EFFECTIVE YOUTUBE VIDEO SEO
Businesses are discovering that videos are?a fantastic way to engage both current and prospective customers, because they?versatile in what they?can communicate. ?For instance, a business can show live action video to show product demonstrations, personal profiles, plant/shop tours?or customer testimonials. ?A company can also give customers and prospects specific directions by displaying their screen as they demonstrate how to do certain tasks?(also called screencast videos). Overall, videos offer a company a dynamic way to communicate and meet the needs of its?customers and prospects, which subsequently increases loyalty.
Making a decision about the subject of the video is typically only half of the decision. ?The other half revolves around where to host it so that it can be seen by the people who will be part of the buying and selling process. ?If video creators want to display their videos where there is already an audience they are likely to choose YouTube, since over 43% of videos worldwide?are viewed on that site. ?To put that number in perspective, the next highest percentage of videos viewed is Youku, Inc. at 2.3%.
But for businesses, there is even more to consider when selecting YouTube to host their videos. ?Since YouTube is owned by Google, the most heavily trafficked search engine, videos hosted there routinely appear in its (Google?s) search results. ?For instance, if a searcher were to type the words: ?your Internet startup elevator pitch? in the search bar, they would see ten different results. ?However, at least one of them, near the top of the search results would be a YouTube video?by Name.Com.
This is very important for businesses to know, because management can select the most important searches for its industry and create videos for Internet users to find when they are problem solving. ?There are a number of examples as to how businesses can do this. ?However, none are quite as consistent as those an Internet user would see in the U.S. home improvement industry. ? This industry has stalwart players such as Lowes, Home Depot, Menards and Ace Hardware, and they are adept at YouTube marketing.
For example, at the time of writing this article, typing in the words ?how to fix a leaky faucet? into the Google search engine?will reflect a video near the very top of the results done by Lowes. ?If you type?in the phrase, ?how to replace a garbage disposal??a video will display?near the top of the search results from Home Depot. ?Although these companies would benefit from having their web page show up for these phrases, their YouTube video displays instead with a more powerful and dynamic visual message than they could have displayed with their static website.
Just as companies will utilize principles of search engine optimization?(SEO) to help them get their web pages to appear in the top ten results, they can also use those same principles to make their videos visible to searchers. ? Specialists will find that some of the steps are very similar: for instance there are linking strategies?and keyword strategies. ?However, some the necessary steps are specific to video optimization and require some explanation. ?The general rules for YouTube optimization are:
- Use natural language
- Use targeted keywords
- When given space to enter content, use as much of the available space as allowed
These three rules will help companies to make their videos visible. However, business owners should take note of other specifics. ?Those specifics fall into three categories or stages of optimization: 1) channel optimization, 2) individual video or ?on-page? optimization and 3) linking strategy or ?off page? optimization.
YouTube Channel Optimization
1) Channel Description - In the Info and Setting section of the YouTube Channel Settings, video creators can write a description of their channel. ?In this section, a mixture of a natural language and targeted keyword should be used.
2) Channel Tags - Additionally, a section for tags is provided to the video creator. ?In this section, keywords should be used with quotations and space separated. ?For example, if the video creator?s keywords were green jobs and domestic green jobs, they would create tabs in the following manner:
?green jobs? ?domestic green jobs?
The video creator should take note that tags can be a large as three words and as small as a single word. ?In fact the best practice for channel tags is to use all of the permutations that the space will allow. ?In this case, those permutations would be:
?green jobs domestic???green jobs? ?domestic green? ?domestic green jobs?
Individual Video Optimization
1) Video Title - Although there are a number of settings that the video creator can change, not all of them provide leverage for ranking. ?Those that do actually provide the leverage that is?of the utmost importance to help a video to rank well. ?In particular, the video?s title is probably the most important aspect of making a video visible for Internet search. ?The video?s title should reflect the keywords that are being targeted, as close to the beginning (of the title) as possible.?Therefore, if the video is about green jobs and the U.S. economy, but the keyword targeted for ranking is domestic green jobs, the title should look something like this:
Domestic Green Jobs-Signal of the New US Economy
2) Video Description - The same rule applies to this section as in the channel description;?however, the company is given the opportunity to link back to their site with a live clickable link. The link should be left most in the description. ? The video creator is given about 5000 characters in the description area, which is enough for a short 325 word article. ?While the industry practice in some places is to utilize already published content for this section, it?s effectiveness is subject to change. ?The most aggressive strategy is to have an original 325-word, targeted,?original article written for it.
3) Video Tags - The same rule for channel tags applies to video tags. ?Targeted keywords and their permutations should be used, until a limit is enforced by YouTube.
4) Video Captions - It is speculated that Google?s?ranking algorithm provides favorable positioning for those videos that have a closed captioned word-for-word transcript of the video. ? Of course, the video creator would have to know up front to work from a script, because once the upload was ready for final production, the process would stall if a script had to be created at that time.
Linking Strategies
Obviously, linking strategies routinely change based on Google?s?algorithm updates. It is estimated that Google changes its search algorithm up to 500 to 600 times per year.? ?Therefore, external linking strategies should be evaluated before using them. ?Many external linking strategies that work today are likely not to work in the same way a year from today. ?However, there are three relatively safe strategies that SEO experts can employ that are unlikely to change in their effectiveness: 1) Social linking, 2) Syndication (RSS) linking and 3) YouTube linking. ?Each one is unique and requires some explanation
1) Social Linking - Google makes provision for videos that others find worth sharing with their social network. It is for this reason that the search engine takes what it calls ?social signals? into account, which basically explores connections between the website (or video in this case), Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. ?The idea behind this is that when a company has created noteworthy content others will share it. ?Therefore, efforts should be made to connect the video to all available social media platforms.
2) Syndication Linking - Video creators should also take into account that the RSS feed?of YouTube channel?and individual videos should be submitted to Feed Aggregators. ?These submissions, in many cases, won?t show up in the search results; however, they are factored in by Google for ranking purposes.
3) YouTube Linking - It is a little known and practiced fact that Google does provide authority to the linking video channel, when links are created to other videos within YouTube that have high page rank. ?In other words, it is a good practice to ?subscribe,? ?favorite? and ?like? the content on other authoritative channels in the company?s niche, as some of that?authority comes back to its channel and its videos.
YouTube video optimization does take time. However, the benefits are significant:
- The appearance of individual videos in Google?s?organic search results for specific keywords
- The appearance of the video channel in Google?s?organic search results for specific keywords
- The appearance of individual videos when searches are done within YouTube.
The last item, is as important as the first two as YouTube has become a search engine?in its own way. In fact, it passed Yahoo in 2008 at the number two search engine world-wide. ?This increases the potency of a well optimized video for business visibility. ?Businesses that undertake an optimization strategy can bring engagement to customers and prospects and can entice them to enter a ?marketing funnel. ? This factor makes video more than just an optional practice. It is a necessary weapon in the arsenal of those companies that are serious about competing for business in the search engines.
Source: http://www.name.com/blog/contentmarketing/2013/01/effective-youtube-video-seo/
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