Looking for ways to improve your Twitch ranking? Have you taken the time to optimize Twitch for SEO?
You’re probably sick of hearing how bad Twitch’s discoverability is at this point, but it’s true. The Amazon-owned streaming site doesn’t do much to help small to mid-sized content creators and audiences find each other. But, there’s a way to fix that and improve your Twitch ranking. And it lies in search engine optimization (SEO).
But what is SEO? And how can you apply it to your stream and improve your Twitch ranking? We dive into all of that in this post.
What is SEO?
In a nutshell, SEO is a series of methods used to make content on the internet more likely to be found by search engines. It’s in the name itself. Your aim is to optimize the text in your content so that search platforms like Google can more easily serve them to users.
A lot of streamers don’t apply SEO to their channel and streams because it’s not yet a widespread concept in the industry. However, Twitch is a website and that makes it crawlable by search engine bots. So, it stands to reason that your content can be found by placing queries. All you need to do is apply a few key principles, and your channel will have a higher chance of being found, which ultimately improves your Twitch ranking.
How to optimize Twitch for SEO and improve your Twitch ranking
We should preface this section with a disclaimer: SEO isn’t a precise science. Nobody, besides the search engine companies themselves, knows what the inner workings of algorithms are. Over the years, Google has been a bit more forthcoming with the changes and updates it makes to its search engine, but some stuff is kept close to the chest.
That all being said, there are some foundational methods you can use to improve your channel’s searchability.
Discover & include related keywords
The backbone of every good SEO strategy is to discover and use keywords. These may sound quite nebulous at first but the idea is quite simple. People use words and terms to find the things they want on Google. When someone types into a search engine “live horror Twitch stream” they expect to find channels that are live and playing scary video games. The terms in this search query are all keywords you should use in your channel if you want this user to find you.
Besides the exact terms, you want to look into listing relevant terms as well. Horror games are scary so that too can be a term you can use across your channel’s text. The easiest way to find keywords is to start typing out terms on Google itself and checking out the auto-fill list. This is a goldmine for quick keywords and longer terms you can use.
Once you have your keywords, it’s time to start applying them everywhere that accepts text on your channel.
Your title matters (sort of…)
Google’s relationship to page titles is complicated. On the one hand, the title you use on your stream is something the algorithm looks at. However, it’s not even close to being the most important aspect.
Still, you should ensure that your title is descriptive enough so that it clues people into what is happening in your stream. For example, some streamers may make titles such as “Going for the end boss today! Come cheer me on.” While this may be enticing for Twitch viewers who are already on the platform at that moment, this doesn’t help someone who is searching on Google. They can’t even see what game you’re playing.
Instead, typing something like “Elden Ring Final Boss Live Stream Fight” could potentially draw in people searching for that. In other words, think of users outside of Twitch and consider how you’ll optimize your title for them.
Write useful descriptions for highlights & channel
Your Twitch Highlights and your channel’s description are the two most important persistent pieces of text. Google and other search engines love text so it behooves you to take their descriptions seriously.
Make sure every Highlight you make contains relevant words and terms that will allow search engines to serve your content to searchers. Don’t just type in “Funny Elden Ring moment” and call it a day. “Instead, get into a bit of detail about what the highlight is about. Consider making it at least two lines long.
The same goes for your channel description. Most streamers just write about themselves and that’s fine to include. However, you want to also use terms that are related to the games you play and the vibe of your show.
Panels should contain relevant information
Another piece of persistent text on your channel can be found in your Panels. Admittedly, they’re more restrictive in terms of length. But, they still serve as an opportunity to include relevant terms.
For example, if you run a horror game-based stream, your donation tab could read “If you enjoy me being absolutely scared out of my mind by horror games, consider donating.” Small opportunities like this one can go a long way toward optimizing your channel for search engines.
Related: How To Cope With Stress While Streaming On Twitch
Looking for more resources to optimize Twitch for SEO or improve your Twitch ranking? Check out this video from Matthew Eagen.
Optimize Twitch for SEO