Video SEO: Ways to Optimize for Search

Relying on fashionable marketing tactics and striving to achieve viral fame are not sustainable methods for attracting attention. The reality is that your content, especially video content, must be pertinent. Moreover, if your video content fails to appear and rank prominently on search engines such as Google, YouTube, or others, all the effort and resources invested in video production may prove futile for your business.

It is worth noting that video SEO is distinct from traditional SEO, and in recent years, video SEO has undergone a significant transformation. Currently, video optimization involves utilizing diverse technologies to provide viewers with an exceptional experience. By doing this, search engines will identify your video content as valuable information that more viewers should access. It is safe to assume that your primary goal is to attract more eyes to your video content. If so, let’s delve into the steps you need to take to achieve this objective.

How Does Video SEO Work?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is utilized to enhance your video’s visibility on search engine results pages. Improved searchability of your video will, in turn, impact its performance regarding views, click-through rates, user flow in your customer journey, and conversions. Although it is not an exact science, and best practices constantly evolve, optimizing your website’s content and architecture can lead to higher conversion rates. Adhering to content marketing initiatives can also be advantageous in boosting your overall marketing plans.

Why Should You Optimize Your Videos?

Video SEO is one of the best ways for videos to be noticed by their intended consumers in a crowded online world. Statistics show almost 91% of people reported that video SEO helped them get increased traffic.

Remember, when someone uses a search engine, they conduct a targeted search. Ensuring your website is the first thing consumers see on any given search engine should be a critical element of your online video-uploading plan, all because you want to ensure users are actively searching for what you have to offer.

Being highly visible in search engine results can boost business traffic, brand recognition, and viewers. Additionally, SEO can enhance a website’s user experience and can help in rectifying and resolving any UX design challenges.

If visitors are willing to spend more time on your page, you increase the likelihood of them purchasing from you or utilizing your services. People desire better and more pertinent content, an improved navigation structure, optimized images, and faster loading speeds. Therefore, it is crucial to prioritize all of the above. 

9 Ways to Optimize Your Video for Search

The use of SEO for making your video more visible among millions of other users has become common now. So, let’s move forward with the best methods to get you started.

1. Select the Right Platform

There are many advantages to using a correct video streaming platform. Doing so provides you with a wide range of capabilities to increase the visibility of your videos. You will have the opportunity to arrange CTA buttons effectively, embed links accordingly, customize your video and landing page layout, and more. Here are some platforms you can choose from. 

• Having 2.6 billion users globally, YouTube is the world’s most widely used video-sharing website. Learn how you can improve YouTube CTR.
• For companies producing videos for consumers, interactive video meetings, and live video streaming, Vimeo is a well-liked platform for creating and sharing videos.
• IBM Cloud Video is the platform for file management, delivery of live and on-demand content, and file uploads are all included in the IBM Cloud video.

2. Add a Video Transcript

These days, as you peruse through your social media feed or stream shows on various platforms, it is common to come across captions displayed on the screen. This feature enhances the user experience by enabling them to watch without disturbing others.

Moreover, captions and video transcripts play a significant role in enhancing your search engine ranking. By providing more content for search engines to crawl, it is vital that your video content and transcripts incorporate relevant keywords. Of course, transcripts and captions are also very helpful for the hearing-impaired community as well.

3. Implement Engaging Thumbnail Images

Most top-performing videos have personalized thumbnails. Typically the thumbnail is the initial thing viewers see when they locate one of your videos so make a great first impression that aligns properly with the purpose of your video. 

Here are some hints for making your thumbnails more effective:

• Before taking a picture, consider taking various images then pick your favorite. Test out some too. 
• Specifications: 1280 x 720 pixels (16:9) in a.JPG,.GIF,.BMP, or.PNG format.
• Create a thumbnail with the highest resolution possible within the 2MB limit.
• Zoom in and out to check if your thumbnail appears fine in tiny and large sizes.
• Check to see whether your thumbnail will stick out amid the competition.

4. Pay Close Attention To The Description and Title Of The Video

The more time people spend viewing your videos due to having relevant material and content, the more exposure your content may receive. Picking a title is crucial to drawing visitors in at first glance.

Here are some suggestions for title optimization:

• Write intriguing titles while incorporating keywords.
• Titles should be brief (60 characters), with the most crucial details upfront.
• Save show numbers and notes as well as branding towards the end.
• Check that the titles are not cut off in recommended videos, search results, and mobile.

5. Include SEO-Related Information

Ensure the video platform you choose offers many features by default, particularly if it has SEO optimization skills. To make the video SEO compliant, it should have a number of stipulations. Your title, meta descriptions, and other SEO aspects should be simple for web crawlers to read on the platform.

Numerous relevant search phrases should place your video high in the results, and note, when you do it right, you will attract the correct audience and increase your search engine visibility so selecting the correct video SEO optimization platform will be key in making your life easier. 

6. Create Right and Relevant Content

Whether it’s inspirational storytelling, education, discovering a new skill, or inventive amusement, it is crucial that your uploads serve a purpose for your audience.

Well-explained and well-purposed videos make it easier to communicate concepts in a way that even the most layperson can understand. Likewise, when the videos are optimized for SEO, your target audience will see them. This will bring you even closer to the people you are targeting and influence them to take the action you desire.

7. Optimize the Web Page Around Your Video

You can’t just rely on optimizing your video to get a placement. The page must also be optimized for SEO; otherwise, search engines won’t even crawl it. So it is still crucial, if not more so to prioritize organically ranking your website. This can be a difficult and complex process but take heed, rankings will eventually appear if you keep producing high-quality content and meet the necessary technical SEO requirements. Need help? Connect with us so we can assist with your website and video SEO strategy. 

8. Never Embed the Same Video in Several Places

Any SEO professional can inform you that establishing several websites for an identical keyword is a recipe for disaster. Additionally, avoid embedding identical videos on various pages of your website, unless it is relevant to do so. Instead, ensure the video you include on the page where you land relates to the information already there. It guarantees that the clip and page will be ranked for the relevant search terms you aim for.

9. Keep Track of Your Performance

Be careful to gauge the current performance of your videos if you want to ensure that they are adequately optimized. Use data to learn where your videos are being viewed, for how long, if viewers are taking action, and even if your videos are being completed. These are all key metrics to determine performance and initiate thinking about how to optimize effectively. 

In Closing

You have the video SEO goods you need now! The overall worth of the online video platform market is projected to increase at a CAGR of 17.19% from 2023 to 2030. This just confirms that now is a fantastic moment to start using video SEO while it is still underutilized. We recommend being competitive within your industry, so get started today. 

We’d love to help you develop the perfect video project for your brand and the SEO strategy that increases its visibility. To learn more about Bottle Rocket Media’s video production services and other services like motion graphics services, connect with us to start your video project.