Optimize Video for Search Engines
Online videos are springing up around every corner and business owners are starting to take notice. A video increases your chances of being found by Google, attracts clients to visit your website, and keeps them on your site longer.
Unlike the content of a website, search engines cannot read video. Instead, it is of great importance to focus on optimizing the text and meta information in videos in order to rank. If you aren’t optimizing your videos to match what people are searching, the chances of your video getting lost and not reaching their intended audiences are high. The key elements of video SEO are relevant file names, titles, descriptions, tags, categories, and visibility. In order to get started, think of your target audience - what are their interests, needs, wants? What is the goal of your video to entice viewers? Use the following valuable tips to build visibility to a large niche audience that is interested in what you have to offer.
Keyword Friendly Filenames
When saving your video, choose a keyword friendly filename (not the default time stamp assigned by the device). For example, if you were uploading a video on baking a cake, a good filename example would be "baking-a-cake". A lot of websites use this practice for their filenames.
Relevant Title & Keywords
Capture the potential viewer's attention with a catchy title that contains relevant keywords that are important to your brand or service. Do a little research and find the words that your audience will most likely be searching, but remember to keep the title interesting, not just filled with keywords.
Video Summary
The key to optimizing your video description includes rich and relevant content. This will allow the search engines to index and rank it higher. Your description should be keyword rich and can include a full transcript of the video or a description of what it is about. A warning to the wise: never, ever stuff keywords. This will only reflect negatively upon your video as it confuses viewers and angers search engines. Also, don’t forget to include a URL at the beginning of the description with the http:// prefix, otherwise it won’t show up as a link.
Keyword Tags
Don’t forget about the tags! This step allows you to add keywords that wouldn’t fit into the description naturally. Don't use complicated words or terminology that may not be common to the average person. Tags should be 1-3 words, with each set separated by a comma.
Visibility
Make sure your visibility is set to public. Get on social networks, write blogs, and share your video! If you have content worth sharing, it will continue to be shared to grow an expanding audience. This in turn will develop more exposure for your brand and services. YouTube may be the most popular video sharing site, but be sure to check out httphttp://vimeo.com and viddler as well.
Video Website Categories
By choosing a category, your video will be grouped in with similar videos. This expands the reach of your video, allowing new viewers to discover them.
Video optimization can be a great way for you to expose your brand, product, or services. It is a great way to engage, entertain, and promote that will get you great results on search engines.