What is video SEO, and why is it important?

You’ve spent a lot of money and time strategizing and creating videos, but your videos aren’t getting ranked. So, what’s going on? You’re well-versed with website SEO, but why isn’t video SEO working for you?

It’s true; video SEO is different from regular SEO. Also, video SEO has undergone many changes in the last few years. Hence, if you’re looking to develop a smart video SEO strategy for your YouTube videos, it’s important to understand YouTube video SEO before you begin.

In this article, we’ll discuss everything about video SEO and how to do YouTube video optimization.

What is Video SEO?

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Video SEO optimizes your videos accordingly to be ranked and indexed on search engine results pages. It’s about making appropriate creative and technical adjustments to increase your YouTube video content traffic.

6 Benefits of Video SEO

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Video SEO comes with many incredible benefits. It gets your videos more views, but it is also a part of your marketing strategy. Here are six benefits of video search engine optimization.

1. Move higher in organic search results

When determining to rank your website, Search engines do not only consider the text on a site. They also consider other types of content as well. Hence, adding video content to the mix will show that you have various content types on your website and provide users with valuable content.

2. Generate traffic from YouTube

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YouTube is one of the most popular platforms for video content. The platform is a search engine itself, just like Google. It’s a great platform if you’re looking to drive more traffic to your website. When you use video search engine optimization best practices, you can also rank videos in YouTube search results and get thousands of views on the videos. You can then direct these viewers to your website. Adding links in video descriptions is also a good idea.

3. Get more out of your website content

Like you optimize blog posts using certain keywords, you can optimize videos using keywords. So, if you succeed in ranking your videos on Google or YouTube, you can easily direct traffic to your website. Another trick is to repurpose your existing blog content as videos and then go ahead and embed these videos in your articles.

4. Attract links to your website

Videos are highly shareable and engaging. You can increase the chance of getting links back to your site from other websites that choose to reference or share your videos. So, if your videos are compelling and unique, it gives websites a reason to link to you. In the same way, you can also earn referral traffic through links that you include in your video descriptions or YouTube bio.

5. Reach users across multiple channels

Using video SEO strategies, your videos can be ranked for unique keywords your audience is searching for on YouTube and Google. These videos can then be shared across different platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, email, and Pinterest. It’s important to not only rely on video SEO and market your videos on multiple channels to get maximum visibility.

6. Boost your brand’s social presence

With video content, you get an opportunity to give your audience valuable information while also showing your brand’s authority. It gives you a chance to attach a face to your brand and build stronger relationships with your customers. When you use video content, you can easily reference the brand and direct viewers to your website. So, even if users find your brand organically, you can gain brand visibility and direct them to the website.

9 Ways to Optimize Your Videos for Search

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There are many different video search engine optimization strategies that help to give your videos a better chance of getting ranked. Here are nine ways to optimize your videos for search.

1. Choose the right video hosting platform

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When starting with video SEO, it’s first essential to choose the right video hosting platform. Consider why you want to rank your videos. Are you looking to get new leads, or is it to gain website traffic? Is the goal brand awareness or thought leadership? If you’re not concerned about website traffic and the goal is about brand awareness, then Vimeo and YouTube are some options you can use. However, the thing about these platforms is that once videos are indexed, most of the traffic is directed to them and not to your website. This often leads to your potential visitors getting lost in competing for traffic.

So, if you’re looking to gain website traffic, it’s always better to explore other hosting platforms that may work for you. Hence, you must do your research to find out the best option.

2. Insert a video transcript

Have you ever noticed written text or captions alongside videos? This is called a video transcript. A video transcript allows users to view your video without disturbing others. Video transcripts have some fantastic advantages. It makes videos more accessible to a broader audience, making videos more scrapable by search bots. It’s always advisable to focus more on transcripts when you have long-form videos because transcripts will positively impact your rankings.

3. Make your thumbnail image engaging

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Thumbnails are important for video SEO. It’s the first thing people see when videos are indexed. Therefore, thumbnails play a very significant role when it comes to whether people click on a video. You should choose a thumbnail image similar to a homepage or cover image of a website. Your thumbnail should be relevant, beautiful, and compelling. Having engaging thumbnails can significantly impact your click-through rates and other video SEO metrics.

