Complete Guide on SEO for Videos – Check This Out

Once websites understood how organically beneficial is Google’s SEO, video streaming websites rushed to make their videos rank 1st on platforms such as Youtube. SEO is undoubtedly one of the most challenging and important digital marketing elements and SEO for Videos is about to change the video streaming experience altogether. 

This blog is your one-stop to learn all about SEO for Videos- meaning of SEO for videos, video SEO strategy, SEO for Youtube channels, SEO tools for Youtube videos, and much more. 

What is SEO for Videos? 

SEO for videos is optimizing your video content optimally to be able to rank on search engine result pages (SERPs) for the most relevant keyword searches fed in by users. If you read further, this article also highlights SEO for videos on Youtube with a higher chance of ranking for them. 

If you want your videos to rank, you’re at the right place as we have some of the best SEO tips for Youtube. 

You cannot really learn SEO for Video if your broader SEO concepts such as keyword research, ranking, etc are not clear. I suggest you familiarise yourself with the A-Z of SEO before you read further.

Why is SEO for Videos Important? 

Youtube has been here since 2005 so why is it today, in 2022, are we discussing SEO for videos? Here’s why-

• New Video Topics 

Youtube is taking by the storm with 500 hours of video being uploaded on the platform in just 1 minute. Every video creator focuses on their USP and wants o display content that entices the viewer. Therefore, to find newer video topics related to your keyword so that it ranks 1st on Youtube is the goal. Just like any website results, when doing keyword research for videos, you will encounter topics that you can create videos on.  

How to get creative ideas?

• Impacts on Video Engagement Metrics

If your video ranks first when someone searches for your keyword, it is definitely going to boost your video engagement metrics. Your video SEO efforts have an indirect effect or impact on metrics such as engagement, video views, likes, comments, etc. The goal is also to make a video rank organically as it is more likely that it will have higher engagement. 

• Generate Youtube Rankings on SERPs

Over 90% of video search results on Google have been directed from Youtube. Embedding any kind of youtube video on your website can lead to increased engagement. It also allows the user to stay on the site instead of exiting it to open Youtube. 

• Increase in ROI

If your video ranks first, naturally it improves your video engagement metrics. Hence, your earnings from Youtube will also see an increase. As a result, SEO for videos will always boost your ROI. 

Now that you’ve understood the importance of video SEO marketing or VSEO, let’s have a look at some of the video SEO tools. 

Top Strategies to Conduct SEO for Videos

Like SEO for websites, SEO for videos also have a set of strategies that have been tried and tested by many video creators resulting in higher engagement.

 Do your keyword research

It is imperative to conduct thorough research before even producing your video. This is to make sure that your video is relevant to your target audience. Keyword Research is important as it will decide whether you should make it on the top 10 videos of the Youtube SERP or not. 

Match your consumer intent

Understanding the search intent of your customer is very important for you. The common types of search intents include transactional, commercial, navigational, and informational. Hence, matching this intent is crucial. Always look for a niche intent for your consumer as it will entice them to click on your videos more. 

For example, if your video title is ‘10 sureshot ways to gain Instagram followers.’, it will gain more engagement than the video title ‘Grow your Instagram followers.’

Include keywords in your communication 

Sounds very repetitive but yes while publishing the video, ensure that you use your focus keyword frequently in the title, subtitle, description, etc. Don’t stuff the keywords but use long-tail keywords so that the viewers can comprehend them easily. 

Avoid this type of content in your description-

Use Hashtags

Using hashtags for video SEO is a given. It helps display your video when a user searches for a specific hashtag. Hashtags are important as they can help you cover important trending events as well.

Categorize your Video

Whilst uploading your video, make sure to check the right category. This can help a user find you when they search for a specific kind of keyword.

Focus on the first 15 seconds

The video must give out relevant information in the first 10 to 15 seconds to keep the user engaged. 

SEO for Videos Checklist

Here’s a video SEO checklist to make sure everything is in place that you need handy before you post – 

• Optimize your Video Titles

Use your focus keyword here to optimize your titles to increase the click-through rate.

• Include Video Description

Your video description needs to be crisp and clear with all the keywords included in it. It needs to cover what your video is about, but at the same time not give away too much information. 

