One of the many benefits of online video is that video is much more likely to appear on the first page of Google search results than text.
That’s why Video Search Engine Optimization (VSEO) is so important to web video marketing
SEOMoz had a very interesting article over the weekend on how to optimize your video for video-centric keyword research – the gist of it being that not all search terms will yield video results.
Here are the main tips:
1. When optimizing for natural search results (rich snippets), you need to find keywords that lend themselves to video results.
For example, “how to build a fire pit” may give you a video result, but “history of fire pits” may not.
You can find better key words by manualy comparing searches on Google or for example using SEOMoz’ own Rank Tracker tool.
And while some results might not give you videos, they’ve found that “it’s much easier to replace those competing videos in the rankings than it is to start ranking for a term that doesn’t currently have video results”, which is interesting.
2. YouTube is not a standard search engine, and therefore your standard keyword research doesn’t apply — YouTube-specific research is required!
If your VSEO strategy isn’t just Google Search but also Youtube Search then you need to think it through too, and the best place to start is Youtube’s Keyword Suggestion Tool, which will give you monthly YouTube searches for your keyword along with results for “similar” keywords.
Another approach advised by SEOMoz is to do actual searches and record view counts for the top video results, which will give you an idea of views and volume too.
They end the post by stating that keyword research for Video SEO is not the same as keyword research for regular SEO, mainly because you must take the process a step further and evaluate where and when this audience comes across video results.
More work them, but more rewards too!
A read-through the article is highly recommented.
When you come back, why don’t you tell us about your VSEO efforts and strategy?
