Video SEO Services: Begin with the Basics

Publishing web video fits within most digital marketing strategies. You can treat it as another piece of content, similar to working with info-graphics or e-books. However, unlike those types of media, web video is dynamic. Given that, it is a great source of amplifying the message you want to deliver to your audience. Web video offers the flexibility to be:

• Embedded directly on your website or shared over your marketing channels, such as social media
• Promotional, as a web commercial, or instructional to off-load service and on-boarding teams
• Professionally planned, shot, and edited or created on-the-fly by you and your team members

To maximize the reach of your video content, let’s look at some essential steps that need to be customized for each of your videos.

Video SEO best practices | Google Search Central

Tell Search Engines How to Find Your Video

There are an ever increasing number of sites and web tools allowing you to distribute video. For these reasons, your video must be easy to discover amid the sea of content options. Up against such fierce competition, search engines are a powerful ally to gaining viewers.

Regardless of how you are distributing your videos’ bits, take the time to draft and publish a dedicated video page for each piece of content. This will generate more traffic to your owned and operated website from new visitors using search engines, alongside returning visitors, app users, or off platform viewers. With your video page in place, apply your regular SEO process, just as you would for any other destination on your site.

The dedicated video page need not be more than a title, the video’s embed code, and a small amount of text with a heading or two. Consider this page an opportunity to target new, long tail keywords with the goal of drawing new, top of funnel visitors.

From a technical perspective, wrap your video content inside proper html tags for dynamic media:

• embed
• video
• iframe

Additionally, to help search engines identify and understand your video content, [provide structured data](link to BKM blog) using schema.org’s video object. Schema is an extensible markup that can provide as much or as little support information about the video itself. In this situation, you want to tell search engines to prioritize your video content to anyone searching for the keyword you are targeting.

Next, make sure the page is publicly accessible to crawlers (not blocked by robots dot text or meta tags). Equally important, the page should not require complex user interactions (login/password).

Lastly, create a video sitemap and submit it to search engines. While this is fundamental if you are hosting the video yourself, it is just as beneficial when using a video hosting site, such as Vimeo or YouTube. You cannot rely on these platforms to drive traffic to your site and it will go a long way to improving your site’s authority.

Apply Existing SEO Strategy

Video content is another channel for your marketing tactics to leverage the effort you’ve already put into keyword research. Use the same keyword approach on each dedicated video page’s:

• title and description meta tags
• headings and subheadings
• url slug and filename

Beyond these technical and keyword based mechanisms, employ all your SEO techniques, both on page and off page.

Grant Search Engines Access to Video Files

An optimization unique to video is a poster image or, more commonly, the thumbnail. Typically a high quality image representative of the content, browsers display this graphic while loading the video player in the background. It will remain onscreen until the page visitor interacts with the player, for example beginning playback. This could default to a frame within the video on some platforms, but it is an opportunity to provide a graphical display with:

• eye catching imagery related to the topic, not necessarily in the video
• your branding, logo, slogan, or even personnel headshots
• the video title, or other support text

Treat it as a “play this video” call-to-action. Specifying this graphic will improve the likelihood of search engines indexing your page and highlighting your video in the results pages quickly.

Both the video sitemap and structured data for the video allow you to link to the specific web video player for your content. Generally, this is the embed code from a video host platform (embedUrl, player_loc). A point often overlooked, if you are hosting the video file, is to instruct search engines where to access the source video file (contentUrl, content_loc).

Similar to your video page, both the thumbnail image and original video file should be accessible to crawlers. Together with good SEO, you may unlock video specific features such as video previews and key moments. Videos may be listed among video results, Google images, or in Google Discover.

Pros: amplify existing reach of organic keywords, new content to rank for gap keywords; used to drive traffic to your owned and operated site or to reduce service tickets for quick to solve issues.

YouTube Video SEO Services

As mentioned previously, there are a variety of ways to get your video to leads, customers, and evangelists. However, the king of them all remains YouTube. Optimizing for the second largest search engine (behind parent company Google) is not only important on its own merits, but straightforward if you follow the steps above.

Beyond the basics, there are a few additional steps you will want to take that are specific for YouTube:

• Channel page. One of the first steps you will want to take is creating your own channel to host videos. While you can certainly start out with guest publishing on an existing channel, once you are comfortable generating content, create your own channel. From there, make sure to customize each area, such as channel name (most likely your brand), banner, and channel description. You should also add links to your website and social media accounts.
• Category. Each video should be classified in the appropriate category, or closest approximation.
• Tags. An additional mechanism to optimize for your target audience. These could be secondary keywords or identifiers to easier navigate your video library.

