Not every YouTube SEO tip and strategy you read out there is valid. In fact, there’s some very prevalent video SEO tactics that are actually false. Following…
I highly encourage +YouTube to put more SEO weight on “Average View
Duration %” than “Total Watch Time”. Doing so will:
1) Promote engaging content (long & short) over simply long content. As a
viewer, I’d rather be given an amazing 2 minute video that holds my
attention the entire 2 minutes THAN be given a 10 minute video that is
boring enough to make me leave at the 3 minute mark.
2) Promote quality over popularity. Example: Imagine PewDiePie releases a
video called “Top 10 YouTube SEO Myths” that is so bad every viewer leaves
at 30 seconds. The video will still easily receive 500,000 minutes of watch
time due to his popularity. Now imagine RealSEO’s video of the same name is
the greatest video ever made on the topic and receives 100% retention. It
will likely receive less than 50,000 minutes of watch time. YouTube should
not consider PewDiePie’s video to be 10 times better than RealSEO’s video.
3) Promote accurate thumbnails. A misleading thumbnail can increase a
videos “Total Watch Time” but it will hinder it’s “Average View Duration
%”. Don’t reward misleading thumbnails that increase total watch time.
4) Promote longer viewing sessions across all of YouTube. If I watch 5
videos (say each 2-minutes in length) which retain my attention the entire
length of each video (10 minutes of watch time), I’m going to say “wow,
every video I watch is really good! I want to watch more YouTube videos!”
Instead, if I watch 5 videos (say each 6-minutes in length) but I leave
halfway through each video, even though I’ve generated a 50% higher total
watch time (15 minutes), I’m going to say “I’m getting bored halfway
through every video I watch” and will leave YouTube.
5)…I can keep going but I suspect my “Average View Duration %” on this
comment is getting pretty low at this point…. ;)
Whoa Tim, we both released a top 10 video on the same day at the same time!
It’s totally a different type of video, but still… it feels good to know
that I set my videos to release at the same time as the gurus! Once again,
fantastic video. I always wondered how likes, in particular, affected
views. It looks like it’s ALL about watch time. If it helps with watch
time, then it will help… however it gets there is irrelevant. Awesome
once again, master! Also subbed to +Derral Eves from your video creators
vid… man this is GOOD stuff! I’m sharing a lot of the videos and info
with my community so we can grow the genre and get better content. Thanks
again boss!
THANKS for debunking some of these common YouTube #videoseo myths. Really
glad I watched it! Caught myself believing some of these, at least that
they directly are involved in ranking.
So, the bottom line is that it all comes down to creating engaging content
that keeps them watching and inviting your viewers to watch other related
videos of yours or others’ so total Watch Time in the 1st week peeks?
Adequate summary?
If this is the case, it would seem that a very methodical plan of attack
would be in order: Before posting get ready to send that video to your
email list, to relevant forums, to sites who may be interesting in
embedding them, to key influences in your space, and a perhaps even a paid
advertising campaign during the 1st week…
Thought provoking! Thanks again!
Ryan Mendenhall +Mendenhall Creative
PS +ReelSEO rocks!
PPS – Check this out +Jay P Morgan, +John Lindquist, +Lars Lindstrom, +Jarem
Frye, +Michael Van Orden, +Patrick Kajirian, & +Jeff Preston (probably
already knew these).
I really thought that audience engagement (likes, favorites sharing etc)
all directly helped the video rank better. If what you said it true, thanks
for clearing that up.
My question: Is it about the actual watch time or the percentage watched?
Like…
Example 1:
Video length: 10 minutes, average watch time 2 Minutes. 20% average.
Example 2:
Video length 2 minutes, averange watch time: 1:30 75% average
The first indication of any worthwhile video advice is seeing the channel
it comes from. Because often the biggest critics of your videos have
channels set up in 2007 but with a handful of creations, no weeding,
feeding, watering. Zip for numbers which translates into the results.
Great video highlights FYI myth busting for today.
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Nice set of tips from +ReelSEO about YouTube SEO and some myths that are
floating around that have no affect on the rankings.
nice tips tim……..great job……..thanks……… God bless you
That’s allot of number 7’s LOL Anyway, good video as always
Nice set of tips from +ReelSEO about YouTube SEO and some myths that are
floating around that have no affect on the rankings.
I highly encourage +YouTube to put more SEO weight on “Average View
Duration %” than “Total Watch Time”. Doing so will:
1) Promote engaging content (long & short) over simply long content. As a
viewer, I’d rather be given an amazing 2 minute video that holds my
attention the entire 2 minutes THAN be given a 10 minute video that is
boring enough to make me leave at the 3 minute mark.
