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10 YouTube Trends & SEO Tips From VidCon 2019

By Tinuiti Team

YouTube is now the 2nd largest search engine, outranked only by its owner, Google, which is why understanding the latest YouTube search trends and emerging SEO best practices are crucial for building your brand visibility.

We recently attended VidCon US’s 10th-anniversary event for fans, creators, executives, and brands that are passionate about online video and building diverse communities.

Here are our top 10 takeaways for YouTube trends from this year’s VidCon conference that can be used to inform your video strategy.

 

What is Vidcon?

 

Vidcon is the world’s largest events for fans, creators, executives, and brands that are passionate about online video and building diverse communities.

vidcon center conference

Thousands of attendees come for the live performances, panels, fireside chats, interactive experiences, and perhaps most importantly, to discuss the latest YouTube trends shared by the top publishers on the platform.

VidCon US celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2019. VidCon was founded by veteran YouTube creator Hank Green and was acquired by Viacom in 2018.

 

Top 10 YouTube Trends of 2019

 

1. Primetime is personal and different for every user; there are now more videos, channels, and overall inventory than ever before on the platform.

 

youtube trends and channels

 

2. Traditional entertainment (TV & movie industry) is converging with digital as movie stars and execs migrate into digital and digital influencers are becoming TV celebrities.

 

youtube originals tv
Cobra Kai, a Karate Kid offshoot that stars some of the original actors from the hit 80s film, has seen great success on YouTube Originals.

 

3. YouTube campaigns can get a comparable reach and frequency to TV at a more efficient rate and can complement TV by skewing toward the younger audience.

 

youtube ads
Source: YouTube

 

4. Brand Lift 2.0 can be leveraged to optimize in real-time and drive a substantial lift in consideration as seen with Helix.

 

5. Watch time is one of the biggest factors in SERP ranking for video, along with recency.

Videos that engage and hold the interest of viewers benefit most from YouTube’s ranking algorithm.

 

youtube watchtime

 

6. Google AI can see objects in videos and can listen to the audio to determine the video content and relevance.

 

7. YouTube has become less about one-offs and viral hits and more about a large network of creators who build meaningful audiences.

 

youtube network visual arts
Source: YouTube

 

8. Trends we see among the creator ecosystem are the ones that are starting to best reflect and shape the culture around us.

“Adulting” is one of the newest genres driven by a demand for the content.

 

9. It may seem like hyper-specific content appeals to hyper-specific interests of one audience. But in 2019, going niche can be the path to going mainstream.

 

10. Fashion beauty and sustainability are merging into one of the fastest-growing conversations.

Creators are using new imaging techniques, microscopes, for close up videos.

 

sustainable fashion youtube trends
Source: Sedona Christina YouTube

 

 

Advanced YouTube SEO Strategies to Drive Viewership

 

YouTube’s algorithm changes as much as its social media competitors. With the current algorithm, engagement with your viewers should be the top priority — which also calls for smart SEO practices to implement with each video.

Putting time into the launch of your video by researching proper SEO pays off. Prepare relevant metadata, thumbnails, keywords, and a standard style to your videos to create a consistent experience within your channel.

youtube logoHere are some of the SEO strategies that creators and publishers remarked on being important for performance:

 

 

 

 

Want to learn more?

How Chubbies Drives Acquisition with Branded Content

 

 

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