Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Video
Sure, we’ve all read countless times that SEO is key to helping our websites rank on search engines - especially if you’re trying to gain more traffic. But have you ever heard of, or considered, SEO for videos?
With the growing demand for video content, it’s easy to focus solely on just producing high quality videos to release on your social pages. But, with any piece of content that we post on the internet, there’s a bit more work that needs to go into every posting to help our content get in front of as many eyes (aka potential customers) as possible.
So, how do you do SEO for videos? Thankfully, it’s pretty simple and similar to how we do SEO for websites. Here are a few easy ways you can start integrating SEO into your videos today:
File Name
Did you know that, if you upload a video to YouTube or embed a video on your website, the keywords in the filename can give your video an SEO boost?
That’s right. YouTube functions as a search engine, meaning that any keywords you’ve connected to your video can help it appear in user searches - including any keywords you place in your filenames. Similarly, if you upload your video directly to your website, search engines like Google can also detect the keywords in your filenames, giving your website and videos an additional SEO boost.
If you have a blog, treat your video’s filename the same way you would for a focus key phrase in your articles by utilizing rich, long tail keywords that effectively describe what your video’s about, have a decent amount of search traffic, and have relatively low competition. SEO keyword search tools can be very helpful for this, and they even have SEO research tools specifically for YouTube now! Our favourite is Tubebuddy.
Note: Filenames don’t boost SEO when you embed a link of your video onto your website from YouTube (or any other video sharing site). The SEO video boost from the file name happens directly on YouTube where you posted the video, as YouTube is a search engine, or directly on your website if you uploaded your video directly onto your site.
Keywords
Just like when you write a blog article, the keywords you use are key to how search engines categorize and rank your blog articles on their websites. SEO for video is (basically) no different. The only thing that really changes about this concept is where you place your keywords.
As noted above, the filename is the first place you should put your keywords / key phrases. The next place is right in the video’s title, description and / or caption, depending on where you’re posting it.
YouTube gives you the option to write both a title and a lengthy description - and you should utilize both. We’ve seen videos posted on YouTube that have no description at all. That’s completely wasted video SEO space. Aim to write a solid description that clearly describes what your video is all about, and place as many keywords in there as possible without making it sound too forced. You can also add some applicable hashtags in there as well. The description doesn’t have to be too long either. A few well-crafted lines that incorporate your video’s keywords should help do the trick.
On Instagram, you aren’t able to add a title to your video, however you can add a caption. In the (semi) older days, the only way you could really add keywords to your posts on Instagram was by using hashtags. Instagram has recently changed their platform so that all words in your caption contribute to your posts’ SEO, which effectively means thats Instagram has become a search engine like YouTube. That means that, for any keyword you place in your Instagram video’s description, any person that searches that word in Instagram’s search bar has the chance of viewing your content. So, with that in mind, the same principals that we mentioned for writing a YouTube description applies to your Instagram descriptions. Describe what your video is about, add some keywords, and watch your video’s SEO help your view count grow.
So, if you’re new to creating video content, or you’ve been doing it for a while, but want to give your videos a boost, try incorporating some of these SEO for video tricks. Like blog articles, SEO for video can help your videos be seen more in search engines, leading to more views. And it’s quite simple to do. All you need to do is make sure that your file name is written with purpose, and that your descriptions / captions include keywords that accurately describe your video. Give it a try!
Video Production in Toronto, Ontario
Strong, scroll-stopping video content that helps tell your brand’s story, showcases your products and / or services, and shows potential customers what makes your business different is key to a strong digital marketing strategy. If you’re looking for a Toronto area video production company to help level-up your video marketing, reach out to us today. We’d be happy to chat.
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