Video has become one of the most preferred forms of content and these days every marketer is looking for ways to leverage the power of video. The fact that a greater number of people have access to smartphones compounded by the easy availability of high-speed internet, has played a major role in this growing popularity of video.
This has led brands to come up with different kinds of video content that ranges from product videos to vlogs and more. With thousands of brands available, every day hundreds of hours of content are uploaded on the different platforms. Easy access to online video editor tools like InVideo.io has facilitated this rate of video content creation.
In such a situation, merely focussing on content quality will not suffice and you need to walk the extra mile and incorporate search engine optimization (SEO) in your video. Here’s all that you need to know about video SEO.
SEO video is the process of making the video easier to locate by a search engine by spelling out the content of the video for the search bot. This is usually achieved using keywords and metadata in the video title and description.
Other means of video optimization include adding a compelling image thumbnail, optimizing the length of the video, and adding closed captioning and transcripts. These proactive measures on your part make it easier for the search engine to match your video content with user’s queries thereby giving your video reach among people looking for such content.
Advantages of Video SEO
While you now know what video SEO is, how you stand to benefit from it is the most important question that we will uncover in this section.
80% of consumers note that seeing a video on a product’s landing page gives them a wholesome idea of what it is all about. Not only does this make them spend 2.6 times higher time on the page but it also increases their chances of making a purchase.
Higher Likes and Shares
Considering that people prefer watching videos over other forms of content, it will be fair to assume that such video posts will attract a higher number of likes, shares, and comments. The algorithm of most social media sites (including YouTube) dictates that videos with more engagement appear on the feed of more people. Thus, if you can bring together your brand’s quality content to video content, you can expect a good percentage of inbound links.
Featured Snippets
Since its YouTube acquisition in 2006, Google has started favoring video and pages with video rank higher in its search results. With various Ad maker tools such as this website, you can create video answers to most popular questions, featured snippets, and have them optimized for search engines. This will do a great job of driving home organic traffic and giving your brand the kind of visibility that you always wanted.
Choose Your Platform
Most businesses are aware that YouTube is owned by Google and does a great job at driving organic traffic through video. However, if you are looking for collaborations on social platforms, Vimeo may be the best choice for you. Not only does it allow excellent collaborations within the team, but it also has high-quality analytics features.
Similarly, if you are looking to personalize videos for your brand, Wistia is one of the finest tools. With JSON-LD markup, it is a great way to increase brand awareness through video SEO. Thus, it is a good idea to have your options open and choose a video platform based on your needs.
Optimizing your Video
Having understood the benefits of optimizing your video, the next is identifying how you can optimize every video that you post in a way that it garners the highest views. Here is a detailed step-by-step guide on this.
Step 1: Use Schemas
You will be interested to know that schema.org is a joint venture by some of the leading search engine companies like Google, Microsoft, Yandex, and Yahoo. Make it a practice to use schemas before posting any video from your brand page.
Step 2: Have a Compelling Title
A lot of viewers judge a video by its title and it is a good practice to ensure that the title of the video matches the title that you had given in the schema markup. If the video is for a landing page, try to have the video title different from the landing page title.
Step 3: Work on Your Thumbnail
For someone interested in the title of your video, the next major deciding factor is the thumbnail image that goes with the video. Have your thumbnail image in either jpg or png format and ensure that it is viewable when shrunk to 116 X 65 pixels.
Step 4: Have Your Video Accessible to Googlebot
As of today, Google is the largest search engine in the world and most people rely on Chrome on all their browsing needs. This makes it important for a marketeer to ensure that Google can crawl into the video that they present. Note that .3g2, ., .3gpp, .vob, .webm, .wmv, .m3u8, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mp4, .mpe, .mpeg, .mpg, .ogv, 3gp2, .3gp,.qvt, .ram, asf, .avi, .divx, .f4v, .flv, .m2v, .rm, , and .xap are the different video formats supported by Google and you need to have your video in any of these formats if you want it to have online visibility.
Step 5: Have a Transcript
As the last stage of your video optimization process, make sure that you have a transcript for the video. While this does cater to hearing-impaired viewers and those who do not speak the language of the video, the main purpose of transcripts is to make Google understand the content of your video so that it can present it in front of people looking for such things. For the best results, you can also choose to upload the transcript in the schema markup itself.
By now you realize what a sea of difference video optimization can make to your viewership. As you make the most of the tips discussed in this article and get your video noticed in the dynamic world of video content, may you continue to use video to steer the marketing success story of your business.
