The Importance of Video Content in SEO

It is playing a more significant role in communication, especially during uncertain times. It has changed the way the vast majority of businesses use marketing strategies to communicate with their target audience.

Videos have claimed a significant spot in digital marketing and are proving to have better SEO rankings for websites than other forms of media. Today, businesses must consider video production as an integral part of content creation for their websites if they want to have better audience engagement.

Creating great video content is not the only effective marketing strategy. There are many paths that you can take in your quest to finding an effective strategy. People who place their efforts on content, use video SEO to support their drive traffic, boost conversions, and outperform the competition.

Having video content is a high-performing SEO strategy. And evidence shows that it is an important content for your website. According to Oberlo, most consumers (about 54%) want to see more video content from a brand that they support.

Let us look at these four reasons why video content is essential in SEO:

Video Content is More Likely to Generate Social Signals

Videos have a greater potential to become viral than other forms of content –they are just more engaging than traditional content. It’s easier to consume, more memorable, and can spread like wildfire throughout the internet just like that.

YouTube is not the only video-sharing site raking in millions of followers worldwide. Video sharing sites are increasing to suit all types of video content consumers. Vimeo.com leads the pack as a fast-growing video-sharing platform that brings in massive traffic of around 130 million monthly visitors.

Dailymotion comes close with 100 million visitors and is popular among audiences because you can easily browse videos by searching tags and categories or searching for specific channels or user-created groups. Twitch also brings in 100 million visitors monthly but are particularly popular among gamers who stream or broadcast their gameplay.

Videos are also frequently shared via social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even Pinterest. Video creators can now make money with their videos through Facebook video monetization, Instagram video, or IGTV.

Even Twitter has made video sharing possible through Twitter native videos, where you create and share videos straight from the platform itself. Just as Twitter limits characters for their tweets, videos are also limited to a 30-second duration.

Videos get viral so quickly, but as we have seen on various social media platforms, it’s not always for the right reasons. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reiterated the 1998 US law aiming to protect the privacy of children under 13 years old. The move caused video content makers to rethink if they intend to keep producing content for kids on their channels or not.

Content made for kids cannot be monetized anymore through The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) since ads are no longer allowed, and engagements such as comments and messages are disabled. Most content-makers who wanted to continue monetizing their channels and retain existing followers, revamped their content just to comply with COPPA.

Embedded video increases conversion rates

When you embed a YouTube video into your website page, it can significantly increase conversion rates. It establishes consumer trust, especially when the brand’s face speaks in the video. Client testimonials and peer reviews have a significant impact on those considering to buy a product or avail of a service. Video testimonials are not just more compelling; their potential to drive sales conversion is also higher.

Brainstorm video content ideas with your team to come up with engaging video content each time. Even for small businesses, you can still consistently embed videos in your site also if you do not have a dedicated creative team of a video production team.  There is a lot of video editing software available in the market that helps you edit your videos like a pro. 

Video SEO reinforces keyword strategies

A video is likely to supplement your keyword strategies for better SEO. Include a video transcript to videos you upload or host on your site, either below the video or the description. Effectively, you are giving Google an extra body of text to index, which boosts your content that it shows up in a user’s SERP and boosts your organic traffic.

Video content is also automatically transcribed and processed by Google and even YouTube. Video content creators may also provide their transcription so they can be sure the transcription is accurate. These transcriptions also help reinforce your keywords strategies as many words get indexed as well. It is just like optimizing the content of your web pages, blog posts, articles, and press releases.

Videos increase your website’s core SEO KPIs

Your website’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are improved with video content. Improved performance metrics can fuel your search engine rankings. Google wants its audiences to have an optimized experience, so serving up the most engaging, relevant content you can provide is beneficial.

Google takes as a sign if a user comes to your site and leaves quickly. That is your bounce rate. The lower the bounce rates, the better. Video content can lower bounce rates and increase your SEO rankings. Most people would rather watch a video to learn about that product or service rather than reading in a text. It would make sense that video content would engage in new websites for visitors than doing a copy alone. 

Videos results in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) also increase click-through rates, which is the rate at which audiences are clicking on the links that lead them to your site. SERP lists with account videos and thumbnails are more attractive than text-based listings, and users are more likely to click through and watch your content.

Conclusion: Videos make your website more engaging and memorable

Your video content marketing strategies help you tell your brand’s story better. It can influence a decision, teach a lesson, and communicate a brand. By using video as a medium for your content means you are aiming for a memory imprint. A simple video produces better recollection in one’s mind. From that, a person may get influenced by what you have communicated through your video.

The power we hold in our hands should be handled with accountability whenever we use video in our campaigns and on our websites. Use that power to influence to good use through memorable and winning video content. In the end, better SEO rankings cannot be the sole driving force of our marketing strategies. It is to be able to communicate with people and make content for people that serves their need and truly add value to their lives.

…

** About the Author: Ramon Francisco has been writing about technology trends, entertainment, and gaming ever since he left the busy world of corporate HR Tech behind. He currently writes about software and user experiences for Softvire Australia, the leading software e-Commerce company in Australia and Softvire New Zealand. In his spare time, Ramon writes science fiction and collects little yellow men and plastic spaceships.

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash