The famous Google Panda has given video two paws up, and video is now a permanent fixture in every major search engine’s algorithms. There are lots of reasons as to why video is an important element to include on every website, but for those SEO strategists out there the main one is that Google places the websites where people stay around for awhile highest in their results.
Nothing keeps people on a site for a few minutes longer than usual than a well-executed, relevant and timely video, and just about every industry is experimenting with ways they can creatively portray themselves online. Leading the charge has been the travel and tourism trade, with Travel Alberta’s Remember to Breathe video of 2011 well on its way to reaching 2,000,000 views, and Tourism Calgary’s just-released Heart of the New West video already garnering more than 210,000 views.
Quality Counts
A 2010 Forrester study indicated that a product page with a video on it is 53 times more likely to achieve a page one listing on Google than those without. Another 2011 study by aimClear showed that in universal search results videos have a 41 per cent higher click through rate than regular text.
But in order for the video on your site to work to assist in your SEO strategy, though, it has to be well produced and, even more importantly, informative. Videos that tend to do better than others are those that show the viewer how to do something, or describe in detail the solution to a tricky problem. Gone are the days when just sitting in front of your webcam and reading a script was sufficient. Companies are investing in skilled videographers with exceptional editing capabilities and the ability to put together professional productions for their online videos. Everything matters now, and Calgary’s local actors are finding a surprising amount of work online!
Make Your Page Beat YouTube
Of course upload your video to YouTube. And also use Daily Motion, Metacafé and Vimeo. They all increase the chances of Google finding you. But since you really want to optimize your own website, not your YouTube account, SEO gurus suggest a work-around for this little hiccup. Use YouTube to upload a “teaser” or “trailer” for your entire video (where a selection or montage from your video promotes the finished product), which is available only on your website.
Another way for your website to beat out YouTube for results is to embed several videos to create a complementary series on to the same page. Including added resources that supplement the video’s content encourage people to go straight to your website.
Make the most out of your video that you possibly can by incorporating a downloadable text transcription on the page, and use screen shots from the video as images. Create a Power Point presentation that can be printed up and handed out to clients, and even take your still images and upload them to Flickr or another photo-sharing site. And if the audio works on its own, capture it for an audio file.
Use All of Your Resources
Don’t stop with image- and video-sharing sites. Takes advantage of bookmarking websites like Digg and Reddit, and never forget about Twitter and Facebook. Link sharing is a great way to gain exposure!
