What makes a YouTube Video Viral? YouTube SEO and Hidden Tips

The world has typically changed much after the arrival of YouTube, which is a free platform where you can set up, edit and upload your crazy, informational and educational videos in front of a Global audience.

The source which was meant for the entertainment purpose has now become the biggest platform to showcase the talent and earn a good amount of money. YouTube has now become the biggest platform for big businesses to market their product and services.

From a young student to a corporate professional, almost everybody uses YouTube for informational stuff. More than 80% of companies are using YouTube for marketing and generating sales.

Now, you can too showcase your stuff on YouTube and earn money out of it. While the gig sounds cool for many, it is not that easy to generate income out of it. There are various factors on which this depends.

For making a living out of YouTube, you need to follow some important steps that will help you to make big in this competitive market. The root of all the things comes out to be one i.e. “PASSION”. Typically everything in life depends on this ONE WORD.

In this post, I will be discussing some important factors that you need to consider while making a video for your YouTube channel. Everything that you will read further is all based on my personal experience. Well, I don’t rely on YouTube much for my income but I do consider it as a big option in the ongoing scenario.

How to make a YouTube Video? Things You need to consider.

Why do you want to make or upload a video?

This is the question that you should ask yourself before getting started with professional YouTubing. Whether my video will be watched by the public? Is it providing some sort of important information from which the crowd will benefit? Is it entertaining? Is it better than my competitors?

These are some of the questions you should ask yourself before starting with YouTube. The only way you could earn money out of YouTube is to not consider it as a platform for generating money but to provide value to your USERS.

Do I have the necessary equipment to start?

While many YouTubers claim that you don’t need anything to start with YouTube but, remember one thing, “The first impression is your last impression”.

I know that the equipment used by the big names of YouTube are expensive and beyond the reach of many. But you can always start with a good camera and microphone.

If the script of your video is good, video quality is good, audio is good, you have high chances of getting your video viral on the internet. If not that, it would surely generate a good trust among your audience and would further help you in the long run.

I have the necessary equipment. Now, what shall I do?

The starting phase is the most important phase. YouTubing is much like blogging. You should always plan and decide a niche before starting out in both the fields.

Although, sooner or later, if you are delivering great value to your viewers, niche becomes obsolete in that case. Still, it is better to preach about what you know rather than what you think you know.

SO these are some of the points that you should analyze, research and implement while starting with YouTube.

What makes you a YouTube Superstar?- YouTube Basics

1) Never COPY someone else’s content!

You may get viral by copying somebody else but this karma won’t generate any revenue for you. This is because once YouTube finds out that the content is already copyrighted, it may ban your channel or it will transfer the revenue generated by the video to its original creator. So give your time to create your own content rather than wasting your skills on unethical stuff.

2) Keep your video between 3-5 min!

While you may have made the video with much care and passion, do you think people will really watch your video if it is equivalent to a serial episode? No! They have to complete GOT, How I Met Your Mother and the last season of the Big Bang Theory! Still not able to understand? Take one suggestion, keep your videos within the time frame of 5-15 minutes. Once people start showing interest in your videos, you can then upload a feature film starring yourself (pun intended :p).

3) It all starts with a good Thumbnail and Title.

You may have experienced this yourself. You watched a full 3-minute video but it was pathetic and crap. Still, the video has got a million views. Well, I am not saying you to upload a crappy video but, always keep the Title and thumbnail of your video enticing and catchy. You can read about Clickbait if you want to learn what I mean. For thumbnails, practice some basic Photoshop skills and you will be able to create decent pictures after practicing.

4) The first 10 seconds are the power player.

Always add a good intro to your video. This can include a catchy intro including your channel name with a nice background music. You can also create some of the coolest animations by using the free tools available over the web. Look at this intro maker list which consists of the best tools that you can use both online and offline to make an intro for your YouTube channel.

YouTube SEO

• Tags:

Tags play the same role as keywords in blogging to get your video in the top results of YouTube. Only use genuine and relevant tags that define your video. Using improper tags that are far from the topic will generate a negative impression from the user. How? Remember the DISLIKE button below the video? The number of likes and dislikes play an important role in increasing the visibility of your video in the search engines.

• Title:

I have already discussed the importance of a YouTube video title. It plays an important role in the SEO too. You should stuff the important keywords inside your Title. This will further help your video to get more views from the viewers. But do not do this till the extent that the Title appears to be a paragraph. For best SEO practice, keep your title limited to 5-6 words.

• Description:

The description of your video acts like the meta-description. In the case of YouTube, you can provide a lengthy description for your video. Mention the important points that you have covered inside your video. Add you social profiles and website address. These points will further help you to outshine.

1. Always add the links in the starting of the description.
2. The first 50 words should contain your main keyword.
3. The description should be at least 250-300 words.
4. Use your keywords 4-6 time inside the description. Not to mention, the starting and the end part must contain the main keywords.

• Subscribers and Comments:

The number of subscribers suggests how many people have engaged with your video. The comments by the viewers will give you a better review about your video. Do keep in mind, the likes and dislikes, subscribers, comments are one of the major factors in deciding the position for your YouTube video in the search result.

Now that you have spent your important 10 minutes reading this post, it’s time to act and implement the stuff. Do remember to share your views in the comment section below.

Also read: Best cameras for YouTube videos