By Paul Strickland, ThinkSketch
Video killed the radio star according to The Buggles and it is now killing any websites that aren’t using dynamic and engaging videos as part of their content. People want more from the websites they visit these days and chunks of text with a few images on them are not going to cut the mustard any more. With the average internet user having a very short attention span and millions of websites to choose from it is vital to engage with them as soon as they land on your website. Video is by far the best way to do this and allows you to get your message across without forcing people to plough through reams of text they may or may not be interested in.
As well as helping to engage with people quickly the use of video has a huge number of benefits for SEO purposes. Videos often appear in the first page of search results and now that Google owns YouTube this is only going to become more common. Websites with videos on them are 53 times more likely to increase their first page search engine rankings and increase click through and conversion rates by up to 41%. With an estimated 170 million people in the US alone watching video content on the net each day it is easy to see the potential power that even the simplest video has.
Creating engaging videos that people want to watch and share is one of the key ways of boosting a site’s popularity and rankings. The more the video is shared the more importance the major search engines attach to the website it is on. Engaging videos also encourage people to stay on a site for longer periods of time which is another key factor that search engines take into account.
If you aren’t using video on your site you should be and here are a few tips to get the most from it:
Obey Google’s Rules
Google can be a tough but (mostly) fair master and if you know what it wants to see from the videos on your site you can use them to their fullest potential. Here are a couple of tips to help keep Google happy:
- Only include one video per each page on your site. Each video should be unique and avoid having the same video on multiple pages.
- Create a separate URL for each page that has a video on it.
- Ensure that every video has its own description, title and thumbnail to go with it.
- Ensure that XML files are used in the sitemap of the website.
- Submit any information related to the video to Google by using the webmaster tool.
- Focus on providing valuable information rather than blatant sales pitches.
The Title
The title of the video is worth putting a little time into to get right. Anyone who is coming across the video for the first time should be able to tell what it is about by glancing at the title. The primary keyword you are targeting with the video should always be included in the title and if possible it should be catchy and clear without being overlong. The Meta description is also important and the tags should also contain search terms which are relevant to the video in question.
Be Social and Shareable
As stated previously engaging videos that spark an interest in the people who watch them are king. Not only do you have the opportunity to grab one person’s interest but all of the people they know as well. Videos are quickly becoming the most shared content on the net and for a small investment can create a huge potential return. Videos on your site should be easy to share and the best way of doing this is by embedding them rather than using a pop-up player.
You should be aiming to create video content that is going to appeal to as many people as possible. Humorous and funny videos always have the potential to go viral and are much more likely to be shared by the people who watch them. A classic example is the “Will it blend?” series of videos created by Blendtec. Videos that cost virtually nothing to make have been seen by millions of people and produced a huge amount of exposure for the company.
Video Ranking Services
Of course even the best video may need a little helping hand to get the exposure and rankings it deserves. Fortunately there are companies that specialise in offering video ranking services that can ensure that any video is seen by hundreds of thousands of people and shoots up the search results pages.
For more information on how one video ranking company has achieved a number one video ranking in Google in just 24 hours visit http://www.thinksketch.co.uk/
www.thinksketch.co.uk http://www.youtube.com/user/seoservicescompanyx