You’ve likely heard the phrase “content is king,” but let’s take it a step further—video content is the reigning monarch of the digital realm. Video content is a major component of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) because, well, people adore videos.
Videos are a versatile, engaging medium that makes complex information digestible. Great video productions also brings brands to life. Not to mention, search engines love’em, too. In fact, if you have a video embedded on your website or web pages, they’ll get special treatment in the search engines. A good video will keep people on your page longer, which is good for SEO. (More on that later.)
Google’s algorithms heavily favor webpages with diverse content types, including video. Including video in your SEO strategy is an important part any SEO campaign.
Embedded Videos Keep Visitors Engaged
Let’s say you have excellent video content that compliments your business. How do you leverage them to help your SEO/Search Engine Rankings?
The answer is simple: embed your commercial videos directly on your website.
Videos have the potential to keep visitors on your website longer. When users spend more time on your website it reduces your bounce rate and, in turn, helps your SEO ranking. Search engines like Bing & Google view low bounce rates as an indicator that users are finding what they’re after, hence improving the authority of your website.
What’s a Bounce Rate?
Bounce rate is a metric used in website traffic analysis. A real world example of a bounce rate is when someone walks into a store, takes a quick look around, and leaves without buying anything. That person is a bounce.
Online, that “store” is your website and the visitors are the folks surfing the web. If a person visits your website and leaves without clicking on any other pages, it’s considered a “bounce.”
The bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who bounce off your website compared to the total number of visitors.
A low bounce rate is ideal for any commercial website as it implies that visitors are exploring your website more, which is always good for business.
Leverage Video Hosting Sites for SEO Benefits
YouTube, Vimeo, Rumble, and other video-sharing sites are excellent resources for video hosting and video SEO. YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world – right after Google, which owns it. It’s the perfect platform for using videos to boost your search engine rankings.
To take advantage of video-sharing sites, simply use them to host your videos. Then, put your videos on relevant pages on your website.
When uploading your videos, do the basic SEO work. Optimize your video titles, descriptions, and tags with relevant keywords for the best results. Don’t stuff keywords. Make sure to implement your keywords naturally to help paint an accurate picture of the video content.
Google places more value on web pages that have video content. If you have video content on your web pages, they’ll likely rank much better than without.
Ensure the Mobile-Friendliness of Your Website
With everyone using smartphones as their main computer, your website has to be mobile-friendly for any chance at success. Google rolled out mobile-first indexing back in 2019, which means it considers the mobile version of your website for ranking.
To optimize your website for mobile devices, we recommend using a responsive design that automatically adjusts your pages to fit the viewer’s device. Also, remember that mobile users generally have shorter attention spans, so make sure your website loads fast.
Google provides the excellent tool PageSpeed Insights to help you maximize your website’s speed and mobile device compatibility. This tool identifies the resources that slow down your website and provides a speed score for both the mobile and desktop versions of your website.
If you need professional assistance making your website mobile-friendly, contact VizTV Media Services for assistance. The websites we design for our clients are optimized for mobile devices and score high on Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool.
Transcribe Your Videos for Improved Accessibility
Ever thought of including a text transcript of your video content?
If not, it’s a good idea to do so. Transcriptions or captions improve accessibility which makes your content accessible to a broader audience. Your expanded audience will include those with hearing impairments or those who prefer reading over watching and listening.
As far as SEO, transcriptions help search engines to better understand your video content. Although AI capabilities have advanced considerably, they still struggle with accurately interpreting video and audio content. Transcriptions fill this gap, providing search engines with text to crawl and index, thereby boosting your SEO.
If your video is transcribed, it’ll be of a higher quality and more likely to attract more viewers from the algorithm. Transcription is not as cost prohibitive as it was in the past. Most video editing programs can automatically transcribe audible words.
YouTube does this automatically.
So, in the worst-case scenario, make sure that any dialog in your video is of high quality and Google (YouTube) will transcribe it for you. Once transcribed, the viewer will have the option of consuming your content with closed captions.
Create Intriguing Thumbnails and Titles
When users see a list of search results, titles, and thumbnails are your only tools to catch their attention. They’re like window displays of a store; if they’re intriguing, people are likely to enter.
To get the best results, we recommend that you craft compelling, keyword-optimized titles for your videos that accurately represent the content. Likewise, create visually appealing & relevant thumbnails.
I recommend using high-contrast images and bold text in your thumbnails. Avoid clickbait tactics, but be creative & honest. Remember, your goal for users to click on your video – and watch it.
Like Anything, Video SEO Takes Time
A successful SEO campaign is an ongoing effort. Video SEO is no different. If you need professional assistance with SEO or creating high-quality video content for your website, VizTV Media Services is here to help.
We have extensive experience managing SEO campaigns in addition to producing quality video content for commercial purposes.
If you have questions about video production, SEO, or would like to discuss a project for your business, contact VizTV Media Services today at 713-443-7578. You can also send us a message using our contact form.
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