Struggling to gain more viewers on YouTube, even with engaging content? Over 2 billion active users visit YouTube, where countless channels and videos are available to explore. The right SEO strategies are needed to stand out on the platform among the competitors.

When a user searches for a video, the YouTube algorithm provides the best content based on the search intent and ranking. YouTube ranking depends on various factors like watch time, user engagement like comments and shares, and credibility of the channel.

Your channel needs to get a better placement in the search results to increase YouTube views. YouTube optimization is essential to get a better ranking and increased online views.

In this blog, let’s look into the top 10 YouTube SEO tips to grow your channel in 2025-26. 

1. Keyword Research

Finding the proper keywords for your video is the most important step in YouTube SEO. One of the easiest and most popular methods is to type the relevant word or phrase related to video content in the YouTube search bar. It will auto suggest keywords that users type in on YouTube. 

Next, find the best-positioned video similar to your content and look for the keywords they used to optimize for YouTube. The creator has used the right keywords in the most viewed and popular videos. Look for keywords in the title, video description, and video tags. Install the VidIQ Chrome extension to find video tags. Also, research for keywords on your YouTube in Traffic Source: YouTube search report, where you will find keywords that users typed to watch your content.

After researching all the possible keywords, find the best keyword from them. If your channel is in its initial stage, it is wise to go for low-competition keywords. Using keywords with high competition won’t help if your subscriber count is less. Use long-tail keywords that are more specific to stand out from the competitors. 

2. Optimize YouTube video titles and descriptions with keywords.

You must create a catchy title for your YouTube video under 60 characters. Make a short title with five or six words that communicates the content of the video to the user. As the video title is the first thing that gets noticed, make it clickworthy to increase YouTube views. Include numbers in the title to increase the click-through rate, such as ‘8 practical tips to stay healthy.’

The next step is to include a video description that tells the search engine the context of your video. When a user searches for a keyword YouTube algorithm cannot understand the video content, but can recognize the code and text. So it is important to optimize the title and video description. The text description can be between 150 and 200 characters. 

The introduction of your video description must contain the keyword so that the YouTube algorithm can recognize it. The first part of your video description is important as it is seen in the search results with ‘show more’. Then add an outline of your video content with about 150 words. Also, add timestamps to improve the user experience. It helps YouTube recognize the video content as chapters to improve SEO. Include a call to action (CTA) to subscribe to your channel at the end of the description.

3. Use tags with popular keywords.

Use popular competitor tags in the YouTube video, as it helps in ranking your YouTube content. YouTube identifies the subjects in your content through tags. You can also check the tags of the popular videos in your niche. Use TubeBuddy or VidIQ to find tags related to your video. Add relevant tags to your video to grow your YouTube channel. 

You must use your main keyword as your first tag. Then use phrases that are related to the main keywords as other tags. Lastly, include one or two tags that indicate the category of your video. This strategic use of keywords helps the YouTube algorithm understand your content.

If your tags are similar to the tag in a popular video, your video may appear as a suggested video to the user. Watch time and views from suggested videos are also an important factor that helps channel growth.

4. Customize thumbnails

It is common for a user to click videos that have attractive thumbnails. Users scroll past your video if you are not able to grab their attention. So, create a thumbnail in Canva to increase the click-through rate. The majority of the popular videos have customized thumbnails. Even if you have great video content, a still frame as a thumbnail is not recommended. 

Use blue, orange, yellow, or green colors in the thumbnails for user attention. The main theme of YouTube is white, black, and red. So use colors that stand out to grab viewers’ attention. A minimum resolution of 1280×720 pixels with a 16:9 aspect ratio as .jpg, .gif, .bmp, or .png files is required for thumbnails. Add text about the content in your video to the thumbnail with a large font size. You can also include your face in the thumbnail, as it can increase the authenticity of your video.

5. Create playlists. 

Creating playlists based on themes or similar topics is another important YouTube SEO tip to grow your channel. Optimization of the playlist with titles and descriptions is also equally important. 

Do not randomly group videos; make sure that the videos in a playlist are under a common theme or topic. Playlists are helpful for the viewers to binge-watch your videos if they are interested. It will increase the watch time and ranking of your channel. Also, make a compelling playlist title.

6. Engage with the audience.

YouTube is not only a platform where people create and share videos, but it is also a social media space where user engagement is valued. If more people are engaged with your content, YouTube boosts your video content in search results and suggested results. Improve YouTube SEO by encouraging viewers to like, share, and comment on your video and subscribe to your channel.

Make your audience engaged by asking questions and motivate them to answer in the comment section. Also, respond to the comments to build a reputation and turn casual viewers into subscribers.

7. Add a caption to your video for YouTube optimization.

Include subtitles that are customized in your YouTube video to improve YouTube SEO. Also, you can edit the auto-generated captions. Adding captions and subtitles allows YouTube to recognize your content, as it will index and rank it for relevant keywords.

8. Promote videos on other platforms.

As people use all social media platforms, you should promote your channel on other social networks. For example, if you have a blog, include your video link there. You can also promote your YouTube video in Quora after answering people’s queries. However, make sure to add videos that are related to the content on other social media platforms.

9. YouTube Cards

Include YouTube info cards in your video that keep users on your channel for a longer duration. If people stay in your channel for a long time, it means that the viewers are interested in your content. Add links to other videos using YouTube info cards in your content. Consider adding an optional message and teaser text in the YouTube cards. YouTube cards encourage your audience to view more videos in the channel, and they boost your ranking and online presence.

10. Analyze the performance.

Always analyze the performance of your YouTube channel. Experiment with long and short videos and understand what type of videos work in your channel. Keep an eye on the watch time and user engagement, number of viewers, audience retention, and demographics of the views. Analyzing these metrics helps you to tweak your content according to the target audience. Always monitor the performance of your channel using YouTube Analytics.

Bonus YouTube SEO tips to increase your views:

Here are some additional tips for YouTube optimization and improving YouTube SEO.

• Utilize community posts to drive user engagement and traffic. Create polls, update the viewers, and remind them to watch your videos.
• Respond to the user comments to increase the trust among the viewers. 
• Add your YouTube videos to your blog or websites.
• Update and optimize the old video content with new thumbnails, titles, captions, and descriptions.
• Optimize the end screen of your video featuring other videos or playlists to keep the audience engaged in your channel.
• Change the file name of your video by adding a keyword to it. Don’t keep random numbers or words in your video file name.
• Categorize your video under advanced settings. 
• Increase the session time—time spent by the user after watching your video—by promoting popular videos on the channel page.
• Add video clips from YouTube videos to other social media platforms like Facebook.
• Place a YouTube card (link to a popular video) at the point where viewer retention drops, based on your audience retention report. This encourages viewers to stay on your channel rather than leaving the platform.

Conclusion

YouTube SEO tips help you reach the right audience. Optimizing your title, video file name, and description can improve the performance of your channel. Videos with good content quality are also essential, along with YouTube optimization. You can grow your channel and increase the watch time with the right strategy. Always monitor the performance of your channel and change your strategy according to it. YouTube SEO also helps to rank your content in Google search results.