Ranking YouTube videos on both YouTube search and Google requires a strategic approach that focuses on optimizing both the video content itself and the associated metadata. Below is a step-by-step guide (BIP 382 Guide) for ranking your YouTube videos effectively:

1. Optimize Video Title for SEO
Keyword-Rich Title: Include your primary keyword or key phrase in the title of the video. Make it compelling and clickable but avoid keyword stuffing. For example, if you're targeting "how to cook spaghetti," use a title like "How to Cook Spaghetti – Simple and Delicious Recipe."

Clear and Concise: Ensure the title is clear, descriptive, and conveys what the video is about in an easy-to-understand way. A well-crafted title will help attract viewers and signal to Google and YouTube what the video is about.

2. Create a Compelling Video Description
First 150 Characters: The first 150 characters of your description are the most important, as they appear in search results. Make sure to include your target keyword early.

Detailed Description: Use the rest of the description to provide a thorough overview of the video's content. Include secondary keywords naturally and add relevant information that supports the video.

Link to Other Videos: Cross-promote your other videos in the description to increase user engagement and time spent on your channel.

Call to Action: Include a call to action, such as encouraging viewers to like, comment, and subscribe, which can improve user interaction and help rank the video higher.

3. Tags and Keywords
Target Keywords: Use specific keywords and long-tail phrases in your tags. Include variations of your primary keyword and related terms to help YouTube understand the context of your video.

Competitor Research: Look at top-ranking videos in your niche and note what tags they use. Tools like TubeBuddy or VidIQ can help identify high-performing keywords.

4. Engage with Your Audience
Likes and Comments: Engagement signals, such as likes, comments, and shares, can improve your ranking. Ask viewers to engage by commenting on the video and sharing it with others.

Pinning Comments: Pin a comment on your video that encourages viewers to interact. This can increase comment count and improve ranking.

Replies to Comments: Replying to comments creates more interaction and signals to YouTube that the video is engaging, which can improve its ranking.

5. Create High-Quality, Engaging Content
Retention: YouTube ranks videos that keep people watching. Aim for high audience retention by making your content valuable, informative, or entertaining. The longer people watch, the better your video will rank.

Video Length: While longer videos often perform better in terms of watch time, ensure that your video remains engaging throughout. Quality is more important than length.

Engagement: Create videos that encourage users to comment, like, and share. Content that sparks discussions or controversy tends to generate more interaction.

6. Optimize Video Thumbnails
Custom Thumbnails: Create custom thumbnails that are visually appealing and relevant to your video. Use bold text, high contrast, and bright colors to grab attention.

Consistency: Keep a consistent style for your thumbnails so viewers can easily recognize your content in their feed. This can improve your click-through rate (CTR).

Text on Thumbnails: Add text to your thumbnails that highlights the key point of the video. Ensure the text is large enough to read even on small screens.

7. Add Captions and Subtitles
Increase Accessibility: Adding captions makes your videos more accessible to a wider audience, including those with hearing impairments or who speak other languages.

SEO Benefits: YouTube and Google can crawl the text in captions, so including keywords naturally in the captions can improve rankings.

Automatic Captions: YouTube automatically generates captions, but it's a good idea to review and edit them for accuracy and better keyword optimization.

8. Create Playlists
Thematic Playlists: Group your videos into thematic playlists. This improves watch time by encouraging users to watch more videos on your channel.

Playlist Titles and Descriptions: Optimize playlist titles and descriptions with relevant keywords. Playlists that are well-optimized can also appear in Google search results, increasing the discoverability of your videos.

9. Promote Your Video Outside YouTube
Social Media Sharing: Share your video on your social media profiles, blogs, and websites. The more traffic you drive to your video, the higher it will rank.

Embed in Websites or Blogs: If you have a website or blog, embed your video within relevant articles. This provides additional views and signals to YouTube that the video is worth ranking.

Collaborations: Collaborate with other creators and ask them to promote your video. This can expand your audience and increase your views.

10. Use YouTube Analytics for Improvement
Monitor Performance: YouTube Analytics is a powerful tool to track the performance of your videos. Monitor metrics like watch time, retention rate, CTR, and traffic sources.

Refine Strategy: Use this data to refine your content creation and SEO strategies. For instance, if you notice that viewers tend to leave at a specific point in the video, you can adjust your content to keep them engaged longer in the future.

11. Get Backlinks for Your Video
External Traffic: Google considers backlinks as an important ranking factor. Encourage others to link to your video or embed it in their content. This helps Google and YouTube view your video as an authoritative and valuable resource.

Guest Posts and Articles: Write guest posts on relevant blogs or websites in your niche and link to your YouTube video as a reference.

12. Track and Refine Your Strategy
Test and Tweak: SEO is an ongoing process. Continuously test different elements like titles, descriptions, and thumbnails to see what works best for your audience.

Stay Updated: Keep up with YouTube's algorithm updates and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Conclusion
To rank your YouTube videos on search engines like Google, it's essential to focus on optimizing both the content and its metadata. By utilizing best practices such as optimizing titles, descriptions, tags, and engagement, your video has a better chance of ranking highly on both YouTube search and Google. Consistency, quality, and a data-driven approach are the keys to building a successful YouTube channel and increasing visibility.