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Home | Social Media | Youtube | Best video SEO strategy tips: How to improve search engine optimization for videos / movies on YouTube and other alternative video marketing websites

Best video SEO strategy tips: How to improve search engine optimization for videos / movies on YouTube and other alternative video marketing websites

17/04/2010 19:00:00 Constantine Roussos

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Best video SEO strategy tips: How to improve search engine optimization for videos / movies on YouTube and other alternative video marketing websites

According to comscore, YouTube has more search queries than Bing and Yahoo. It trails only Google in regards to search engine queries. It has become a search engine optimization necessity for all marketers to implement strategies to optimize their content on Youtube.com as well as tap into the business of engaging viewers through video marketing. Once your videos are viewed a few hundred times, they will start appearing on Google for your key phrase or search term.

Optimizing for Youtube video is similar to basic SEO for websites. You follow the same basic search engine optimization techniques:

Creating relevant and engaging content
Link popularity
Page structure and architecture

There are primarily two locations where you can achieve rankings for your target keyword phrases. The first location is on YouTube. For example, if you search for "Video Search Optimization" into the search bar, three results are available: the default "All," "Channels," and "Playlists." You can sort results in numerous ways, with the default method being "Relevance." The other location your videos can rank well in are search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo, since every video has its own URL and page content, tags, and comment. The objective is to optimize each Youtube video page to be as search engine friendly as possible.

Just like Flash content, YouTube videos themselves can not be read by search engines, making the textual content of the video page critical for optimizing for search discovery and ranking. It is important to remember that YouTube automatically generates meta tags for every video page. The name of the video becomes the title tag, the description in the "more info" section becomes the meta description tag, and the YouTube tags become the meta keywords tag. However, in regards to search ranking, the meta description and meta keywords provide nearly zero influence.

YouTube offers "brand channels" for advertisers and "user channels." The "branded channels" have some advantages over user channels:

Auto-play
Multiple sub-channels
960x150 banner
300x250 side column image
Video walls
Branding box
Custom gadgets
Contest module support
Google analytics support
Larger background image
YouTube Carousel support

YouTube Brand Channel options: Strategy and Tips

YouTube offers the following branding options that help you better promote your product, service or brand through video pages and brand channels:

Video page banner: Make sure you include a call to action or what you would like viewers to do, such as "Order Now"
Channel banner: Use a link or image map option and once again, make sure you include a call to action, such as "Subscribe"
Channel side column image (300x250 size): Include a call to action, such as "Buy Now"
Other Channel Links: Use them as another way to cross-promote and list up to 16 destination channels. Make sure you link to your other video channels and your website as well as other relevant channels.
Branding box: Make sure you mention all promotion, playlist and new video content
Connect box: Use a logo and keep it consistent with your brand for maximum effectiveness and exposure.
IP / Locale Geo redirecting: Auto redirect user to your local video channel. The IP/Locale GEO redirect field allows you to specify filters, restricting access to your brand channel or that redirects users from one brand channel to another channel. In addition, this feature also enables you to block users from a particular country from seeing your brand. YouTube allows you to configure access to your brand channels based gender, age, language and geographic location.

YouTube Video optimization tips:

Improve search engine ranking and video discovery for your content:

Search engine robots only understand actual text, and can not determine the quality of a video by the content inside it. The only factors that search engines weigh heavily on are links to pointing to the video (backward links or link popularity) and the content surrounding the video, such as the title or tags. Since search engines can not decipher video content and files, it is imperative that you use the right title, info, tags and category selection for your videos. Make sure you use the YouTube Keyword Suggestion Tool to research what users are searching for on YouTube. Rememberthat long-tail keyword phrases convert better than short, general searches. Here are areas that can be optimized for marketing and search purposes.

