Victor Blasco March 4, 2021 It’s no secret that 2021 is the year of video marketing.
Video as a medium has steadily grown to become the preferred type of content by audiences and marketers alike. In the last few years, brands from all types of industries have partnered with the best video production companies out there to come up with new and innovative videos that raised the bar in terms of quality and engagement.
The thing is that even the best video will do little for your products or services if nobody sees it! Luckily for you, in this piece, we’re going to see how you can boost your videos’ visibility and have them rank better in SERPs.
Now, I know that Google’s algorithms and SEO strategies may sometimes feel like a complex and mysterious matter… but it really isn’t! That’s why I’ve laid everything I know about SEO in just 9 simple tips that anyone can effectively understand and start using today.
So, let’s get started!
1. Choose the Right Hosting Platforms
Let’s face it: when you think of a video hosting platform, your first thought is probably YouTube. But there are tons of other options you should consider as well.
My advice is to choose a platform according to your main marketing goals. If you’re looking to spark brand awareness, then YouTube is the platform for you. Just know that once your video is indexed, all traffic will go to them rather than your website.
So, if you’re optimizing your video to gain on-site traffic and generate new leads, then look to other hosting platforms that support that, such as Wistia. They will allow you to host your video yourself and increase the volume of your site’s search referrals.
2. Optimize Your Titles and Descriptions
While there’s no secret formula for the perfect title and description, there are four rules that will help you optimize your video’s metadata:
· Focus on the keywords that your audience uses.
· Be truthful and relevant to the content.
· Keep it short (55 characters max. for titles)
3. Design an Effective Thumbnail
Google will not rank you higher because of your thumbnail content, but a cool-looking image will help you spark interest and draw attention from users.
You’ll notice that most video platforms will automatically select a screencap from your video and use it as a thumbnail, but you should create your own! Plus, your thumbnail is probably the first thing your audience will see from your video, so you better put your back into it.
Start by choosing a representative still from your video, then add a title that people can easily read (a shorter version of your title should work just fine). You can also include a small watermark of your brand’s logo that will show users this is a professional video.
4. Include a Transcription of Your Video
Since Google is essentially a text database, the more text you can attach to your video, the more recognition you will earn from search engines. This will be especially useful if you’ve created a video centered around text, like an animated infographic.
You can easily optimize your video transcriptions just as you do with your titles and descriptions by focusing on the keywords that your target audience will search for.
Plus, transcriptions are also necessary if you’re planning to upload your video on social media. For instance, when scrolling through your Facebook or Instagram feed, you’ll notice that videos will play with the sound off by default. You can transform your transcript into closed captions to improve that experience.
5. Don’t Forget Naming Your Video File!
Yes! Maybe you’ve never given it a second thought, but your video’s file name is important and can help your SEO ranking.
Never use a generic title like “video version-123” or “final cut 2021”, but rather stick to the keywords just like you do with your titles, descriptions, and transcriptions.
6. Optimize Your Video Landing Page
Once you’ve finished optimizing your video, it’s time to get to work on your landing page. You’d be surprised to know how many excellent videos didn’t rank because somebody hosted them on an awful page.
Everybody has encountered a website where the video appears to be hidden or so far below that you had to endlessly scroll to finally watch it. If you’re making your audience get out their way to find your video, this will logically lead to low plays.
Be sure your video is the front-and-center of your landing page, ideally embedded above the fold. Also, make sure your video is thematically relevant to your page: if your content feels unspecific or generic, then chances of it ranking are going to drop.
7. Prioritize Only One Video for Embedding
Most search engines only index one video per landing site. Meaning if you’re embedding more than one video on your page, make sure the first one is your favorite.
This ties up with what I said just before: make sure your page is focused on your best-performance video to make sure it receives the traction you expect.
8. Optimize Your Video and Landing for Mobile
Mobile optimization is becoming the central focus of SEO since more and more users stream their content through their smartphones each year.
Luckily, optimizing your piece for mobile isn’t as tricky as it once was; just make sure your website and video hosting platform are responsive to mobile viewing.
9. Proper SEO is Just the Start…
We’ve seen how SEO can help your videos’ ranking, but sometimes even that is not enough. Search engines such as Google and YouTube frequently change their algorithms, so keywords and optimization can only get you so far.
Always strive to create content that’s truly valuable and helpful to your prospective customers. Avoid spam-y or click-bait tactics and focus on giving back something to your target audience. Make entertaining videos that will get organic likes and passed around by friends across the internet.
That, and only that, will guarantee a strong and lasting relationship with your viewers.
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