A Guide to the Basics of YouTube Metadata (2021)

If you’re just starting out with your new YouTube channel, you’ll need to consider how you intend to make it profitable by reaching the right audience. The key here is to use metadata to your advantage. YouTube videos that are well-optimized can help your company build brand awareness while also driving traffic to your website. It’s critical to have basic YouTube metadata properly added and optimised for each of your videos if you want to boost the odds of your videos being in the coveted top 13% of results. On our YouTube Metadata blog, you can find tips and tricks on how to optimize your videos for a wide range of search engines, including the Google search engine. We also share some tips on how to improve your channel and what to focus on to attract viewers and subscribers. 

What is YouTube Metadata?

On the whole, YouTube allows users to do pretty much anything they want with their videos, but for those who want to get noticed, there’s one small aspect of the platform that can be of huge benefit. Metadata is simply a set of data that is associated with the content on a video, and it can be extremely valuable when it comes to the search results on YouTube. You want to make sure that you have good metadata, which is essentially any information about your content. Here are some tips and tricks on how to use metadata on YouTube.

How to choose YouTube Tags?

YouTube tags are essentially metadata about your video content, which allows you to customize how your content appears in search results. They consist of information such as the title tag, the thumbnail, and the description. You can add a few keywords to each of these items, but you should only use a maximum of eight words per tag. We recommend adding at least three words to each of the main tags on your videos.

How to choose YouTube Title?

YouTube title tags are the most important aspect of your channel’s metadata. Not only do they appear in search results, but the text within them appears as part of the description under each video on your channel. For the best chance of attracting relevant searches, you need to keep things short. We recommend that you use no more than 12 characters. If you want to add a keyword, we advise you to do this at the end of the tag, rather than the beginning. YouTube tags also include keywords, such as those related to your company name, so think carefully about which ones you want to use. For starters, you should always use the best title tags for the videos you create. YouTube offers you a range of different ways to add title tags to your videos, including an “Auto” option, which will add the most relevant tags from the content of the video. There’s also an option to manually add them, so if you’re going for specific keywords and want to make sure they are included in the metadata, then this is where you should focus your attention.

How to choose YouTube Keywords?

On this occasion, it makes sense to focus on some keywords that are not only relevant to your videos but also to your industry. We recommend choosing about four or five main keywords that relate to the products and services you offer. These can be the names of your company, product line, or any other keywords that are relevant to your business. If you can’t think of anything specific, don’t worry – we recommend searching on Google for common keywords related to your industry. If you’re really struggling to think of the best keywords, or if you are unsure what your audience would like to see, then we advise that you use the “Auto” option with the YouTube title tag. This will automatically insert the best keywords from the content of your videos into the title tag. It’s worth pointing out that if you choose the “Auto” option, the description box will be left empty, so you will need to ensure that you add a brief description, even if it is just a few words. The same goes for the description box – it’s essential that you add a description. If you leave this blank, people will not only have any idea what your channel is about, but they will also have no idea how to get in contact with you.

How to choose YouTube Description?

Without a doubt, YouTube’s description box is one of the most important areas of the platform, because this is where you can attract views and subscribers. When it comes to the description, you need to make sure that it is concise and has as much information as possible. The best way to do this is to use the most relevant keywords. You should also use a combination of text and images, including images that link to your website or social media profiles. The best thing about YouTube descriptions is that they are searchable, and they also appear on the search results page, so if you do not include relevant keywords, then you will have no chance of reaching new audiences. However, if you use the “Auto” option for the title, then the description box will be left blank.

How to choose YouTube Thumbnails?

Thumbnails are the little preview images that appear on the side of each video when it’s being shared on social media. You need to choose the right ones if you want your videos to be found, so think about what is relevant to the content of the video and select some that best reflect this. If you’re uploading videos that are all about a certain product or service, then you can add an image of the product or service itself to make it easier for people to find the video. It’s also worth remembering to upload a thumbnail for your company logo and the logo of your brand’s social media pages. These will be important if people are searching for your company on social media.