VSEO Best Practices

Posted on March 31, 2010 in Video Marketing, Video Optimization, Video SEO, VSEO

Videos significantly boost your chances of attaining first-page search engine rankings.  A recent Forrester research study showed that an indexed video has a 50 times greater chance of ranking on the first page of search engine results than any page that is only optimized for text.  A solid VSEO strategy is an effective means of achieving consistent search engine success, below are some best practices to ensure you are getting the best out of your Video SEO effort.

Be clear and concise with your video marketing.  What is the purpose of your video? Are you providing how-to information about your product or service?  Are you producing an interview-style video to introduce your company?  Make sure your video marketing strategy is well represented and that the message in your video is clear and concise.

Make sure the dialog is relevant to your keywords. Search engines use voice-recognition software to transcribe what is being said in your video, so the make sure your audio content is relevant to the tags and contains proper keyword density.  ‘Sell language’ will be penalized, so the most effective VSEO strategy is to provide informative, educational content as this is what is rewarded by search engines.

Optimize the video itself. In terms of VSEO, you want to make sure all descriptive information about your video contains your keywords. The video should contain 1-2 keywords in the title, the description, and in the metadata.  You should also be sure to use your VSEO keywords in captions as well.  Use an eye-catching thumbnail and enable sharing, which will increase links and traffic as well.

Create an optimized video landing pages. To make sure you achieve a top VSEO ranking in Google, It is not enough to just produce and optimize a great video.  Each of your videos should have its own unique landing page.  Embed the video right on the page and use at least one keyword in the anchor text pointing to your video.  Also, be sure the page title and metatags conform to standard SEO techniques. Surround your video with optimized text and at least one optimized image that supports your Video SEO strategy.

Propagate your video. Don’t make the search engines find you, as part of your VSEO strategy, post your videos to YouTube, MetaCafe, and Howcast and be sure to enable sharing.  The more views your video receives, the more authority it will have in terms of search engines.

Create a video library. An important part of your video marketing strategy is to create a page to list all your videos, using standard SEO techniques, with keyword-rich descriptions for each video on your site.

Define how you will measure your video marketing ROI. Whether your VSEO strategy includes increased product awareness, better qualified leads, or both, you must be able to set and measure your goals to determine the effectiveness of your Video SEO programs.

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.