Hiya! I began with eBay SEO in 2001 and wasn’t aware what it was called. Before I was self employed I hit Google page 1, top of the shop with Funky Pigeon and went on to grow a furnishings company from 2m to 5m in four years. My own business was eCommerce with 12” records when I was a vinyl DJ in 2001.
I’ve been a freelancer for 16 years and I’ve got availability in June 2024. Send me a message via my contact form if you’d like to chat with me about anything. My ideal client would be an agency owner looking for an ad hoc white label SEO for a difficult project, or an SME switching to build a digital marketing team from scratch.
- Ask Jeeves, eBay, YouTube, Technics, Funky Pigeon ‘personalised cards’, Comfy Living ‘futons’, Rated People UK and Glastonbury Glamping Retreat.
eBay selling 12″ vinyl records, now I know eBay acts similar to search engines such as Google and Bing, but it’s got its own set of algorithms to determine how listings are ranked. This process is known as search engine optimisation (SEO), but within the context of eBay, it’s often referred to as eBay SEO.
Ebay shares some fundamental similarities with broader search engine optimisation strategies. Factors such as the relevance of the listing to the search query, the quality and clarity of the listing (including images and descriptions, videos), the seller’s performance and feedback trust, and the price point are all taken into account. In all of my listings there was unique content, which is a respected SEO benefit.
I’m sure you’ve seen eBay listings appear in Google search engine results pages (SERPs), as essentially they are webpages that can be indexed by Google’s search engine.
YouTube videos can also rank in Google SERPs.
- YouTube rolled out in Valentine’s Day in 2005. In October 2006, YouTube was purchased by Google.
- Verify on YouTube
There’s 3 levels of YouTube verification, each level gives you different features.
- Standard: For a brand new channel you’ll be able to upload a 15 minute video immediately without mobile phone verification and create a playlist. You are also able to: Comment on other videos, Subscribe and access basic channel analytics.
- Intermediate: Verify with your phone and upload videos longer than 15 minutes, apply to livestream (24 hour wait), host podcasts and upload a custom thumbnail for CTR and maximum impact
- Advanced: For creators and monetization, over 100,000 subscribers
Creators can also benefit with different levels, you can apply here for a Creator Award. To be eligible for a Creator Award, you need to meet the following guidelines:
- Pass a specific subscriber milestone:
- Silver: When you reach 100,000 subscribers
- Gold: When you reach 1,000,000 subscribers
- Diamond: When you reach 10,000,000 subscribers
- Red Diamond: When you reach 100,000,000 subscribers
- Your channel is active and has uploads within the last 6 months.
- You don’t have an active Community Guidelines violation, and haven’t received any in the last 365 days.
3. Backlinking on your channel before uploading
You can add up to 14 links on your YouTube channel Home tab. Your first link will be prominently displayed in the profile section near the subscribe button, and your remaining links will show when your audience clicks to see more links.
Sign in to YouTube Studio > Left menu > Customization > Basic info
4. Basic SEO (Advanced on blog post) also applies to Facebook Watch, Dailymotion, Twitch and Vimeo Vimeo is older than YouTube – Vimeo was launched in November 2004
Semantic Keyword research using Google Trends and YouTube statistics
Your video needs to be high quality and SEO’d to have a chance at being picked up by Google to be included in the SERPs. I’ll take you through my method and explain some finer details with Google search in mind. SEO semantic keywords are different words or phrases that mean the same thing or are related, helping your content to show up in more searches.
Terrific DJ Tights – Title Description Hashtags and categories
Exactly the same as on-page SEO, begin your title with your most important keywords, followed by semantic keywords and lastly if you have enough characters, your brand name last.
These are not hard and fast rules, if you do need to launch a new brand then perhaps you’ll need to use your brand name first. With international SEO you may prefer to have your products or services at the beginning of the title.
Write your web page or blog post content first, then drop into your video description. You’ve got 5,000 characters including spaces, so don’t just copy and paste. You can human edit to avoid duplicate content, sometimes I regenerate using Claude AI or ChatGPT4 for maximum productivity.
YouTube Indexing with Hashtags
Visibility: The first three hashtags in the description usually appear above the video title and can be clicked by viewers to find other videos with the same hashtag.
Searchability: Hashtags make videos more discoverable in YouTube search results. If someone clicks on or searches for a hashtag, YouTube will show a page with videos that have that hashtag in the description.
Categorisation: They categorise content, making it easier for viewers to find related videos on a particular topic. This is exactly like CMS blog categories and the ways they act as internal linking and create a mini library for your website.
