The 21^st century is all about information. These days, we have access to more information than what people before us had in 20 centuries combined. In this era of digital storage, communication and processing; it is very easy to share and monetize your expertise. Many social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp are being frequently used to share one’s point of view to the world as well as earning through it. But from all these equally amazing platforms, the one that’s the most popular and globally used is YouTube. Since this decade, YouTube has blown itself into a new phenomenon and is the most widely used and viewed platform all across the world. But such an immense increase in the use of YouTube has caused the management to make the rules stricter. Because of this it is difficult to not only get your content to the people but as well as to rank it. Many requirements need to be fulfilled first and then after a fierce competition, you make it to the top. But there are ways to improve your YouTube ranking without any competition. These alteration (minor and major) will give a boost to your YouTube ranking and can help you increase it immensely. If that sound interesting, then here is the list of the top 10 ways to rank your videos on YouTube:

10. Make your channel look professional

When you see a person at the corner of the street and he has torn clothes, scruffy beard and uncut hair then you come to dislike the appearance hence disliking the person. The same goes for YouTube channels. If the channel does not have a suitable profile picture (or lacks the profile picture entirely), a concise header(cover photo) and an attention-grabbing description then it looks like a spam. Similar is the case for the YouTube algorithms. While ranking a page, YouTube goes through the content on the channel page as well to identify what its content is about and how much quality content is being provided by this channel. So, in order to dress up the channel properly you need to:

Add links to the related social media pages and websites.
Add suitable images to the channel and name them properly for the algorithms to recognize them properly.
Subscribe to similar channels to show association to your specific content world
And last but not least, add suitably long descriptions to properly explain the content

9. Use YouTube SEO and Keyword Research

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is not a new concept. But it has started being used effectively in YouTube for some time now. Many channels new and old channels have used these SEO techniques to upgrade and promote their channels and it has world in their favor a lot. From smaller adjustments like keyword research to other solid tactics like better retention videos etc. SEO can be very helpful in taking your video content to the top of the list. Some factors that are involved in this manner are linked to the appearance of the channel like its description and associations. But of it is plainly content related. Some major key aspects to look into while optimizing your video are:

Title
Use of target keyword
Use of tags

8. Use other Social Media platforms

The traditional SEO takes into account two aspects of the content in consideration. The first one being the on-page fluidity and structure of the content. And the second one being the back links that the content has. But recent studies have pointed out some other important factors to consider as well. The biggest and the most important of these new factors goes to relevance. In the new social are of human society, everything that people see and consume, in any shape or form needs to be relevant. In modern SEO, relevancy is measured in terms of shares, Likes and Tweets that a specific piece of content gets. So, in order to make Google and other search engines prefer your content, the following steps can be very helpful:

Sync the YouTube channel with other social media accounts.
Find social media groups relevant to the content and post your video on them in order to further promote it.
Another efficient way can be to buy social signals from quality vendors.

7. Use playlists

What is more powerful and lucrative than a good quality content presented right? The answer to that is an organized set of such content. A relevant and descriptive set of content which enhances the user experience can do wonders with the audience. Such an effect can be easily achieved using playlists to our advantage in YouTube. YouTube playlists are a great way to keep the viewer hooked on and to promote the content using your own content. Several high end Youtubers earn thousands of extra views just because of playlist link building. So, in order to set this up you need to follow the following steps:

Divide the content in a series of sets. Each set should have a common theme and should address a common topic.
Then create a playlist with appropriate title and description for those videos.
Include the playlist on your channel and build links in the video descriptions to keep the chain going for the viewer.

