As winter has been pretty rough this year, most of us have been patiently waiting for warmer weather to kick in – and it is finally here with us.
While the start of spring is always a great time to do some spring cleaning, if the idea of cleaning out your garage or room makes you sick, why not take a break and tidy up your online video space instead! Here is a look at five things you can do this spring to clean up your YouTube Channel.
1. Create Playlists
It is worth noting that when you upload videos to YouTube, they get thrown in a pile with the rest of your content. While your viewers can sort your uploads by popularity or date, your videos are not organized in any way – unless you do it. Playlists make it easier for your audiences to navigate your content, especially if you upload videos in series or on different topics.
At the same time, playlists increase your chances of ranking much higher in the platform’s search results. When your viewers and subscribers search for your content on YouTube, the results will include both your individual videos and playlists.
To learn more about cleaning up an online reputation, read this post!
2. Create Interesting Thumbnails
Thumbnails are like billboards that advertise your video and can determine whether potential viewers will watch your content.
What are the qualities of a good thumbnail? – Bright, catchy colors- Large, bold text that serves as a second title – A simple image that accurately describes the content in the video
Click here to read our in-depth YouTube thumbnails article for tips on how to create perfect thumbnails. Also, be on the lookout for our Uploader (will be released soon) that allows you to design custom, unique thumbnails in a matter of seconds!
3. Toss Out Tag Spam
Of late, YouTube has been heavily imposing their ‘no tags in descriptions’ policy, and have even gone as far as permanently shutting down some channels. If you never got the chance to read our blog post on this, then consider double-checking your descriptions.
Here is what you need to do:
If you added extra tags in the description box of your past videos, remove them immediately! YouTube is aggressively looking for, acting against, channels violating this policy.
4. Supercharge Your Descriptions
While perusing your video metadata, consider beefing up your descriptions to boost your search rankings. A good description should be about 250-words long and should include a link to relevant playlists, information about the video’s content, and links to your social media profiles.
Please note that updating a video’s metadata could lead to YouTube re-indexing it, something that could reduce the number of views it receives for some time. We recommend updating your metadata only if you are familiar with effective SEO practices or have previously violated YouTube policies.
5. Get Up and Going With YouTube Cards
Just recently, YouTube launched a new cards feature to its users. YouTube Cards are mobile friendly footnotes designed to push viewers to Merch, Fan Funding, additional videos, and so much more!
Many YouTube creators are seeing higher click-through rates with Cards as opposed to traditional annotations. So, why don’t you add a few Cards to older videos. Start with those with the most views and move on from there! Want to learn more about the YouTube Cards feature? Click here.