The main purpose of having a website for a business is to gain new viewers, generate leads and, ultimately, gather new customers. Having a cohesive, aesthetic website is great, however, if it is not optimized for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) then it will be very difficult to gain traffic.
Videos makes up 64 percent of all traffic on the internet, and it is forecasted to increase to 80 percent by 2019, according to CISCO 2014 Visual Networking Index. Having online video makes your site gain more likes, shares, views and new customers.
There is now a market surge in video advertising and it is expected to revolutionize the way marketing is done. What has made video advertising gain more popularity is its effectiveness. If utilized properly, video can be a real game-changer for business websites. It can boost SEO ranking significantly.
Any business seeking a better SEO rank, new customers, or increased brand recognition needs to make proper use of video advertising. In 2014, Animoto.com claimed that customers are four times more likely to watch a video about something than read about it.
In what way does video affect site SEO ranking and how can you use it to your own advantage?
3 Ways Video affects SEO
Increased Engagement: If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video speaks a million. Videos tell a potential customer what your company is all about. According to a study done for retail sites by ComScore, “visitors who view videos stay two minutes longer on a page and are 64 percent more likely to purchase than other site visitors.” The higher your page engagement, the better it gets ranked by Google.
Page Authority: The latest Google SEO algorithm, Hummingbird, gives special preference to pages with video content in them. Pages with videos gain quality backlinks which can improve SEO ranking greatly. If the video title is short and appealing, it has the potential to keep customers engaged, which reduces bounce rate.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): A research conducted by Wordstream.com shows that you can increase your CTR by 50 percent when you add a video to your landing page. Social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Vimeo offer you the opportunity to generate traffic to your website.
How to properly use video for SEO
Name: Set the proper name for the video. It should be clear, concise and accurate with a compelling title.
MetaTag: To ensure that your video is optimized for SEO, you have to do proper keyword research and insert those keywords into the video’s metadata.
Description: Any relevant information should be placed in the description. Avoid misleading or over exaggerated details as this could hurt your brand’s reputation in the long run.
Length: Keep your video short. About 3-6 minutes is enough to grab your viewer’s attention since mental focus drops sharply after four minutes.
Focus on Mobile optimization: Adapt videos for different platforms, but keep in mind that most users access the internet through their mobile devices. Handheld devices are fast becoming as capable as computers, thereby allowing users to connect to the internet at their leisure in any location.
Thumbnail: Use a good thumbnail (thumbnails are the picture the viewers see first before clicking on the video). Also, avoid using misleading pictures to prevent an increase in bounce rate.
Transcription: Always transcribe your video personally instead of allowing Google do it for you. Google’s auto transcription is notoriously terrible. A good transcription allows Google bots to crawl your content for relevant keywords.
To fully harness the SEO benefits of a video you need to put in the time, patience and energy. If you are already an expert in SEO, it is recommended to use video to gain more value from it.