Video is not the best way to rank in SEO search results. As marketers we know this to be true. This is because video doesn’t come with text that is easy for the likes of google’s ‘spiders’ to read so while having media rich content is good for overall performance that content is not what makes it important. Having video is important for several search related reasons.

Google Spiders.

Google news, web, images, maps and video are all ways to narrow search results and while one area may be difficult or competitive to rank highly in there are search criteria which reset the competition. So you may try to rank on text based content, images, but what about using video too?

Transcribe Your Video.

Like we mentioned already it is hard for google spiders to comprehend your video and not just recognise its existence. Write an accompanying blog or transcript to your video to highlight and reiterate some main points and key content. I have been informed by our marketing director that this is ‘like steroids for your video’s SEO.’ (note: this also helps from a user perspective as some users are not always in a position to watch a video but may still be interested in the information or save it for later. win win.) This is also a good way to create backlinks to your website and or blog.

Hummingbird.

Hummingbird is the name of google’s most recent search algorithm. Google search results prioritise the quality of content based on a number of factors and since video is ever growing particularly in the ‘how to’ industry good quality video with high popularity can push your website to the top of those search lists.

Be Organic.

Video is so popular right now (YouTube is the second most visited website on the internet) it is quick easy and fun to share which helps again to create quality backlinks to your site and social media accounts and the more popular you are across the board the more highly you’ll rank in organic search results. With a variety of video platforms you can enter new spaces and distribute your content more widely, reaching far greater numbers. You can produce a blog and a video on the same topic to cater for different consumption preferences.  

Stand Out.

Text is heavy no matter which way you position it especially if you have a lot to say. it is far easier (trust me) to get someone to watch a 30sec – 5min video than read your ramblings. Not to mention the ability to use text to coincide with dialogue allows you to pack more information into a smaller space in a way that visitors can engage with and understand easily! How could that not be better?

Click Through Rate

An aimClear study shows that search results with video have a “41% higher click-through rate than plain text.”

Video shows diversity and helps people to engage with your brand or company to have media rich content. keeping people engage with a variety of multimedia content.

Now I may have used this one before but it’s one of of my favs for marketing (and you can never go wrong with movie quotes…or misquotes) ‘If you build it [they] will come.’ You do your part and customers will follow.