The quality of a video is so much more than the quality of the content itself. It’s also about reaching as many people as possible to spread the message. Imagine spending hours, even days, to create a video just to get buried and unseen. That’s why video production shouldn’t be stopped when you hit the “publish” button.
Optimizing video content for search engines is essential to help your videos stand out in the crowd. Remember that there are countless videos out there. Cisco even states that videos will make up 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2022. When your videos are well-optimized, they’ll be more visible to the search engines and, thus, your target audience.
Here are some actionable ways to ensure your videos are SEO-friendly and can be seen by more people.
Why Is Video SEO Crucial?
Whether it’s a video for your TikTok marketing, YouTube marketing, or even landing pages, it’s always better to optimize it. Let’s break down how video optimization can help reach potential abducens and enhance your bottom line.
- Increase traffic and engagement on your website – The more people watching your video, the higher the chance they will click through to your website or social media pages afterward.
- Video SEO can help boost brand awareness – If you optimize videos for certain keywords, then they’ll be shown in the search results when someone is searching for them. This expands your reach and further increases brand awareness.
- Boost revenue – Anything that increases traffic to your website has the potential to boost sales or leads, thus resulting in more revenue for your business.
- Google loves videos – Google loves videos so much that they prioritize them in their algorithm. This means your videos are more likely to show up higher in the search results if you optimize them well.
How To Optimize Videos for Search Engines
Now you know the importance of video SEO, let’s get into how to actually optimize videos for search engines like Google.
Think About Keywords
When optimizing your video for search engines, the first step is to choose the right keyword(s). It should be related to your video and use words that people are likely to search for when looking for something related to you. You can use that keyword also in email communication. Use that keywords and relevant content in various types of email marketing.
After you find the relevant keywords, make sure you include them in:
- The title of the video
- The description
- Tags
- Filename
- Transcripts, if available
All of these elements will help search engines understand what your video is about and rank it accordingly.
Create an Accompanying Text Page
Search engines can’t watch or listen to videos, but they can read and index text. That’s why having a text page for your videos, such as a blog post or web page, can be extremely helpful for SEO purposes.
Make sure you include the relevant keywords in this accompanying text so that search engines know what the video is about. Additionally, this gives you an opportunity to describe the video in more detail and provide more information about the topic.
Also, if your video is in another language, you can use this page to provide subtitles of what was said in the video.
Make Sure Your Video Is Mobile-Friendly
More than 90% of people watch videos from their mobile devices. It’s clear that your videos need to be optimized for mobile devices. More and more people are accessing the internet through their phones, so if your video doesn’t look good on mobile, then it won’t be seen by as many people.
Mobile-friendly videos mean that:
All the elements can clearly be seen, including the thumbnail and titles.
The video can be watched without having to download it
It has captions or subtitles
It loads quickly, even on slower internet connections
It’s easy to share and watch multiple times
Use Structured Data
Structured data is a way to mark up content on web pages to make them easier for search engines to understand. Think of it like a behind-the-scenes guide for the search engine to understand what’s on the page.
When it comes to videos, you can use structured data to provide information about your video—such as its title, description, thumbnail, etc.
By doing so, you’re allowing search engines to understand even more about the content of your video and how it should be displayed in the search results.
Invest In Out-of-the-Box Content Ideas
The technical side of video SEO is important, but it’s also important that you think outside the box when creating content.
The quality of the content itself is what makes users engage and watch the video. Experiment with different formats, topics, and lengths to attract more viewers.
For example, try creating a series of videos on the same topic or go live on social media platforms. This type of unique content is often more engaging and can help you stand out from the competition. It will keep people watching until the very end.
You can also consider adding special effects, using humor, or creating a unique visual style to separate your video content from others.
Pay Attention to Where to Put the Video
Finally, it’s important to consider where you’ll be hosting your video. Having the video on your website is ideal for SEO, as it allows you to control the content and how it’s presented.
However, if you want to reach a broader audience, then you can consider uploading it to other platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo.
Each platform has its own algorithm for ranking videos, so make sure you do your research and understand how to get the most out of each one.
Additionally, consider linking back to your website in the video description or adding a call-to-action at the end of the video to encourage people to visit your site.
Wrapping Up
SEO is not only for text-based content but also for videos. Video SEO is an important part of any content marketing strategy and can help you reach a wider audience.
Follow the tips above to ensure your videos are optimized for search engines and attract more viewers. Doing so will give you a better chance of ranking higher in the search results and gaining recognition for your video content.
Author Bio
Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award-winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).
Twitter: @breadnbeyond
Email: andre@breadnbeyond.com
LinkedIn: Andre Oentoro
