As much as marketers may love to get their creative juices flowing, odds are they’re investing in video content for one simple reason: It gets results. Even the biggest film buffs would drop video marketing like a bad habit if it didn’t provide return on investment.
However, video provides even more ROI than you may realize. Yes, marketing pros who use video see year-over-year revenue growth at twice the speed of their competitors. Yes, 84 percent of consumers report being convinced to make a purchase after watching a brand’s video.
But did you know video marketing can also help you kick ass on search engine results pages?
SEO and video, sittin’ in a tree
You know the phrase “misery loves company?” How about the show “Joanie Loves Chachi?” Well, Google loves rich media. It’s one of the many factors the search engine giant uses to determine content quality, and by extension, which web pages will show up in SERPs.
Put simply, including video on your website automatically boosts your search engine optimization.
“Anything that makes a page richer for a visitor is going to be more effective in search,” said Jeff Baker, Director of Digital Marketing Strategy at Brafton. “If you’re posting those videos on YouTube, you could also rank in Google under the video tab. That’s especially true for question-based queries.”
Video’s SEO impact is especially strong on landing pages.
“Landing pages will get an even bigger SEO bump from video because they’re the core pages of your website,” Jeff continued. “Google knows if it’s a blog post versus a core landing page. Both will benefit, but search landing pages will have a leg up.”
And hey, it doesn’t hurt that implementing video content on landing pages can increase conversions by 80 percent.
Of course, it’s important to ensure the nuts and bolts of your video marketing are in order as well. That means:
- Ensuring all metadata is accurate.
- Incorporating keywords into video titles and descriptions.
- Including transcripts and accompanying blog posts, when appropriate.
Most important, however, is spreading the word and getting as many eyes on your video as possible.
“Distribute, distribute, distribute,” Jeff said. “You can’t just put a video on a landing page and call it a day. Build out a strong launch plan and distribute the hell out of it.”
Imagine you’re creating a video based on a top-performing blog post. First, put the finished video inside said blog post and relaunch it. Next, send the video out as part of an email newsletter. Then, send out an individual email to your database, complete with a catchy call to action, that links back to the video on YouTube or your website. Finally, distribute the video on social media. The goal is to create a positive feedback loop. The more clicks and views a video gets, the more likely it is to show up for people in search, thereby garnering even more engagement.
Google is constantly evolving, accounting for how searchers consume and interact with content online. You can bet your biscuits video is part of the equation.
“Google doesn’t ignore trends,” Jeff said. “If anything, they’re ahead of them and building them into the future iterations of their algorithm. With the sheer amount of people now watching video online, we can safely infer Google is paying attention to it for SEO purposes.”
Creating a sticky site
Increased website traffic boosts your chances of conversions, but not if people click away immediately. Video content appeals to today’s short attention spans, opening the door to longer site sessions. What’s more, data shows that when compared to web pages that only feature text, video content will nearly triple the average number of linking domains, a vital component of SEO.
Keep in mind you should host videos on your website in addition to YouTube to maximize search engine indexing benefits.
Quality content marketing translates to improved bottom lines, but only if people can find it. Kill two birds with one stone through video marketing. Rank higher in search results and engage your target audience when they click.
