You may have heard that there is no SEO silver bullet that will improve your ranks, and that’s true. Good SEO requires lots of little details that can add up to help your search engine ranks and visibility, and encourage engagement with your brand. One little detail you can get started on today is linking your YouTube channel to your website.

When you set up this link, you’ll send signals to YouTube that can influence your YouTube rank, based on the Google rank of your linked website. You’ll also be able to add annotations that link from your videos directly to your website, like this one:

To Link Your YouTube Channel via Webmaster Tools:

1. Your website must be verified in Google Webmaster Tools. The verified Webmaster Tools account owner does not need to be the same account you use to administer your YouTube channel, but it helps. If your site is not verified in Webmaster Tools, follow the instructions found here. Once your website has been verified, move on to the next step.

2. Confirm your YouTube account has been verified. Doing so communicates to YouTube that you are not a bot, and unlocks some YouTube features (such as the ability to upload longer videos) that unverified accounts do not have. Channel verification is a different process, and is explained below. If your YouTube account is not verified, follow the instructions found here. Once your account has been verified, move on to the next step.

3. Login to your YouTube account and click on your Channel Icon in the top right corner of the page. Select “Creator Studio” from the drop down menu.

4. From the left hand side of the Creator Studio menu select “Channel” and click “Advanced” under the Channel menu.

5. Scroll down to “Associated Website,” type in your website URL and click “Add.”

• If you are the verified website owner in Google Webmaster Tools, your link will be automatically approved and you will see a green “Success” button next to your Associated Website URL in the “Advanced” tab. Click save to confirm your change.
• If you are not the verified website owner, you will need to click “request approval” to send an email to the webmaster to approve the link. Click save to make your change. Once the webmaster has approved the link in Webmaster Tools, you will receive an email and see a green “Success” button next to your Associated Website URL in the “Advanced” tab.

YouTube Channel Verification

Verification badges are applied to YouTube channels connected with a Google+ identity. These badges help to confirm the authenticity of your brand.

Unfortunately, there is no set way to verify your YouTube channel. Channel verification is at YouTube’s discretion.

For more tips, view our blog post on how to connect your Google+ page to your website.