Online video is a brilliant way to grow your web presence but let’s be honest, how often do you come across a video on YouTube that is brilliantly produced but is getting ten views a year? Why does that happen? It’s simple – YouTube is not a set and forget content platform, once you’ve uploaded it there are a few other things that you’ve still got to consider. Here is our top five.
1. Make sure you’re either solving a problem or providing something new
Just like any type of online content your video content must be highly engaging and it’s got to give your viewers a reason to pay attention to it. The way that you encourage people not only to start watching but keep watching your video is to give them something that is of value and use to them. Online video is not the same thing as television advertising, if you’re not giving them something that is going to keep them interested then your viewers will either not bother watching it in the first place or will stop watching it very soon after they start. This means you are potentially wasting both your time and your effort, not to mention money as video production is often not cheap.
2. Make your videos easy to find and make sure you link to individual videos
Video content is well and truly the most effective and engaging type of content that you can produce, second to none. You should put this above your other content when it comes to linking, embedding and optimizing. A great way to really utilize your online media portfolio is to use it on your landing pages, if you integrate quality video into your landing pages not only will your landing pages rank better on Google but they will convert at a far higher rate than those with static content.
3. Use all the tools at your disposal to convert your viewers
Many video hosting companies like Wistia will allow you to put highly customized opt ins integrated into your video. YouTube also has the option to embed links into your video. Make sure you utilize these tools. Remember that the goal of online video is not to get people just to watch your video but to get them to make a commitment and convert into a website visitor and subsequently a visitor. Call them to take action by effectively using enhanced tools that video hosting companies provide, they work!
4. Leverage metadata and make sure you do it in a relevant way
Never underestimate the power of metadata. Make sure that your titles and descriptions are properly optimized not just for search but also for conversion. That means that you want them to be keyword optimized in line with normal SEO techniques but also that you need to be prepared for them to convert right there and right then, that means making sure that the meta content around your video encourages them and makes it easy for them to do so.
5. Don’t be lazy, use transcriptions and subtitles to improve indexing
It is easy to fall victim to the attitude that perhaps transcriptions, subtitles and other textual additions to a video aren’t really necessary. This is incorrect, search engines can’t index images and sound but they can index text. Google can and does index YouTube transcriptions and that means that if you don’t use them properly you are not only decreasing the user experience for people viewing your video but you are also potentially hurting yourself in the Search Rankings.
Video Optimize specializes on managing this process for our customers and partners and trust us, it takes a fair amount of time to do properly. If you would like to talk to us about what we can do to help you dominate your marketplace through effective use of online video then click here to set an appointment.