Video marketing is increasingly essential for organizations aiming to capture and retain user engagement. The rise of smartphones, YouTube, and other social media platforms has made video content an integral part of our daily lives. Whether scrolling through memes on a lunch break or researching a new ERP system for an enterprise, videos offer a quick and simple way to consume content. As organizations incorporate videos into their content strategies, they often see enhanced engagement and, consequently, higher search engine rankings.
To ensure videos improve search engine optimization (SEO), marketers can use these five practical tips: aligning videos with searcher intent, placing videos in the right context, optimizing video titles and descriptions, creating engaging thumbnails, and placing video code in the footer. These guidelines help marketers create relevant and engaging videos that enhance their organizations’ websites.
1. Align Videos with Searcher Intent
Marketers can align their video content with searcher intent—the main goal users have when typing a query into a search engine. This approach helps marketers create videos that address the audience’s needs and interests. When video content resonates with the target audience, search engines are more likely to rank the content higher.
To align videos with searcher intent, marketers can take the following steps:
- Use keyword research tools: Tools like Google Keyword Planner and Semrush can help marketers identify popular search terms their audiences look for each month.
- Identify searcher intent: After finding a relevant keyword, marketers can search it to understand the kind of content that’s already ranking well.
- Prioritize keywords generating video results: Video snippets that appear in search engine results indicate an opportunity for creating video content.
2. Place Videos in the Right Context
Traditional search engines cannot directly index or understand a video’s content. To overcome this, marketers can surround videos with relevant text, which helps search engines understand and index the video. For instance, placing a transcript of the video or adding a detailed introduction can enhance discoverability.
For example, journalists covering a conference may want to publish a video of a Q&A session with a speaker. If the video is embedded on a blank webpage, it provides no context for search engines. However, adding relevant text like an introduction or a transcript can significantly improve the video’s discoverability.
3. Optimize Video Titles and Descriptions
While search engines cannot understand video content directly, they can index the titles and descriptions. Optimizing these elements can improve a video’s ranking on the search engine results page (SERP).
Best practices for optimizing video titles and descriptions include:
- Using keywords: Incorporate relevant keywords to help search engines index the videos accurately.
- Front-loading keywords: Place keywords near the beginning of titles and descriptions while ensuring readability.
- Keeping titles concise: Titles should be 60 characters or less to avoid truncation on the SERP.
- Including a call to action: Encourage viewers to engage with additional content like related blog posts.
4. Optimize Thumbnails
Thumbnails are small images that provide a visual preview of a video before users click on it. Creating high-resolution and relevant thumbnails can boost a video’s click-through rate (CTR). Marketers can use keywords in thumbnails or offer a brief, descriptive title to help audiences grasp the video’s content. A consistent thumbnail style across videos can also enhance brand recognition.
5. Place Video Code in the Footer
Search engines prioritize websites that load content quickly. Since videos can take time to load, placing the video code at the bottom of the page can improve loading times. This ensures the main content loads first, and the video loads in the background while users explore the page. However, if the webpage centers around the video, it’s better to place the video near the top, as these audiences are more likely to wait for it to load.
Key Takeaways
Traditional search engines struggle to directly index or comprehend a video’s content. To address this challenge, marketers can enhance a video’s discoverability by surrounding it with relevant text, which aids search engines in understanding and indexing the video. Incorporating a transcript or providing a detailed introduction are effective strategies.
For example, journalists covering a conference might want to upload a video of a Q&A session with a key speaker. If the video is merely embedded on an empty webpage, it offers no context for search engines to latch onto. In contrast, adding pertinent text, such as an engaging introduction or a comprehensive transcript, can greatly improve the discoverability of the video. This approach ensures that search engines can better understand the content of the video, making it more likely to appear in relevant search results. By strategically using text around video content, marketers and journalists can significantly boost the visibility and accessibility of their video materials on the web.
