouTube will then get this information and use it to rank your video.

For this reason, you have to know the keywords that best identify your videos and have the potential to attract viewers to your channel.

2. Use a Good Video Title

The title of your video is the first thing other people see, and it’s what decides whether or not they watch it. Given how important it is, you’ll want to make sure that your title accurately reflects the content of your video and includes all relevant keywords.

3. Link Your Videos Directly to Your Website

Each time you publish a new video, make sure you embed it on your website or blog. Not only will this encourage viewers to stay on your website instead of leaving immediately, but it will also make it easier for search engines crawlers to index your website.

4. Add Tags To The Video Description

When you upload your video, remember to add tags to the “About” section of the page. You can do this by adding some relevant keywords with each tag like you would with blog posts.

When planning your strategy for YouTube keywords, you need to find 10-20 single keyword tags you want to rank for; keep in mind that this platform limits the number of tags users can include in a video. So you should first add the most relevant keyword phrases then include specific multi-word tags that will easily rank on top of search results.

5. Edit The Filename

The filename of your video, or the “video URL,” can also affect its rankings. Including keywords in this section will help the crawlers index your video faster, which will increase its chances of ranking higher.

6. Add Subtitles and Closed Captions

Adding subtitles and closed captions to your videos is also a good idea, especially if you want the video’s ranking and viewership to improve. Subtitles make it easier for new viewers to understand your videos, especially if your audience comes from different linguistic backgrounds.

7. Select Video Category

When uploading a video, be sure to select the most appropriate category for it. Essentially, this helps with SEO optimization because choosing the right category means that YouTube’s algorithm will place your video in the proper search results. In turn, viewers will easily find your video and watch it.

8. Use a Compelling Thumbnail

Make sure you use the right YouTube video thumbnail image , as this makes a big difference in the click-through rate. You might want to use high-quality, high-contrast images with a 16:9 aspect ratio. YouTube will choose which frame it will display as the video thumbnail. The platform will present three screenshots that you can choose from; however, you can upload your image or select a shot of another moment in the video.

Remember that YouTube overlays the duration of the video in the corner of your thumbnail. So make sure it does not obstruct any relevant details in your thumbnail. Google also uses image recognition to filter out specific imagery, including the YouTube logo.

Ideally, you need an image that is a perfect visual representation of the keywords you are targeting. In turn, this is going to take your presence in relevant search results even further.

9. Make High-Quality Longer

Videos that are less than 2 minutes long often rank low. The duration of most of the videos in the first five positions is usually 11 minutes 44 seconds. Therefore, you need to invest in longer videos that are around 10 minutes long. These videos meet the expectations of many users seeking complete and in-depth content. Additionally, you should create high-quality videos to ensure your viewers will keep watching.

Create High-Quality YouTube Video with Filmora

Wondershare’s Filmora program allows you to edit your video content with trim, transitions, and overlays. You can also add cool effects to your videos to make them more captivating. It also includes advanced editing features like Key Framing, Motion Tracking and more. Learn about Filmora now!

Improve Your YouTube Video Performance with Wondershare Filmora

An easy and powerful video editor

Numerous video and audio effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Try It Free Try It Free

10. Focus on User Engagement

Encourage your audience to like, comment, and share your videos. You should also respond to messages and comments. These engagement metrics strongly correlate with higher rankings.

Google cares about how people respond to your content because this is what keeps people on their platform.

11. Add End Screens and YouTube Cards

YouTube cards encourage viewers to take action during your video. The cards show up in the top right corner of your videos; users can click on and explore more. Using YouTube cards is an excellent way to boost your ranking. YouTube allows you to add a maximum of five cards to each video.

Conclusion

Using these YouTube SEO tips will ensure that your videos rank on top search results. That means more people will watch your videos and subscribe to your channel. Let’s start editing now!

Try It Free Try It Free

More than 85% of businesses use YouTube videos as a marketing tool. YouTube is the second most visited website on the internet, with users uploading over 500 hours of video content every minute. Because video SEO is constantly evolving, you need to stay current on optimization best practices to rank higher on search results.

