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Optimizing video SEO is critical for YouTube growth. As a result, many aspiring creators spend dozens of hours comparing tools to supercharge their channels. But they miss out on several native SEO functionalities that YouTube offers creators.
Working at Tasty Edits, a YouTube SEO service, we regularly talk to creators who had no idea these tools even existed, or that they could be such a massive asset for improving video performance.
Here are three of the most under-utilized SEO tools YouTube natively offers creators.
1. ABC testing
To kick off with, YouTube now offers native A/B testing capabilities.
Back in the day, you had to use external tools to compare the performance of different variations of video packaging. Or simply guess at what would work best. Now, creators can easily test different title and thumbnail variations before picking the best-performing combination.
This is extremely handy for improving your click-through rate (CTR). CTR is one of the most critical factors the YouTube algorithm uses to decide whether to feature your video in search results and recommendations.
A killer title and a scroll-stopping thumbnail will tempt more people to click through. This sends a positive signal back to the algorithm, boosting your overall visibility.
2. Cards, quizzes and end screens
Next up, there are cards, quizzes, and end screens.
You can add and optimize these elements while you upload your video, at the same stage where you set your title, tags, thumbnail, and video description. Most creators, however, don’t bother with them. This is a mistake.
Because beyond CTR, other engagement and audience retention metrics will make or break your video’s success in winning over the algorithm. Once a viewer has clicked through to your content, you have to keep them there. Part of it is making sure that your video title and thumbnail actually match what your video is about, rather than making false promises.
But more importantly, it’s the structure of your video that counts. An irresistible hook. A consistent forward momentum. Gradual reveals.
And interactive elements like cards, quizzes and end screens.
Cards can be added at any point in your video. Use them to provide additional information and resources — links to your website, related videos or your online store.
Quizzes are an amazing way to collect instant feedback and improve viewer engagement with educational content. And end screens help you orient your viewers towards other content on your channel — especially in the new interactive format that lets you visually point to where related videos will appear.
The bottom line? Cards, quizzes and end screens are not just nice-to-haves. They are genuinely useful features for signaling to the YouTube algorithm that people not only click through to your content but also actively engage with it.
3. Ask Studio
One major challenge in YouTube SEO is navigating a flood of information and unearthing actionable insights.
Anyone who’s ever spent hours clicking through YouTube Studio’s analytics tab, trying to identify patterns across dozens of videos, knows how easy it is to get overwhelmed. And how impossible it becomes to see the bigger picture.
That’s where Ask Studio can help.
YouTube launched this conversational AI agent last year to help creators generate insights faster.
They can ask it about the success of their latest videos and what the top-performing videos on their channels have in common. The AI feature can generate summaries of sentiments in review sections and of recent content trends in different niches. Plus, creators can leverage it for video ideation, brainstorming and a creative exchange to shape hook strategies and entire video scripts.
As a native feature of YouTube, Ask Studio provides instant access to a creator’s detailed analytics, as well as relevant information across similar channels and entire niches.
Taking YouTube SEO further — getting a human strategist
While YouTube’s native SEO tools are powerful, they still take considerable expertise and, above all, time to harness to their maximum potential.
This is part of the reason why they’re underutilized by most creators.
The solution?
Delegating YouTube SEO to a dedicated strategist. Instead of handling the operational and strategic workflows of their channels single-handedly, most professional creators hand them off to a well-versed specialist.
From video packaging and YouTube SEO optimization to long-term strategy decisions, a seasoned YouTube expert will provide personalized support and high-level advice.
With the full support of YouTube’s tools and a professional who knows how to handle them, you get the freedom to create videos that actually engage.
Optimizing video SEO is critical for YouTube growth. As a result, many aspiring creators spend dozens of hours comparing tools to supercharge their channels. But they miss out on several native SEO functionalities that YouTube offers creators.
Working at Tasty Edits, a YouTube SEO service, we regularly talk to creators who had no idea these tools even existed, or that they could be such a massive asset for improving video performance.
Here are three of the most under-utilized SEO tools YouTube natively offers creators.
