The Ultimate Video SEO Playbook - Part 1

It's no secret! We love video marketing here. Few other media provides as many opportunities to leverage and re-leverage value repeatedly. Over the years we've learned how to leverage video. Most of the points we will cover are not available in other resources. These are tips and tricks we only learned about through trial and error in many cases. So, we hope that this resource will provide some value. Over the next week, we'll be posting one part of this playbook every day. Your feedback is welcome either in the comments, or tweet the author @ainsleymuller.

The Value of Video

Video is a great medium to market to your clients. Not only does video increase brand value and legitimacy, but in an “A.D.D.” world where one minute on a website is an “eternity”, we have precious little time to reach and connect with potential clients. Video is a great way to accomplish this. Case studies over the years have consistently proven that the strategic use of video have consistently increased click through rate, engagement, and conversions.

In addition, video is a great medium for answering research questions. Questions that include “Where”, “What”, “When”, “How”, and “Who”. Interestingly search engines are placing a higher priority on research-based searches with the recent “Hummingbird” update. Greater emphasis is being placed on including research intent web pages in commercial intent SERPs. Clearly, the importance of all web properties having a research content strategy cannot be overstated. Video is a cost effective, scalable solution, but there is a specific set of steps to follow to ensure your website receives the appropriate credit for the video content you create.

Here is a brief overview of the individual steps you need to take to gain proper accreditation in the SERP’s for your videos. These steps will be elaborated on in detail in this series.

The Video Task Quick Checklist

  • Video Task List
  • Research Keywords That Already Include Video In serps.
  • Shoot and Edit Videos
  • Create custom thumbnail that includes video title
  • If a custom thumbnail is not possible, add an extra long static image to the end of the video.
  • Post Videos to YouTube (Select Private)
  • Add optimized video title
  • Prepare host page on the website:
    • Add optimized title
    • Add optimized meta description
    • Add introductory paragraph including optimized anchor text link to relevant on site content
    • Embed Video From YouTube
    • Prevent other “related” videos from displaying at the end of the player
    • Add video transcription to body content
    • Add featured image, use the custom thumbnail created earlier.
    • Save This Page as a Draft (if Possible?)
  • Optimize The YouTube Video. Usually 24 – 36 Hours After Posting:
    • In Description Field, First Add Link To On-site Host Page (be sure to include http://)
    • Add Video Description (can be the same as the introductory paragraph on the Host Page)
    • Select Third Thumbnail (if you added a long static image) or;
    • Select custom thumbnail and upload from your computer.
    • Add closed captioning file, or edit automatic captions for accuracy, delete automatic.
    • Add alternative language captions if applicable.
    • Add annotations and links to other videos or playlists in your channel.
    • Add video location and date and time for localization of videos (if applicable)
    • Add video to a playlist
    • Make video public
  • Add video Schema.org semantic markup to video host page.
  • Add the new video to the video xml sitemap
  • Update video sitemap submission with Webmaster Tools
  • Share video to corporate Facebook Page
  • Share video on corporate Twitter Page
  • Share video with key influencers
  • Add Video to PPC Campaigns (if applicable)
  • Post video to video directories

In our next post in this series, we'll look at where to get started with: Research and Development for video content as well as tips for creating valuable content on a budget.

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