Trending Topics: Popular and trending hashtags can increase the chances of a video being found in search queries or related video suggestions for that topic.
Nina Payne – Speaker Deck and Brighton Photos
MrBeast has exceeded $35 million in donations to various causes – YouTube video SEO success attributed to dubbing in 11 languages
TeamSeas: Raised $30 million to remove 30 million pounds of ocean trash, involving numerous other content creators.
YouTube Features
YouTube features to optimise: Title, Description, Made for Kids, Tags, Date, Location, Languages, Thumbnail, Playlists, Audience, Visibility Settings, Monetization, End Screens and Annotations, Cards, Captions, Advanced Settings and Chapter Markers
High-Quality Content: Both YouTube and on-page SEO value informative, engaging, and well-researched content that satisfies user intent. Keyword Optimisation: Including relevant and semantic keywords in titles, descriptions, and throughout the content helps both platforms understand your content and rank it for relevant searches. User Engagement: Keeping users engaged with your content is important for both YouTube and on-page SEO. This can be measured by watch time on YouTube and metrics like bounce rate and time on page for websites. Technical SEO: Having a technically sound website with fast loading speed and mobile-friendliness is crucial for on-page SEO, and YouTube also prioritizes a smooth viewing experience.- Title: Enter a compelling title that clearly describes the video content.
- Description: Provide a detailed description of the video. You can include links, hashtags, and other important information here.
- Made for Kids: Specify whether the video is specifically made for kids, affecting how the video is treated under COPPA regulations.
- Tags: Add relevant tags to help with video discovery. Use keywords related to the video content.
- Date: Set the recording date of the video if relevant.
- Location: Add the location where the video was filmed, aiding in local discovery.
- Languages: Specify the video and metadata languages, improving accessibility and searchability.
Youtube Video upload process (Continued)
- Thumbnail: Upload a custom thumbnail that represents the video content. Verified accounts have access to this feature, which is critical for improving click-through rates.
- Playlists: Add the video to one of your existing playlists or create a new one. This helps in organizing your content and increases video views through playlist views.
- Audience: Confirm whether your content contains ads that are only suitable for an adult audience.
- Visibility Settings: Choose between Public, Unlisted, Private, or Schedule. If you select “Schedule,” you can set a specific date and time for your video to go live.
- Monetization: Enable or disable monetization for the video. You can customize the ad settings, choosing where ads appear in your video and what types of ads are shown.
- End Screens and Annotations: Add end screens to promote other videos, encourage subscriptions, and more. Annotations can direct viewers to other videos, channels, or external links.
- Cards: Insert interactive cards to promote other content or links within your video. These can be used to direct viewers to a specific URL, promote merchandise, solicit donations, or recommend other videos.
- Captions: Upload or create captions for your video. This enhances accessibility and can contribute to a wider audience reach.
- Advanced Settings: Here, you can enable or disable comments, choose license types (Standard YouTube License or Creative Commons), declare if the video contains paid promotion, and set age restrictions.
- Chapter Markers: Add timestamps in the video description to create chapter markers, making your video easier to navigate.
Video Creation Idea – Customer testimonials
https://www.inc.com/gordon-tredgold/20-reasons-why-you-should-boost-your-video-marketing-budget-in-2017.html
Citations and further reading
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0029/265376/media-nations-report-2023.pdf
https://thesocialshepherd.com/blog/video-marketing-statistics
Google Search Central (2022). Optimise videos for YouTube & video
YouTube Creator Insider (2021). How YouTube Search Works
Twitter’s outgoing European vice-president, Bruce Daisley never imagined his future would encompass Silicon Valley, started out his working life at McDonald’s. He also ran YouTube in the UK between 2008 and 2011. I saw Bruce at a social media conference in London back when he’d joined YouTube. A lot of my Video SEO techniques are as a direct result of listening to his presentation.
Backlinko (2023). YouTube SEO: How to Rank YouTube Videos in 2023. https://backlinko.com/hub/youtube/seo
Matthew Woodman (2022). YouTube SEO in 2022: The Complete Guide. https://www.matthewwoodward.co.uk/seo/youtube/
If you’ve got this far email me your address and I’ll send you snacks and chocolate through the post. I’m serious. I’ve got great experience with working for project managers and learning from them to be my own freelance project manager. If you want an SEO-led team for your new domain, I’m your gal. Equally, I work 1-2-1 directly with local clients and eCommerce sole traders.
