One billion hours. That is the total length of all the videos seen by YouTube users worldwide each day. Already, the amount of video content on the internet outnumbers written information and photos. And according to approximate forecasts, by 2022, videos will account for 80 percent of all content posted on the web.
What does this mean for company owners? One thing is certain: If you haven’t embraced video as a powerful marketing tool, now is the time to reconsider it. Video marketing is crucial for startups. And successful video marketing is not only about how to make high-quality clips but also about how to leverage them effectively for search engine optimization (SEO).
Today, we will talk about boosting search engine marketing for video content and what supplementary SEO services can come in handy.
How Does Video Influence SEO?
Google Loves Diverse Content
Google algorithms are designed to show users the highest-quality resources on their requested topic. To determine page quality, search engine bots do more than just parse the text on a specific page. They also scan other types of content, such as images and videos. Their presence tells the search engine that your page is more informative and useful for users.
Videos Keep Users on Your Site Longer
Another important thing that affects SEO is user behavior. If you have a lot of traffic, but all of these users leave the site almost immediately, it is obvious to search engines that the posted content doesn’t satisfy their needs.
People are more likely to choose video over text, even if these two types of content convey the same message. The reason is simple: Viewing videos takes less effort and less time. So consider mastering one of the many video editing programs out there to create truly engaging content.
Videos Bring Additional Traffic to Your Site
If users come to your site from different sources and revisit it again and again, it is a signal to different search engines that your content on it is truly engaging and should be ranked higher in search. For example, users can find an optimized video posted on YouTube in different ways: through search or recommendations within the video hosting itself, in the special “Video” section in the search, on social media or on other sites where it was posted.
The more interesting video content you create, the more qualitative traffic you can attract to your site, which has a positive effect on SEO.
Also, make sure that the video is not only fun but also high-quality. Remove unwanted sections from the video, add a soundtrack, implement exciting transitions and more. You can do it with the help of a simple video editor available online.
People Are More Likely To Share Videos Than Text
A high-quality link profile has a positive effect on SEO website promotion. The more resources link to your fresh content, the higher your site’s ranking and its position in search results. Moreover, external links can attract new users to your site. Search engines are positive about such signals, increasing your page’s ranking potential.
How To Optimize Video Content for SEO Promotion
1. Perform Keyword Research
As with other aspects of SEO, the process of optimizing videos begins with extensive keyword research. At this point, you must identify the most relevant keywords for your area and implement them.
To find SEO keywords, use tools like Keyword Tool, Ahrefs and SEMrush.
2. Analyze Search Trends
Another way to boost your word list with key phrases and gain insight into search trends in your industry is to use YouTube’s AutoComplete feature. This method is especially useful as it allows you to find the keywords that people are typing into YouTube searches.
You may also copy-paste the keywords for popular videos of a similar topic. Furthermore, using YouTube’s AutoComplete feature, you can amass a collection of ideas for future videos.
Google Trends is also a great tool for comparing keywords and evaluating search trends. For the tool to give you data on YouTube, you need to enter a query in the search bar, get the result and switch from the web search option to YouTube search in the drop-down list.
Google Trends also comes in handy when you already have a list of keywords and want to compare them in terms of popularity.
3. Boost Video Metadata
Metadata is crucial as it is what users pay attention to when they decide whether to watch a video or not. Moreover, it is recommended to upload a video with already optimized metadata rather than add metadata two days after the video has dropped.
4. Create a Title That Contains the Keywords
A perfect title should include the keywords you want to rank for and summarize the topic of your video. Try to make it as bright as possible, but at the same time, do not over-promise or lie. You can also look at competitors’ video titles for inspiration.
5. Optimize Your Description
Although video descriptions can be up to 1,000 characters, the first hundred (or 2-3 lines) are the most important. So, focus on keywords, calls-to-action (CTAs) and add social media links closer to the beginning of the description.
Another option is to include the transcript in the description. However, we don’t recommend relying entirely on YouTube automatic transcripts. Reread them carefully or use transcription services.
6. Create a Custom Video Thumbnail
A video thumbnail is an image on a video preview. This is what users pay attention to first. Often, people choose a book by its cover – a thumbnail is the same trigger for watching the video. Therefore, it is not recommended to choose a YouTube-generated thumbnail; rather create your own. It is also a good idea to add a title to your thumbnail to make it more informative. Note that the title of the thumbnail must not duplicate the text title.
7. Add Video Tags and Hashtags
When you optimize video tags, users are more likely to be served your videos for their queries. To understand what tags to add to your video, see what competitors are using. Download TubeBuddy and the tool will show you the specific tags for which the video is optimized.
Using hashtags is another way to increase your video’s visibility. You need to add them to the video description to make them appear above the video title.
Final Thoughts
Good video content isn’t enough to get your clip to go viral. If you want your videos to be viewed by as many people as possible, we recommend going through several stages of SEO promotion and avoiding negative SEO.
Your main task is not to ignore the SEO for video in any way and follow our advice. Good luck!