It’s no secret that videos are a powerful tool in the world of content marketing. Videos provide an opportunity for marketers to create strong emotional connections by visually capturing the attention of customers, leading to higher brand engagement and increased leads and sales. In fact, according to Forbes, by 2019 video will account for 80 percent of global consumer Internet traffic!
Another indication of the growing importance of video is Google’s recent SERP change. Google replaced video boxes with a video carousel for desktop search. This format allows searchers to easily access more than just three videos.
How can digital marketers capitalize on the growing importance of video? Below are 6 recommendations to boost your organic video results.
1. Analyze your video library and understand current visibility
Do you have all your videos identified, categorized, prioritized and optimized? If not, here are 3 steps to get started:
- First, analyze video metrics from YouTube, your website’s Google Analytics account, or your video hosting provider. Understand which videos are getting views and which aren’t.
- Second, analyze the video content and perform keyword research to identify optimization opportunities for each topic.
- Third, analyze the SERPs and find the videos that are being displayed for relevant keyword phrases.
- These videos become your initial high-priority Video SEO list.
- By further optimizing videos that are already showing in the search results you have the best opportunity to drive additional brand awareness, qualified traffic and results.
Though this process takes a little time and effort, it can be one of the most fruitful. This analysis helps you prioritize your video optimization plan and allow you to establish baseline metrics from which you will improve.
The following table includes the main attributes you will want to understand to start documenting and categorizing your video library.
2. Identify video content gaps
Analyze popular search queries and compare these keywords to your current video library. This will allow you to find holes and develop new video content to bridge content gaps. For example, you might have many videos related to the implementation of your software solution, but you may be surprised to learn that people are mostly searching for how to integrate your software with a particular tool or platform. This is a valuable customer insight that can be turned into actionable video content.
This search query analysis helps you understand buyer needs and identify specific marketing opportunities. It allows you to identify gaps in your current video library. Furthermore, optimizing these newly developed videos will be very effective because of the known popularity of the topic.
3. Incorporate videos into related web content
I recommend that marketers review top webpages viewed and analyze engagement metrics. Is there an opportunity to add a video to this content? Might this improve engagement? Embedded videos provide a rich experience that can potentially spark visitor curiosity… leading to increased pageviews, time on site, and conversions.
For example, this BPM.com page could really benefit from a video. It is informational and educational in nature, but very text heavy.
4. Utilize videos to expand your SEO keyword focus
Video content provides an opportunity to expand your SEO focus. Instead of using the exact same Keyword Map you’re focusing on for your website, take this opportunity to target additional keyword variations within your video titles and descriptions.
For example, videos often focus on processes and procedures; implementation tips; or “how-to” steps. This is a great opportunity to expand your SEO scope to include target keyword phrases that contain “procedure” or “process” or “implementation.”
5. Add optimized links
While it seems obvious, I actually see this happen quite frequently: videos with no links back to the website! It’s important to add links within your video descriptions to relevant website content so users can quickly and easily access additional information on your site. Don’t make prospects search for additional information related to a video topic; provide a direct link in your video description.
Here is an example of a video with an obvious missed linking opportunity. The website URL is provided, but it is not a clickable link:
6. Utilize video to beat the competition
Review your competitors’ YouTube Channel and their on-site videos to see what type of content they have created and what keywords they are targeting. This might spur some ideas on ways to fill current content gaps, or you might find new video ideas.
For example, you might learn that a competitor is creating videos that showcase how their solution can be implemented in specific industries. If this is part of your marketing strategy and if you have identified industry-specific keywords as part of your SEO Plan, this might be a great video expansion idea!
I urge marketers to analyze competitors and understand the videos that are ranking for top priority keywords. Here is an example of a Competitive Video SEO Assessment.
Goals of a competitive video assessment include:
- Understand which videos are ranking for your high-priority keywords – in search results and on YouTube.
- Analyze competitors’ video views and compare this to how long the video has been available on YouTube. This allows you to prioritize video topics based on market interest and popularity.
- The final step is to determine if you have a video that is relevant to this keyword or related to this topic.
Once you have a solid understanding of competitors’ videos, you can identify gaps, determine your video priorities and reverse-engineer a winning SEO strategy.
Summary
I urge marketers to understand their video library, analyze video visibility, identify content gaps, expand keyword focus and incorporate links within videos to drive website engagement, leads and sales.
The importance of video marketing continues to grow and these are just a few get-started video optimization tips. Remember, video SEO as an effective way to differentiate your brand and outrank your competitors.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
About The Author
Joe Goers is a digital marketing professional at SmartSearch Marketing with a direct focus on both local and national SEO. He has worked with several large automotive brands including GM Certified Service, ACDelco, OnStar, GM Fleet, GM.com and Chevrolet Performance. In September 2015 one of Joe’s key accounts, Chevrolet Performance, won the Landy award for best overall SEO Initiative (Enterprise). Joe graduated from Michigan State University with a B.S. in Packaging and received a M.B.A. in Marketing from Walsh College. He and his wife live in a suburb of Detroit, MI with their son Hudson and two dogs Bean and Chanel. He is passionate about all aspects of digital marketing, watching Michigan State football and basketball games, rooting for Detroit sports teams, playing fantasy football, and participating in dog rescue efforts in his free time.