The Explosion of Video SEO within Content Marketing
Will video take over content marketing – and should it?
When YouTube launched in 2005, few could have imagined the impact it would have on the Internet. Even fewer people envisioned a world where videos would engulf online marketing – content marketing, to be exact. In recent years, more digital marketing agencies and Calgary SEO companies have started integrating video into their marketing efforts. Some companies have gone a step further by making video SEO their primary marketing tool of choice.
However, there has been much debate about how effective video is in site engine optimization (SEO) and whether it will replace written content in various formats. For those agencies with a strong focus on social media marketing, video is a no-brainer. It has been well documented that media, in general, is more likely to grab your attention as you are scrolling your newsfeed. Just last year, Forbes magazine listed five reasons why platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are perfect for videos:
You can measure audience engagement with real numbers
Social media and videos naturally go hand-in-hand
It takes less effort to watch a video than read a 50-word written post
Video makes your company far more visible.
You can create a video for any occasion, and it has the same impact.
But what about websites? Where does video fit on a platform where content is still king? This where experts are still divided. Let’s take a closer look at video’s impact on your website, why it is essential, and how it improves your presence online.
Do You Really Need Video on Your Home Page?
The short answer is Yes. The long answer is, Yes, but not as a total replacement for your written content. Video and content can co-exist on the same platform. Let’s take a closer look.
It’s Still All About Search Engine Optimization
No matter what tool or strategy you use for your website, your efforts are in vain if it does not rank well on Google. It does not matter if your business is 30 years old or if you are launching a startup. If you don’t rank on the first or second page of Google, then you are going to lose a lot of business.
So, the obvious question is: How do videos improve your Google Rankings?
Let’s break it down so that we have a clearer understanding.
Think of your website as the hub of all of your marketing efforts. It is your online storefront. Without your website, you would be similar to a street vendor trying to compete with Wal-Mart. Having a website gives you credibility, helps you create a business culture, and firmly establishes your brand.
Social media, email marketing, text messaging, and, yes, YouTube are all tools that you use to drive traffic back to your storefront. If people are looking at your Facebook page, but not clicking on the links back to your web page, then your efforts are only half as successful. This is especially true if you have an E-commerce site.
Now let’s go back to the purpose of videos. Let’s say you created a video for your latest promotion. The question then becomes what to do with your video. The possibilities are endless:
Start a YouTube Channel
Embed it in your next email
Stick it on all of your social media pages
Embed it in your next blog
However, what comes next is the most important element in your video. You need to create a Call to Action (CTA) Call to Action (CTA) and a link that tells your viewers what to do next, which is head on over to your website. Without that CTA, your video is not only ineffective, but you just wasted time and resources making it.
Now let’s talk about optimization optimization.
How Videos Improve Your Content Marketing
Calgary SEO services continually speculate how much traffic to your site affects your Google rankings. What we do know for sure is how traffic on your website affects your SEO. We will discuss this more below. Videos improve your online presence because they get people to your site. The actual traffic to your site may have minimal effect on whether you rank higher on Google. But the point is this:
If no one is going to your website or does not know that it is there, then videos are the vehicle that takes them there. That is why they are vital to your marketing efforts.
So, even if video SEO does not improve your optimization directly, it is a catalyst by which you can develop your marketing strategy. Videos will drastically increase traffic to your website. Consider these 2019 Facebook stats from Monster Insights:
80% of all ads on the Internet are expected to be videos over the next year.
Nearly 70% of all marketers in the U.S. make video ads for Facebook.
Facebook still tops the list of all social media platforms for video marketing.
Video content receives more than 135% more engagement than photos or graphics.
Four times as many consumers want to watch a video than read content.
What does this mean for your business? If you are not investing in video ads and promotions, your competition is going to blow past you. More specifically, their website is going to gain more traction than yours due to videos on other platforms.
Videos as a Part of Your Website Content Marketing Strategy
Regardless of the hype surrounding video marketing, the rules and dynamics drastically change once your customers click the link on your social media page and end up on your website. Videos no longer dominate the platform. Instead, they are a component in a much larger marketing strategy that SERPs SEO services develop for your company. Therefore, when you balance videos with strong written content and a well-laid out web design, you get the best of all worlds. Your site’s performance skyrockets. So, what does that look like on paper?
Short Videos That Engage and Sell
Yes, it is true that 80% of consumers would rather watch a video than reading content – unless your video is 10 minutes long, boring, and does not engage the viewer. Keep these tips in mind when working with your web design company.
Create your strategy in pre-production – have a solid marketing game plan.
Trim your run-time to between two and three minutes – the shorter, the better.
Identify the problem and the solution – a classic sales tactic.
Aim for an emotional connection and an intelligent solution.
Present a single, clear, and concise message.
Add mood music and a killer background environment.
Be strategic with where you place your videos on your website. Don’t put them at the bottom of the page. Likewise, don’t put them on your least visited page. If you are going to add a video to your blog page, make sure you advertise and promote your blog page, heavily.
Make Sure Your Content Is as Powerful as Your Video
Your content should not regurgitate what your video just presented – or vice versa. You should present concise and informative written content on every page. Here are a few tips on content.
Hire an expert to write your content – you don’t have time to do it yourself.
Make sure your content is SEO-driven – otherwise, it’s useless.
Answer the reader’s questions. Don’t make them feel like they’ve wasted their time.
Make the content scannable. Use bullet points, short paragraphs, and short sentences.
Sell with website content and inform with blogs. Engage your readers with both.
Update your content regularly.
Last, and definitely not least. Use your content to tell people to watch your video. You could write something like this.
To find out more about our latest deals and offers, check the video on our home page
Wanna know more about the benefits of our product? Check out our video in our latest blog.
Why You Need Both Videos and Copywriting on Your Website
It seems these days that marketers are proposing an either/or proposition when it comes to video SEO and content marketing. However, one without the other only weakens your marketing efforts and reaches only a fraction of your audience. Plus, we’ve already established that without content, your Google rankings will never be as stable. Videos can’t bear the weight of improving site performance alone. There are several reasons why videos and content work so well together.
First, they appeal to different minds and emotions they appeal to different minds and emotions. Some of your readers will click on your video. Some will read your content. It is highly unlikely that the majority of your clients will do both. If you make both available, you will reach 100% of your audience.
Second, they allow you to provide a full message to your audience. Second, they allow you to provide a full message to your audience. A 2-minute video does not tell the whole story. A video does not give people enough information about your company, your story, your products & services, and what sets you apart. You simply can’t sell it all in that timeframe.
However, you also can’t write 5,000 words of content on every page of your website. Nobody will read it. Plus, you can’t change and update all the content on your website every month (your site would never rank on Google).
Third, they both engage your audience and tell your story. Third, they both engage your audience and tell your story. A recent article on LinkedIn may have the best description of how it all fits together. Excellent videos and content keep your viewers attention. They both help people feel as though they are part of your brand and culture. Last, regular video and content updates such as blogs or added pages give your website a professional look and feel.
Fourth, both content and videos demonstrate that your company is relevant. Fourth, both content and videos demonstrate that your company is relevant. You don’t have to be an SEO specialist to tell when a website is embarrassingly outdated. Fresh videos and a steady stream of content tell people that your company is modern and relevant. It relays the There were no Copyscape matches found. idea that you are aware of your market and marketing trends. This gives you an edge over your competition.
Are You Ready to Take Your Marketing to the Next Level?
The good news is that you don’t have to go far to get killer content, innovative web design, and high-quality videos. SERPs SEO offers a complete online marketing package that helps you engage your audience and improve your Google rankings.
We offer Calgary SEO services for startups, medium-sized businesses, and enterprises. To find out more about how we can help you with your website, call us today at (403) 383-0153. You can also fill out the quick form on our contact page.