10 Tips to Make Your YouTube Videos More Engaging

1. Optimize your content for your viewers.

Optimizing your content for your viewers boils down to making it easy for them to find what they are looking for. You don’t want to frustrate your viewers with poorly laid out content they have a hard time navigating. The most important thing is to make sure your stuff is 100% clear and easy to get through.

I'm going to keep this one pretty simple. Whatever your topic, figure out what your readers want and need, then give it to them. If you're selling a product or service and have a step-by-step guide for how to achieve something, break the steps down so it's easy for your audience to digest the information in a way that makes sense for them.

Emma, a 6-figure earner and content marketing veteran, describes the importance of your content being geared toward your audience. She notes that you have to ask yourself who is your audience? What do they value? Why are they on this website? If you can understand the answers to these questions you will be able to better optimize the content.

2. Create an engaging first few seconds of your video.

Juts like how the first few seconds of a book can completely refine or ruin the entire experience, it's the same with video. Knowing that 83% of consumers say they’re more likely to buy from a brand whose video marketing makes them laugh and 93% of viewers share videos with others, it's vital that you start off on the right foot.

Hey buddy, do you ever struggle to get views on your new youtube channel? Maybe you’re using the wrong title tags or there are too many keywords. Don’t worry I have some tips that will help your video go viral within minutes!

Hey, you there! Before you enter your email and check out this guide, click here to check out how I improved my blog's search engine traffic using video. I’m sure you’ll learn a thing or two by watching the intro video (it’s only about 15 seconds).

3. Write a short, but engaging description.

It is critical that a short, but engaging website description helps visitors decide if they want to visit your site or not. A great way to do this is by including your value proposition, primary differentiator and audience in the first two sentences of the description.

Want to be more popular, get more subscribers and make more money? Then you need to ensure that your videos have a compelling description. If a video doesn’t have a good description, it’ll never be found by those who would most benefit from watching it.

Curate a list of engaging and eye-catching blurbs to describe your content. It will drive up traffic, shorten the bounce rates, and spur more engagement.

The description is less of a description and more of a summary. It's usually the last thing people read before they click "Buy Now" or "Add to Cart." But if you can give enough information that sells your product, people will especially buy your products if you have a sale price.

4. Keep your videos short and sweet.

If you want to learn a lesson on how to keep videos short and sweet, look no further because today we're going over 7 stellar examples from YouTube's rising stars. These users can effectively convey their message with a creative flair all their own.

Videos are an integral part of a good blog post. Videos allow your audience to actually see and hear you. Too many businesses rely on text alone and forget that others can't hear their personality through the screen.

You’re busy, I get it. Most people don’t want to spend a lot of time watching videos online and I understand that. That’s why I make a point not to be long-winded when creating videos for my blog. In fact, the average length for my YouTube videos is about six minutes, and that’s including the time it takes me turn off my phone so I can film in peace. My Instagram posts range from 10 to 15 seconds if that gives any indication of how quickly I can get in and out of my points (it does).

Making a video is often seen as a daunting task both to a lot of people and organisations. Because of that, many do not take advantage of the huge benefits videos have to offer. When done right, online videos can be some of the most important offerings on your website and they can also help you get found on top search engines like Google (because of the video rich snippets).

5. Avoid "talking head" videos.

When it comes to presenting information, the best way to go is with a conversational tone. This will make your content sound more natural and friendly. People don't appreciate "talking head" videos where you simply read off a script. They want to see someone who seems like they're talking right at them , not down or up to them.  You need confidence and a persona that is able to connect with the viewers of your video.

I get it. You want to create a how-to video to show visitors how to do something on your site, but you don't know how to do it well. It's hard as a business owner when you can't solve a problem yourself, so you think a video is the only choice. It's not. There are tons of ways you can help people without resorting to breathing life into a talking head or shooting a boring instructional video.

Have you ever visited a site and watched a video by some spokesperson? Perhaps it was an accent that didn't flow well, or maybe the content was just boring. Either way, did it lead you to buy anything? You know this one: "Hello, I'm Jim Smith from Company XYZ. Welcome to our website..." Stop wasting your time with these actors. It is pretty clear that they are reading from a script and have nothing of value to share with you. Unless you're hiring out for a commercial? Of course not. So skip this if your only purpose is to get someone to watch your silly video. My advice? Get a friend who knows how to create videos that actually impress viewers, because after all...

