YouTube Tips This Simple Trick Can DOUBLE Your Keyword Ranks!

[Stanley | Team TB]

Filming is complete, your video is uploaded to YouTube and you spent the last two hours carefully wading through the sea of options in search of that perfect, magical keyword phrase that you have now focused your entire title and description around. You hit publish and for a few shining, brief moment you rank number 2 for the greatest keyword phrase that you ever uncovered.

And then the rank drops and you never see it again. What did I do wrong?

You didn't do anything wrong at all. This is normal. When you post a video YouTube immediately shares it out to a sample audience (including your notification squad) in order to determine how well it performs against other videos in the same vein. Because YouTube favors fresh, new content you get a short opportunity to rank against the greats to see if your video can go toe to toe against them. When your rank drops it is because it did not perform as well as your competition.

So... what trick can I do in order to rank for these more pertinent keyword phrases? The answer is actually pretty simple. Focus on your video... specifically you should set a goal for yourself. Increase the overall watchtime on your next video by one minute. Can you keep your viewers watching for a single, extra minute? That doesn't mean continue filming for an extra minute. It means that if you make 8 minute videos and you get a 4 minute AVD can you do something to increase this AVD to 5 minutes?

There are some easy ways to do this. If you look at your retention graphs you will notice an immediate dropoff at the beginning and a large drop towards the end. If you cut those out of your video you make an immediate and dramatic impact on the performance of that video. Simply provide something REALLY catchy at the beginning that captures the viewers interest and when you end the video do so abruptly. For my own approach my video is done ten seconds after I say ANYTHING that sounds like 'so that was fun...' or 'thank you.' The moment you begin a sentence that signifies the end of this experience your video is ten seconds from over, in my opinion. Taking the time to edit down the wasted time in your video also helps; a viewer shouldn't have to sit through the twenty times you say 'um' or 'uh' while filming.

I can not give specific insight into how much of a boost you can expect if you make these changes and literally increase your AVD by a full minute; results are going to vary by niche, audience and due to the actual length of your videos. But I can tell you that if you can make that increase you ABSOLUTELY will see an immediate and noticeable difference in your rankings. For all the time people spend researching and studying the perfect keyword sometimes all they really need to do is spend just a little more time understanding the person they are ranking that keyword for.

 

[Ragulsundaram]

It was really helpful.

 

[Yilk81]

The hook has been talked about a lot so we should all know that one but your theory on the ending is very interesting. Cut them off before they know what happend to them. But how...

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

The hook has been talked about a lot so we should all know that one but your theory on the ending is very interesting. Cut them off before they know what happend to them. But how...

There are a couple tricks... never give a statement that offers an 'out.' Saying things like;

'Thanks for watching...'
'So THAT is the [insert thing the video is about here]'
'And there you have it...'

You first need to eliminate these types of social cues. They only serve to let the viewer know that this subject is over, and everything after is wasting their time (they will click away). Get to your point, and get out. Then when editing just throw the endscreens up, but reduce their time (as these also serve to let the viewer know that the video is over). I put mine up for 8-10 seconds. This will make a big impact on lost traffic at the end of the video.

 

[amisclinic]

Thank you . Will try it out from now on

 

[OceanShip]

Thanks.

 

[Ennsu's Vault]

Nice tip! thank you

 

[Kindred]

Wow this is so smart - I need to stop saying thanks for watching towards the end of my videos

 

[Kryptonite]

wow this is interesting! I've been trying to experiment with different intros but I still get a huge drop off Even if I make it shorter than 10 seconds, what type of intros did you find work well for you?

 

[EvaWar]

Ha, one of the youtubers my kid watches, gdilives, must have awesome retention at the end of his videos. He just cuts them off abruptly, like it leaves you wondering where the rest is!

 

[raysallotment]

i have dropped intro on the last three videos posted and seen a massive increase of views -

 

[Naheed]

wow, this is interesting! Thanks for such a detailed post and a piece of great information.
You are right that we spend much time researching and studying the perfect keyword.
Moreover, I also like your understanding of the retention graphs

 

[Balma Tech]

ill try it...

 

[Tito Tim]

Those are very good points.

I used to have an intro and saw HUGE drops in the first few seconds. I figured people did not want to see opening credits. I removed it and the initial drop is much smaller now (still more than I want). I have seen the 'wasn't that fun' kind of comment being a drop point as well. I used to try and start a short topic for the end, but learned that a new topic tends to work better as a new vid.

My old vids tended to look like this:


I cut out the intro, and added in a teaser from inside the vid at the beginning (cool scenery, funny line etc). Now this is more average for me. As you can see, by the big drop at the end, as soon I begin to say goodbye, they leave.


But even with bad retention (like this one) all is not lost - I got 60 subscribers from this vid, even with low retention. The ones that stayed, subbed.

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

wow this is interesting! I've been trying to experiment with different intros but I still get a huge drop off Even if I make it shorter than 10 seconds, what type of intros did you find work well for you?

The formula I use is basically this;

I take the single most visually appealing clip of the entire video... that thing which is most attention grabbing and topic centered... and I use the 4-8 seconds just before the apex moment. I try to grab that 'lead-up' to the moment and then I slap my logo on the screen for 1-2 seconds before quick cutting to the actual beginning of the video.

I'm fluid with this; I don't sacrifice good storytelling for the sake of a formula. But this is at least the foundation of how I start a video.

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

wow, this is interesting! Thanks for such a detailed post and a piece of great information.
You are right that we spend much time researching and studying the perfect keyword.
Moreover, I also like your understanding of the retention graphs

Ma'am thank you, I appreciate that!

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

Those are very good points.

I used to have an intro and saw HUGE drops in the first few seconds. I figured people did not want to see opening credits. I removed it and the initial drop is much smaller now (still more than I want). I have seen the 'wasn't that fun' kind of comment being a drop point as well. I used to try and start a short topic for the end, but learned that a new topic tends to work better as a new vid.

My old vids tended to look like this:
View attachment 9388

I cut out the intro, and added in a teaser from inside the vid at the beginning (cool scenery, funny line etc). Now this is more average for me. As you can see, by the big drop at the end, as soon I begin to say goodbye, they leave.
View attachment 9389

But even with bad retention (like this one) all is not lost - I got 60 subscribers from this vid, even with low retention. The ones that stayed, subbed.
View attachment 9390

YES!!! Exactly this!!!

 

[Anton and Sinan]

Super helpful thread, thank you! I didn't realise it, but my favourite YouTubers that inspired me to start the channel don't do intros (most of the time) and never say bye. Gotta fix those two things for my channel. Merci!

 

[MarvelousGap]

wow this is interesting! I've been trying to experiment with different intros but I still get a huge drop off Even if I make it shorter than 10 seconds, what type of intros did you find work well for you?

Same here. I hope you get a response so we'll both have the information lol

 

[MarvelousGap]

Same here. I hope you get a response so we'll both have the information lol

Actually I saw the response I've recently done that beginning approach in my last couple videos, and the ending approach in one of them.