2) Promote quality over popularity. Example: Imagine PewDiePie releases a
video called “Top 10 YouTube SEO Myths” that is so bad every viewer leaves
at 30 seconds. The video will still easily receive 500,000 minutes of watch
time due to his popularity. Now imagine RealSEO’s video of the same name is
the greatest video ever made on the topic and receives 100% retention. It
will likely receive less than 50,000 minutes of watch time. YouTube should
not consider PewDiePie’s video to be 10 times better than RealSEO’s video.
3) Promote accurate thumbnails. A misleading thumbnail can increase a
videos “Total Watch Time” but it will hinder it’s “Average View Duration
%”. Don’t reward misleading thumbnails that increase total watch time.
4) Promote longer viewing sessions across all of YouTube. If I watch 5
videos (say each 2-minutes in length) which retain my attention the entire
length of each video (10 minutes of watch time), I’m going to say “wow,
every video I watch is really good! I want to watch more YouTube videos!”
Instead, if I watch 5 videos (say each 6-minutes in length) but I leave
halfway through each video, even though I’ve generated a 50% higher total
watch time (15 minutes), I’m going to say “I’m getting bored halfway
through every video I watch” and will leave YouTube.
5)…I can keep going but I suspect my “Average View Duration %” on this
comment is getting pretty low at this point…. ;)
Whoa Tim, we both released a top 10 video on the same day at the same time!
It’s totally a different type of video, but still… it feels good to know
that I set my videos to release at the same time as the gurus! Once again,
fantastic video. I always wondered how likes, in particular, affected
views. It looks like it’s ALL about watch time. If it helps with watch
time, then it will help… however it gets there is irrelevant. Awesome
once again, master! Also subbed to +Derral Eves from your video creators
vid… man this is GOOD stuff! I’m sharing a lot of the videos and info
with my community so we can grow the genre and get better content. Thanks
again boss!
Hey +Tim Schmoyer,
THANKS for debunking some of these common YouTube #videoseo myths. Really
glad I watched it! Caught myself believing some of these, at least that
they directly are involved in ranking.
So, the bottom line is that it all comes down to creating engaging content
that keeps them watching and inviting your viewers to watch other related
videos of yours or others’ so total Watch Time in the 1st week peeks?
Adequate summary?
If this is the case, it would seem that a very methodical plan of attack
would be in order: Before posting get ready to send that video to your
email list, to relevant forums, to sites who may be interesting in
embedding them, to key influences in your space, and a perhaps even a paid
advertising campaign during the 1st week…
Thought provoking! Thanks again!
Ryan Mendenhall +Mendenhall Creative
PS +ReelSEO rocks!
PPS – Check this out +Jay P Morgan, +John Lindquist, +Lars Lindstrom, +Jarem
Frye, +Michael Van Orden, +Patrick Kajirian, & +Jeff Preston (probably
already knew these).
Nice set of tips from +ReelSEO about YouTube SEO and some myths that are
floating around that have no affect on the rankings.
Nice set of tips from +ReelSEO about YouTube SEO and some myths that are
floating around that have no affect on the rankings.
Nice set of tips from +ReelSEO about YouTube SEO and some myths that are
floating around that have no affect on the rankings.
Nice set of tips from +ReelSEO about YouTube SEO and some myths that are
floating around that have no affect on the rankings.
Tim, thank you. This was really helpful.
Thanks for linking me here w00t w00t =]
I really thought that audience engagement (likes, favorites sharing etc)
all directly helped the video rank better. If what you said it true, thanks
for clearing that up.
My question: Is it about the actual watch time or the percentage watched?
Like…
Example 1:
Video length: 10 minutes, average watch time 2 Minutes. 20% average.
Example 2:
Video length 2 minutes, averange watch time: 1:30 75% average
What is better for the Ranking?
nice tips
Top 10 YouTube SEO Myths
The first indication of any worthwhile video advice is seeing the channel
it comes from. Because often the biggest critics of your videos have
channels set up in 2007 but with a handful of creations, no weeding,
feeding, watering. Zip for numbers which translates into the results.
Great video highlights FYI myth busting for today.
Good thoughts and tips. Edit better, every number after 7 had the text on
screen stay at 7.
“Number 11….”
On screen: “7. Video views….”
So fuckin usefull, gj
Overall great and very well made video
Well done
Great info!