• Add Video Tags

Adding suggested tags in your video along with relevant keywords can increase search rankings. There are a number of suggestions that Youtube provides as well. The trick here is to be as relevant as possible. 

• Say your target keyword out loud in the video

Saying your target keyword out loud can boost your rankings. How? Youtube understands what your video is about as it also generates auto descriptions for videos, hence it picks up on what is said in the video. 

• Include subtitles

Including subtitles will further help Youtube understand what your video is exactly about. It also increases credibility when a user is watching a video. Sometimes, there might be users specifically looking for videos with subtitles. 

• CTR optimization

If more than enough people search for a particular keyword, then CTR proves to be a positive factor impacting your video’s rankings. 

• Optimize Metadata

Ensure that your Meta tags and descriptions are well in place before making an upload. 

• Promote on social media

Cross-promote your video link on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to redirect traffic and get increased likes, comments, and shares.  

• Thumbnail

Your video preview needs to be as attractive as possible for a user to click on it. Make sure it is relevant as well as appealing. Keep it as visual as possible instead of adding a lot of text.

Tools to Help with SEO for Videos 

Here is a list of video optimization tools and video SEO tools for your business. These also include some free SEO tools for Youtube videos as well.

1. Google Trends

Google Trends will help you keep up-to-date with all the latest trends in the industry along with real-time notifications. It’ll also help you identify what users are looking for and their search intent. 

2. Keywordtool.io

A very popular SEO video tool, it uses information from search engines such as Google to identify what users are searching for. It is a free video SEO tool.

3. NoxInfluencer

NoxInfluencer is a video SEO tool that has all the features to help you manage and analyze your video channel analytics. A very comprehensive dashboard, it is also very user-friendly wherein you can log in and check your statistics at any given time.

4. Youtube Analytics

A very important video SEO tool, Youtube Analytics has the added advantage of being built into the platform itself. 

5. RapidTags

As the name suggests, RapidTags is a great video SEO tool that helps identify relevant keywords to your video.

6. YT Ranks

YT ranks is a wonderful video SEO software that identifies how a video is ranking by simply feeding in the URL on their dashboard. This helps immensely with understanding ranking factors and how to improve on your own video SEO strategy. 

7. TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy is a fantastic video SEO tool that enables complete access to your Youtube dashboard with the help of a Chrome extension. Once it is installed and ready to use, you can use all its SEO features in a hassle-free manner.

8. Ahrefs

Ahrefs helps in analyzing your Youtube video’s keyword rankings as well as where your video stands in terms of SEO functionality. By using it, you can easily conduct keyword research to optimize video SEO.

9. SEMrush

SEMrush is the best tool to understand market competition and where your video stands in terms of competition. It lets you add your URL to compare your video to other competitors with similar videos. You can check their likes, unlikes, comments, views over the last 30 days. 

10. VidIQ

VidIQ can help you garner more viewers and subscribers to your Youtube Channel. You need to include the right keywords in your titles, descriptions, and tags. 

11. WooBox

WooBox is a unique tool to increase engagement by creating contests, giveaways, and promos for your brand that links out to your Youtube channel. 

12. BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo helps you identify new content ideas to use in your video strategy. As we mentioned earlier, content is very important for your videos to rank. 

If you’d like to know more about digital marketing tools, check out 34 Best Digital Marketing Tools That You Need to Use in 2021.

FAQs

Q. Are videos good for SEO?

Quality video content will most definitely boost your SEO. People today prefer watching videos over reading a blog or consuming any other type of content. The more videos you have on your page, the more quality traffic you will attract that’ll help boost your SEO overall. 

Q. Can you use SEO for YouTube videos?

Yes, you can use SEO for Youtube videos by using techniques such as keyword research and using tags. 

Q. What is SEO video marketing?

SEO video marketing involves using SEO techniques to optimize visibility on search engines and platforms such as Google, Youtube, Vimeo, etc. 

Q. How do I get my video to rank up?​

Engagement is one of the key factors to getting your video to rank up. One can increase engagement through likes, comments, shares, and encouraging users to subscribe to your channel. You can increase your engagement by cross-promoting these videos on other platforms such as Facebook and blog posts. 

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed reading this blog on SEO for videos. Let us know in the comments below what SEO practices you use in your marketing strategy for videos.

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