Wondering how to get on the first page of Google with your video? That coveted first-page placement or video snipped can deliver more views, more traffic, and more conversions. But getting there takes some smart video SEO.
Many brands assume that good on-page SEO is all they need to get videos to rank. But video optimization has its own set of rules different from traditional search engine optimization. Follow these seven proven strategies to dominate the search results and achieve your video goals.
Why Aim For the The First Page of Google?
75% of users never scroll past the first page of Google search results. So if your video isn’t showing up on the first page, it might as well not show up at all. Since Google accounts for more than 91% of worldwide search volume, it’s worth focusing on that search engine specifically.
Keep in mind that no amount of video SEO wizardry can absolutely guarantee that your video will top video search results (no matter what the tech guru’s tell you). But smart SEO strategy can significantly improve your chances.
Google results are based on about 200 Google search ranking factors. Fortunately, only a few of these directly impact video SEO. So, we’ll focus on a few key factors that you can control.
Where Does Video Show Up In Search?
Over the last few years, search engine results pages (SERP) have changed a lot. Now, competition for the first page is even more fierce, but there are also some new opportunities. Instead of a list of text-based links, SERP may feature images, videos, “people also ask”, or AI overviews.
Featured videos are most likely to appear in response to a “how to” query. They can also show up under people also ask.
For example when we searched for “how to draw a rocket” we got one YouTube video as a standard SERP result. And each of the “people also ask” results was a different video.
Make your videos more attractive to the algorithm by:
- creating a focused video that answers a single question
- keyword optimizing video titles and descriptions
- including a time stamped transcript, usually in the form of an SRT file
Ranking on Google video search isn’t an exact science, but the right video SEO tactics can at least make sure your video has a fighting chance.
How Search Engines Work
Google ranks and indexes pages using a piece of code known as a web crawler that scans through your website and gathers information about it.
You can imagine a web crawler as an associate in a massive DVD warehouse. His job is to tag each video so he can quickly find the ones customers ask for. If the associate does his job well, a customer can say, “Bring me cat videos,” and the associate can quickly pull a dozen cat videos for the customer to peruse.
Here’s where it gets tricky. The associate doesn’t have a DVD player, so he can’t watch the videos. Instead, he has to rely on the information written on the DVD case to organize the collection. Oh, and every minute he gets 175 new websites to catalog.
Videos get left out of search results if the title doesn’t make sense, the description is unclear, or there isn’t enough copy for the web crawler to categorize the video. On the other hand, if all of your information is in order, the web crawler can quickly understand what your video is about and you’ll be able to rank higher.
Video SEO Tips to Try Now
Here are seven ways to improve your odds of reaching first-page rank on Google search results:
1. Get Smart About Hosting
Where you host your video changes how you’ll be indexed. Some hosting sites automatically include metadata to facilitate site indexing, while others require you to insert this information manually. If you’re not a professional web developer, that process can be difficult and time consuming. Look for a host that takes care of your video schema. Wistia, YouTube and Vimeo all fit the bill.
As you consider your hosting options, you may hear some experts claim that it’s a lot harder to get self-hosted videos to rank, because Google owns YouTube and has an interest in promoting YouTube results first.
And that’s probably true, but maybe not for the reasons they claim. Any relevant video can rank on Google, even if it’s not posted on YouTube, as long as it has strong SEO. Strong video SEO starts with making sure video is the main content of the page. That means not including a bunch of extra images and interactive elements.
If your goal is to increase awareness of your product or service, YouTube is a fine place to host your videos. However, if your goal is to drive traffic to your website, YouTube might not be the best choice.
2. Include Transcripts to Boost Video SEO
Remember, can’t view videos but they can read. Including a transcript massively increases the amount of data the web crawler can access. All of that extra information helps match your video relevant search terms. Include timestamps in your transcript to increase the odds that Google will serve a section of your video as a featured snippet.
If you don’t have the resources to make a transcription, at least include a well-written summary that references relevant keywords. The web crawler will still be able to find useful information. For planned videos, publish your video script.