6. Length of the video

Nobody likes to watch hours long of crappy content. But nobody even feels satisfied by 2-minute clips (except if they are memes). So, when it comes to the audience liking the content, then the length of the video matters a lot. And indirectly, audience liking results in ranking the video on YouTube hence, the video length matters even more. So, the question is, how long should the video be? Now the answer should be expected to be as simple as a number. But unfortunately, that is not the case. When it comes to video length, many factors like content type, the topic of the video, data available etc. are involved. But there are some staple key points that can help in making that boundary line clear for you. Some of them are:

If you content is informative (e.g. tutorials, how to videos etc.) then longer videos are a better option. In-depth coverage of the content makes the audience like it more.
If the content is entertaining then shorter videos (in the range of 10 to 25 minutes) are enough).
If you are unsure, then anywhere between 20 to 30 is a good number.
Finally, create quality content and if it requires to be too long or too short then let it be.

5. Add a Description

Someone buys or puts their time into something, then they need a justification for the use of their resources. This is a universal rule and applies to anything from sales to social media and YouTube as well. YouTube ranks videos with more watch time and better click-through-rates. And in order to be better in these areas, it requires to keep the audience hooked into your content. So, in order to do so, descriptions play a very important role. They explain the content in the video and can better explain to the viewer about the gist and content of the video.

Now in order to write and use the description properly, following tips can be helpful:

Keep the description around 200 words and explain as much as possible.
Use synonyms and keywords in it in order to optimize the content even further. But keep in mind, not to stretch it too much so that the content does not look overly stuffed.
Do not use duplicate content, instead try to back your claims by facts.
Writing the video transcript in the description is another nice way to fill it with useful content.

4. Thumbnail

When you look at a person, what do you see first? When you look at a Facebook profile what do you look for first? The answer to both of these questions is the same that is their “Face”. When it comes to any kind of content, the presentation matters. And the first thing that people look at in a video is its thumbnail. Thumbnail is a small sized picture, that the videos use to signify what kind of content is available in the it. It is what first catches the eye and most of the time, the decision people make about watching a video factor in its thumbnail. So, in order to make a strong impression, the thumbnail has to be impressive and attention seeking. YouTube provides with a bunch of stock thumbnail covers. But a better way to manage this is by using custom thumbnails. Google provides guidelines to create a good custom thumbnail and by using them you can provide better context to your content.

3. Name

As mentioned earlier, one of the key fundamental things that a person looks at when they see the content is the thumbnail. But in addition to that, another thing that most grabs the attention of both the audience and the YouTube algorithms is the title or name of the video. Like any other thing, name is what is sold and promoted everywhere. A strong and catchy name can increase the popularity by several times. So, name is as much important as any other thing that factors in to the ranking of the video. And in order to give a good name to the video, certain conventions are followed. These conventions provide a better understanding of the content inside the video and help to attract audience towards it. Following are some of these effective conventions:

Use keywords in the name to help the search engine find and recognize it easily.
Give a clear name to the video linking it to the content. The words in the title must somehow connect and depict what inside the video.
Add some relevant tags to the raw file before uploading it, to make it even more promising.

2. Content

In order to learn anything, we need to learn the basics first. Without having a strong foundation, a building (no matter how strong and tall it might be) is not safe to use. Well, the case of YouTube videos is different to none what so ever. When considering video or text, content is king. Everything comes back to basic content and the quality of it. If the content is entertaining and useful to the audience then it will be liked and consumed heavily by it. All the big youtubers in the world are successful because of their quality content. So, in order to rank your video higher on YouTube. The first and most basic need is to provide useful and quality content to the consumer.

People watch YouTube to learn skills, seek solution to their problems or be entertained. So, if the video fails to target one of them then the video is not liked by the public. Create content that you are good at and sufficient knowledge about, so that it is credible and useful to the public as well.

1. Patience

The last and perhaps the most important thing is to have patience. YouTube is not a get rich and famous in a night scheme. It takes time and continuous effort, in order for people to notice and recognize your value. Nobody gets famous by just posting a single video (at least nobody stays that way). So, just like in any other field in the world, in order to prove your worth, you need to put some time and effort into it. Sometimes it takes months for a single video to become popular. And as a result, the rest of them on the channel receive the fruit as well. So be patient, and keep on providing quality content. Soon, you will see the glory.