Vital YouTube and Video SEO Statistics (2024)

Written by: Muninder Adavelli

Updated: July, 18, 2024

Posted in:

Marketers must constantly think of ways to catch an audience’s attention and make it count. However, in this digital age where attention spans are shorter and there is an overload of information online, achieving those goals is often a struggle

That’s where video content swoops in. Marketers now use video content to reach more audiences and convey more information easily. Due to the wide usage of video content, the industry has become increasingly competitive, giving rise to video SEO for improved rankings and visibility. 

Practicing video SEO as a promotional medium has proven to be successful for various businesses. One of the benefits of using video is its ability to increase brand awareness, as experienced by 90% of marketers.

YouTube is the main search engine for video content, which sees over 500 hours worth of new videos uploaded per minute. Videos also appear on other search engines and are 50 times more likely to rank in Google than text content organically. 

When videos are consumed, 80% of customers who watch them can remember them for at least a month. As a result, 9 out of 10 marketers agree that video marketing has given them a good return on investment (ROI).

We’ve curated more stats related to YouTube and Video SEO to help you gauge the power of video content in today’s digital age. These statistics will focus on the trends, consumer preferences, benefits of video SEO, and more.

 

YouTube and Video SEO Statistics Key Findings

  1. Every minute, 500 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube. 
  2. 90% of marketers agree that video SEO helped increase brand awareness.
  3. Videos are 50 times more likely to rank organically in Google than text content. 
  4. 80% of consumers can remember a video ad they saw over the last month. 
  5. Nine out of ten marketers reveal that video marketing provides a good ROI.

Essential YouTube and Video SEO Statistics

YouTube started simply as a social media platform and website to share videos in 2005. Almost two decades after its emergence, YouTube has become the second most visited website worldwide with 2.9 billion monthly active users.

The video-sharing platform has also turned into a full-fledged search engine that generates video content as a search result. And as YouTube is considered a search engine of its own, it employs various ranking algorithms that determine the videos’ rankings and visibility.

 

Summary of YouTube Ranking Algorithms

YouTube’s ranking algorithms help users find the most relevant and helpful video content. The platform has placed several indicators, controlled by users, to help determine the most helpful videos, such as:

  • Views
  • Like button
  • Dislike button
  • Sharing options
  • Comments section
  • “Not interested” option on videos

Videos with more indicators tend to rank higher on YouTube’s algorithm. According to Google engineers, YouTube also scrutinizes the following factors:

  • Watch time 
  • Click-through rate
  • User demographics and location
  • User search history and viewing habits
  • If the user is currently watching videos about the same topic
  • How many videos the individual user has watched on one channel

The factors discussed above are usually out of the marketer’s control. Thus, enter: Video SEO.

With video SEO, marketers can maximize their chances of ranking on YouTube based on its algorithm. Factors within the marketer’s control are:

  • Video length
  • Timestamps
  • Upload frequency
  • Word descriptions
  • Video title (and title length)
  • Keyword use and optimization

The following sections will break down the specific data on how these aspects affect YouTube viewership and what they convey about the current video SEO industry.

YouTube Viewing Statistics: How Much Video is Streamed on YouTube?

 

YouTube Viewing Key Findings

  • For every minute, YouTube users stream 694,000 hours worth of video on the platform.
  • YouTube Shorts had a 2 billion monthly active user record in 2023, merely 3 years after its launch.
  • Demand for YouTube is continuous, with YouTube mobile video consumption rising by 100% yearly.

For every minute that passes, YouTube gains 500 hours worth of newly uploaded videos. On the other hand, around 694,000 hours of video are streamed each minute on YouTube.

These initial figures show that the ratio of YouTube’s video upload and video streamed per minute are significantly far apart. Regardless of the distance between the number of hours of uploads from the number of hours streamed, YouTube still meets the streaming demands of billions of its users.

YouTube users view an average of 6.09 pages per visit, exhibiting a low bounce rate of 34.39%. Then, visitors stay for around 19 minutes per day on YouTube.

Some consumers spend more time on the platform as the average length of YouTube videos is 11.7 minutes, while other users watch more than one YouTube video per day and go over the daily average time of videos streamed.

The platform also introduced YouTube Shorts in 2020 and it grew quickly. YouTube Shorts became a successful counterpart of TikTok, a successful short-form video content platform. In 2023, YouTube Shorts recorded 2 billion global monthly active users.

