YouTube SEO Checklist for Gaming Content Creators

Attracting the right crowd is crucial to growing your YouTube channel, and there’s no better way to do this than through Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). SEO allows you to tailor your content for a specific set of searches from a specific group of people, helping to ensure your videos land in front of the eyes of those who’re likely to engage with it.

At MinMxD, we help gaming content creators like you to build their marketing strategies and maximise their channel growth. In this blog, we’ll go over key parts of your YouTube SEO, helping you tick each item off the list and ensure your video is primed and ready for upload.

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Keep track of where you’re at with your YouTube SEO during the upload process with our seven handy steps to a fully optimised video.

Keyword Research

Your first step should be to find out what keywords people are searching for. These words help both users and search engines, including YouTube, to understand and identify what your video is about.

Keyword research can be conducted in a number of different ways. The first is using tools like Semrush or other SEO tools to analyse keywords and search volumes. This lets you see what keywords are competitive, and where you can find a market gap to fit your niche.

The second is to research your competitors. People who are producing the same kind of YouTube content as you are likely to have already done their research. Take a look at how they’re titling their videos, what descriptions they’re using, and what tags they include. Then, see how you can add additional value to make viewers come to you instead.

Top tip: On the subject of tags, trending tags are also a great place to go. These keywords provide lots of publicity, but act fast – trends change all the time!

Learn how to effectively analyse your content and audience >

Title Optimisation

Once you’ve got your keywords, next is to position them in place where they’ll make a real impact. Your title is the first of these places, as it is likely this will be the first thing a prospective viewer sees along with the thumbnail.

Here are some tips for YouTube video title optimisation:

• Your title should clearly state what your video is about.
• Put the most relevant keywords first.
• Make sure it’s not overly long.
• Try to avoid numbering, as this can limit your reach since most people won’t think to join a series mid-way.
• Don’t repeat information you’re showing in the thumbnail.

Find out more about optimising the titles of your YouTube videos for SEO >

Description Optimisation

The bulk of the text relating to your video will be in the description. After you’ve finished editing the title, next is to fill out this section with relevant information.

Here, you can describe your video in more detail, and provide links to various other places like your social media channels or partners.

To optimise your description, try to cover related keywords to your main keyword in the title. Consider longer, ‘long-tail’ keywords like questions which might align with specific searches users are making, and will generally have less competition – meaning it’s easier to make an impact.

Don’t keyword stuff here, as that can work against you. Try and use natural, clear language, describing your video content succinctly and in a way that aligns with your brand, audience, and personality.

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

Best Practices for Tags

Alongside your video description, you will also have access to tags. These are specific identifiers that group content, making it easier for interested users to find similar videos.

You need to ensure that the tags you’re using are relevant, and that you include all the ones relating to your video. Relevant tags are vital as including unrelated topics, while potentially increasing your initial viewership, could result in negative feedback and effects due to people being dissatisfied with the gap between your video and their expectations.

Meanwhile, leaving out any tags you should be including could severely limit your potential. Increasing your reach is vital to building your channel, expanding your viewership, and improving your revenue, so take care in including all the tags you can that your video relates to.

Video Thumbnail

While not directly providing SEO value, your YouTube video thumbnail is still a vital component of your SEO. This is because it contains both an appealing visual element, and additional information in the form of both images and words.

Many users will click on a video if it has an enticing thumbnail, and you can also use it as a way to convey additional messaging that won’t fit into the title. It is important to make this information distinct from the title, as this is a great way to maximise the amount you can say in the short space you’re given.

Find out how to optimise your YouTube video thumbnails >

Video Length and Watch Time

In SEO, there is something known as ‘bounce rate’. This is the amount of people that click on your content, only to quickly click away before digesting it.

With YouTube videos, this is an incredibly important factor that can determine both your success, and your revenue. If people don’t watch enough of your video, you won’t get any money from ads, and bounce rate could impact your performance.

Take a look at the average watch time for your videos, which can be found in YouTube analytics. If this number is low, try and think of reasons why. Frontloading your content with the best bits to get users hooked is a great way to improve your early engagement, so try and structure your videos in a way that keeps your audience glued to the screen.

Quality vs quantity – which matters more? Find out here >

Comments and Likes

Boosting engagement is another important factor in your YouTube success. While not an element of SEO, comments and likes improve the reach of your video, which works in tandem with your SEO efforts to create synergistic growth.

Discover methods of better engaging with your gaming community >

Another aspect of your YouTube SEO you need to consider is playlists. These are used to group your videos, allowing users to quickly access them. But there are other advantages too:

Search Results

Playlists can be recommended to someone while watching your video if it is included in one, or can come up when they search for a video on YouTube. Appropriately naming and describing your playlists is important to ensure it is placed in front of the right people.

Video Ordering

When a user clicks on your playlist, it will be arranged according to the default order you set. Typically, this will be either oldest to newest, or newest to oldest.

The advantage of having the newest videos first is that anyone clicking on the playlist will have access to your latest and likely best content, helping to push your new videos further in the algorithms.

On the other hand, having the oldest videos first makes it much more user-friendly for people looking to watch your series of videos from the start.

Consider these two options, then pick the one that works best for you, your viewers, and the content you produce.

Series Numbering

Numbering the videos you have in a series can be a good way to help your viewers watch videos in chronological order, and lets them more easily identify if they have missed anything.

However, having numbers in your YouTube video titles can be detrimental to your success, as viewers who haven’t been watching along with the series may be less inclined to join in the middle.

Playlists can act as a countermeasure, providing an ordered way for people to engage with your content that doesn’t require numbers in the YouTube titles. However, many YouTubers still number their videos as this is the most user-friendly option, so it is worth seeing how your audience responds and adjusting your tactics accordingly.

As we’ve mentioned, there’s lots of tools out there that you can use to track your SEO performance. These can not only help you with tasks like keyword research and competitor analysis, but also act as validation elements that let you determine whether your SEO strategy is working or if it needs adjustment.

Here are some of the most popular SEO tools you can use:

• Semrush
• TubeRanker
• vidIQ
• TubeSpanner
• Spotter Studio
• TubeBuddy

Different SEO tools will have varying features, quality, and costs. Finding the right balance of these is imperative to the success of your channel, so we recommend trying them out to see which is best for you. Many of these tools offer free versions or trials, so have a play around and see what feels right!

A checklist isn’t enough to give you the biggest impact on your YouTube marketing, SEO, and channel growth. To see the greatest effect, you need to back up your day-to-day efforts with a robust SEO strategy and industry knowledge that can keep up with the trends.

By working with MinMxD, you gain a partner that can support you through these backend processes, leaving you time to focus on creating the content you enjoy. Get in touch today to find out how we can help enhance your SEO and skyrocket your growth.

Check out these common YouTube SEO mistakes for gaming content creators to avoid >

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