Pros: turnkey content management system, getting your content in front of existing audience that consumes video

Video Hosts and Third Party Video Players SEO Services

Aside from YouTube, there are many alternative hosting platforms and embedded web video player options. For example, you may choose to host your videos on vimeo or roll your own web video player using video.js. In these cases, you will have a whole set of video SEO opportunities. You will want to optimize for

• filename
• player load time
• interactive experiences

Major hosting platforms, such as vimeo , include many great SEO features, similar to YouTube. At the other end of the spectrum, building a player from frameworks such as video.js will require using plug-ins or manually adding and editing JavaScript code.

Conclusion

Web video is a dynamic source of content that can be distributed across all your marketing channels. To maximize its reach, we recommend applying Video SEO services best practices. These consist of basic SEO and video specific tactics to leverage the effort already put into keyword research.

Are you ready to optimize your video for maximum visibility across search engines? Contact BKM for fundamental SEO tactics on all your web content, including dedicated video pages. And you can also contact HSV Innovations, a web video consulting agency specializing in video SEO services. Happy streaming!

The post Where To Begin With Video SEO Services appeared first on Black Kite Marketing.

What YouTube started way back in 2005 is now available across several digital marketing platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. You currently have many options and sources to upload, publish, market your video content, and be found in newer markets.

People nowadays are so adaptive to their mobile devices that their focus is more on video content as they have no time for long-content reads.

You can read our blog post on How Can Video Marketing Help Your Business.

Video Marketing Strategy For Local Businesses

1.) Tell Your Story with a Short Video

As a small business, you are competing with other small businesses. The first thing to do is introduce yourself properly with a video.

Internet users are always searching for information. Create exciting and unique content that would give your audience an idea of who you are and why you started your business. It can be in any form- FAQs, a business profile on your home page, or a glimpse of your business operation. Your focus must be creating a video that convinces them you have the solution they seek.

Let your video explain the basics of your business, its history, ideas, and mission statement.

Although most people keep the audio off while watching videos, ensure the audio matches the quality to give the users the best audio-visual experience.

2.) Highlight Customer Testimonial Videos

Your customers are your biggest marketing tool. Customer videos are more effective than reviews on your website. If they talk about your products, it will convince the potential visitors to take the next step and become your customers. Customer explainer videos should be more problem-solving videos than sales-oriented ones. Ensure the videos are natural and not scripted. You could request your satisfied customers to create a review video and post it.

Have a quick search of social media platforms to see if there is a mention of your brand. There are tools you could use to track social mentions. If you notice your name pops up on someone’s posts or videos, contact them and request to share the video or ask if they have any other videos they have yet to post.

3.) Spotlight Your Employees Through Video

Let your customers know your internal team. Here are a few video ideas you could use to create and win customers’ trust.

• An employee defining the uniqueness and benefits of a product.
• Employees talking about their passions and hobbies
• Interviewing existing customers about what they like in your products
• Invite customers to video meetings and ask questions.
• Short clips showing company culture or involvement in local community activities, if any.

4.) Leverage Influencers

If you are short of testimonial videos, you could use the engaging and compelling content influencers create. It can effectively improve your brand’s reach and reliability. Influencers with huge followings may be out of reach for small businesses so try reaching out to micro influencers. 

5.) Create Videos with Shareable Product Highlights

Consumers are wary of scams and false claims. Videos of your products or before and after photos of your services help build customers’ confidence than written descriptions. The videos should be short, catchy and informative. You must capture their attention in the first few seconds for them to stop and watch. If your content is complicated, disorganized or tedious, they’ll continue scrolling without a second glance.

6.)  Engage Traffic with Educational Videos

Consumers browse the internet for information, and if their search lands them on your site, make sure you provide them unique, high-quality, authentic facts. Educational videos could include information about industry trends, “how to” videos, statistics that highlight the need for your product or service, etc.

 7.)  Format Videos For Social Platforms

You may have created videos for your website but do they meet the requirements of the various social platforms? In order to ensure your content is shareable on all platforms, you can use the following guide by Kapwing:

Our Video Marketing Services

With modern smartphones you can capture and create great video content on your own, but what do you do with this content? It takes so much time and effort to edit, format, schedule and promote videos that as a small business owner you can’t do it on your own.

That is where we come in! At Black Kite Marketing we offer quality video marketing services to assist small businesses. We have the expertise to plan video marketing strategies and create promotional, intriguing, and educational videos leveraging social media, YouTube, and any other channel where your customers are.

What is your video marketing strategy? If you don’t have one or need help refining the one you have give us a call at (516) 259-1813.