Title: Think of your title as your video's headline. Consider naming your Channel something more useful and descriptive than your username. Add relevant keyword phrases related to the video topic and keywords you would like to be searched for and discovered. Include the most relevant keywords in the name of the video, and use the word "video" when possible. The title is the most significant information that the search engines have about your video. Given that most users searching include the word "video" when looking for a video, this will increase the relevance of your page in the search engine results. If you want to include your brand name in the title, it is suggested that it goes last.
Channel info and description: Use this prominent box to your advantage by adding details such as City, State, Category, Awards. Treat each opportunity to add content that can be translated to text or searchable categories as an additional entry points for users to discover your content. For each video, make sure you write a unique, keyword-rich description that includes a URL. Include the URL (including http://) to the Channel, Playlist, or another website. Place the URL at the beginning, so that users can see the link, even if the "more info" option is minimized. After the "title" tag, a video's description is the next-best source for search engines to collect information about your video's content. It is recommended that you be as detailed as possible, but short of offering the entire video transcript. Think powerpoint.
Channel tags: Be as descriptive and detailed as possible when you tag. The YouTube search results depend on descriptive channel and video tags. Think about the most important keyword phrases or keywords to describe your video. How would others search to find your video when they do not know you exist or know your username? Make sure you include your brand, city and topics of relevancy.If your videos are product reviews then make sure you include tags such as: UPC, EAN, ISBN, MPN, model number, and brand.
Channel type: Make sure to choose the right Channel Type, such as Musician, Comedian, Reporter, Director, YouTube user, so that you can be found through the Channel Tab.
Captions: Captioning lets you add subtitles to your video and reach a broader audience. YouTube now allows you to attach captions on videos. Take advantage of textual captions and annotation features found on Youtube by adding informational notes, subtitles, descriptions, and links at the top of your video. Make sure you place a call to action over the video that says, "Click here to buy" or "Click here to follow us on Twitter" or "Click here to become a Facebook fan."
Annotations: Annotations can help provide a clearer context to video, can link to another video or link back to the channel and can let users know whether the video is part of a playlis.
Transcripts: Since search engines can not understand the content of a video file or flash, it is highly recommended that you provide text-based video transcripts to each video, describing the content. If you have a full transcript of your video placed in the description, search engines will fully understand what the video is all about and reward you in their search engine results. The transcript of a video can be attached to its timeline. Thi allows users seek to specific portions of YouTube videos by phrase. The benefit of this is that the transcript can be searched and indexed by the engines, meaning your video content itself can count toward search ranking. However, you might need to fix computer-generated mistakes in the text, since robotic-transcriptions are not perfect (TIP: YouTube uses experimental speech recognition technology to provide automatic timing for your English transcript. Automatic timing creates a caption file that you can download. Short videos with good sound quality and clear spoken English synchronize best). Not only can you place a video’s transcript in its description, you can also attach the transcript to the video timeline itself.
Thumbnails: YouTube uses thumbnails from the first quarter mark, the half-way mark, and lastly the three-quarter time mark of every video, allowing you to choose which thumbnail to be displayed. If it is possible, try to manipulate your video so that the most compelling and engaging image appears at these points, makeing sure this does not have a negative impact upon the flow of your video. Research has shown that the thumbnail pictures have a significant influence on video click-through.
Watermarking: For branding purposes, it is recommended that you watermark your videos. Most video editing software will allow you to place a small semi-transparent logo in a corner of your video. This way, you can increase your overall brand exposure, not just the specific video that is being viewed.
Link-building: The more websites that link back to your video on YouTube, the more relevant that video will appear in searches due to link popularity. The best way to start link-building is to research and see who is linking back to the most popular videos in your category or topic. If your content is useful and can add value to the websites showcasing the most popular videos, reaching out to the owners or webmasters of these sites to ask them to link to your videos.
Geo-Tagging and Date-Tagging: Geotagging and datetagging can help your content be discovered in local, geographic or date-specific search queries.
Distribution using YouTube tools:
- Embed: Videos can get more views by embedding them within the context of a relevant website.
- Syndication: Syndicate your video content and let your fans and subscribers see your video on their mobile, iPhone and TV.
- YouTube API: Integrate YouTube's video content and functionality into your website, software application, or device.
Remember character limits:
- Title: 120 characters
- Tags or Keywords: 120 characters
- Description: 5000 characters

Create high quality, original content:

Appeal: Make videos that appeal to all types of target audiences
Freshness and upload frequency: Uploading frequently is the best way to build views, subscribers and aid discovery Post videos often (at least once a week). It is better to upload one video every day, than 7 videos on a particular day of the week, so you can spread out the viewership and not overwhelm users with too many videos in one day. Keep videos short and simple. 5 minutes or less minutes are best for the average YouTube viewer.
Engagement: Engage your audience through comments, subscriptions, shout-outs and by asking questions or soliciting ideas. Encourage contests.
Title: Use eye-catching titles that would entice users to click and also make sure you include your target keywords in them
Video/Audio Quality: Always upload the highest quality video that is available

