Guest post by Jason Parks.
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, yet the SEO aspect is often overlooked. The simple truth is that a majority of search marketing specialists do not invest the necessary resources into the largest video-sharing website in the world. Videos can raise brand awareness and appear in Google’s organic search results, so it’s smart to take advantage of that.
IQ Visibility states that you can double your search traffic by having a video thumbnail in the search result. While doubling your search traffic from a YouTube video certainly isn’t guaranteed, the thumbnail appearing in the search results is more likely to capture the users’ attention than a standard search result. If the video is of a high quality, this rich media can allow users to learn more about your product or service.
Chad Hurley, the co-founder of YouTube, summarized our sentiments perfectly when he noted, early in YouTube’s existence, that YouTube is becoming much more than an entertainment destination. It can be educational while also helping businesses gain exposure.
Merely posting any video onto YouTube though will not generate desired results. A marketing strategy behind the video must be in place in order for Google to recognize the content as compelling and deserving of a rank on the first page of Google’s search results. For instance, we implemented a video SEO strategy for a local tennis club in Columbus. They are now ranking in the first overall position on Google for an extremely popular search query in the tennis world. The video has been viewed all over the world and now has over 150,000 views. This tennis club has established themselves as a leader in their industry for creating tennis videos on a wide variety of topics. Moreover, the video has generated an influx of clients for the tennis club. Specifically, the instructor featured in the video has been in high demand for lessons due to the video’s popularity.
Here is the six-step process we use to ensure tremendous success for your next video marketing campaign.
- Select a Topic That Will Be Beneficial To The User
When we deliberated with the tennis club, we determined there were very few “how to” videos on “how to hit a faster tennis serve.” By reviewing Google Adword’s keyword planner, we were able to recognize the popularity of this query and concluded tennis players would benefit from this professional advice.
We created a script with the club professional instructor and set a date to film the video. Selecting a topic that users will enjoy and benefit from is a crucial component for laying the proper foundation down for your video marketing strategy.
- Invest in a Quality Production
If you are going to take the time to create a video, you want the user experience to be good. Google can detect whether or not someone visits your video and drops off within five seconds, just like they can on your website. By creating high-quality video content, you are going to receive higher quality traffic that Google will take note of.American Relocation Connections spent a lot of time creating a video on the topic, “Best Tips for Hiring a Mover.” {Watch video}. An attorney for the law firm Alvin H. Broome and Associates created a video showing off the personality of his firm. {Watch video}.This video content needs to be informative and benefit people seeking this information on Google or on their website.If you think you can stuff keywords into the title of a mediocre video, think again. This might work for a low competitive keyword but the strategy won’t pay off if you really want to achieve true video marketing success. - Upload a Transcript
After selecting a topic, the next step is to create a script. The script can actually be uploaded to YouTube as a transcript. It automatically syncs with the speakers and voiceovers in the video and allows those who are hard of hearing or deaf or those without volume or working sound on a computer to read the transcript and comprehend the content of the video.Google offers support on proper formatting of transcripts and proper implementation of transcripts into a video. - Make Your Content Desirable To Share
After the tennis video was complete, we developed a list of 50 websites that would benefit from having this video embedded on their website. We then reached out to each website on our list, requesting they embed the video on their websites, describing the advantages of the video’s existence, and offering an article to correlate with the video written by the tennis club’s head professional instructor. Five different tennis sites agreed to feature the video on their website, including TennisNow.com, one of the most well-known and visited websites in the industry.Once the video was embedded on these sites, the visibility increased dramatically on YouTube and within the search results of Google. Once the visibility increased, the video took off. - Advertise Your Video
Video advertising on YouTube can be a great bang for your buck if implemented correctly. When you create a video, it is helpful to allocate advertising dollars to the videos to give the media momentum. With a cost per view as low as $0.02, you can get 2,500 views on your video with a $50 budget. In the eyes of Google and YouTube, this adds legitimacy to the video and can help catapult your video higher on the YouTube and Google organic search results. - Proper Title Tags and Description
Title tags are an extremely important element that Google detects when determining the ranking power of a video. For the tennis video, we had previously performed our research on popular search queries. If you are a business, you cannot merely stuff keywords into the title tag. Make the title organic. For example, if you are a Dentist in Dayton, Ohio, you should not make the title tag, “Dayton Dentist.” If the video featured client testimonials, a better title would be, “Testimonials for Dr. Smith, a trusted Dayton Dentist.”In following the six steps for a successful video campaign, you will add a key component to your marketing efforts, which will give you a leg-up on the competition. If you dedicate the proper time and implement a memorable strategy, your YouTube video will receive great exposure across numerous marketing channels.
Jason Parks, owner of The Media Captain, contributed content to this article. The Media Captain is a digital marketing agency that specializes in SEO, web development and online advertising. Jason has been quoted in the New York Times, Success Magazine and Yahoo! News. Jason has assisted in launching successful digital campaigns for publicly traded companies, national brands, and local, family-owned companies that have gained national notoriety.