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If you’re looking for practical steps to optimise your video’s reach, then you’re scrolling through the right article. First, we’ll uncover the significant differences between video SEO and standard SEO, then we’ll give you exactly how you can get your videos performing.

Why Video SEO is different from regular SEO

  • The techniques we use to optimise for video is entirely different than in for blogs or other websites.
  • Videos lend themselves to completely different search terms than your average Google search.

At the time of writing this “car insurance quotes” has a monthly search volume of 450,000 in Google search and a measly 1,920 monthly search on Youtube.

Going by this alone we see that separating video SEO from standard SEO marketing is a smart use of our time and resources.

1. Define intent and keywords

It’s a shot in the dark when we’re committed to making videos based on a theme or a subject without narrowing down the objectives of the video. This is where we’ll often see companies not making headway with their video marketing despite producing high-quality videos.

There are three main purposes of making a video:

  • Shareability (Awareness)
  • Engagement (Lead Generation)
  • Showcase offerings (Conversion)

We’ll be making a series of articles on how to achieve each of these styles. For now though, know that you’re either sourcing new customers, engaging with your current community, or creating a campaign that enhances sales.

Trying to achieve all three in one video waters down the message of the video as your audience and their relationship to your brand is too broad.

Deciding on what you want to achieve out of your video will then help you to decide on the keywords. Not sure what keywords to use? Tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner and Google Trends can help you get started.

2. Thumbnail and Title

Top tip for your thumbnail: don’t take it from a screenshot of the video. Instead, curate the shot. Set up what you want in it, if the hero of the shot is a person, think about facial expressions, stance and positioning. A thumbnail needs to be crisp and click-worthy. So take your time with the part. After all, if no one clicks through the rest of the video pretty much goes to waste.

Two main elements you want in your video’s title are the:

  • Primary keyword(s) – this enables your video not only to be searched under that keyword but will also make your video more likely to be auto-suggested to those watching similar content.
  • Perfect Click Through Rate (CTR) combination – ask yourself: what will make it hard for my audience to scroll past this video? Is there advice that they don’t want to miss out on? A solution to a really irritating problem in their life? Is it a vlog but with a twist, an element of your brand that stands out as really entertaining? Find the niche that will engage your audience and then use the title to entice them to watch the video.

3. Description

When you find out how to ace YouTube descriptions, they’ll work with you to boost SEO, subscriptions, view counts, and watch time. Descriptions help your videos to rank in YouTube’s “suggested search” function.

Instead of becoming overwhelmed at the work that has to be done after a video is edited and finalised, see it as the opportunity to enhance reach. 200-words in the description is the gold standard, but a lot of this can be evergreen giving the viewer and insight into your business. It’s also a space to include links to your social media channels, website and offerings.

The first paragraph can then be used to provide an engaging summary of the video including your target keywords and latent keywords, which is just a fancy word for keywords that support the main one. Play to your brand’s strengths and tone in the description; it really helps to make the description something viewers will read through. People easily sense when writing is the half-hearted, tick-the-SEO-box kind and when it’s crafted to offer additional or bonus content that compliments the video.

4. Captions

First off, using captions is a big step in the right direction when it comes to the inclusivity of those hard of hearing. Thoughtful brands garner loyalty.

By implementing captions your optimising the watch time of your videos. Here’s are a bunch of other reasons why captions are great to have as a consistent part of your video SEO strategy:

  • 80% of caption-users who aren’t deaf
  • 69% of viewers use captions and watch videos on mute in public places, and
  • 25% when in private
  • 37% will turn the video sound on after reading the captions

Captions help people to connect with the video’s message and brand. This is a great tool to slow the scroll, particularly on social media.

5. Embed! Embed! Embed!

If you’re solely placing your videos up on Youtube or another video site, then you’re missing a trick.

SEO is only in part working with keywords and other techniques to get people onto your site. The next step is just as important – keeping people on your site and retaining their interest cover time. Since Google Rankbrain cropped up in 2017, dwell time has been crucial for SEO performance. When you can make a deep personal connection user engagement will deepen with higher CTR and longer session durations.

A great way to build these connections is through video. Have a look at these stats from Hubspot that show just how powerful embedding a video can be:

If the video you uploaded to Youtube fits a landing page perfectly, embed it into the page and keep an eye on your average session duration on Google analytics. Over time, you can begin to understand what video content keeps users engaged and which convert. This, in turn, helps more people find your page as Google boosts your rankings.

There you have it. Need more advice? Need a hand creating and implementing video campaigns that convert? Get in touch with us here at Videoworks to find out how we can make your brand’s story stand out.

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