Liz Pratt is the Marketing Communications Manager for SearchPro Systems.
A great how-to video can be a fantastic addition to your video SEO strategy. By offering assistance without trying to sell yourself, you can build a relationship with the user. In addition, return views and any links sent will improve Universal Search rankings. If for some reason you are not able to take advantage of a VSEO package from your marketing company, here are some easy guidelines to help you create effective material on your own.
1. Do Your Research
When you choose a topic for your video, look it up and see if it has been done before. If it has, don’t worry- it’s just time to think of a creative way approach the subject so that your video will stand out. There are also some great free analytic search tools available to you, so make sure to find out what people are actually looking for on Google. There’s no point in getting a video onto the first Universal Search page if no one is going to search for it to begin with.
2. Find an Authority
Find someone within your company or industry to serve as an advisor, or even better, to be in the video. This person should be able to make sure that everything you include in the video is absolutely correct. Any errors will be noticed by the user and hurt your VSEO strategy. In addition, if the person will agree to be on camera, their knowledge and authority can earn user trust.
3. Write Everything Down
There are times when improvisation is acceptable or even preferred, but an instructional video is not one of them. Information needs to be accurate, concise, and easy to understand. Investing time in writing a script will keep the video from including any extra information that the user doesn’t want.
4. Don’t Sell
In VSEO, as part of our increasingly social internet, the user should be treated as friend first, and a potential customer second. Keeping branding light is key. Including a company logo at the very end, a quick mention of the company name, or showing a particular product is often enough to make an impression without drowning a VSEO strategy. Put simply, the less a video asks of the viewer, the more likely the viewer is to share it, making it easier to find in the Universal Search pages.
5.Make It and Test It
With a little research, it’s often not as difficult as it may seem to find production professionals for an affordable price. The ROI is well worth it. However, if it’s absolutely not an option, just make sure to have plenty of light, to stabilize the camera, and shoot plenty of times so that you have choices once it comes time to edit. When the video is done, see if viewers can watch and understand it without being bored or having to watch it again. Keep tweaking until the majority of your testers find it perfect, and you’re ready to launch.
6. Promote It
All your hard work and effort will be wasted if no one ever finds the video. Google’s new Caffeine indexing system will be finding VSEO content faster than ever before, so pay special attention to choosing a simple and descriptive title, writing a concise overview, and tagging it with the right keywords. You can also write up a text version to run alongside the video on your website for those who prefer reading to viewing. Although video is much more popular, a text version is a good place to include more content, focusing on your VSEO keywords. Make the video embeddable, so that it can be shared. If you effectively blog about your new video and promote it on your social networking pages, you can look forward to seeing results relatively quickly.
SearchPro Systems is a leading New England based national digital marketing firm offering complete end-to-end Universal Search marketing solutions, specializing in video SEO.
SearchPro Systems
2024