youtube-seo

YouTube SEO guides the optimization of YouTube videos and channels for search and discovery. It applies when a user wants to optimize videos for search, create video descriptions, or improve channel visibility, and triggers on mentions of terms like YouTube SEO, YouTube description, tags, thumbnail, title, or channel. The skill frames title, description, and thumbnail as an interconnected system, noting that Google now prioritizes YouTube video results and that systematic keyword strategies are associated with longer view durations, better click-through rates, and higher search discovery.

Work begins with an initial assessment that checks for project context in .claude/project-context.md or .cursor/project-context.md (reading the Keywords and Content Strategy sections if present) and identifies the video type, target keyword, and audience. Concrete rule tables then cover each surface. Titles should stay under 60 characters with the primary keyword in the first 5 to 55 characters, combining social proof or authority with an emotional trigger and the keyword in a conversational style, avoiding keyword stuffing and all caps. Descriptions should place primary and secondary keywords naturally in the first two to three sentences with a meta description under 160 characters, include relevant links, and read naturally. Tags help YouTube understand content but matter less than titles and descriptions. Thumbnails—used by most best-performing videos—should use high contrast, readable fonts, rule-of-thirds composition, and testing.

A key theme is reinforcing the same core message across title, description, and thumbnail so each targets a different aspect of the algorithm. The skill also covers YouTube's role in Google Search and generative engine optimization (GEO), observing that YouTube is core search infrastructure and a major source of citations in AI Overviews, and points to related skills such as video-marketing, video-optimization, youtube-ads, content-marketing, parasite-seo, and generative-engine-optimization. Output follows a defined format: title options under 60 characters, a description with the first 160 characters plus the full text, a relevant tag set, and thumbnail guidance covering elements, text, and composition.