There was a time in the recent past when videos were challenging to SEO and many brands considered video to be one of the few almost SEO-free powerful marketing tactics but this simply is not true anymore. As search engines get smarter and more integrated, video is just as optimizable as your blog articles and social media feeds. You only need to know the right techniques to transform videos from the past, present, and future into SEO powerhouses. Fortunately, we’ve got the inside knowledge you need.
1) Strategize Your Video Titles
It goes without saying that your video title is the single most SEO-relevant piece of the puzzle. Video titles have been the primary focus of video SEO since long before search engines knew what to do with video content. Your video titles need to be catchy, original, and contain your hard-hitting keywords. A tall order, we know, but you can pull it off.
2) Write Your Video Scripts with SEO In Mind
There is an increasing amount of awareness in how the actual content of your video can affect SEO. Although web crawlers still can’t actually listen to or watch the video, there are other ways that your script becomes accessible to search results. So write with SEO in mind. Make sure to hit your keywords and key concepts with organically diverse phrasing.
3) Include High-Quality Closed Captions
One of the ways that web crawlers access your script is through closed captions. Adding captions doesn’t just make your video more accessible to those with hearing impairments and people watching at work. It also makes the video accessible to search engines and therefore, allows Google to essentially watch your video and rank it for the content within.
4) Configure Your Perfect Thumbnail
The next step to customize your thumbnail. The thumbnail is the preview still-frame that shows when your video is browed and before the play button is pressed. This is essentially the image you are posting on social media, in your blog, and anywhere your video shows up in a search. The thumbnail is just as important for marketing as the video itself, since it inspires the “conversion” from browser to video watcher.
YouTube offers you three thumbnails to choose from, but you can also pick your own thumbnail to upload. And when you do, take the time to configure the entire thumbnail page with its metadata that is also SEO-accessible.
5) Optimize the Description
The description is the other classical aspect of video SEO, and it is more important than ever. Your description is your best chance to impress viewers with the information you choose to provide. The first two lines matter the most and will show before the rest of the description is expanded. Your description should include the most useful and relevant information to the video. Consider links to your website and the website of your guest, links to referenced studies and infographics, and a timestamped outline for longer videos or lyrics for songs.
6) Attach a Few Tags
Finally, don’t forget to throw in a few tags. Tags are how YouTube, among other platforms, categorize and reference videos in a quick way. This makes tags an SEO shortcut because people search for videos via tags as well as keywords.
Optimizing your videos for search engines is now both easier and more complex than ever. Videos are becoming truly searchable if the creators take the time to write detailed descriptions and include accurate closed captions with each video. Even videos without words can be optimized by describing the video in captions and using the other available techniques. For more insights in video trends and optimization, contact us today!