The post Video Marketing Strategy for Local Businesses appeared first on Black Kite Marketing.

How Can Video Marketing Help Your Business?

Let’s run through what exactly video marketing means in brief before explaining its remunerations.

What is video marketing?

It is a way of using videos to promote and inform people about your products and services. It is similar to how images work as per the saying “an image is worth a thousand words,” but videos are far more effective, at least a few hundred times more. 

Video marketing is on the rise, and you have many ways to use it, such as explainer videos, product reviews, ads, vlogs, tutorials, testimonials, live streams, etc. Marketers prefer the free platforms to post their videos. Facebook is the first preference in the social media channels. 

Here are a few factors on how your business performance can change with video content: 

1. Improves Conversion Rates

According to statistics you can increase conversion rates by about 80% by placing a video on a landing page. Visitors are more engaged when they see videos on your web pages or social media profiles. Keep the videos short and engaging for them to watch with interest and take the next step. 

2. Better Search Engine Rankings

Google has been encouraging the need for video content for several years. That’s why having videos on your web pages can help your site receive higher rankings. The time a visitor spends on your site is essential. They should not leave abruptly, which will increase the bounce rate. Instead, a short, exciting video clip will engage them for more time, improving the session time and reducing bounce rates. 

3. Enhances Customer Connection

Videos help your business improve customer relationships and trust with possible clients. A person will find it easier to make a connection when they see other people speaking to them directly.

Compared to the written content, a video sounds more convincing. With the right tone of voice, music, and facial expressions, you can invoke the viewer’s emotions better than any other medium. Users are more likely to stop reading an article halfway than to turn off a video. 

4. Boosts Brand Awareness

Videos are an excellent way to increase brand awareness, which is a vital part of your marketing campaign. Create videos to tell your company story and a product launch, arrange employee interviews and share behind-the-scenes footage. Interested visitors to your site will be curious to learn more about your company, and what better way to showcase your brand than through videos. 

5. Smooth Drive Down the Funnel

It’s no secret how popular YouTube is. Marketers use the platform to display their products, show how they work and their unique selling points. Most consumers trust YouTube when they are in the deciding stage of buying a product. When you embed a video on a product viewers will watch it numerous times with family or other decision-makers. Video reviews are more genuine than the written testimonials on a website. You are getting to see the product and its advantages like you would see in a retail store. 

If your video post is on social media, there are chances of people sharing the video with others. A consumer will share your video if they like your content which means you will be getting “word of mouth” publicity. People may forget about the product if you leave only a textual description without any explanatory video. 

6. Improves ROI  

As per a survey report, 89% of marketers say they find video marketing one of the most effective in providing good returns on their investment. Now that you know how to improve your business, you should know how to use video marketing to grow your business.

Here Is How You Can Get Started

Use the equipment you have: 

There are several ways of growing your business with video. However, that doesn’t necessitate you to make huge purchases on equipment. As long as you have a good quality camera, including the one on your smartphone, you can start. Check the part about lighting, it’s important for the video to be precise. 

Plan your campaign:

Outline ideas to give your videos a direction. Start with what you plan to show, the purpose, and why it is unique. Remember, your competitors have a video marketing strategy, see how you can out do them. 

Be Honest: 

Not every marketing video requires a professional touch. So, if you are a new business, casual and amateur videos look more genuine and will build a stronger bonding with your viewers.  

Be precise: 

Not every viewer has the time to watch lengthy videos. Some may get bored after a while. So, keep the content as short as possible and ensure it carries the message you intended to convey. 

Keep it conversational: 

Speak to the viewers directly, addressing them as if you are in a personal conversation with them. It matters a lot and catches the viewers’ interest. 

Optimize for SEO:  

Make sure you optimize all the videos for SEO in the right way with tags, descriptions, and transcripts. Although the video is not an essential SEO tool, it can significantly contribute to your marketing success when optimized.  

Focus on the first few moments: 

You should be able to explain why the consumer should visit your site and what solutions you are offering them in the first few seconds. You should capture the visitor’s attention with your content to understand what they want and promise a solution. 

Use Closed Captions: 

A lot of users watch videos without sound. You can optimize your video for disabled audiences by having closed captions.   

Work With Us

At Black Kite Marketing we understand the importance of video marketing in the digital age. We can help small business owners incorporate videos into their marketing strategy. With our help you can focus more on what you do best while we take care of the editing, uploading and optimizing part of the process. 

If you are still asking the question, how can video marketing help your business, call us today at (516) 259-1813 

The post How Can Video Marketing Help Your Business? appeared first on Black Kite Marketing.