It’s so much easier these days to create video, edit video, and host it. It’s a growing trend, both for corporations and small businesses because anyone can upload video. If you’re a business trying to decide if video is worth it, think about what content is going to appeal to your audience, and these days video is a really great way of getting content which is unique to be seen by thousands of people. And if you’re not doing video SEO to help people find your video, you’re behind the curve.
We have 7 top tips to master video seo. Your audience is waiting for you to film and upload your next viral video; make sure it gets seen.
1. Creating Videos About What You Know
In today’s post-Panda world, content is key. You are already an expert in your field, so don’t be afraid to show that off. Google, just like your audience, give preference to experts in their field, so produce content you know about. Be innovative and be creative with how you present your information, but start out by providing good content. Get feedback, find out what works, find out what doesn’t work, and then go from there.
2. Video Keyword Research Is Still Vital
One of the biggest issues with video SEO is that people are typically searching for information; they’re not necessarily products or purchase focused. You can use the YouTube Keyword Tool to figure out if there is search volume for a certain phrase on YouTube. The right keywords will make sure your meta data attached is good, semantic, and targeted. Make sure your findings are included in the video title and the description on YouTube.
The way that people search on YouTube is typically around kind of questions or information discovery-type keywords. Generic guide keywords can be really effective, as can question-based, research-based content. If you don’t find keyword volume on YouTube, don’t stop there, but also look at information-based sites such as Quora or Yahoo Answers to make sure people are looking for the information you’re providing.
3. YouTube vs Self Hosting
You’ve really got two big options when it comes to video: self-hosting or YouTube. If you want to get video SEO results (the little thumbnail clip next to your search results) you really need to self-host rather than putting it on YouTube. There are a lot of third party services like Brightcove or Vimeo all of which have paid services where you can actually upload your video there and use that to embed the content, which will still be self-hosted and you can get some great analytics off the back of it as well.
4. Help Search Engines Find your Videos
Adding tags and video categories can improve the performance of your videos by helping search engines find them when users search for your tags and similar terms. You can add tags when you upload your video, or at any time after by selecting “Video Manager” in the dropdown below your username. Check off a tag you’ve already used to include it, or type in the box above to find a specific tag or create a new one. You can also choose a video category that matches your title, description and tags to help improve your video’s search ranking even more..
5. How to do Video Link-building
There are little differences between link-building from a video and link-building from regular content, but video link-building can actually be a lot easier than regular link-building. Create a pitch that highlights the value of your video and send it to blogs and sites that focus on your content’s topic, asking them to post the video with an embed. There are several great tools out there, like Technorati, and this hacked Google News API, to help you find relevant contacts to pitch. Your video’s embed codes will link back to your site, that is the key for video link-building.
6. Social Sharing on YouTube
One thing that’s different between regular SEO and video SEO is a social aspect, particularly on YouTube. Because Google owns YouTube, they have much more information about what happens there than what happens anywhere else on the Web. Adding a social call to action to have viewers share the video with their friends and networks, to help your video get more views and to spread the content. In particular as Google Plus becomes more and more prevalent, it’s going to be important to see Google Plus shares all videos. This social sharing can help your video rank for the title of the video, even in regular search results, even in competitive searches because buzz on videos is easy for Google to track. This video shows you how to connect your social media accounts on YouTube
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