How do you optimize your videos video SEO strategies

Jun 2, 2022

If a photograph can be worth 1000 words, then what is a video worth? To search engines it's "a quite a bit."

SEO, also known as search engine optimization or SEO, is the practice of increasing your content's visibility in the eyes of search engines like Google, Bing, and others.

Within the competitive field of SEO for video providing the correct set of data to engines is essential to helping users find and engage to the video content that you have worked so hard to create.

Let's peek behind the opaque web of SEO and let more eyes be able to see your latest video.

Best SEO techniques and video tips for SEO. methods

1. Be intentional with your title

The title is usually the first line of text which appears on search results. Although it's nice to come up with a distinctive and appealing title for your video, it's also important to keep your title informative by and use keywords. The more descriptive your title is, the more likely it is that your video will appear on search engines when users search for those keywords.

Search results typically get truncated by around 65 characters. Therefore, be sure to front load your title using the most crucial words.

2. Leverage what other people are searching for

If you'd like to have new viewers to find your content it is sensible to present it in terms that people are searching for.

Though the video was published in the past decade "Hayako" has kept an enviable, highly competitive place at the top of search results on Google, proving the power of video titles optimized for search.

Example of page one search result

That being said, it's crucial not to cram random keywords into your video's title just in order to make it appear in lots of searches. (Pro-tip: this hardly ever succeeds). If your video title and description don't accurately reflect the content of the film, the search engine could penalize you.

What is the typical video description lengths?

  • YouTube The description field can be as long as 1,000 characters.
  • It can be as long as 5,000 characters
  • Google reduces the description of any article (or article) at around 155-160 characters

3. Don't underestimate the value of a good description for video SEO

It's the description "blurb" that is likely to appear in search results below your title. Start your description with a hook that catches the audience's attention immediately be aware that only the initial 110 characters or so will appear prior to your text being reduced in the search results.

After the initial 100 or so characters, use the rest of the description to inform the audience about your video more in depth. Thank your cast and crew, note the equipment you used to create and edit your film, and mention any other essential components of creating your video.

The description is also ideal for putting the links for your social media sites or your website. Though these might not help the rankings of your website but your viewers, collaborators and followers can utilize this information to follow your work on other channels.

Not a copywriter? That's okay. The most unprofessional description is one that's not filled in. Try your best to express the main ideas of your film first before you filling in any key words you believe people are searching for.

4. Embed video on your site to gain additional profit

It's a good idea not to load a landing site with too many video clips, as Google cannot determine which is most valuable among them all to show. When you embed an amazing video on your website, be sure to stick with one per page.

Your video's page placement is also important for how search engines will crawl your video. Ideally, the video will be near the top of the page.

Videos stuck "below the fold" as do result pages on the second page of Google, are often forgotten about , which is not something you want for your efforts to achieve greater reach.

5. Include a video transcript

Video transcription is a crucial part of video SEO. It gives Google more details about your video content, thus increasing the chances that your video will show up in the search results.

Google will be able to access the bytes of the video to comprehend the contents of your video which includes spoken words. If you've manually transcribed the speech in the video, giving a transcript can assist search engines to understand the meaning of the speech better. In case of doubt, provide more context instead of less.

Video transcripts also allow your content to be more usable, which should always be a top-of-mind to artists and creators from all fields.

6. You can nail your thumbnail

A gorgeous thumbnail is crucial when it comes to mobile (whether you're using a mobile internet browser or an in-app) and high-end (OTT) viewing in which your video's name and thumbnail are your primary means of communicating to potential viewers.

Text can be included in the thumbnails or let the image speak for itself. We've seen both methods work extremely well.

The stunning color palette as well as a stylish, easy cover "Calbuco" offers a mesmerizing thumbnail that entices you to click through:

Sometimes your thumbnail needs some explanation in order to pull the attention of viewers, and that's OK. Include a caption to your thumbnail and show off your film laurels to boost interest:

The one thing we've noticed the subject is that thumbnails with color are more likely to have higher conversion rates than black or white thumbnails. But, at times, it's better to choose an aesthetic preference over an more analytical option.

Black and white are as attractive like color, particularly when your thumbnail can capture the perfect timing in mid-action.

Avoid these thumbnail mistakes:

  • Blurry action photos
  • Text that does not match the picture, or is difficult to read
  • An image that is stretched or pinched
  • There is no thumbnail

The glossary of your SEO video

Here are a few terms from the SEO trade that you may not have heard of:

 Algorithm

Not The Instagram or Facebook algorithm that you are hearing so much about However, it is an ever-changing Google algorithm that determines which aspects of a website make it qualified to be ranked. Take into consideration factors like the importance to the search question, the ease of use, the quality of the information, etc.

Actually, Google search algorithms are complex and created to ensure that the most relevant results shoot towards the top of the page.

 Crawl  

The act that Google "crawling" on your site is simply how it gathers information. The "crawler" perpetually navigates through the internet looking for new sites recording these websites and the data that they provide (including videos!) as something that can be used to create search results.

 Rich snippets

The rich snippet for the video will be the thumbnail view of the video that pops on desktop and mobile Google results. Every video hosted on .com we offer the right set of metadata that will help the video's preview show up in Google and the other search engines.

Why do rich snippets matter? Organic results pages are the lifeblood of many websites and businesses, and these snippets provide a big leg above the standard listing.

They provide a captivating link to your video with either a static thumbnail or a moving preview that increases your click-through-rate (CTR) and generates higher views.

"SERP"

A shorthand to mean "search results page of the engine." When you search to find something Google will respond with SERP in response to your search.

 Data structure

Structured data(or microdata) is a common method of telling the search engines to find pages. By providing the right set of structured data, will allow your uploaded videos to appear in search results as rich snippets.

There are a few other significant types of structured data that Google automatically provides that are essential for both SEO and social media marketing.

  • Schema.org is a defined set of standards for structured data, that is supported by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo as well as Yandex
  • Open Graph, Facebook's markup, is used to determine what info and images are automatically displayed whenever a page is shared in an article
  • Twitter Cards are markups which pull pictures, videos as well as text. They display them in a 'card' whenever a webpage is tweeted out to the entire world.

For a complete overview of the video microdata that is automatically created through Google, simply type in URLs for video pages using Google's test tool for structured data.

It's time to dip your toe into the vast sea of SEO. While SEO for video is only one element of the overall marketing strategy for your videos It's not a long time for you to bring meaningful improvements in your video content.

Make no mistake: the marketing industry must use videos at all stages of an individual's experience whether that's by securing publicity through platforms like Facebook for a more intimate relationship with the brand or embedding videos on your website to inform customers and drive sales.

Still, simple steps -- like optimizing your title or writing a well-thought out description can make a huge difference in getting the eyes of the search engines to your site.