Captions alone are not enough! Since web crawlers can’t watch your video, they can’t read auto generated captions either. But If you upload “closed captions” as an SRT file, the web crawler views these as text. Ask your video creation company for a Subrip or SRT file for the best video SEO.
That’s not to say auto generated captions are useless. They can still contribute to your video SEO by improving the viewing experience. The better the experience, the longer viewers will spend watching your video and increased watch time naturally boosts your SEO. So include captions whenever you can.
3. Invite A Click With Thumbnails and Titles
Google takes view rates and clicks into account, so make sure people actually want to click on your video. Choose a thumbnail that is inviting and as relevant as possible. Smiling faces are always a good choice.
Your hosting platform might auto-generate a thumbnail for you, but you don’t have to use it. Instead, comb through your video to find an image that truly conveys what the video is about. You can also create a custom thumbnail that includes a text overlay, several scenes from the video, or anything else you can fit in a graphic.
Your descriptions and title should tell the user exactly what the video is about and whether it’s relevant to them. Be creative, but make sure that whatever your title promises your video delivers. So if you promise 7 tips for ranking on the first page of Google, you must have seven tips and they must be about Google ranking. Otherwise, people will bail out before the end of your video, and your ranking may suffer.
4. Use Keywords to Boost Video SEO
We’ve touched on this in some of the tips above, but it’s important enough to get its own section: Use keywords in your title, description, and any accompanying page copy. Just as you would research keywords for a blog post, you should also research and use keywords in the copy surrounding your video. Keywords should be relevant to the video and reflect user search patterns.
However, don’t get so wrapped up in keywords that you forget who you’re writing for. Yes, the web crawler needs to understand what your video is about, but so do users. Use correct grammar and spelling. Most importantly, avoid using the keyword over and over in an attempt to sound relevant. That’s called keyword stuffing, and search engines are on to that trick. It won’t fool users either.
5. Promote Your Video
Video views have a compounding effect on ranking. The more views your video gets, the more popular it appears, and the higher it will rank. The higher it ranks, the more people are likely to discover it, improving rank even more. Give your video a leg up by promoting it as much as you can. Send it out in email, link to it in a blog post, and share it across your social media platforms.
If you have the budget, you might also invest in social or search ads to direct traffic to your video. Building relationships with other blogs and websites may also help improve SEO with link-building. The more often a well-ranked site links to yours, the better your page will rank. So, invite bloggers, journalists, and other content creators to link back to your video.
If you have a local business, you might consider working with local marketing firms in your area, as they’ll better understand what your audience wants. For example, if you live in North Carolina an SEO firm in Charlotte might be better equipped to serve you than a New York or Los Angeles firm.
6. Organize Your Content
Even if you have several videos on the same topic, limit yourself to one per page. Remember that Google will only rank a video if it’s the main content of the page. The second, third, and fourth videos in your series might actually make the page less rankable.
Make sure the video appears “above the fold.” That means it’s close to the top of the page. Users shouldn’t have to scroll through a bunch of text to find it. The ideal setup is: title, followed by video, followed by description or transcript.
Multiple pages also give you the option for internal linking, which can give you an SEO boost. In your transcript and supporting text content, don’t be afraid to add internal links to other pages on your site wherever they are relevant. Linking out to relevant third-party sites with good page authority can also help boost your SEO.
7. Make A Video Worthy of the First Page
None of the SEO strategies above will work without a high-quality video. Google search ranking is about more than whether your descriptions match the keyword. Engagement is part of the equation. So, if your description promises one thing and your video delivers another, you’ll fall in the rankings. If your description matches the search term but your video has poor audio, a disjointed storyline, or other quality issues, you’ll fall in the rankings.
On the other hand, if you have a high-quality video surrounded by relevant text, you’ll rise quickly. Staying on the first page of Google search results starts with a great video. If you’re ready to create high-quality video, contact IdeaRocket to get started.
