The whole basis of SEO is aligning your internal content strategy with the search engine algorithm. However, no search engine, whether it is Google or Bing, will reveal what they prioritise in webpages for their ranking. As the algorithm gets updated, this lack of transparency from the search engines makes life hard for SEO specialists. But we have found a way out. That is video SEO.

Video SEO is a holistic process that optimises traffic for your video content from Google, Bing, and other search engines. As it is a search engine hack, not many SEO specialists are aware of it. Google has been rumoured to prioritise search results with video over those without video. From my personal experience, I found it to be true.

Video SEO: A One Man Army?

I typically see boosts in organic traffic when I add video content to existing posts. Initially, I thought it was some technical error, only to discover it was not. Upon further investigation, our team identified the key reasons for the same. Let’s see why.

  1. Who doesn’t like change? As everyone was busy adding images to their pages. We cannot blame search engines by choosing something different. Unlike images, which are indexed as files, search engines see videos as a wider media  and classify them as “video pages.. 
  2. Search engines presume that pages with video content have greater value. It cannot always be true. As search engines look to add value to the general public, it is natural to give higher rankings to a video page.
  3. Google shows a video thumbnail next to a search result, which it does for 26% of search results. This presence makes the result a “rich snippet,” and it tend to have higher click-through rates than standard snippets.
  4. Time users spend on your page or site is one of the many factors that affect your SEO score. While adding videos, it is obvious that people will be drawn to the videos, which will increase engagement with the website.
  5. Search engines now follow the mobile first indexing policy. Even though there is no explicit information from Google about the same, As more and more customers are drawn to the small screen, it is not unusual for search engines to rank informative videos higher than reading small-font blogs alone.
  6. Google is a mystery, and their algorithms are mysterious. We will not know what is happening behind the curtain until it is officially announced. YouTube is a Google child, so Google might be trying to increase its traffic by promoting video SEO.

Making It Happen

Video SEO is a holistic process that optimises traffic for your video content from Google, Bing, and other search engines. Making it happen and making search engines love your content is not a tedious task. Let’s check it out.

Step 1: Upload a High Quality Video

You can upload your original video to any content hosting platform. It can be on YouTube, Vimeo, or even on your own website. From my personal experience, Google is far more likely to rank videos hosted on YouTube (after all, it is Google’s child). So rank not just for one keyword but for numerous relevant keywords that match your customers’ search intent.

  • Include a face: Studies suggest that videos with a face will get more clicks than those without one. Humans are attracted to others, and an expressive face attracts attention as users scroll through. So if you are promoting your product, consider talking to your audience rather than just delivering the information.
  • Be sure your video educates: Just promoting your products like you did in traditional marketing will not work with Gen Z customers. You have to engage with them at every touch point possible to get the sales funnel working. The best way to get there is by answering questions from your audience about your brand, services and its products.
  • Conduct a Q&A video: Session of your products in action for your product pages. By doing so, you will become an authority and gain credibility.

Step 2: Get your videos indexed

So as the first step after uploading a video, we need the video to be discoverable. Keep in mind that Google uses a different crawler for video content, which is called Googlebot Video. To help search engines do their work, marketers need to do a little bit of extra work.

  1. Add relevant metadata to the video, like its meta title, meta description, video captions, etc., using Schema.org markup. This can be presented through microdata, in the <body> of the HTML on the page, or via JSON-LD within the <head> of the page.
  2. Alternatively, you can provide a video XML sitemap. It is then submitted to search engines via webmaster tools within your robots.txt file. It details all of the videos on your website. 
  3. But I do not suggest any of these, as they sound too technical for a common man. You can always use Yoast SEO tools, which are available in WordPress.
Googlebot video is very different from regular Googlebot. It doesn’t come around as frequently as the regular Googlebot. So expect a delay before your videos start appearing in searches.

Step 3: Verify Indexing

You should never regret getting a second opinion. Because in this competitive space, results are placed on a higher pedestal than trust. To verify whether search engines indexed the video, you should do the following:

  • Type in google.com/video and input the page URL of your video.
  • If the page appears, search engines will have successfully crawled and indexed your video.
  • If not, Use the Google Rich Results Tester to identify what is preventing your video from being indexed. This tool will tell you whether your page is eligible for video results or not.

Step 4: Improve your videos ranking

  • Once search engines have finished indexing your video, you have to optimise it to rank better for relevant queries. It includes improving video titles and thumbnails to increase clicks. It will ensure that your content is seen by the right people who would be interested in your product or service.

I want to read it in detail. We have an article for that too. Please click and read. 

Step 5: Place it right

If you are not valued, then you are in the wrong place. The right place values you in the right way. It is the same in video SEO. Creating videos is not enough. You need to publish your videos on your site. Before publishing, you should have a clear idea of where to post it. 93% of online experiences start with a search engine, so you want to do everything you can to appear on that crucial first page.

  • A brand video fits best on your “About Us” page or homepage.
  • A product video will fit on your e-commerce platform or product description page.
  • Testimonial videos can work pretty much anywhere on the site.
  • In-depth content videos can be used somewhere other than the home page on your blog.

Embed your video where it makes sense and surround it with other relevant written and visual content. The more Google can understand how your video fits into the content on the page, the better your results will be.

Step 6: Seek help from Google Search Console

One last thing you have to do is measure traffic to your videos from searches. Google Search Console is a web service that allows webmasters to check indexing status, search queries, crawling errors, and the visibility of websites. 

  • With Google Search Console,you can see how many clicks were there for your video page.
  • The peculiarity of this platform is that it will allow you to segment traffic across vertical searches and thereby see traffic from different platforms.  
  • You can track performance over time and see the impact of optimisations.

The Way Out

Who said there were no shortcuts to success? Whether it is the physical world or the digital world, there are always shortcuts. Who finds it and how they use it make the difference. The case with SEO is not different. One of those simple shortcuts that got out of hand was video SEO. This will definitely improve your site’s rankings and help increase both user engagement and overall ranking power for your website.

But keep in mind that video SEO is only one factor among the others. If you are providing low-quality content while implementing video SEO, it will definitely increase bounce rates, and you will end up where you started. So keep on providing value and work forward to improve the overall experience a user can get from your website. The good news is that you’ll be motivated to create more content once you see how well it works. This is how every search engine works and will work.