How Does SEO Affect YouTube Channel Growth?

When I started my channel, I had no clue about the importance of tags and keywords. Surprisingly, my videos received decent traffic without any SEO optimization. However, I later learned that tools like VIDIQ can help you analyze the traffic your videos get from specific tag searches, which can be very informative. It's worth experimenting with SEO now that I understand its potential.

The impact of SEO really depends on your niche and competition. In my case, I’ve been lucky that most search terms related to my content rank high on Google, which brings organic traffic. If you're in a competitive niche, optimizing your video titles, descriptions, and tags can help you stand out and attract more viewers.

I can't stress enough how critical SEO can be for channel growth, especially when it comes to specific niches. For instance, I once disregarded SEO for a video, and it only got 80 views in three days. After I optimized the title and description, the views jumped to 40 in just two hours! This made me realize that even small adjustments can make a significant difference.

From my experience, SEO does play a role in channel growth, but its impact may not be as significant as it once was. In the early stages of my channel, I didn't pay much attention to SEO, and I noticed that my click-through rate (CTR) and average view duration (AVD) were much more crucial for driving views and engagement. Focusing on these metrics has yielded better results than just optimizing for search engine keywords.