4. Pay close attention to video titles and descriptions

Another vital factor in video search engine optimization is paying attention to your video titles and descriptions. Just like blog posts where meta titles and descriptions play a significant role, in the same way, they are an essential factor for ranking videos as well. Spend some more time crafting engaging meta titles and descriptions for your videos. Also, make sure that you’re using proper keywords in your titles and descriptions. Target keywords that are relevant to your website. Therefore, you should optimize your videos for better search visibility.

5. Ensure other parts of your page are optimized for SEO and relevant to the video

You simply cannot rely on only video search engine optimization except a SERP placement. It’s also important that the page is optimized for SEO, or search engines will not bother to crawl the page at all. So, if you find that your video is not ranking, it may be possible that your page is not relevant or is simply awful. Ensure that the pages that feature your videos are highly optimized and relevant to ensure your pages are ranked in search.

While getting your website to rank organically is challenging, the rankings will happen if you focus on creating high-quality content and ensuring that all the technical aspects of SEO are in place.

6. Embed the video that you want to be ranked first on the page

According to a video SEO expert, Phil Nottingham, “Google typically indexes only one video per page. If you include multiple videos on a page, ensure that video is first.” So, it’s important to focus on the best-performing video. Search engine crawlers will stop crawling after the first video. Hence, having many videos on a page is not a good idea if you’re looking to optimize for just one video. So, it’s important to keep your page focused on that one video to ensure it gets the traction it requires.

7. Make your video the focus of the page

You often find videos below the fold or hidden, so users have to scroll down until they reach the video. This often leads to poor play rates as people do not have the patience to scroll or hunt for your video. In the same way, search engine crawlers will not go out of the way to index hidden videos. Phil says, “If the video is hidden or embedded far below the fold, then your chances of having it ranked swiftly drop.”

8. Don’t embed the same video in multiple places

Embedding the same video in multiple places is like playing a tennis match against yourself. By going ahead and doing so, you’ll be competing against yourself. According to Phil, “If your page and video are both relevant to each other, and you’re hoping to ensure that page and video get ranked, then there’s no sense in embedding the video elsewhere on your public-facing website. You’d essentially be competing against yourself, which is illogical.”

9. Don’t rely only on SEO to promote your video

Lastly, remember that you include relying on SEO alone, as it’s not reliable. Google’s algorithms are constantly changing. Video is also evolving fast, so relying only on search bots for video ranking isn’t a consistent way to guarantee that people will see your videos. Investing in paid video advertising is a very strategic way of going about video SEO strategies. There are also many different platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook that you can use to promote your videos. You can use non-paid strategies such as getting partners to promote your videos.

Video SEO is something you will master with time. The goal is to try out different options to see what works for you. Give the audience content that they love. Ensure that your content is relevant and engaging. This, in turn, will help to boost your video search engine optimization. Try out different keyword variations for every video to reach a broader audience. However, keep primary keywords consistent in your video series so that your viewers find them easily. Video SEO strategies may be different for every business. What works for one may not necessarily work for the other. Hence, try out the different options and see what works best.

Key Takeaways

• Video SEO is all about optimizing your videos in a way that they can be ranked and indexed on search engine results pages. It’s about making creative and technical adjustments to increase your YouTube video content traffic.
• There are many different benefits when it comes to video search engine optimization. It helps you climb higher in the organic search results, generate traffic from YouTube, get more out of your website content, attract links to your website, boost your brand’s social presence and reach users across multiple channels.
• It’s important to choose the right video hosting platform for video search engine optimization. Ask yourself why you want to rank? You have plenty of different video platforms to use. Hence, you must do your research to find out the best option.
• Video transcripts allow users to view your video without disturbing others. Video transcripts make your video more accessible to a broader audience, making your video more scrapable by search bots.
• Thumbnails are very important for video SEO. They play a very significant role in whether people click on your video or not. When you use thumbnails, make sure that they are relevant, beautiful, engaging, and compelling.
• For video SEO, ensure that your meta titles and descriptions engage with properly targeted keywords that people use when searching.
• Relying only on video search engine optimization isn’t a good idea. It’s also essential that the page is optimized for SEO, or search engines will not bother to crawl the page.
• Another important thing to keep in mind regarding video SEO is only to embed the best-performing video that you want to be ranked first on the page.
• Ensure that your videos are not hidden below the fold, as search crawlers will not go out of the way to index your hidden video.
• Avoid embedding the same video in multiple places, as you’ll simply be competing against yourself.
• Don’t rely on only SEO. Promote your content using other options as well. Paid advertisements, social media platforms, and non-paid strategies like getting partners to promote your video are great options.

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