MrBeast is the the largest youtuber in the world, with 129+ million subscribers. If that wasn’t impressive enough, he is in the top 10 most followed TikTok accounts with over 70 million followers, even though he only created his account in late 2020.
He has literally paved the way in creating viral video content, with his “Squid Games in real life” video getting over 346 million views! His YouTube channel page gets over 213,500 organic visitors per month and his popularity is only increasing.
MrBeast gets an estimated 800,000+ monthly searches (+81% YoY)
and "MrBeast youtuber" gets 8,000+ (+12,000% YoY)
But what can an SEO learn from a viral video content creator? Well in January of 2023 Lex Fridman interviewed MrBeast on his podcast and before that in March of 2022 Joe Rogan interviewed him as well.
These two interviews shed light on the mind, creativity, dedication and obsession that MrBeast has with continuously optimizing and perfecting his content. This is exactly where it overlaps with the SEO industry and where I personally reaffirmed opinions I had or quite frankly learned a whole new approach to SEO.
6 lessons SEOs can learn from MrBeast
1. You need an AMAZING title, but you better deliver
Many SEOs would agree your title tag is one of the most important ranking signals. It must contain your target Keyword, be interesting enough to click, and represent your brand. All that, and be less than 60 characters so Google shows the whole thing.
MrBeast emphasis that the title must represent the start of the content and communicate to the reader that the content is worth giving their time to. The test he always asked himself is “does this title make the content irresistible”. He goes so far to say that he has rejected content ideas because he could not come up with the perfect title!
He also advices it should:
Provide a smooth segway into the content
Represent the length of the content
2. Test EVERYTHING
For years MrBeast Test youtube video titles, thumbnails, length, color, voice inflection, camera angles and the list goes on and on. He claims that for most people your first 100 videos will not succeed. BUT they are essential so you can make improvements each step along the way. One of the realest truths he says is that there is no perfect piece of content.
We know this in SEO. Ranking number 1 does not product you from competition and the only way to truly understand the ranking signals and find out what works for your topical authority is to test everything.
3. 10 million views is easier to get on 1 video than 100,000 views is on 100 video
Many websites can confirm that there are usually a few number of pages generating most of their content. This is not necessarily a good thing, but it seems to be true, and falls in line with the Pareto Efficiency or the 80/20 rule).
The context MrBeast gives is that the way the YouTube algorithm works will keep serving popular content, almost like a snowball effect. In SEO we know that there is a cycle. Great content ranks high > content that ranks high attract authority backlinks > the topical authority increases > making it easier to rank high.
4. The introduction is the most important part
The longer people consume your content the more likely they are to finish it, because they are committed. This is why the beginning of the blog/page/video must capture your audience and satisfy their intent as quickly as possible.
Search engines mimic the behavior of humans as well by placing importance on quick and clear answers that and *arguably* rewarding content that users spend longer on.
5. Brainstorming is essential
The only way to consistently procure viral content, is to intake as much inspiration as possible and then see what it ignites in the output. I have found this time and time again, that the brainstorming is crucial to success.
Whether it be for the topic, tone, call to actions, URL structure, images, corresponding videos and many more options. Planning a great SEO strategy requires planning from the highest level all the way down to each piece of content.
6. Distribution is King
The opportunity for distribution today is unlike any other time, especially on social media. With one content idea and format, you can go viral on:
YouTube Shorts
Instagram Reels
TikTok
Facebook
You can even repost it in Reddit and Twitter, and virtually 5x your exposure. From the SEO perspective is incredibly powerful since Google in Returning TIkToks and YouTube Shorts in the SERP. and YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world.