Due to the continuous usage of YouTube to consume video content, long and short, YouTube mobile video consumption rises by 100% yearly.

Now that you know the primary statistics on YouTube viewership, let’s break down how that shapes YouTube SEO by looking at more related data.

YouTube SEO Statistics: Diving Into the SEO Stats of the #1 Video Search Engine

 

YouTube SEO Key Findings

  • Videos that appear second on YouTube’s search results page experience 74% fewer views than the video at the top spot.
  • The top-ranking videos on YouTube are at least 14 minutes and 50 seconds
  • Timestamps, a feature introduced by YouTube in 2020, help videos rank better as 8% of uploads with timestamps rank the highest.
  • YouTube channels that upload more than one video weekly are more likely to organically gain views.
  • Title length directly affects chances to rank on YouTube. As a result, 54% of videos have an average of 8 words on their titles, while 2% of all videos have titles with over 15 words
  • 31% of top-ranking videos on YouTube feature 11 to 55-word descriptions.

The overall purpose of SEO on YouTube is to claim the top spots of the search results page. However, the goal is very specific: to rank first on YouTube’s search results page.

Marketers fight for the number one spot as sitting in the second position is not as good. Reports show that videos in the former experience 74% fewer views than the highest-ranking video.

Since being first on the results list means that your video is more likely to be viewed, marketers race to create video content that will dominate the search engine rankings.

As mentioned earlier, there are numerous considerations when it comes to ranking on YouTube. Some aspects are outside of the marketer’s control, while other factors may be optimized to experience better reach, engagement, and conversions.

Video Length Affects Search Engine Rankings, Engagement, and Conversion Rates

The overall purpose of SEO on YouTube is to claim the top spots of the search results page. However, the goal is very specific: to rank first on YouTube’s search results page.

Marketers fight for the number one spot as sitting in the second position is not as good. Reports show that videos in the former experience 74% fewer views than the highest-ranking video.

Since being first on the results list means that your video is more likely to be viewed, marketers race to create video content that will dominate the search engine rankings.

As mentioned earlier, there are numerous considerations when it comes to ranking on YouTube. Some aspects are outside of the marketer’s control, while other factors may be optimized to experience better reach, engagement, and conversions.

 

Definition

A ‘midroll’ is a default advertisement break on videos that are 8 minutes longer. Videos below 8 minutes are ineligible for a midroll.

These stats and facts tell us that marketers consider making videos longer to create more advertisement opportunities, even though that may affect rankings and viewer engagement.

Viewers Utilize and Prefer Timestamps, Which Help Videos Rank Higher

YouTube introduced timestamps in 2020 to make it easier for consumers to skip to a specific part of the video. This feature has been incredibly helpful for viewers who have limited time at hand, ultimately improving user experience.

As a result of the improved user experience that timestamps bring, 8% of videos with timestamps rank the highest.

Uploading More Frequently on YouTube Can Help Increase Views

Most content creators follow the standard rule of uploading a new video once a week. However, data shows that YouTube channels that post more than one video a week are more likely to organically gain views.

Keyword Optimization is Crucial For Your Video to Rank

Placing the keyword that your video is optimized around is crucial in its content, title, and word description. YouTube and other search engines will use keywords as indicators that your content will tackle the consumer’s needs.

Title similarity with keyword ratio is one of the key parameters in video keyword optimization. Video content creators tend to understand this requirement as 55% of videos have a match ratio of 1 between their titles and keywords.

Choose Better Titles for Your YouTube Videos, They Will Affect Your Rankings

A video’s title does not just inform the viewers about the content of a video, it also helps the content catch the user’s attention. The video’s title is also a way for the algorithm to determine the niche and topic of the video.

With that, the video’s title is a direct factor in its ability to rank. Based on Semrush’s study, title length can influence a video’s ranking position.

YouTube’s algorithm prefers more concise titles. Because of that, video content creators stick to using fewer words and characters in their video titles. They usually follow the ideal YouTube video title length of between 60 and 70 characters.

On YouTube, 54% of videos have an average of 8 words, while only 2% of all videos have titles with over 15 words.

A chart for the Number of words in YouTube video titles.

Concise and Contextual Video Descriptions Help Determine YouTube Rankings

Video word descriptions help provide more context than the title can. More importantly, word descriptions offer more opportunities for keyword placement. However, there’s still a limit to them.

Research points out that 31% of high-ranking videos feature word descriptions with only 11 to 50 words. 

