How can brands
apply the
principles of SEO
when content is
shifting to video?
Nigel Muir
In 2011 Cisco’s chief futurist, Dave Evans, predicted that
91% of Internet data in 2015 will be video. But, a year off
that mark, it feels like we might already be there. Last year
witnessed the arrival of video-led social media platforms
like Vine and Instagram Video. What’s more, we’re told that
brands account for 40% of the 1,000 most-shared Instagram
videos. So it’s clear that social video is fertile place for
marketing messages. But how can marketers apply the
proven efficacy of SEO to a medium that lacks the written
word?
In addition to being the perfect channel for communicating
business-critical visual information like hotel walkthroughs,
new product demos, events, behind-the-scenes activities
and mini-adverts, social video has a secret weapon in that it
offers an incredibly powerful way to engage and encourage
shareability. As a naturally social medium it has become
a vital tool in the digital marketing armoury. What’s more,
video can help give an otherwise faceless brand or business
a warmer and more personable side.
Although SEOs have been optimising video for a long time,
the growth in video across social networks has increased
the importance of getting the strategy right. Of course, the
way to maximize traffic for a video is to ensure it’s highly
watchable. If Google et al recognise the video as a highquality, trusted piece of content, the subject will organically
rise in video search rankings. Popularity and engagement
have been frequent traits of YouTube’s own search algorithm
for some time. But there are some other more obvious
yet often overlooked SEO tactics that can be applied. For
example:
- Thumbnails can also be encouraged through the use of
video sitemaps.
Engaging and compelling video encourages longer dwell
time, especially when complementing on-site content.
However SEO optimised video content has the added benefit
of driving traffic and providing information to the user before
they hit the site. This means viewers are consuming more
information, which helps when communicating complex
products and concepts. By improving usability and viewability,
the all-important bounce rate can be lowered – especial ly
when combined with succinct calls-to-action post video.
It’s also crucial to ensure videos are given added functions
to make them easily sharable. With Instagram’s 15-second
video format, for example, it’s relatively easy to cross-post to
Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, FourSquare and email. In
doing so, you can encourage user engagement and higher
propensity for links, especially when it comes to mechanisms
like Vine and Instagram video.
Perhaps the most important consideration when trying to
optimize videos is to stick to the ethos of the hosting channel.
So use Vine for short, funny clips that border on low-fi, but
Instagram if you’re more interested in documentation.
- Ensure the page on which the video is placed has an
appropriate transcript with time stamps. This allows for
text content to be indexed and associated with the main
site.
Then again, Facebook video is the right place for longer
videos (Facebook accepts up to 20-minutes of HD video
and, after images, is the platform’s most shared content).
Snapchat is where you want to be if you’re trying to tap into
an audience of under-30s, whereas Google+ Hangouts are
all about live videos and interviews. But regardless of which
platform you’re using, the headline tip for marketers wanting
to optimise social video is that anything coming across as
overly promotional will not make it up the search ranking
pages.
- Self host the video if possible as this will allow for
thumbnails in search listings. Thumbnails act as rich
snippets to attract even more eyeballs and differentiate
listings amongst competitors within the search results.
SEO embodies the core principle that should underpin any
digital marketing strategy. And its founding message – “it’s
quality that gets you noticed” – should be applied to any
medium, not just the written word.