BOOST YOUR CHURCH'S YOUTUBE PRESENCE
Every Sunday, you have an opportunity to reach even more people with your church’s videos using YouTube. Uploading your church’s video to YouTube is merely the first step. There are important steps you must take so your videos can reach and influence your members and people in your community who are searching for the very hope and inspiration your church brings. A strong YouTube presence can bring authority, influence and revenue to your church. YouTube is the second most powerful search engine next to Google, so investing the time and the resources in order to optimize your church’s YouTube channel is well worth the effort.
OPTIMIZE YOUR CHURCH'S YOUTUBE SEO
For your congregation and visitors to find you, your video has to appear in YouTube search results. YouTube search engines work using an algorithm to match the right content with the right people. Just because your church has a YouTube channel, won’t necessarily equate to your channel being discovered by your followers and members. Churches today have to optimize key YouTube search engine optimization (SEO) features in order to make a significant impact.
How We Improve YouTube SEO for your Church
Add keywords to your YouTube Channel Name.
In order to be discovered on YouTube, we place keywords strategically in the name of your channel. This will help you reach people who have never heard of your church name. We’ll use keywords related to your local area to target the people in your community or other keywords that are relative to your church.
Write a keyword-rich About Us description.
The About Us description field will hold up to 5000 characters. That’s 5000 characters to lavishly elaborate the main points of your channel's video content. When our team provides YouTube with a detailed description, it provides more keyword-rich content for the algorithm to use to drive viewers to your video. This description field serves as a reference point for the YouTube search engines. We will be specific and detailed about the various benefits YouTube users can derive from your content.
Rather than just populating your About Us description with social media and website links alone, we search for keywords using Google Trends and include them organically in your About Us description on your channel. We are strategic about the first few sentences since the About Us description also serves as the preview text for Google search engine users who discover your channel in their search results.
Tag your YouTube Channel with popular keywords.
As we optimize your YouTube channel, we create tags using meaningful keywords that people may use to find your church. We start with a large list and then begin to narrow it down using the auto-populate functionality in the YouTube search box to test what users may be searching.
We use keywords throughout your channel, including in your videos. YouTube search analyzes voice and video content to determine if the topic in the video matches the title.
Ask people to engage with your content.
We coach you to remind people to engage with your content by asking them to share, like, comment, or subscribe. If they’re listening, that means they are interested in what you have to say and may potentially want to share with someone else. Take advantage of the moment and invite them to take action. Try to focus on one specific action that you would like them to take during each video. This means, if you’re preaching a sermon, as you are greeting people, invite your YouTube audience to engage before you go further into your talk.
Get creative with your video thumbnails and titles.
We capture the viewer's attention at a glance with the video thumbnail and video title. Customizing the video thumbnail is an easy way to stand out from other videos that may use a still image from their video. We use brightly colored graphics that match your church’s branding to signify your church identity to members, while grabbing the attention of newcomers.
We also choose your video title wisely. Creative titles are amazing, however they may not help people find the content they need. Your church plays an important role of inspiring and encouraging people, so we use titles that accurately reflect the question or the problem someone may have.
Create a highlights video for your YouTube channel trailer.
A highlights video is a great way to persuade first-time visitors to your channel to become subscribers. Use this prime YouTube real estate to show people what your channel is about and to outline the type of content they can expect in the future. We will guide your channel trailer by writing a script and planning the content to align with keywords that possible viewers may search.
Create playlists that increase watch time.
When a person is researching a topic, we make it easier for viewers to discover all of your related content by creating a playlist. By creating a playlist, we trigger viewers to continue watching your videos and to stay on your YouTube channels. This signals the algorithm that your content is relevant and useful to YouTube users.
Use video cards and end screens.
Video cards and end screens help enhance the native experience for your viewers. Video cards help engage viewers as they are watching your content. We can create polls to inform your strategy and help guide your users to the next steps we’ve outlined for them. End screens are another way to guide the path of your viewers beyond a single video. They’ve watched your video all the way to the end, so reward your viewers with more helpful videos.
Use subtitles and captions.
Since YouTube is a search engine, we use as many relevant keywords as you can to help attract new subscribers and viewers to your channel. This is done by creating captions for your video and using subtitles, particularly when you are strategically saying keywords throughout your video.
Be clear on your channel goals.
We incorporate your YouTube channel as part of your master strategy. We consider how you will align your YouTube channel with your website, Facebook and other marketing channels where you may connect with your church and community.
Missional Marketing works with your church to take your impact even further through YouTube SEO services so you can focus on what you do best - loving and serving God’s people.
Watch our video about optimizing your church’s YouTube.
