3 Tips for Boosting Your Video SEO Impact

If you do a quick search for the term “video SEO” online, you’ll notice millions upon millions of results showing. It’s because every marketer thinks they know the secret for getting your videos to the top of Google’s rankings.

The trick, though, is that it’s not a secret. If you look through many of these articles, they all say pretty much the same thing. Many of our previous blog posts about video SEO go over these basics in detail, such as how to title and describe your videos properly.

But there are several other specific SEO tips that when implemented can help improve your chances of being found in search results even more. Here are 3 that won’t take you much time to figure out:

1. Specify your terms.

When you’re titling, describing, and tagging videos, avoid using terms that are basic like “cat video.” (It would take you far too long to rank for that considering how much the Internet loves its kitties!)

What you want to do is get as specific as possible without being so particular that an average viewer wouldn’t know what you’re talking about. For example, using the term “white Persian kitten” will be far more beneficial than either “cat video” or “Persian cat 3-month-old white cute funny kitten.”

2. Submit a sitemap.

Submitting a video sitemap ensures that Google gets your content faster than if it has to discover it on its own. Video sitemaps are no different than a regular sitemap other than it includes information about the videos you submit instead of the regular website content.

If you haven’t ever worked with sitemaps before, don’t worry — they’re not that hard! Most web hosts have some sort of tool or plugin you can install that allows you to submit a video (and regular) sitemap from your main site. Otherwise, you can always sign up for Google Webmaster Tools and do it that way.

3. Link back when possible.

It’s important to include links back to your site, either in pop-up captions on your videos or in the description.

Though this is more directly related to your site or business’s traffic and leads than video SEO in particular, you can’t ignore it. If the entire point of video SEO is to get your work and business noticed, you need to follow through and show people where they can find you online.

And feel free to link to content made by other companies you feel would be beneficial to your viewers. If they see you as a company who’s interested in helping them even if that means you link to other sites as well as your own, they’re more likely to consider you honest and trustworthy compared to your competitors.

If you implement these tips, your videos are far more likely to be found!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferreemoney/9280842594/