Even though businesses are aware of the important roles of videos, very few are actually including clips in their SEO plans. Granted, website optimization should be done in accordance with the Google standards. However, I believe that a truly successful SEO campaign that is able to raise awareness about your brand should also include the world’s second largest search engine, YouTube.

It is necessary to mention that uploading videos on YouTube presents two big advantages. First off, since you will not need to invest extra in purchasing additional bandwidth for web hosting, you will be saving a lot of cash. In addition, YouTube videos benefit from trouble-free embedding, fast indexing and can help your websites easily earn a few positions in the SERP.

Since we’re discussing about a brand awareness campaign, the best approach implies taking advantage of the YouTube customization settings and creating your own business channel. Let’s explore the various available optimizations you can make in order to increase its usability.

Start with your profile

The great thing about the old YouTube profiles was that you could add a link to them. Although this option has been removed, many believe that the plain text About section creates more opportunities to connect with your audience. Here is what the section should contain:

• Craft a small summary of the channel where you explain what your audience should expect to find here
• Add the links to your social profiles. Take note that you can only add three social profile links (Google+, Twitter and Facebook)
• Include other important links to your homepage and blogs

On a side note, when creating your profile you will observe an additional text field, just below the links area. I strongly suggest that you write about the YouTube channel in the upper text box and use the lower text field to present yourself or your business. Because you can introduce keywords in both sections, I also recommend you use them wisely, as they will count for search ranking.

Because the YouTube channels include a wide array of background pictures, you will be able to select a suitable one that mirrors your business and helps you promote your company, services and products in a unique way.

However, I should also warn you that this option is not fully optimized and chances are that the background will not show properly on all screen resolutions. In this regards, most SEO professionals agree that a plain image works best for all resolutions and it will aid to draw attention to the content included in the channel.

About YouTube channels, relevant keywords and valuable links

Since you can edit the name and the main description of the YouTube channel, you have the perfect opportunity to introduce the keywords that relate to your business and that have a significant search volume results. While you are able to insert a few tags in the main description, it is advisable that they summarize the channel and not your business homepage. The links to your homepage should only be present in the About section.

Choose the most suitable display method for your channel

The YouTube channel can be edited to the extent that it becomes a mini presentation of your homepage. Even though you can also choose between 4 options at the moment, they are comprehensive and, believe it or not, efficient:

• The ‘Everything’ display is self-explanatory: by selecting this option you will have a featured video, followed by the featured playlists and channels, in this order
• In the eventuality that you want to aggregate content on the channel or you intend to create additional channels in the future, then the ‘Network’ display is your best option.
• The ‘Blogger’ option will display your videos in a chronological featured playlist or/and your recent activity
• The ‘Creator’ option is the most popular options for many businesses mainly because the display (featured video on top and the featured playlist below) offers the perfect opportunity to present a large percentage of the content in a single glimpse.

Don’t forget about the user experience!

In order to ensure a satisfying user experience on your channel, you should be careful what sharing option settings you select. While you will be tempted to select the share everything and reach broader audiences, keep in mind that your YouTube activity is public and can have an impact on your homepage feed and social profiles.

We are from Evolve Media and we are particularly interested in the impact and role of videos in SEO. For video production in New York ranging from short films to commercials to viral videos – trust us when we say we know a thing or two about it!