- Use a video sitemap
- Name the video descriptively, and use keywords
- Use the target key phrase in your video description
- Put the target key phrase in your video tags
- Create a playlist
- Embed away!
- Build momentum
- Comments, favorites and ‘likes’ all help
- Annotate
- Caption/Transcribe
- Don’t use third-party video services
Videos are a great missed opportunity. With blended search, a video can leapfrog past millions of web page listings in a search result:
Video gets a top 10 placement
According to some experts, it’s as much as 50 times easier to rank in the top 10 with a video than with a text page.
If you have videos, put them on YouTube and then follow the procedures below. Even if you’re not using YouTube, you can take the steps in this module and apply them to your videos.
Most of this assumes you’re using YouTube. There’s very little reason to host a video yourself these days, unless you think you have more bandwidth/better tools than YouTube or Vimeo. It’s also a heck of a lot easier to get into the Google rankings with a video from YouTube than it is from your own site. Plus, YouTube is the second-most-used search engine. Yep. It beats Yahoo! and Bing.
Use a video sitemap
Do a video sitemap, including both the page the video is on, and, if you’re hosting the video file, the actual direct link to the video. I could write a whole procedure on creating a video sitemap, but really, Google provides all the details you’d need: Click here to read their specifications.
Name the video descriptively, and use keywords
Remember the blank sheet rule? Use it here, too: Make sure both the video file name and the video title, written on a blank sheet of paper, will tell a stranger what they’re about to see. If you’re hosting your own video, make sure the filename is fully descriptive, using hyphens to separate words. So bicycle-tires-demonstration.mov is great.
Regardless, make sure the on page video title includes the right keyphrase. For example, on YouTube, the area outlined in red is the video title:
The video title on a YouTube hosted video
You can see how that’ll help with rankings:
Video ranking top 10 for 'Google Analytics Tutorial'
That video isn’t top 10 solely because of the title, but it sure helped.
Use the target key phrase in your video description
If you’re hosting the video on YouTube or another third-party service, be sure that your video description contains the target key phrase, ideally right at the start. Don’t shoe horn it in there – make sure it makes sense.
If you’re creating relevant content, you can almost always rearrange a sentence to be both shorter and more relevant by putting the top key phrase at the start. That’s because your viewers will want a video that’s focused on that key phrase as much as you’ll want the ranking.
Put the target key phrase in your video tags
Again, assuming you’re using YouTube or a similar service, make sure one tag is your key phrase, and that other tags include parts of your key phrase. Can’t hurt, right?
Create a playlist
On YouTube: If you have multiple videos that are all related, create a play list with the key phrase in the name. I can’t verify it, but it appears to help Google decide the topic to which a video is relevant.
On your own: If you have multiple videos that are all related, put them all on a single page that’s optimized for the key phrase.
Embed away!
The more unique domains embed the video on their pages, the more important the video appears. This is exactly the opposite of text content, where duplication is a bad thing. So encourage others to embed the video. Make sure that you embed it on your own site, even if you have it hosted on YouTube.
If you have multiple sites that are all related, embed the video on every one of them. At a minimum, it will get you more views as more folks can find it.
Build momentum
To YouTube and Google, more views = more important. If you can get a lot of views over the first few hours or days the video is live, it has a better shot at finding its way into the rankings.
So make sure you promote your new creation wherever possible. Mention it on your Facebook page. Put it in your next newsletter. Tell your friends. Etc.
Comments, favorites and ‘likes’ all help
Encourage folks to comment. I like to write something like ‘Leave your comments below!’ right in the video description. I know, it sounds needy. That’s because I need the comments. I’m not above grubbing for them.
Annotate
Use the YouTube Annotations tool to put a useful note in the video. Make sure the annotation contains your key phrase (of course).
The annotation tool is located at the top of the video window when you’re logged in:
The YouTube toolbar
Caption/Transcribe
YouTube lets you upload a transcript of your video. You can also request a machine transcription. which I’ve found to be reasonably accurate.
Either way, make sure YouTube can get its paws on a transcription of the video. That’s raw text of every spoken word – keyword nirvana.
Don’t use third-party video services
By ‘third party’ I do not mean sites like Vimeo and YouTube. They’re fine. I mean services like Brightcove that host both the video and the video player on their site. That means the video and the page the video is on are both on someone else’s site. You can’t get any credit for it.