Luckily, this article offers YouTube SEO tips to help you create a solid strategy that will help you rank your videos.

In this article

How Does YouTube SEO Work?

11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking

How Does YouTube SEO Work?

YouTube SEO is an excellent way to ensure your videos get more views. The main goal of YouTube SEO is to rank high for specific keywords in search engines. As such, it is crucial to know how YouTube SEO works if you want to boost the ranking of your videos.

Whether you are a blogger, market researcher, or video marketer, you need YouTube SEO to generate traffic to your videos. YouTube SEO involves optimizing your videos, channel, descriptions, metadata, and playlists. You can optimize videos for search within and outside YouTube.

Because search engine bots can’t watch YouTube videos, they depend on accompanying text data when indexing them. So you must also know how to harness the power of text in your video, which can positively impact SEO, viewership, engagement, and user experience.

Watch Video: YouTube SEO Tips 2022: Boost Your Video Ranking

11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking

Want to drive more traffic and increase your video views? Here are eleven YouTube SEO tips that will help you to boost your video ranking.

1. Conduct Keyword Research First

When it comes to YouTube SEO, keywords are crucial. YouTube uses these keywords to determine the subject of your video, index the content, and then associate it with what users are searching for. As such, you must add them to certain fields, including description, tags, and title, when you are uploading the video file. YouTube will then get this information and use it to rank your video.

For this reason, you have to know the keywords that best identify your videos and have the potential to attract viewers to your channel.

2. Use a Good Video Title

The title of your video is the first thing other people see, and it’s what decides whether or not they watch it. Given how important it is, you’ll want to make sure that your title accurately reflects the content of your video and includes all relevant keywords.

3. Link Your Videos Directly to Your Website

Each time you publish a new video, make sure you embed it on your website or blog. Not only will this encourage viewers to stay on your website instead of leaving immediately, but it will also make it easier for search engines crawlers to index your website.

4. Add Tags To The Video Description

When you upload your video, remember to add tags to the “About” section of the page. You can do this by adding some relevant keywords with each tag like you would with blog posts.

When planning your strategy for YouTube keywords, you need to find 10-20 single keyword tags you want to rank for; keep in mind that this platform limits the number of tags users can include in a video. So you should first add the most relevant keyword phrases then include specific multi-word tags that will easily rank on top of search results.

5. Edit The Filename

The filename of your video, or the “video URL,” can also affect its rankings. Including keywords in this section will help the crawlers index your video faster, which will increase its chances of ranking higher.

6. Add Subtitles and Closed Captions

Adding subtitles and closed captions to your videos is also a good idea, especially if you want the video’s ranking and viewership to improve. Subtitles make it easier for new viewers to understand your videos, especially if your audience comes from different linguistic backgrounds.

7. Select Video Category

When uploading a video, be sure to select the most appropriate category for it. Essentially, this helps with SEO optimization because choosing the right category means that YouTube’s algorithm will place your video in the proper search results. In turn, viewers will easily find your video and watch it.

8. Use a Compelling Thumbnail

Make sure you use the right YouTube video thumbnail image , as this makes a big difference in the click-through rate. You might want to use high-quality, high-contrast images with a 16:9 aspect ratio. YouTube will choose which frame it will display as the video thumbnail. The platform will present three screenshots that you can choose from; however, you can upload your image or select a shot of another moment in the video.

Remember that YouTube overlays the duration of the video in the corner of your thumbnail. So make sure it does not obstruct any relevant details in your thumbnail. Google also uses image recognition to filter out specific imagery, including the YouTube logo.

Ideally, you need an image that is a perfect visual representation of the keywords you are targeting. In turn, this is going to take your presence in relevant search results even further.

9. Make High-Quality Longer

Videos that are less than 2 minutes long often rank low. The duration of most of the videos in the first five positions is usually 11 minutes 44 seconds. Therefore, you need to invest in longer videos that are around 10 minutes long. These videos meet the expectations of many users seeking complete and in-depth content. Additionally, you should create high-quality videos to ensure your viewers will keep watching.

