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Best practices for video SEO marketing

YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are great platforms to host a brand marketing campaign. But potential leads aren’t always in buying mode when they’re on these social sites. On the contrary, 90% of B2B decision-makers use search engines to make purchasing decisions. To fully take advantage of video marketing, marketers should optimize for search. By having a compelling SEO marketing strategy, they can achieve high SERP visibility. They can also generate more organic traffic to their websites.

Google ranks videos with the same points as written articles. Text-only content heavily relies on SEO. So, it makes sense that videos would benefit from optimization too. Here are best practices to improve the search rankings of brand videos using video SEO.

 

Transcribe the Video Content

Offering both a video and transcription on one page presents a twofold advantage. The page satisfies different viewer preferences. Also, it gives the video an increased chance of ranking high in general Google searches.

The video transcript can be tailor-made for search like any text-based content. This may seem to defeat the purpose of duplicate content rules, but transcripts offer a great user experience. They cater to various learning styles. Some site visitors may prefer to watch videos. These people are generally the shoppers. Others may like to read the information instead. These people are usually business executives and company decision makers.

When transcribing a video, marketers have two main options. One, present a full, verbatim transcription. And two, deliver text highlights. Complete transcripts offer increased opportunities for SEO engagement. Text highlights are ideal for long videos. They can serve as teasers to draw in both video watchers and transcript readers.

In the end, marketers should use a transcribing method that the target market prefers. They can do A/B tests to determine what process generates the type of engagement the brand needs.

 

Use Video Metadata

Much like in written content SERPs, video titles and descriptions appear in searches. Google puts something to display if these pieces of information are not provided. But the videos will have more views and rank higher if this metadata is optimized. Both video titles and descriptions must:

– Be engaging to motivate click-throughs.
– Be appropriate and relevant to the subject.
– contain keywords and key phrases that fit user intent.
– Have titles that are 60 characters or less.
– Have meta descriptions that are 160 characters or less.

Also, Google features a thumbnail for video search results. So, choosing the right thumbnail is vital. Most video hosts and apps pick one through a single screen. But marketers should create a customized thumbnail. It should express the video content and attracts viewers’ attention.

 

Use Schema Markup

Most online users run searches specifically on Google. But some work with whatever search tool or engine they have. To help videos be featured prominently in general SERPs, make use of schema markup. This is to deliver the data search engines need. With schema markup, general lists are available in the same way as video search results. The listing will provide a thumbnail and the duration of the video.

Marketers must incorporate schema markup for the video title, description, and thumbnail. Adding markup to the content URL is also recommended. Also include the length, upload date, and dimensions of the video. Google has a dedicated page outlining precisely what it needs from schema markup for videos.

 

Use Schema Markup

The easiest way to find out what words or phrases are relevant to the content is to do a search. Check out if users carry out searches using targeted keywords. When the keywords are displayed on the first page of search results, it indicates that users are happy with the materials available. Marketers should use the primary keywords and key phrases that appear high on SERPs. They need to incorporate them appropriately into their video strategy.

With the best practices for video SEO, marketers can reap the benefits of the campaign. They can be optimized for their advertising power and for directing SEO traffic to the company website.