As we mentioned in our blog Why Video, Google loves video. In fact, Google loves video so much that it only takes them eight hours to index a video on YouTube, versus up to four weeks for a website.
However achieving exposure for your video through search is not simply a matter of sticking a video on your website. After all the planning, recording, producing and editing it would be a shame not to maximise the chances of it being seen. So it’s important that you optimise the video so Google can find it and add it to relevant search results.
Applying some basic video SEO measures will help optimise your video so it can be indexed and ranked on search engine results pages for relevant keyword searches. Outlined in this article are ten steps you can take to get your video SEO working for you:
1. Submit a video sitemap
The video sitemap is an extension of Google’s sitemap. Sitemaps tie your video content and metadata together. A good video sitemap includes the video filename, a thumbnail image, title, and description. To create a Google sitemap, go to
http://www.web-site-map.com/?gclid=CL_Vs8yfmcECFZcmvQodkKMAeA.
2. Use keywords
Add a catchy video title that includes keywords. Many people use the word “video” in their search queries, so add the word “video” to the title. In addition, ensure that the context provided by text in your web page relates to the video. This helps Google figure out what your video is about.
3. Upload to YouTube
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. It’s second only to its owner – Google. With over 1.8 billion users per month (30 million per day), over 300 hours of video uploaded every minute and 5 billion videos watched every day, YouTube is the video mammoth you need to leverage. If you want to be found and seen, YouTube is an integral part of your video strategy.
4. Insert a video transcript
Did you know that 85% of Facebook users watch Facebook videos with the sound off?* Given this trend more than likely applies to other websites as well, a transcript is beneficial for multiple reasons. Firstly, it enables viewers to watch a video with captions running alongside it and not disturb those around them. It also makes the video more scrapable by search bots since there’s additional text on the page, which helps to rank you for more queries than otherwise possible.
5. Have an engaging thumbnail image
The video thumbnail plays a significant role in whether people click through to watch your video. It is what the searcher will see when your video is indexed so it’s important to think of your thumbnail image in the same way as a book cover or homepage of a website. It needs to be compelling, relevant, appealing and attention grabbing as determines whether or not people watch your video.
6. Create an effective title and description of your video
Much like a blog post, the title and meta description impact the ranking of your video, so it’s important to craft an engaging video title and description. It’s helpful to do some keyword research to find out what keywords are being used by searchers and apply them where possible.
7. Embed the video you want ranked first on the page
Typically Google only indexes one video per website page. So if you’re including multiple videos on a page, make sure that the relevant video is posted first as search engine crawlers usually stop crawling for videos after finding the first one.
8. Don’t use the same video across your website
Avoid embedding the same video across multiple pages of your website. When this happens, it basically means the videos are competing against each other for search ranking as Google only indexes the first video on each website page.
9. Mobile optimisation
We all hear that mobile has over taken desktop when it comes to the Internet but how true is this? The answer is..staggeringly true! As at 2019, 40% of people search only via smartphone, more than half of all video views came from mobile devices and 52.2% of worldwide website traffic was generated via mobile phones.** Given the dominance of mobile, it is essential that your video is responsive and that you’re uploading to sites like YouTube and Vimeo.
10. Share across various channels
Share video content across various marketing channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more. This encourages social sharing and increases the chance of getting a greater amount of backlinks, which help to make your site more authoritative in Google’s eyes.
While these top 10 video SEO tips will show you the way when it comes to optimisation, it’s prudent not to lose sight of the big picture: why you’re creating video. Whether it’s to entertain, educate or help, the objective of your video is your main priority. And when this is achieved, a bit of video SEO is the ideal way to push this content further out into the online world.
Let’s take a look!
Below are some ideal reel (get it?) examples of effective videos:
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In the meantime, we hope to see you through our lens soon!
Paul @ PaulsProductions
02 9114 9444
Sources:
* https://www.niemanlab.org/reading/publishers-say-85-percent-of-facebook-video-is-watched-without-sound/
**https://techjury.net/stats-about/mobile-vs-desktop-usage/