Create High-Quality YouTube Video with Filmora

Wondershare’s Filmora program allows you to edit your video content with trim, transitions, and overlays. You can also add cool effects to your videos to make them more captivating. It also includes advanced editing features like Key Framing, Motion Tracking and more. Learn about Filmora now!

Improve Your YouTube Video Performance with Wondershare Filmora

An easy and powerful video editor

Numerous video and audio effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Try It Free Try It Free

10. Focus on User Engagement

Encourage your audience to like, comment, and share your videos. You should also respond to messages and comments. These engagement metrics strongly correlate with higher rankings.

Google cares about how people respond to your content because this is what keeps people on their platform.

11. Add End Screens and YouTube Cards

YouTube cards encourage viewers to take action during your video. The cards show up in the top right corner of your videos; users can click on and explore more. Using YouTube cards is an excellent way to boost your ranking. YouTube allows you to add a maximum of five cards to each video.

Conclusion

Using these YouTube SEO tips will ensure that your videos rank on top search results. That means more people will watch your videos and subscribe to your channel. Let’s start editing now!

Try It Free Try It Free

More than 85% of businesses use YouTube videos as a marketing tool. YouTube is the second most visited website on the internet, with users uploading over 500 hours of video content every minute. Because video SEO is constantly evolving, you need to stay current on optimization best practices to rank higher on search results.

Luckily, this article offers YouTube SEO tips to help you create a solid strategy that will help you rank your videos.

In this article

How Does YouTube SEO Work?

11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking

How Does YouTube SEO Work?

YouTube SEO is an excellent way to ensure your videos get more views. The main goal of YouTube SEO is to rank high for specific keywords in search engines. As such, it is crucial to know how YouTube SEO works if you want to boost the ranking of your videos.

Whether you are a blogger, market researcher, or video marketer, you need YouTube SEO to generate traffic to your videos. YouTube SEO involves optimizing your videos, channel, descriptions, metadata, and playlists. You can optimize videos for search within and outside YouTube.

Because search engine bots can’t watch YouTube videos, they depend on accompanying text data when indexing them. So you must also know how to harness the power of text in your video, which can positively impact SEO, viewership, engagement, and user experience.

Watch Video: YouTube SEO Tips 2022: Boost Your Video Ranking

11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking

Want to drive more traffic and increase your video views? Here are eleven YouTube SEO tips that will help you to boost your video ranking.

1. Conduct Keyword Research First

When it comes to YouTube SEO, keywords are crucial. YouTube uses these keywords to determine the subject of your video, index the content, and then associate it with what users are searching for. As such, you must add them to certain fields, including description, tags, and title, when you are uploading the video file. YouTube will then get this information and use it to rank your video.

For this reason, you have to know the keywords that best identify your videos and have the potential to attract viewers to your channel.

2. Use a Good Video Title

The title of your video is the first thing other people see, and it’s what decides whether or not they watch it. Given how important it is, you’ll want to make sure that your title accurately reflects the content of your video and includes all relevant keywords.

3. Link Your Videos Directly to Your Website

Each time you publish a new video, make sure you embed it on your website or blog. Not only will this encourage viewers to stay on your website instead of leaving immediately, but it will also make it easier for search engines crawlers to index your website.

4. Add Tags To The Video Description

When you upload your video, remember to add tags to the “About” section of the page. You can do this by adding some relevant keywords with each tag like you would with blog posts.

When planning your strategy for YouTube keywords, you need to find 10-20 single keyword tags you want to rank for; keep in mind that this platform limits the number of tags users can include in a video. So you should first add the most relevant keyword phrases then include specific multi-word tags that will easily rank on top of search results.

5. Edit The Filename

The filename of your video, or the “video URL,” can also affect its rankings. Including keywords in this section will help the crawlers index your video faster, which will increase its chances of ranking higher.

