Our guide to creating successful content for YouTube.

It’s safe to say that YouTube changed the way we view video content forever and even 18 years after its launch, it’s showing no signs of slowing down. It’s the second most visited site in the world with users saying they find YouTube ads more relevant than linear TV ads. YouTube is the same as all the other social media platforms with algorithms preferences and trends constantly changing. Below we’ve shared our learnings on the design choices to consider when looking to improve the performance of your content on YouTube.

Optimise content for SEO.

It can be easy to overlook the importance of video SEO but it can lead to longer watch time, better brand recognition, and a better return on investment. Ensuring video SEO is in line with best practices will improve your YouTube and Google rankings, allowing you to increase your audience resulting in more sales and leads.

Encourage audience engagement.

Having a clear call to action and encouraging viewers to like, comment, and subscribe to your channel will not only boost the performance of that video, but also future videos. Higher engagement will lead to better placement with the YouTube algorithm in future, resulting in better visibility.

Maintain a consistent identity.

With users having such short attention spans, you want users to be able to recognise your content before they even see your branding. A strong tone of voice and content style is important for creating a relationship with your audience. Audiences increasingly want to feel connected to the brands they buy from or interact with so messaging consistency is key.

Create custom thumbnails.

First impressions count so it’s important to make a great one. Well designed thumbnails will capture users attention and encourage them to watch your videos. Don’t be afraid to be out there with the design as loud fonts and garish colours often work really well. Don’t worry the style of your video doesn’t have to loud and garish, you just want to have an impactful thumbnail.

Create playlists.

Try and keep users on your channel by creating playlists so your other content autoplays when users have watched a video. If you create content as a series, users who enjoy watching one video will naturally want to keep watching your other videos.

Create cards and end screens.

Cards and end screens are really important in YouTube content as they are visually disruptive and encourage audience engagement which drives website traffic. There are two ways of using cards and end screens: you can either design them into your content or use YouTube’s cards where they appear almost like notifications within the video. Using the YouTube solution can be a great way of adding in a link to a website with a call to action that users are used to.

Add captioning.

Captions are now a must for YouTube content. While initially, subtitles were intended to allow creators to reach a wider audience including the deaf and hard of hearing communities, the hidden bonus is that search engines can read the subtitles. This can immediately launch your video further up the search rankings. Captions also make it possible to communicate with listeners who are deliberately listening on silent as they balance using multiple devices or doing other tasks at the same time.