I’ve been around YouTube long enough to know that not every video you create is going to be a hit. Sometimes, despite your best efforts sharp editing, solid thumbnails, click-worthy titles a video just fizzles out. No traction, no views, buried on Page 5 (or worse) of YouTube search.
Last month, that’s exactly where I found myself. I had a tutorial video, one I knew had potential. It was relevant, timely, and even had decent engagement but search-wise? Dead in the water. So, I decided to dust off one of my lesser-talked-about weapons: external backlinking.
This isn’t your usual “change the thumbnail” or “optimize the tags” story. This was about reviving a forgotten piece of content using a tactic most YouTubers either ignore or underestimate.
The Problem:
The video in question was targeting a medium-competition keyword in my niche. On-page SEO was solid descriptions optimized, keyword in the title, tags nailed down, and an end screen funnel in place. Still, it was sitting on Page 5, gathering digital dust.
I’d done everything you’re “supposed” to do on YouTube. But the truth? YouTube SEO isn’t just what happens inside YouTube Studio.
The Strategy:
If you’ve been around SEO circles, you know backlinks are the currency of search engines. But on YouTube, most creators rarely think outside the platform. I decided to apply traditional SEO principles to my video with a twist.
Instead of waiting for organic backlinks or hoping a blog would embed my video, I took matters into my own hands. Enter: automated backlink generation.
I’ve experimented with backlinking tools in the past, but this time I went full throttle. I used a combination of niche blogs, forums, and crucially an online tool to generate YouTube backlinks quickly and efficiently.
The Execution:
I started by sprinkling a few high-quality manual backlinks across relevant blogs in my niche (think industry-specific forums and small blogs open to guest content). Then I supplemented these efforts using a YouTube video backlink generator, a shortcut that allowed me to build dozens of backlinks pointing directly to my video.
One tool that streamlined the entire process was this YouTube Video Backlink Generator provided by TubePilot. It automated what used to take me hours: submitting video links to directories and sites that still pass SEO juice in 2025.
I’m not talking about spammy link farms here but rather a network of contextual and diversified backlinks that gave my video some much-needed off-page authority. Using a partial match anchor strategy, I diversified how my video was referenced online. No over-optimized, robotic “exact keyword” links. Instead, it was natural mentions like “check out this helpful video tutorial” or “here’s a guide on the topic” linking back to the video.
The Results:
Within the first 10 days, I noticed my video creeping up to Page 3. By Week 3, it was sitting comfortably on Page 2. And by Day 30, it had secured a spot on Page 1, ranking between videos from larger creators in my space.
The views started snowballing. Click-through rate went up. More importantly, average view duration improved because the traffic was now highly targeted people actually searching for this type of content were finding it.
What I Learned
Here’s the kicker: most YouTubers don’t think like SEOs. We get so caught up inside the YouTube ecosystem tweaking titles, testing thumbnails that we forget YouTube is also a Google product. It responds well to authority signals from outside its walls.
Backlinking isn’t just for blog posts or landing pages. Done right, it can resurrect videos you thought were destined for the content graveyard.
So if you’ve got a “dead” video or two lurking in your archive, consider adding external backlinks into your revival plan. Tools like TubePilot’s YouTube Video Backlink Generator can give you that extra boost without the heavy lifting.
Final tip: Don’t just backlink any video. Prioritize ones with strong watch-time and engagement potential. Give YouTube (and Google) a reason to push you to Page 1 — and watch what happens.