Meanwhile, the chances of ranking without a word description are slim, but not impossible as 7% of top-ranking videos don’t have descriptions.

A chart for the number of words in video descriptions.

YouTube Search Statistics: Analyzing the Top YouTube Searches

 

YouTube Search Key Findings

  • YouTube has a monthly search volume of over 3 billion.
  • The search queries “Song” and “Movie” have an index value of 100 and 61, respectively, highlighting YouTube’s role in providing video entertainment to its consumers.

There are 122 million daily active users (DAUs) on YouTube who utilize the video search engine. That brings YouTube’s monthly search volume to over 3 billion.

Supporting earlier statistics on music videos as the most popular type of YouTube videos is Statista’s data on the top YouTube search queries worldwide.

Looking at YouTube searches’ individual index values, the keyword “Song” tops the list with an index rating of 100. Following it are the queries “movie” and “video” with 61 and 41 index ratings, respectively.

Based on this data set, most consumers on YouTube visit the platform for entertainment purposes.

Video SEO Statistics: 8 out 10 marketers Use Video as A Marketing Tool

 

Video SEO Key Findings

  • 54% of customers want to see more video content from a brand they support
  • In 2023, 86% of businesses use video as an official marketing tool, up from 2017’s 63% turnover.
  • 85% of marketers consider short-form videos more effective due to their high return on investment. As a result, 56% of marketers plan to invest in video marketing in 2024.
  • 69% of consumers prefer learning about products through videos instead of text.
  • According to 78% of marketers, YouTube is the most effective social media platform for video marketing.

The mechanism behind YouTube and other search engine platforms’ ability to generate relevant video content results for consumers is video SEO.

Video SEO was once overlooked until marketers found out that 54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand they support. 

Now, content creators and marketers also utilize video SEO to improve brand engagement, sales, and more. As of 2023, 86% of businesses officially use video as a marketing tool, significantly up from 2017’s 63% record.

Explore further how these marketers and business owners utilize video SEO based on market trends, customer preferences, and target results.

Video SEO Trends and Consumer Preferences in 2024

Marketers and video content creators are quick to capitalize on video SEO trends. For instance, 73% of consumers prefer to watch short-form videos when learning about a product or service.

For 85% of marketers, they consider short-form videos more effective, mainly due to their high return on investment. Meanwhile, 56% of marketers recognize that creating short-form videos is a trend they plan to invest in 2024.

Attaching videos to emails has also been a trend in video SEO as it increases click-through rates (CTR) by 200% to 300%. 

Even using the word “video” somewhere in the email can increase open rates by 19% and CTR by 65%. It can also reduce the number of unsubscribers by 26% as 54% of email subscribers prefer receiving emails with video attachments.

Video SEO vs. Text Statistics

Focusing on video content preference, 69% of consumers would rather learn about products through videos than text.

When consumers watch a video, they retain 95% of its message. Meanwhile, customers only retain 10% of the information when presented through text.

Further reports show that social videos generate 1200% more shares than content with text and image combinations. Moreover, videos in blog posts draw 3 times more inbound links than text-only posts.

Some experts advise using text more if your goal is to improve search engine rankings or provide your consumers with detailed insights. Meanwhile, videos are best if you want to increase brand awareness and engagement.

We studied more reports on video SEO vs. text statistics and found that video and text can work together and create more advantageous impacts. The key to pulling that off is regulation

 

Did You Know?

According to a research titled ‘How Video Will Take Over The World’, it takes 1.8 million words in text format to convey the same amount of information as a one-minute video. 

This finding highlights how it’s easier to consume information worth 1.8 million words just by watching a one-minute video.

Since consumers want to learn all the information in a short time, videos with short text generate 13% higher brand and message recall over those with longer text.

Social Media Video SEO Statistics

The use of social media allows businesses to thrive in a larger market. Using video SEO in social media further boosts the advantages of social media marketing.

Social media is the most popular channel for posting video content as 78% of marketers use social media platforms for video marketing. 

As the so-called “OG” platform for video content, YouTube is the most effective video marketing channel as agreed by 78% of marketers. Facebook is voted the second-best social media channel for video marketing by 71% of marketers.

Marketers preference between YouTube vs. Facebook by effectiveness.

Around 55% of viewers watch short videos on social media, while only 16% of consumers watch over 30 minutes of video on social media.