6. Add Subtitles and Closed Captions

Adding subtitles and closed captions to your videos is also a good idea, especially if you want the video’s ranking and viewership to improve. Subtitles make it easier for new viewers to understand your videos, especially if your audience comes from different linguistic backgrounds.

7. Select Video Category

When uploading a video, be sure to select the most appropriate category for it. Essentially, this helps with SEO optimization because choosing the right category means that YouTube’s algorithm will place your video in the proper search results. In turn, viewers will easily find your video and watch it.

8. Use a Compelling Thumbnail

Make sure you use the right YouTube video thumbnail image , as this makes a big difference in the click-through rate. You might want to use high-quality, high-contrast images with a 16:9 aspect ratio. YouTube will choose which frame it will display as the video thumbnail. The platform will present three screenshots that you can choose from; however, you can upload your image or select a shot of another moment in the video.

Remember that YouTube overlays the duration of the video in the corner of your thumbnail. So make sure it does not obstruct any relevant details in your thumbnail. Google also uses image recognition to filter out specific imagery, including the YouTube logo.

Ideally, you need an image that is a perfect visual representation of the keywords you are targeting. In turn, this is going to take your presence in relevant search results even further.

9. Make High-Quality Longer

Videos that are less than 2 minutes long often rank low. The duration of most of the videos in the first five positions is usually 11 minutes 44 seconds. Therefore, you need to invest in longer videos that are around 10 minutes long. These videos meet the expectations of many users seeking complete and in-depth content. Additionally, you should create high-quality videos to ensure your viewers will keep watching.

Create High-Quality YouTube Video with Filmora

Wondershare’s Filmora program allows you to edit your video content with trim, transitions, and overlays. You can also add cool effects to your videos to make them more captivating. It also includes advanced editing features like Key Framing, Motion Tracking and more. Learn about Filmora now!

Improve Your YouTube Video Performance with Wondershare Filmora

An easy and powerful video editor

Numerous video and audio effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Try It Free Try It Free

10. Focus on User Engagement

Encourage your audience to like, comment, and share your videos. You should also respond to messages and comments. These engagement metrics strongly correlate with higher rankings.

Google cares about how people respond to your content because this is what keeps people on their platform.

11. Add End Screens and YouTube Cards

YouTube cards encourage viewers to take action during your video. The cards show up in the top right corner of your videos; users can click on and explore more. Using YouTube cards is an excellent way to boost your ranking. YouTube allows you to add a maximum of five cards to each video.

Conclusion

Using these YouTube SEO tips will ensure that your videos rank on top search results. That means more people will watch your videos and subscribe to your channel. Let’s start editing now!

Try It Free Try It Free

More than 85% of businesses use YouTube videos as a marketing tool. YouTube is the second most visited website on the internet, with users uploading over 500 hours of video content every minute. Because video SEO is constantly evolving, you need to stay current on optimization best practices to rank higher on search results.

Luckily, this article offers YouTube SEO tips to help you create a solid strategy that will help you rank your videos.

In this article

How Does YouTube SEO Work?

11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking

How Does YouTube SEO Work?

YouTube SEO is an excellent way to ensure your videos get more views. The main goal of YouTube SEO is to rank high for specific keywords in search engines. As such, it is crucial to know how YouTube SEO works if you want to boost the ranking of your videos.

Whether you are a blogger, market researcher, or video marketer, you need YouTube SEO to generate traffic to your videos. YouTube SEO involves optimizing your videos, channel, descriptions, metadata, and playlists. You can optimize videos for search within and outside YouTube.

Because search engine bots can’t watch YouTube videos, they depend on accompanying text data when indexing them. So you must also know how to harness the power of text in your video, which can positively impact SEO, viewership, engagement, and user experience.

Watch Video: YouTube SEO Tips 2022: Boost Your Video Ranking

11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking

Want to drive more traffic and increase your video views? Here are eleven YouTube SEO tips that will help you to boost your video ranking.