Take advantage of utilizing all of YouTube features:

Search: Use relevant and accurate titles, video descriptions and keyword tags.
Navigation: Utilize the 'featured video' option. Feature your most popular videos or latest video. Make sure you sort related videos in playlists. Showcase priority video content using a Video Log.
Choose channel type: Use the partner "performer info" available for your channel type. For example, bands can enter their band details, album art and gig event dates.
Branding: Use the partner "brand channels" advertising for extra exposure. Upload catchy and engaging banners as well as an effective profile image icon.
Insights: The Youtube insights analytics can help provide you with useful information such as demographics, when users abandoned viewing your videos, which videos were popular and what content appeals to your viewers. This can help you figure out what areas need improving, how the video performed compared to other videos, and whether it was engaging. Insights tracks metrics and create reports to understand how users are interacting with your videos. The "audience attention" score feature gives you with the overall measure of your video's ability to retain its audience's attention, compared to videos of a similar length. Combined with Hot Spots you figure out what are your most popular videos as well as what are the most engaging segments in those videos. You can also zoom into your worst performing videos and use Hot Spots to see where you are losing viewership.

Connect with the YouTube community:

Be engaging with your audience and encourage comments. Make sure you keep the conversation going by posting relevant replies. Find popular videos that are related to your content and make sure you comment on other content as well, including posting video responses. This is a good way to piggyback on the success of popular video and drive some of those interested users to your own video content. Ask others to subscribe to your channel as well as rate or share your videos. Participate in other areas where the YouTube community hangs out such as forums, contests and group.
Subscribe to your favorite channels: Showcase your favorite videos in the "favorite box" as well as indicate your affiliate content via the "rating box." Furthermore, make sure you enable your "recent activity box."
Channel linking: List up to 16 destination channels using the "Other Channel Links" tool under "branding options." Also make sure you link to your other video channels, your website as well as to friends' channels and pages. Include links in profile pages wherever possible. First decide where you want to drive the traffic from your channel page, and then include links to those pages as much as possible. make sure you optimize for all social networks, linking to other social media profiles like Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Enable cross-promotion of your content:

Allow embedding: Allow others to be able to embed your video code to facilitate others distributing your content. Use the embed URL that comes with each video and make sure you embed your video content on your website. Send all video links to blogs and websites which may be interested in display your content if it is relevant to them and would be useful for their target audience.
Promote your videos: Promote and market your videos and channel on your personal websites or blog, other websites or blogs, forums, the radio, TV, newsletters as well as on other social networking platforms.
Create badges that link to your YouTube content: Use the YouTube API to create badges for your website that showcase your YouTube content and link to your personal YouTube channel.

What not to do: What are the biggest video mistakes?

Believing that YouTube is overly saturated and that it will be difficult to be found. Remember, most videos are not appropriately optimized for discovery and there are many opportunities to be found.
Believing that you require an expensive, professional video production and that creating a video is too technical. Most video's on YouTube are actually home-made. Video-editing software such as Windows Movie Maker comes bundled for free and is very easy to use. You can even produce plenty of content using a simple webcam and internal microphone without even the need to edit.
Do not close your videos off to sharing. It is of critical importance to let users interact, embed and share your videos.
Do not close your videos off to comments. However great your video is, the chances are you will have some critics and negative comments. While positive feedback is always welcome, the most useful feedback, just as long as it is constructive and not profane, can help you with your services and products and give you important insights on how you can improve. Furthermore, having both postive and negative comments will make your video seem more authentic, natural and credible.
Remember there are other video websites that you can upload your videos to, such as Daily Motion, MetaCafe, Myspace Video, Vimeo, Blip.tv, MegaVideo, Yahoo Video and others. By uploading your video on numerous video websites, you increase your chance to be found, especially since other video sites are not as saturated as YouTube. Exploit that opportunity.

Conclusion

The objective of your YouTube marketing strategy is to firstly to be found and then to convert users into active subscribers to your content and ultimately buyers. Attempting to be the most viral video on YouTube is quite a feat and being able to reproduce that effect for each video you upload is almost impossible. Make sure you focus on your content and the appropriate audience and give them what they want to see, offering them both entertainment and a learning experience if possible. In the end, it is all about the viewer, who can ultimately be converted into a customer. Focusing on niche topics are not only easier to rank for, they will also offer the best conversions in regards to attracting the user that is looking for that exact content. Remember to ask yourself these important questions for each video you produce: