When we hear the term “SEO” (Search Engine Optimization), many of us think about how text can be utilized to improve website rank in search results. But, a key component of your brand’s SEO strategy can and should deviate from the conventional text-based methods. What we’re talking about here are your video marketing SEO efforts! With 91% of businesses using video in their content this year, most experts agree that it’s an essential component of any sound digital marketing strategy.
Keep reading to learn more about why you should leverage video for search engine optimization to improve your rankings and how exactly you can formulate your plan of action to boost your website visibility.
How can video SEO improve your website engagement metrics?
Google search favors video content.
With video being one of the most engaging content mediums, we’re not surprised that its popularity continues growing across verticals and is key to driving traffic and enhancing the online presence of virtually any business. Google has been rumored to rank websites higher when there is a relevant video over websites without video. Many marketers even report that when Google shows a video thumbnail next to a search result, users are more likely to click through to that website– this is called a ‘rich snippet’ and will generally drive higher click-through rates when compared to standard snippets.
Video encourages a positive user experience.
A well-planned video marketing strategy does an excellent job at boosting metrics that Google takes into consideration when determining SEO rankings– most notably, the time users spend on your page and the number of backlinks directing to your website. Since users are likely to spend over 2x as long on a page with video than without video, embedding this type of content into your site will keep visitors engaged for a longer duration of time, which signals to Google that your page is worth prioritizing in search results. And if you’ve got top-notch content on your website, you are more likely to obtain backlinks from other websites directing traffic to your domain.
In summary, video SEO can make a HUGE impact on your SEO rankings as Google’s algorithms continue to favor websites with video content. So, it’s crucial that you start incorporating video into your marketing strategy to improve your rank and reach interested users who are already expressing interest in your offerings.
Key Takeaway
Well, now we know why video marketing for SEO is so important. So, how can you optimize your video content strategy to improve your ranking?
Ensure High-Quality Content.
You may have noticed earlier that we used words like “high-quality” and “top-notch” to describe optimal video content. Well, that’s not just because we’re a video production studio that produces only the greatest video content in Pittsburgh! Those descriptions were absolutely intentional because the truth is that low-quality content simply doesn’t cut it these days. In an age where everyone has access to a 4K camera, brands have no choice but to produce premium content aimed at a particular goal. So, you don’t just want to create video content for the sake of SEO… the content must also be good. In fact, a low-quality video can be detrimental to your ranking via an increased bounce rate. So, how do we avoid a low-quality video and instead create one with video search engine optimization in mind?
Build out your web page with other relevant content.
You don’t just want a standalone video existing on your page; Instead, you’ll want to design and organize your page carefully so that all information on the page is relevant and tells a cohesive story. This can be in the form of value-added written and visual content. Hey, you can even throw in links to other pages of your website to keep users engaged longer and further increase your SEO rankings… Who knows, maybe you’ll even sell a product or service from your beautifully built-out web page!
Ensure your video looks and sounds awesome.
As mentioned earlier, everyone these days can differentiate between a high-budget video vs. one that was slapped together quickly with little thought or specs considered. While many individuals can successfully create high-quality videos without hiring experts, the good news is that there are production services that can help you create amazing video content within your budget (check out our own Corporate Video Production Packages currently available). However, if you feel you’re ready for the DIY video production challenge, these would be our top recommendations for producing video content for SEO:
- Shoot for a resolution of at least 1280×720 pixels. High-quality videos will generally enhance your customer experience, but if they end up slowing load times, your bounce rate will likely increase and do more harm than good. So, balance is key here!
- Use MP4, WebM, or other HTML5-supported formats.
- Optimize for both desktop and mobile visitors.
Create value-driven video content.
Again, we do not want to simply add video to our sites just for the sake of it. If a video on your website lacks purpose, your engagement metrics will suffer, and so will your SEO rankings. When you optimize video strategies, each piece of content added to your site should improve your customer’s experience while establishing you as an authority in the vertical you’re operating in. Educational, informative videos related to a specific part of your customer journey will enhance your website, keep users interested for longer, and amplify your SEO strategy.
Optimize your thumbnail.
We mentioned earlier that a video thumbnail yields a significant increase in clicks to your website when shown alongside your search result, but as we’ve discussed in this section– style is essential to improving your click-through rate. Thumbnails can be created using traditional design software such as Photoshop or beginner-friendly software like Canva. Or, if you’re already using Tubebuddy for your YouTube optimization efforts, you can use their snazzy Thumbnail Generator to put something together quickly.
Stick with a Consistent Strategy + Measure Over Time.
Your video SEO strategy is a long-term type of deal. You can’t expect to see results overnight, but it’s important to stick with your SEO strategy month over month and measure results continuously to understand how metrics are shifting with a consistent strategy. You also want to make sure you’re not too focused on ranking for just one keyword but for numerous keywords matching your target audience’s search intent.
Create a Video Sitemap.
Creating a specialized video sitemap will help Google find and understand the content of your video so that it can optimize its delivery of search results. Thankfully, Google provides sitemap best practices, as well as specific requirements for video sitemaps that you can learn more about on its website. Just make sure to consistently update your video SEO sitemap every time you create or modify a video so that search engines stay up-to-date with all the stellar content you’re publishing and share it with the masses!
Optimize Keywords in Titles and Descriptions.
Since Google owns YouTube, it prioritizes content from its own platform. With that in mind, uploading your marketing video to YouTube and embedding it on your site is a good idea. By optimizing the text within your YT video titles and descriptions, you can further boost your page ranking in search results! Make sure to create keyword-rich video titles and descriptions, and include lots of these keywords in the accompanying web page as well. Also, tags may not be as important nowadays, but you may as well throw a few of them in there for good measure! You can find relevant keywords through YouTube’s Search Suggest– simply type a word or phrase related to your video and see the phrases that YouTube offers. You may also use tools such as Moz Keyword Explorer or Google’s Keyword Planner to find terms that may work. In general, when building out your SEO strategy, you’ll want to prioritize keyword variations with a high search volume and low competition so that your content gets as many eyes on it as possible.
Include Video Transcripts.
Search engines may be intelligent, but they still can’t decipher what exactly your video is about all on its own! Since SEO is primarily text-based, adding a video transcript to your web page helps search engines identify and index the content within your video, thus increasing the chances of your page ranking well on relevant searches. Since transcripts also help increase the accessibility of your content, they will improve your web optimization efforts, which will complement your video SEO strategy. Now, how’s that for a positive feedback loop?!
Create an SEO-optimized transcript
First, you’ll manually record your transcript or use a handy tool such as YouTube’s speech recognition software. Then, format the video transcript by inserting keywords in the transcript titles, headlines, and subheadings. Bam! You’re one step closer to improving your SEO rankings.
Integrate Structured Data Into Your Site.
Organizing and labeling information within your website’s HTML gives search engines context to understand your content better, thereby increasing your website’s chance of achieving a higher rank. When applied to video content, structured data is called “Video Schema Markup,” and it is an excellent way to indirectly affect your video marketing campaign by identifying content that meets searcher intent. You can generate your video schema by using Google’s Structured Data Helper or even automate your markups with tools such as Yoast or Schema Pro.
Share to Boost Initial Traffic.
Utilize whatever content marketing channels you already use to drive traffic to your webpage. You can post and link via social media accounts or marketing emails to drive initial traffic to the page and launch your video search engine optimization efforts with some gusto!
Key Takeaway
Don’t forget! As you flesh out your video marketing SEO strategy, you want to make sure your content is the best it can be in order to engage website visitors and keep your site top-of-search. It’s important to select a trustworthy video production company to create marketing videos that convert. With all that said, happy shootin’!
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