When it comes to video platforms, YouTube holds a huge share of the market. Online videos make up to 82% of internet consumer traffic, and YouTube is one prominent video marketing app. It’s basically Google, after all. Since SEO is all about optimizing search engines, YouTube is one powerful search engine that you can optimize for SEO.
You can create various types of backlinks on YouTube to increase your visibility and traffic. The vast number of audiences on the platform gives you the edge in video/media SEO. You can easily reach your target audience through such link-building methods. The YouTube platform offers a prime example of linking in the comment and description sections, increasing traffic to your site.
In this article
- What are YouTube Backlinks?
- Types of YouTube Backlinks
- Benefits of YouTube Backlinks
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Wrapping Up
- Related Reads
What are YouTube Backlinks?
The basic definition of YouTube Backlinks is that they are links directed from YouTube toward your website. These are placed in the videos that you upload on the platform, which users click to get to your website. The links may be placed anywhere in the video and surrounding space. They are usually categorized based on the type of links. These links can be either DoFollow or NoFollow links. you can also buy backlinks or make URLs yourself.
A DoFollow link can be inserted in four places on YouTube: the profile, custom links, video cards, and video end screens.
“The nofollow attribute tells search engines not to follow the outbound link that is being tagged, essentially saying that the website does not endorse the link.”
Types of YouTube Backlinks
Video Description links
Your YouTube channel video descriptions are the metadata that helps Google and users understand each video’s content. A well SEO-optimized video description will also help your videos to rank higher. The video descriptions are embedded with information related to the video content. You can add your website’s link in this same section along with your video content.
Channel visitors and SEO-optimized video descriptions can also lead to targeted traffic to your website. The best practice is adding backlinks to your YouTube description to optimize the content and links with relevant keywords.
Profile Links
Every YouTube channel has a section to describe the channel’s purpose and provide insight into the content produced on the channel. You can find your channel’s profile in your YouTube page’s “About ” section. On mobile, go to your YouTube channel, and there are tabs at the top of the screen: Home Videos, Playlists, Channels About. Scroll through these until you get to About, and tap that. On the desktop, click on the upper right where your picture is (hovering it will say ‘account’) – click on this and choose Your Channel. Your channel will load, and to the left, you will see a list: Dashboard, Playlists, etc. Down near the bottom of this list, click on Customization.
You will see, under Channel Customization at the top (to the right of the list mentioned above), the Channel name and description. And there will be shown a summary of your channel. This is your channel’s profile, the description of your channel.
A YouTube profile is one of the main sources of YouTube backlinks. You can add up to five backlinks to your YouTube page. For example, you might have an Instagram account you want to share, which shows photos not featured on your YouTube channel. Maybe you have a Patreon account; you can also link that there.
The simplest way of adding backlinks is:
YouTube Studio> Customize channel> Basic info
Scroll down to Links, shown in white, under your channel’s URL
Click on + ADD LINK
Here you can add a link title and a URL, up to 5 links.
Make a Custom URL for your YouTube channel
A Custom URL/link is an easy-to-remember name for your YouTube channel. The custom link appears as youtube.com/yourcustomname or youtube.com/c/yourcustomname.
To have a custom URL, you must have at least 100 subscribers on YouTube. After this, you can name your own custom URL.
You can set a custom URL by the following steps:
- Go to your YouTube Studio
- Go to Customization and Basic info
- Scroll down to find the channel URL. Below the channel URL, you will find the “Set up a custom URL” option.
- You can set the suggested custom link or can come up with your own unique link.
- Click on confirm and publish the custom link.
Comment Links
YouTube also allows putting links in your comment section, as well. This way, you can create a unique link for any video. This can be useful when you want to link back to something related only to that video but not necessarily to your whole site.
You can promote your website, business, or any product by putting a link in the comment section. The best practice is to put relevant links related to the video content. According to YouTube’s new policies, it allows the blocking of non-relevant links and allows creators to approve which links they want in their comment section. But putting relevant links can bring targeted traffic to your website.
NotBacklink Profile Improvemente: The important thing to remember here is not to spam the comment section with links. This can lead to declaring your account as a spam account and might result in permanently deleting your account.
End Screen Links
End screen links are something you can add to appear at the end or near the end of your video. YouTube end screen links are a good way of retaining your audience without letting them visit some other suggested content. You can add these at the end of your uploaded content. You can add a subscription button graphic and a link or two to videos that the viewer might want to see. You can specify these during the time that you are uploading your video, including “Best for the viewer,” “Playlist,” or “Most recent video” – these will appear as clickable squares at or near the end of your video.
- Video link to your other YouTube videos
- Adding a subscribe button
- Addition of an entire video series
- Linking some other channel you want to promote or collaborate with.
Shown here is one example of the subscription and the clickable videos that you can have linked at the end of any video.
Benefits of YouTube Backlinks
Backlink Profile Improvement
Backlinks are a set of links that are directed to your site. A good set of backlinks is a good “vote of confidence” for your website. Good backlinks help Google to recognize your content as authoritative and relevant. The best practice to have a backlink is with relevant anchor text from a relevant niche website.
Increase in Ranking
Putting your website in high authority and a famous YouTube channel can drive relevant organic traffic from search engines to your website. It is better if they are do-follow links pointing to your website. A backlink from a highly credible website sends Google’s algorithm a signal of your content’s credibility, relevancy, and authoritativeness.
Better Discoverability
Youtube backlinks increase the online presence of your brand/website. Visitors visiting your website from YouTube channels are considered a more authentic and targeted audience who spends time on your website. This increases the screen time for your website. For search engines, higher on-screen time is a good factor for higher rankings. This also increases CTRs (Clickthrough Rates) and eventually reduces bounce rates.
Increased Referral Traffic
Referral traffic is when people visit your site without searching for it in any search engine. Referral traffic is important for inbound marketers as it sends more targeted audiences to your website. The more credible your source is, the more referral traffic value will increase.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is YouTube a good backlink?
Yes, YouTube is a good source for backlinking. YouTube helps to drive targeted traffic to your website. Along with that, it also helps in brand awareness and increases organic referral traffic.
What is YouTube SEO?
YouTube SEO is the process of optimizing YouTube video content in a way to make it more useful for users that will help the video rank higher in search results.
Wrapping Up
Just like Google, YouTube also updates its ranking algorithms now and then. YouTube backlinks are becoming an essential part of SEO. Backlinks from YouTube are useful and can help your website get a boost of organic traffic and viewers. To know more about the different types of ethical link building, connect with us at LinkDoctor and take your website to the top of search engine results pages.
