ExecutiveChronicles | Best Ways to Optimize Your Video Content for Better Rankings | If you regularly produce videos to generate brand awareness and attract new customers, one of your top priorities should be making sure they’re optimized to obtain better rankings on Search Engine Results Pages (SERP). After all, your efforts won’t drive traffic if no one can find your videos — more likely than not, they’ll end up in the dustbins of YouTube.
The good news is that there are ways to ensure that your videos adhere to industry best practices and continually reach the top of the search results. Here are a few top-performing methods.
Define Your Target Audience
Your first step is to identify the target audience you’re creating the video for. If you don’t understand your audience, your video production likely won’t gain the traction you seek.
For instance, if you’re a beauty influencer who wants to build a following and market products for other brands, you’ll want to cover topics relevant to cosmetics and skin care — it wouldn’t make sense to talk about personal finance or raising children.
Make the Length Appropriate for Your Platform
The length of your videos will vary depending on where you post them. For instance, short videos of 30 seconds or less are great for sharing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or even TikTok. YouTube, meanwhile, is best for longer-form videos that are 30 minutes or longer.
Posting shorter videos on social media will help you generate interest in your brand or specific products and services. Generally speaking, these videos shouldn’t be used to explain complex topics. Save your more in-depth videos for YouTube or your website and use them to cover customer questions that require more time.
Don’t Forget About SEO
SEO is critical to anything you publish on the internet, whether it’s an article, a landing page for your website, or a promotional video. Just because you don’t write your video content doesn’t mean you should forget about keywords and descriptions.
If you’re publishing a video on social media, include relevant hashtags and a short description that will attract users searching for content like yours.
For instance, if your video advertises your real estate agency, have a short video SEO description that targets the locations of your services. You can also include hashtags like #TampaRealEstate or #OrlandoHomeSales.
Use Captions
Here’s a little-known fact: most people watch videos with the sound off. In fact, up to 69% of consumers tend to watch videos on mute, especially in public places. A further 80% of individuals are more likely to watch a video in its entirety if it contains captions.
To ensure that your audience absorbs all the details–and is most accessible for a wide range of users – you should caption your videos.
Another advantage of captions is that they’re a great way to target specific keywords, which is excellent for search engine rankings. All search engines use bots to “crawl” the words found in your captions, potentially improving the position of your video for your targeted keywords.
Write Scripts for Your Videos
Videos that follow a specific script do well if you intend to address common customer questions. With a script, you minimize the chances of drifting away from your topic or forgetting what to say next. Scripts can also decrease the time it takes to film a video (especially a long-form one) and reduce the need for editing once you finish.
You can upload a transcript of your video on many platforms, including YouTube. Like closed captioning, the search engine bots will review your transcript for keywords and relevant terms when determining your video’s ranking on the SERPs.
Share Your Video Everywhere
Your video marketing efforts are unlikely to gain much traction without backlinks. You can initiate the process by sharing it on your social media accounts, email newsletter, and website. If you have partnerships with other companies or followers you trust, ask them to share your video.
The more backlinks you obtain, the higher your video will rise in the SERP rankings. You can also consider modifying past high-performing, relevant content on your website and social media pages to link to the video to increase your views.
Repurpose Your Video for Other Content
Long-form videos can provide a wealth of content opportunities. For instance, you can use the footage to create shorter videos for viewers who don’t have much time or create helpful articles on topics covered in your video.
Remember to link your new content to the long-form video to gain more opportunities for increased views and optimal search rankings.
Get More out of Your Video Content
The more you work on your video SEO skills, the more likely your video will rank highly for the keywords you’re targeting. Always start by identifying your target audience and goals before you begin filming, and don’t forget to include captions and a transcript for the best results.
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
