YouTube is easily one of the most recognized and popular sites when it comes to uploading videos. Making a YouTube account requires almost no effort and generally takes under a minute to complete, plus there are no hidden fees that go into creating an account or uploading content. Because there are so many different videos posted on YouTube though it can be hard for uploaders to really stand out and improve their YouTube ranking.

Most of the things that provide positive rating are fairly obvious. For example, the more views a video gets, the higher it goes up in ranking. It isn’t just views that matter though. Liking a video will help to improve the ranking, as well as adding it to favorites. Channel subscriptions are important too, which is why so many YouTube users will include a message somewhere in the video asking any of the viewers to like and subscribe if they enjoyed the video. What usually isn’t as well known is what user’s do that can hurt their YouTube ranking.

Keyword Bloating
One of the ways that YouTube searches work is by using a tag system. Uploaders are able to tag their videos with certain keywords so they will show up in searches. It might seem like this would be an easy situation to take advantage of, since uploaders can just tag their video with as many popular keywords as possible to show up in every search. Showing up in a search is one thing and is momentarily good, but it doesn’t mean that anyone is going to check the video. Nobody will take a channel seriously if the uploader doesn’t properly tag their videos, which means there won’t be any views.

Misleading Titles
Using incorrect or misleading titles can be just as damaging as using improper tags. Unlike with tags, using the wrong title is something that can potentially draw in viewers. This might seem good, but once the viewers realize the video is misleading they can simply report it, which is the last thing that the uploader wants.

Copyright Infringement
YouTube takes copyright infringement very seriously. A mistake that some users can make is reposting someone else’s content on their channel, trying to use that popularity to garner views of their own. Just because you credit someone when uploading their content doesn’t make it okay, if the original owner didn’t give permission then the video can be flagged and removed. Repeated offenses could result in the account being banned.

Overzealous Advertisement
A common tactic to try and get views is posting on more popular channels that have similar content. This is not something that YouTube users usually take kindly to. Doing it once in awhile isn’t too bad, especially if the initial comment is something more then “Go to my channel and watch my videos.” Doing it too much is going to be seen as spam, which will usually encourage anyone who sees the advertisement to go and dislike the videos.

Comments
Uploaders need to be careful when commenting on videos, whether their own or someone else’s. It actually isn’t that uncommon for popular uploaders to create a second account that they use for viewing and commenting. It is easy for arguments to start over comments, and some YouTube users can be especially vindictive, not only lashing out in comments, but also going to the uploader’s channel and disliking their videos, or continuing the argument on that user’s discussion page. This is something that could potentially push new viewers away since it can make the uploader look bad or uncivil.