12 Ways Video Can Improve SEO Search Rankings

March 29, 2017

By Charlie Luck in Featured SE Optimization SE Tactics Video Marketing

Use of videos on webpages has been rapidly increasing, and it's time to look at how to use it to for your SEO rankings.

Video content has increasingly become the norm across the Web and using it properly is important if you want to reach the top of search engine results. These SEO video tips can help get you on the top of the page ahead of everyone else.

1. Worthwhile Content

It seems obvious, but yes, content needs relevance for the audience targeted. The video content shouldn't be an afterthought that was just thrown in. The content needs to compel them to want to watch the video. Quality videos will establish you as the go-to for your audience as you build trust and increase the sought-after conversations that attract more audience members.

2. Make the Content Interactive

Use some of the many ways to make your videos interactive to get your viewers engaged. Grab their attention by adding interactive content to the annotation, caption or video itself. A successful strategy used by many has been to divide the video into shorter segments and let the audience choose which ones they want to watch. Three two-minute videos may be a much better choice than one longer six-minute video for your viewers.

3. Your Domain Needs to Host the Video

It may seem easier to upload a video you create to YouTube, but the video needs to be on your domain. YouTube may expand your reach, but for SEO purposes, YouTube will be searched first, not your site.

Furthermore, any video that is not hosted on your domain runs the real risk that search engines will direct traffic to another site, which doesn't help improve your rankings. Each video should be on its own page to make it simpler for Google to index.

4. Enable Embedding for Your Video

If your audience likes your video, let them embed it. Embedding it on their page can increase your SERP page rankings. Make it easy for them to embed it and increase your inbound links and visits to your site.

5. The Metadata is a Key

Google says the important information for search engine indexing are the title, thumbnail and description. The title should be brief and to the point and the description can provide a little more detail and use key words for rankings.

But even more details are contained in the metadata and it's not the place to skimp on effort. It contains the title, video length and description and the file name. That file name is another way to label the video content for search engines, so make it useful, not the random file name assigned by your device like 'video_3345.'

6. Clear Thumbnails

Just like the importance of the metadata, the thumbnail is a critical place of focus. It's what the user will see when they make the final decision to click on the video. Use a thumbnail that clearly shows the content and is a good representation of it.

7. Keyword Optimization

Video SEO also has keyword research and should be used to find content to target your viewers. Experiment with creating legible descriptions of your content to help your audience and the all-important search engines for reaching your audience. Find keywords that best describe your video and discover ones that lead to better search results.

8. Shareable Video Content

The video content needs to go beyond just being interactive; your audience needs to find value and appreciate it. Shareable content has several qualities. First, grainy videos aren't shareable, and videos need to be unique and creative. Quality content will stand out and generate mentions and links that will increase your sites authority.

9. Include a Transcript of the Video

Posting videos increases the ways you can engage viewers and generate search engine results. Including a written transcript of the video can be useful for viewers who may want to see an overview first. And if it includes keywords, this will help get the right results from search engines if it is put in the description box and page HTML.

10. Make a Video Sitemap

This can be overlooked in video SEO, but it serves as an extension of your overall sitemap and includes details to help the search engines obtain a good picture of your video content. It's another way to show the title, subject, description etc.… and more specific details such as expiration dates, platform restrictions, country restrictions, or live streams.

11. Maximize Ways to Use Your Video

Use the video in more than one way to spread it around. A preview of the video could be placed on your Facebook page to lead the audience back to your webpage for more. Or, create a slideshow, shorter video or infographic to catch interest and lead back to your site and increase its page rankings.

12. Use Social Media to Share it

Do not overlook the power of social media to boost your SEO efforts. Push your content as much as possible on relevant channels to spread the word about it and reach a wider audience.

More viewers means bigger traffic, new links and better positioning on SERPs.

Paid promotion is appropriate if it can help get your video in front of the right audience. Use your network as much as possible to promote it too.

Conclusion

Video content is becoming the norm across the Web and should be used to increase your SEO rankings. Quality is the starting point, but there are many ways to apply search optimization for your videos.

Use the 12 tips discussed to take your quality video content to the next level and have your message noticed by search engines and viewers.

Three decades in sales and experiential marketing led me to my passion for digital marketing. My scope of work currently focuses on display and Instagram marketing. I am constantly in search of the next ad or video idea that could go viral and the psychology behind it. I am Charlie Luck and I am all about marketing.

Source: 12 Ways Video Can Improve SEO Search Rankings