YouTube Video Search Ranking Factors: A Closer Look

You might be wondering what factors affect a video’s ranking in YouTube search. This is very important, because first page videos in the YouTube search results will get higher click through rates than the rest of the search result pages. This article will examine the factors and try to quantify which ones are most important. At the end you’ll find some recommendations to help you achieve the best possible ranking for your YouTube videos.

In the above screen shot, the search query is SEO Tips, and the video that occupies the top spot is “Google On Page SEO Tips and Strategies.”

This video can get a high click through rate, which results in high video exposure. This exposure will increase the number of video views and possibly the earnings (if you have ads in those videos or a referral link to your business website for customers to purchase products).

This article attempts to examine different factors that affect the video ranking in YouTube search and recommends the best course of action that could significantly help the marketing of the video in YouTube.

Formulation of Possible Factors to be Examined

Before we gather actual measurable data in YouTube to confirm the significant factors, it is important to list the possible factors that can affect the ranking of a YouTube video. These can be separated into three categories.

First, there is the video’s relevance. This is a measurement of how relevant the video is to the search query. In YouTube, since the content is video, the best measurement of relevance is the video title.

A good way to measure the relevance is to count the number of words in the actual video title that match the actual query. For example, say the search query is “Online tutorial on Coffee brewing.” Some example video titles can be rated as follows:

1. Coffee Brewing Online = 3 words match the query. So it is 3/5 = 60% relevant. The query contains five words.
2. How to create delicious Italian Coffee = Only one word matches the query. So it is 1/5= 20% relevant
3. Coffee Brewing – an Online Tutorial = 4 words match the search query, which means it is 4/5 or 80% relevant.

The second factor that may affect a video’s search position is User Engagement. This is the measurement of users’ engagement and their interaction and perception of the video.

Measurable factors include the following:

1. Favorites – the number of times the video has been added as “favorite” by the YouTube viewers.
2. Number of comments – the total number of user comments on the video.
3. Number of likes – the number of viewers that “like” the video. This replaces the old YouTube five-star rating system.

The third factor is Trust and Authority of the Video Owner. Similar to the way  websites are ranked in Google, the trust and authority of the video owner might also affect the video ranking in YouTube. Of course, YouTube, in the effort to avoid spam, will most likely check the background of the YouTube video owner, and could use that information to assess the trustworthiness of the video.

Measurable factors under this category include the following:

1. Membership age – the number of years that the video publisher has been active in YouTube. The older the membership, the more trusted is the video owner. This concept is similar to the age of domain in Google search engine ranking factors.
2. Total Channel Views – the total number of viewers that visit the video publisher/owner channel.
3. Total number of subscribers – this is important; the higher this figure, the more authoritative is the video owner.