6. Give each of your videos its own unique thumbnail.

One of the simplest ways to catch your audience’s attention is with an attractive thumbnail. However, we must ensure that our thumbnails are optimized for each video, because not all thumbnails are the same size or designed the same way. YouTube has many different recommendations to help you create a better thumbnail ...  (you'll find specific recommendations in this blog post - they're a little easier to read than in the video ).

 Video thumbnails can be tricky, you want them to stand out but not over the top. You want them to grab the viewer's attention but not look flashy or confusing. You want your viewers to know exactly what they are in for when they click on the video.

Video Thumbnails are often just as important as the video itself… should you be optimizing them as well?  When you start noticing other, more successful video marketers out there, one of the first things you will notice is that they will often display their thumbnails in a certain format. It can be easy to assume that the 'ideal' format simply doesn't exist and that everyone has their own version of the ideal thumbnail...but honestly, I don't think this is true. There are really only a couple of standard types of videos thumbnails and all of us have seen them...because we have been using them ourselves!

7. Add annotations to your videos to keep viewers engaged throughout.

People don’t really read, they scan in search of visual cue to reassure them that all is well. So your captions, titles, and tags all play a role in driving traffic to your videos. This is where annotations come in. They allow you to add clickable links right into your video so that people can engage with more than the video itself. This way, you can guide the attention of your readers and viewers further down the page by inspiring them pick up more content or make a purchase decision.

Annotations are not just for photos and images; they can be used on videos too. People go on social media to share their thoughts and create conversations, so use live annotations to encourage comments while you're your video or during the pre-roll of a recorded video. You don't have to do this on every video you post, but it's a nice tool to increase engagement if you decide that your videos will be worthwhile of people's attention.

I’ve shared a few ways to use annotations in videos. Here’s one more tip to help you add handwritten annotations that stand out and engage viewers: after you create your text and before you put it on the screen, play with the font and size until you have it just right. Handwriting fonts have great styles with some text appearing larger than others – creating fun subtitles for your video.

8. Don't be afraid to add some production value to your videos.

If you have a blog and have to put out regular content then you have to start creating videos. There are so many reasons why you need videos on your website but I'm going to list just a few. Videos Increase Click Through Rate - A study from VWO shows that users who watched a video of a product were 83% more likely to purchase that product than those who didn't watch any videos for the same product. Add some short, instructional videos on your page and watch the click through rate go up!

One of the most important keys to creating videos people will actually watch is production value. This means using music and adding a variety of special effects to captivate your audience. A little video editing can go a long way in making your video accessible and enjoyable to watch. 

Adding a background track can help the viewer concentrate on your video while they're watching your video. The background music will drownout the sounds of people working in the background or the constant hum of an office. If you're willing to invest a little bit in your production, you might expect to see better click through rates.

9. Be entertaining, or at least entertainingly useful.

So you’ve got your great Blog Post written...now what?There are 3 things I look for in a great Blog Post:1. Value - does it teach the reader something new?2. Engage - does it keep the reader's interest?3. Authentic - was it created by an actual person?https://medium.com/@thedawnwalker/9-tips-for-creating-a-kickass-blog-post-using-this-testimonial-example-716222798c00

If you want to make the reader excited, shock them or make them think. Not just because it’s special and fun, but because this is what they need to do to get through shit load of content on the Internet. Remember, they are not expecting your blog post details to be clean, lucid and lengthy (write long pieces only if you are an expert in a very rare niche). Creativity and ‘wackiness’ can help you to achieve this goal.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but how many websites out there are just downright boring? You get bored just looking at them. You see a website with a bunch of text, maybe some graphics that don’t really go together, and no real point.

10. Be yourself and have fun making videos you'll enjoy!

If I have to choose one tip that is the most important to me, it would be the one that says “Be yourself and have fun making videos you'll enjoy!”. Why? Because I think this is the trickiest part of making educational and entertaining videos.