1. Conduct Keyword Research First

When it comes to YouTube SEO, keywords are crucial. YouTube uses these keywords to determine the subject of your video, index the content, and then associate it with what users are searching for. As such, you must add them to certain fields, including description, tags, and title, when you are uploading the video file. YouTube will then get this information and use it to rank your video.

For this reason, you have to know the keywords that best identify your videos and have the potential to attract viewers to your channel.

2. Use a Good Video Title

The title of your video is the first thing other people see, and it’s what decides whether or not they watch it. Given how important it is, you’ll want to make sure that your title accurately reflects the content of your video and includes all relevant keywords.

3. Link Your Videos Directly to Your Website

Each time you publish a new video, make sure you embed it on your website or blog. Not only will this encourage viewers to stay on your website instead of leaving immediately, but it will also make it easier for search engines crawlers to index your website.

4. Add Tags To The Video Description

When you upload your video, remember to add tags to the “About” section of the page. You can do this by adding some relevant keywords with each tag like you would with blog posts.

When planning your strategy for YouTube keywords, you need to find 10-20 single keyword tags you want to rank for; keep in mind that this platform limits the number of tags users can include in a video. So you should first add the most relevant keyword phrases then include specific multi-word tags that will easily rank on top of search results.

5. Edit The Filename

The filename of your video, or the “video URL,” can also affect its rankings. Including keywords in this section will help the crawlers index your video faster, which will increase its chances of ranking higher.

6. Add Subtitles and Closed Captions

Adding subtitles and closed captions to your videos is also a good idea, especially if you want the video’s ranking and viewership to improve. Subtitles make it easier for new viewers to understand your videos, especially if your audience comes from different linguistic backgrounds.

7. Select Video Category

When uploading a video, be sure to select the most appropriate category for it. Essentially, this helps with SEO optimization because choosing the right category means that YouTube’s algorithm will place your video in the proper search results. In turn, viewers will easily find your video and watch it.

8. Use a Compelling Thumbnail

Make sure you use the right YouTube video thumbnail image , as this makes a big difference in the click-through rate. You might want to use high-quality, high-contrast images with a 16:9 aspect ratio. YouTube will choose which frame it will display as the video thumbnail. The platform will present three screenshots that you can choose from; however, you can upload your image or select a shot of another moment in the video.

Remember that YouTube overlays the duration of the video in the corner of your thumbnail. So make sure it does not obstruct any relevant details in your thumbnail. Google also uses image recognition to filter out specific imagery, including the YouTube logo.

Ideally, you need an image that is a perfect visual representation of the keywords you are targeting. In turn, this is going to take your presence in relevant search results even further.

9. Make High-Quality Longer

Videos that are less than 2 minutes long often rank low. The duration of most of the videos in the first five positions is usually 11 minutes 44 seconds. Therefore, you need to invest in longer videos that are around 10 minutes long. These videos meet the expectations of many users seeking complete and in-depth content. Additionally, you should create high-quality videos to ensure your viewers will keep watching.

Create High-Quality YouTube Video with Filmora

Wondershare’s Filmora program allows you to edit your video content with trim, transitions, and overlays. You can also add cool effects to your videos to make them more captivating. It also includes advanced editing features like Key Framing, Motion Tracking and more. Learn about Filmora now!

Improve Your YouTube Video Performance with Wondershare Filmora

An easy and powerful video editor

Numerous video and audio effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Try It Free Try It Free

10. Focus on User Engagement

Encourage your audience to like, comment, and share your videos. You should also respond to messages and comments. These engagement metrics strongly correlate with higher rankings.

Google cares about how people respond to your content because this is what keeps people on their platform.

11. Add End Screens and YouTube Cards

YouTube cards encourage viewers to take action during your video. The cards show up in the top right corner of your videos; users can click on and explore more. Using YouTube cards is an excellent way to boost your ranking. YouTube allows you to add a maximum of five cards to each video.

Conclusion

Using these YouTube SEO tips will ensure that your videos rank on top search results. That means more people will watch your videos and subscribe to your channel. Let’s start editing now!

Also read: