Youtube SEO, How to rank your videos, with Craig & Chris

This Q&A session discusses YouTube SEO strategies, including thumbnail testing, traffic source analysis, and click-through rate optimization. The speakers also cover Black Friday marketing tactics and the use of influencers, concluding that a focus on video engagement and quality traffic is key to YouTube ranking success, and channel authority may be less impactful than previously thought.

Black Friday Deals

• 00:01:13 Chris discusses his Black Friday marketing efforts, including discounts on backlinks, press releases, courses, and masterminds. He also mentions the high cost of YouTube and Google ads during this period. Craig observes that many are competing for 'Black Friday SEO deals' keywords, resulting in lower rankings for Craig.

YouTube Thumbnails

• 00:12:14 The speakers discuss YouTube's new A/B testing feature for thumbnails. Chris explains that he has delegated thumbnail creation, but feels externally-created thumbnails lack 'pop'. Craig and Chris discuss how some top YouTubers are using slight variations in thumbnails to gain incremental views.

Indexed vs. Discovered

• 00:04:43 A viewer asks why only 32 of 128 discovered URLs are indexed in Bing Webmaster Tools. Craig explains that several factors can lead to this, such as content quality, internal linking, backlinks, and robots.txt settings. Chris adds that a proportion of pages on most websites are typically discovered but not indexed.

YouTube Ranking Factors

• 00:32:35 Chris discusses the top three YouTube ranking factors: optimization (title, description, tags, etc.), category-specific traffic from quality sources, and a consistent click-through rate within the first eight hours of video launch. He emphasizes that CTR consistency is crucial for continued ranking.

YouTube Engagement

• 00:36:06 Craig discusses the challenge of achieving high engagement on YouTube, particularly with a dry niche like SEO. He points out that many viewers watch after a live session and rarely interact. Chris also mentions the tactics some creators use, like scaring children, to get engagement.

YouTube Studio Setup

• 00:08:21 Craig explains his new dedicated live stream room for recording videos and podcasts, highlighting the importance of a quiet, dedicated space. He also discusses his preference for batch-creating content and the cost of building the studio, which was roughly 5-6 thousand pounds.

Influencer Marketing

• 00:23:06 Eric asks about the effectiveness of influencer marketing for businesses. Craig and Chris share their experiences. Chris explains that while some have worked well with friends, it is generally time-consuming and unpredictable. Craig mentions his success with brand deals, but suggests that it's often more effective to use established platforms.

Footer Credit Links

• 00:27:54 A viewer asks whether footer credit links hurt SEO. Chris expresses dislike for them, stating that it looks unnatural and allows easy spotting of competitors. Craig agrees, finding it spammy and potentially harmful to SEO, suggesting a different approach might be more beneficial.

White Hat vs. Black Hat

• 00:27:03 A viewer asks if Chris Palmer is now a fully-fledged white hat SEO. Chris clarifies that while he avoids crossing the line with black hat practices, he considers himself more in the 'gray area' and definitely no longer black hat.