Video Marketing Guide: 9 Ways to Use Video to Improve Website SEO

This means that you won’t just be standing still if you don’t make use of a video-driven SEO boost –you’ll actually be going backwards, as your competitors get more and more traffic.

The great thing about video, from a user point of view, is that its passive. It takes far less effort to watch and listen than it does to sit there and read for 5 minutes. With that in mind, how can you make the most of this highly versatile medium so that you can drive more people to your site?

Choose the right hosting platform for your videos

The two biggest video hosting platforms on the web right now are Vimeo and of course the mighty YouTube. They are great for users because they allow them to find just about anything they want, but not so great for your website.

If you upload a video to YouTube, then Google will index the YouTube page that you’ve posted it to, not your original website. This means that whilst you might be getting a load of views on YouTube, you’ll likely be missing out on a lot of traffic over on your own site. Hosting services like Wistia are great, as they allow you to embed video on your site and then reap the SEO benefits.

Use an irresistible thumbnail to grab people’s attention

The sole purpose of SEO is for search engines to return what they deem to be the most relevant content. That means if a video is watched millions of times, it will be deemed highly relevant and so will move up the rankings.

If you add an irresistible thumbnail to your video that people won’t be able to pass up the chance to take a closer look at, then you’ll get a lot more views. More views mean better SEO, which in turn means more views. See what we’re getting at?

Remember that transcripts act as a page copy

Any introduction to SEO will tell you that a video transcript which plays over the top of a video is essential. Not only does it allow people to watch the video even with their sound turned right down, the transcript text actually acts as a page copy. Ideal for supercharging your video’s SEO boost.

Pick a title that will make people want to click on your video

Titles should contain keywords, be 7-10 words long, and really hook the user in. This may sound like a lot to fit into a single line of text, but the investment in time will be worth it when you double your website’s traffic overnight. Take the time to find the right title, and trust yourself that you will know it when you see it. Don’t forget to check all-important analytics too so that you can iteratively improve that magic line of text.

Use a professional video description to really sell your content

Online services such as Trust My Paper are a great way to find the words that will really put your video in the spotlight. The text will provide a two-fold SEO boost. Not only will it contain keywords that Google will find and move you up the rankings but it’ll also persuade more people to watch your video, which makes your video more relevant and therefore allows it to move up the rankings.

Embed your video on a relevant page that’s already SEO optimized

The key mistake that too many people make is putting their brand new professional video on any old page on their site and waiting for the SEO magic to take over. There’s far too much content being uploaded every single day for this type of approach to make a dent anymore.

Instead, what you need to do is upload your video to a relevant page on your site, and make sure you’ve already optimized the accompanying text for SEO.

Remember that Google typically only ranks one video per page

Video can be a great way to boost your SEO, but the big search engines try and reveal very little about how their ever-changing algorithms work. The reason for this is pretty simple — they want to be able to provide users with the most relevant content.

If you can’t avoid having multiple videos on a given page, then put the one whose SEO boost you want to make the most of at the top. This will give it the best possible chance of being the video that Google’s crawlers decide to index.

Your video needs to be the focus of your page, not an afterthought

Hiding your video away near the bottom of your page is a surefire to ensure that no one watches it, and Google downgrades it as not being all that relevant.

Your video should be the center of your page so that it catches the user’s eye the moment they arrive. Putting it at the top above the fold is the best way to attract attention, and you should also add a play button icon so that no one is in any doubt that they need to click it.

One page for one video: keep it simple

The final thing to say is that you really do need to keep things simple if you want to experience a true SEO boost. Posting the same video to multiple sites might sound like a good idea, but Google is already wise to that.

All you’re doing with this approach is making the various different pages compete against one another for the same position in the search rankings. Stick to one video on just one page, and you’ll make it so much easier for yourself.