Search, SEO and ranking
How Do You Rank Number 1 on YouTube for a Competitive Keyword?
Ranking a video near the top of YouTube search comes down to targeting a longer, less competitive keyword, placing it correctly in the title, description and tags, making a genuinely good video, and finishing with a thumbnail that stands out.
Last updated 31 August 2026
Running time 6:32Watch it
What does this video cover?
- 01If a video sits below the first five search results, most people never find it, so appearing in the top five is essential to maximising views.
- 02Keyword research should focus on longer, more specific search terms rather than short, highly generic ones, since generic terms are both too competitive and not what people actually type.
- 03The main keyword should go at the start of the title, appear in the description, and also be included among the tags.
- 04Around ten tags is the recommended range: the main keyword, three to five secondary or alternative keywords, and some more generic related terms.
- 05YouTube ranking increasingly feeds into Google ranking too, since more searches on Google are now returning videos rather than text results or websites.
- 06A good video should run five to fifteen minutes, be well shot, well delivered and entertaining rather than boring, and use a consistent format, such as a whiteboard style.
- 07The thumbnail matters as much as anything else, because it's the first thing a searcher sees, so it needs to visibly stand out from the thumbnails already ranking for that keyword.
Full transcript
This video is presented by Vince, who introduces himself as someone experienced in YouTube SEO ranking, sharing five things to consider when trying to rank for a keyword on YouTube.
How do you maximise views for a YouTube video?
You need to be found at the top of the search results, because there's plenty of data showing that once a video sits below the first five results for a keyword, people rarely find it or click on it at all. Getting into the first five matters not only for direct search traffic, but because YouTube then starts recommending the video in its suggested video section too, and it can begin appearing in Google results as well, all of which compounds to maximise views further.
What's the first step to ranking your keywords?
Keyword research, starting with a look at what your competitors are already ranking their videos for in your niche or industry. It's not worth trying to rank for short, generic keywords such as "fitness" or "money", because they're extremely competitive and also not genuinely relevant to what people search, since nobody searches just "money", they search something like "how to make money online in 2021". The better approach is targeting longer keywords of four, five or six words, phrases people would actually type in.
Once you've identified a keyword, it should go at the beginning of the video title, since that's more relevant than placing it at the end, and it should also appear in the description, which helps explain what the video is about.
How many tags should you use, and what should they be?
Around ten tends to work well: the main keyword itself, then three to five secondary or alternative keywords, plus a few more generic related terms. For a video targeting "how to make money online", that might mean variations like "how to make money online in 2021" or "how to make money online fast", alongside broader terms like "money", "internet business" or "work from home", and even your own name as one of the tags. Tools such as vidIQ can also be used to see what tags competitors are using, as a way of learning from what's already working for them.
Does ranking on YouTube actually help you rank on Google too?
Yes, and increasingly so, because Google owns YouTube. Over time, searching on Google returns more and more videos rather than plain text results or website listings, and this trend is expected to continue, so focusing on ranking the right keywords on YouTube pays off on Google as well.
What's the fastest way to rank on YouTube?
Three things matter most: the keyword itself, choosing something longer and less competitive and placing it correctly in the title, description and tags; the quality of the video, since even the best keyword research and description won't help if people don't want to watch, so a video should run five to fifteen minutes, be well shot, well delivered and genuinely entertaining rather than boring, with a consistent format such as a whiteboard style; and finally the thumbnail, because it's the first thing anyone sees in a search. The recommended approach is to search the target keyword, look at the first five results already ranking, and design a thumbnail with different colours, text and style so it clearly stands out, since a better thumbnail improves the click-through rate and, in turn, feeds back into ranking further.
Where next?
The library holds every video we have published. The AEO pages explain the method behind them, what it costs and what the evidence actually supports.