Video SEO: How to Use It Right in 2023

Video SEO is a relatively new form of optimizing your video content to rank higher on Google. It’s also an essential topic for video marketers to understand. Video SEO can help you rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) and video-sharing websites like YouTube.

Video optimization can be done through various methods, but we’ll be exploring some of the most effective and easily implemented. We’ll also tell you what you should never do when making a video for SEO purposes.

This guide will provide you with the information to help you use video SEO correctly in 2022. Read on to start ranking higher today!

 

What is SEO?

As a marketer, you’re probably at least somewhat familiar with SEO at this point. But it’s always to get back to basics when you’re exploring a new area.

At its most basic level, search engine optimization, or SEO, refers to optimizing any form of online content so search engines can understand what your content is about, what questions it answers, and what problems it solves.

This applies to web copy, blog content, images, and—the focus of this article—videos.

SEO isn’t just about tweaking a single aspect of your content. It takes into account much more than that, tracking both on-page and off-page activities, such as:

• Keywords and keyword phrases
• Link building
• Social media integration
• Content creation/editing
• Site speed/page loading time
• And a host of other things

The overall goal of optimizing content for search engines is to get more organic traffic to a website. If done correctly, SEO helps your content rank higher in the search engine results page for pertinent queries.

 

How to use SEO for marketing

SEO requires patience and consistent effort. It’s not an overnight process.

It is vital to have a solid SEO strategy before starting your content marketing campaign. This will ensure that potential customers find your content and not just by those who happen to stumble upon it.

So with that established, let’s see how SEO works with video!

 

SEO for Video

SEO for video is a relatively new field that has emerged in the last couple of years. Video is no longer an additional asset to your content marketing strategy. Instead, it is the future of marketing. With the rise of social media apps that prioritize video content like TikTok, video has become more popular than ever before.

It can be easy to reduce a video’s success to its total views, but page ranking is just as crucial for more traditional web content for businesses. It doesn’t matter if a million people have seen your video if it’s not generating leads.

So, for example, if your cat videos are generating a lot of buzzes, but you sell bath bombs, well, those cat video views aren’t turning into anything tangible for your business.

While the basic principles of SEO hold for video, the process is different because of the difference between the written word and video.

At the most general level, putting your video through SEO includes:

• Creating a video with the right keywords and tags.
• Optimize your video’s title and description so people will click on it.
• Optimize the content in your video with keywords and phrases people are searching for.
• Upload your video to popular video-sharing sites like YouTube, Vimeo, and Twitch.

If you’re also posting your videos on your brand’s website, you need to look at how well your site is set up for video. Users won’t stick around waiting for a video to load, so make sure your site speed is as fast as possible.

If you’re not already making videos for your brand, it can be intimidating to start. But at Brand Glow Up, we’re all about taking our branding to the next level. So if you’ve already explored our guide to incorporating animation in your digital marketing strategy, diving into video SEO is the logical next step!

Luckily, the process doesn’t need to be too painful. There are many video-making tools designed for beginners to start producing SEO-friendly content ASAP! You don’t even need any special equipment. Grab your smartphone and start filming.

 

Your Video Optimization Guide

With every algorithm update, video SEO changes a little bit. So, instead of trying to keep up with the latest algo update, focus on creating quality video content that users will want to watch and share.

Here are some things to consider before you start your video SEO campaign.

What’s your goal?

With ad campaigns, it’s always essential to start by asking what you’re trying to accomplish with your project. For example, are you trying to reach a broad audience or make content for those already in your niche?

If you’re trying to get the word out and generate backlinks, you should be trying to make viral, shareable content. If you’re looking to market to people who already know about your product, make more targeted, valuable videos.

Figure out your keywords

This is classic SEO, so you should use whatever you already have in your toolkit. For example, you might use websites such as Moz, Google Adwords keyword planner, or UberSuggest to search for keywords. In addition, use video tools, like the YouTube autosuggest feature, to figure out what videos people are searching for.

The best way to generate keywords is to combine market research with what you already know.

Does the video you just created feel like something you’d click on? Does it provide something new, or does it just rehash what a billion other videos have already said?

Once you’ve created your content around your chosen keywords, write a title and a description for your video. The title should be short and descriptive so potential viewers know what they will see when they click on it. The description should be longer than the title, but not too long as people won’t read it if it’s too long. You also want to ensure that the keywords are naturally integrated into the text.

Have a clear call to action

One of the most important things is to make sure that you have a clear call to action at the end of the video. This tells the viewer what they should do next. For example, it could be “book a call,” “visit our website,” “buy now,” or any other action that the viewer can take.

Embed links

Embed links in your video description, title, or the video itself so people can click back from the video platform to your website if they want more information about what you talked about.

Include a video transcript

If you’re integrating the video into your website, make sure that you put enough information (like a video transcript) in behind the scenes so that Google knows exactly what the video is about. Include your target keywords here to help you rank high in Google’s search results.

 

Conclusion

Frankly, the importance of video SEO cannot be understated. It is the most critical aspect of digital marketing, no matter the size of your company.

It can seem like a pain going through every aspect of your content to make sure it’s legible to a computer. Still, overall it’s a big leg up for businesses looking to increase their visibility.

With the right tools and optimization, your videos can make a huge splash, no matter what size company you are!