As a result of uploading videos on social media, 93% of businesses gained new customers. Creating videos has transitioned from an optional marketing approach to an essential strategy 

Today, social media marketers commonly outsource video production services for their video SEO efforts.

There are still marketers who are reluctant to use video content and SEO for marketing. Some commonly cited reasons for not utilizing video marketing are:

  • Insufficient time (to commit) – 33%
  • Too expensive – 20%
  • Unsure where to begin – 15%

Based on the statistics discussed, consumers prefer to see more of the brands they support through videos on social media. Thus, marketers who haven’t started video SEO on social media might be missing out on a large market.

Video SEO Marketing Conversion and ROI: 90% of Marketers Agree that Video SEO Provides Good ROI

 

Video SEO Marketing Conversion and ROI Key Findings

  • Posting video content pushes a 157% increase in organic traffic from search result pages.
  • Businesses report 41% more organic search traffic by executing video SEO.
  • Using video helps marketers generate revenue 49% faster than those who don’t use video.
  • 90% of marketers report using video in marketing has given them a good return on investment.  

Videos alone are 50 times more likely to rank high on Google than plain text content. More importantly, videos help prompt a 157% increase in organic traffic from search result pages.

With video SEO, businesses generate 41% more organic search traffic. Video call-to-actions (CTAs) have an average click-through rate (CTR) of 3.21%.

Properly executing video SEO will lead to more beneficial outcomes. A widely reported advantage of video SEO is increasing brand awareness, which is experienced by 90% of marketers. 

At least 48% of marketers create video content to improve brand awareness. As a result of the enhanced brand awareness, other advantages follow. 

Awareness brought by making video content is converted into sales. As mentioned earlier, 80% of consumers remember a video they saw in the past month. Moreover, 93% of businesses gained a new customer by posting a video on social media.

Ninety percent of consumers admit that watching a video helps them decide on their purchases. Then, 64% of viewers buy the product after watching branded social videos. 

Because of that, marketers who use video generate revenue 49% faster than those who don’t use video. Overall, 90% of marketers report using video in marketing has given them a good return on investment. 

Video SEO Forecast Statistics: AI, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality Will Take Over Video SEO

 

Video SEO Forecast Key Findings

  • YouTube’s user base is poised to grow by 25% by 2026.
  • One of the emerging innovations in video SEO is using Artificial Intelligence (AI), which 18% of marketers already use
  • Meanwhile, 16% of marketers plan to use AI for video within the next 6 months.
  • Virtual reality (VR) is also turning up on video SEO, exhibiting a 30% annual growth rate.
  • More video marketers are also starting to use augmented reality (AR), which will grow by 45% in 2025.

The statistics discussed so far clearly show video SEO’s success by withstanding trends and maximizing channels like social media. Through this quality, video SEO will continue to rise in numerous aspects.

One of the most important predictions is YouTube’s 25% user base growth by 2026, which will likely increase the demand for video SEO.

Businesses are also willing to adapt to video SEO trends and innovations to maximize their advantages.

First on the list is utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) in making videos, which 18% of marketers claim to already use. On the other hand, 16% of surveyed marketers plan to use AI for video content within the next 6 months.

Virtual reality content is also emerging in video SEO, with a 30% annual growth rate until 2025. Meanwhile, augmented reality (AR) in video marketing will also grow by 45% in the same year.

The future of video SEO innovations through AI, virtual reality, and augmented reality statistics.

Since video SEO guarantees success in achieving business goals, 50% of brands will spend more on video marketing by 2026. 

In Conclusion: YouTube is the Leading Platform for Video SEO

All the data discussed highlighted how crucial video content is for capturing audience attention and having a successful online presence. With that, marketers leverage video for its effectiveness in increasing brand awareness and delivering a high return on investment. 

YouTube, the leading video search engine, incorporated with its own search engine algorithm, sees massive video uploads and views. Optimizing video content through video SEO is essential to stand out in this competitive industry. 

Statistics show that key factors like video length, timestamps, upload frequency, and keyword optimization significantly impact rankings and engagement. And as video consumption rises, marketers must adapt to trends and innovations, ensuring video SEO remains a backbone of digital marketing strategies.

Tutorial By: Muninder Adavelli

Harsha Kiran is a seasoned Link Building Strategist with over 10 years of experience in SEO. Passionate about organic growth, Harsha has helped numerous clients achieve long-term SEO success. When not strategizing, Harsha enjoys hiking and photography.