6 Common YouTube SEO Mistakes Gaming Content Creators Should Avoid

YouTube is essentially a search engine for videos, with users searching for content – or having it delivered to them – due to its relevance to their interests. This means that putting your content in front of the right people requires an understanding and thorough implementation of YouTube search engine optimisation (SEO). But what is it, and what mistakes should you avoid?

At MinMxD, we provide clear-cut strategies and advice to help you grow your gaming channel. In this blog, we’ll go over the six most common YouTube SEO mistakes that gaming content creators make, and offer insight on how to change your content for the better.

Need help managing your content and SEO efforts? Don’t hesitate to reach out.

1. Overlooking Keyword Research 🔬

Before you can even start creating supplementary content like titles and descriptions, you need to have a firm grasp of the keyword your audience is using. The way people search for things matters when it comes to YouTube SEO, as matching these keywords and phrases with your content makes it more likely that your video will appear at the top of search results.

There are many tools out there that can help you with keyword research on YouTube and Google, helping you spread your efforts for maximum coverage while also minimising the effort you need to spend on this crucial stage.

2. Poor Video Titles 👎

Once you’ve got the keywords you need, next is making your video titles SEO-friendly. To do this, think about the way people search – do they ask questions, or are they searching for statements? Structure your title in a way that mirrors or reflects user searches, using the keywords you have discovered through your keyword research.

Remember to accurately and succinctly describe your video content while also showing a bit of personality. The title is one of the first things a user will see before they click on your video, so you need to ensure it leaves the right impression.

3. Ignoring Video Descriptions 📜

Effective keyword usage extends into your video descriptions as well. This is a place where you can go wild and include all the information and keywords relevant to your video. Although it isn’t as impactful as the title, it is still a crucial place to capitalise on. You only get so much real estate when it comes to a YouTube video and the content attached, so making the most of it is vital to ensuring your long-term SEO and channel success.

Learn how to optimise your YouTube video descriptions for SEO success >

4. Skipping Closed Captions and Subtitles ⏭️

Even your video captions play a part in your YouTube SEO. Just having words spoken in the video can make it hard to be picked up by search engines, but providing a written transcript to go with it makes it a whole lot easier for these text-based bots to crawl and understand your video – improving your chances of a higher ranking.

Captions play a more important role for your accessibility. Some users may have difficulty hearing your content, or may have English as a second language where following along from sound alone can be difficult. Providing captions not only shows you care, but also improves the retention rate of your content in these demographics, boosting the all-round performance of your videos.

Discover more ways to improve the accessibility of your gaming content >

5. Not Using Playlists ♣️

Outside of the video itself, there are still things you can do on your channel to make the most of YouTube SEO. Playlists are a great place for that for a number of reasons:

• They have their own titles
• You can add a description
• Sorting means you can easily arrange the videos in a certain order
• They group videos, making it easier for users to find related content
• They show up in search results and suggested videos

If you have a series, rather than numbering the titles, a playlist can be used instead to group them together and show the order they should be in. Numbering YouTube titles can result in lower conversions as people are less inclined to join at later points of a series. However, numbered titles are great from a user perspective, so weigh up your audience reactions and find out which is best.

6. Failing to Analyse and Improve 📊

Finally, you need to ensure that you’re constantly analysing and improving your YouTube SEO. SEO is a moving beast, and keeping up with the trends requires robust practices and constant vigilance.

You can use YouTube Analytics to see who’s watching your content, how they’re discovering you, and what’s working well about your content. This lets you tailor your efforts, spending time on the things that matter most and continuing to hone your craft.

Discover how to measure the performance of your gaming content >

Optimise Your YouTube Marketing with MinMxD 🚀

The hidden seventh mistake when it comes to your YouTube SEO is to try and go it alone. Many creators, especially those new on the scene, won’t have a full understanding of how to handle the factors we’ve listed above. Even if you do, your time and resources are best spent on creating and improving your content.

At MinMxD, we help to take the stress away by managing your SEO efforts, connecting you with the right tools, resources, and partners to make marketing your brand and content a whole lot easier. Find out more by getting in touch today!

Check out more YouTube SEO tactics for gaming content creators >

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