Video has the power to bring your website on the top of Google’s first page.
Want prove?
In the below example, there is a search result for the keyword “how to use DIY ribbon”. You can clearly see the top space of Google’s first page is occupied by those websites which have videos. Then websites which are showing blogs and articles have got positions below to video-based search results.
In the current digital world, video has become a critical component of digital marketing. Video is tremendously affecting SEO and helping businesses to market their brand and website on the Internet.
However, many SEO experts still raise the question on the impact of video in SEO: is video something worth using or investing in? Can video really boost SEO?
Marketers have been using video in their SEO strategy still consider it not among the most effective SEO factors due to the following reasons:
- Video has accessibility issues
- Video has some limitations to entry
- Video takes longer time to consume
- Video can slow down your webpage loading time
- Videos can be expensive to produce
- Making an exclusive video can restrict a certain category of users
But recent scenarios have changed, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic hit. People now prefer getting information as fast as possible due to their decreased attention span. And that is why video is influencing SEO rankings more than ever.
From eCommerce to healthcare, different industries are incorporating videos in their SEO marketing strategy to attract the audience quickly and bring more relevant organic traffic to their website.
According to a recent market study by Cisco, 82% of consumer internet traffic will be from video by 2021 and it will continue to grow.
So if you are also one of those who think video is not very impactful in SEO, then sorry to challenge your thought, Video is the Big Source to Boost Your SEO Ranking in 2022. And in this article, I will tell you how video can improve your website SEO ranking and bring more organic traffic to your business.
The Growing Influence of Video in SEO
Video is shared 12x more than the combined totals of text and images. It is particularly true for mobile users where 92% share videos more than text content. Having videos gives people something to click on and experience visually.
Once your video gets them hooked, it could engage them for a long duration more than reading 2000 words of an article or a blog. As per Adobe, 51.9 percent of global marketers rate video as the content with the highest ROI.
Being a leading digital marketing agency in India, eSearch Logix better understands this fact because we use video as the emotional trigger in our Internet marketing strategy to influence our business client’s audience and engage them for sales conversions.
Video has been used in search engine optimization for over a decade but it has got a boost after the Covid-19 pandemic hit. This shift has increased the influence of Video on people as well as search engine results.
According to the latest study done by Cisco, total Internet video traffic (business and consumer, combined) will be 80% of all Internet traffic in 2021 globally. Another market report shows that the usage of video in Internet marketing will be higher in 2022:
- 90% of videos will be watched on mobile
- YouTube is becoming the epicenter for videos
- Advertisers will spend 82% more on video in 2022
- Short-form videos are going to rise
- Videos will be used to identify a business’ voice & tone
- Videos will be easier to create and consume
- 71% of businesses are investing in video marketing as their future growth platform in 2022
- 45% decide to purchase products after watching a brand’s video on social media.
- 72% of people use search to find videos when they want to buy a product online
- CMO’s from multimedia and entertainment brands plan on directing more budget to video
- Video is currently the best way to tell your story with your products
How Video Affects SEO?
Video is more memorable and engaging content than text. Research has proved that 8 out of 10 people remember videos they saw a month ago while they struggle to recall a blog post they read even last week.
Video has the best elements to provide a good user experience. They can communicate with people with attractive visuals, graphics, sound, and messages. By using video properly on your website can get good SEO rankings.
This is because video affects search engine optimization in user behavior metrics that Google tracks. However, you should note that merely adding a video to your site won’t boost the ranking. Video affects SEO in the following ways:
1. Video Content Engages Users Easily:
Users prefer watching videos to reading text. It is the best way for storytelling. Video contains appealing graphics, sound, and brand voice that easily convey the message to users. You can opt for professional video production services for making high-quality videos that keep users on your website for a longer time.
2. Video Enhances Dwell Time:
Dwell time is one of Google’s SEO ranking factors that measure how long users spend on a website. The dwell time between 1-2 minutes indicates Google that your site is relevant to the search query. Video is an effective way to do this.
It encourages users to spend extra minutes on your site or blog. This extra time spent on your site indicates to a search engine that your content is good enough for users.
3. Video Reduces Bounce Rate:
As video increase dwell time so consequently it reduces a site’s bounce rate. From an SEO expert’s perceptive, it matters a lot. Having a lower bounce rate it increases the chances of getting top positions on Google SERPs. It works because a lower bounce rate indicates the value of video content and the trustworthiness of the webpage.
4. Video Improves Click-Through Rate:
Users go search engines to find information, and to provide them with the information they need, search engines discover the relevant websites that users want. When users find a site is perfect for their search query they instantly click on the link.
Having relevant video or video SERP thumbnail improves your click-through rate (CTR). SERP listings with a linked video and thumbnail are much more effective than text-based listings. Many top website development companies highly prefer video links as it drives better results in generating organic traffic.
When your site has video it increases the chances that users will see it in search engine results and they are more likely to click through and see your content.
5. Google Takes Video Seriously in SEO:
Google is the king of the Internet and it would be not wrong to say it is the monopolistic search engine. Anything that Google prioritizes as SEO ranking, businesses have no option but to follow Google’s SEO guidelines.
When Google released its new search algorithm called Hummingbird it shifted the focus from keyword to the user’s intent behind a search query. And it matters for video. Since people love watching videos, Google attempts to show them on SERPs whenever possible for specific educational or informational queries.
The result for such queries involve videos as recommended or suggested clips, video SERP feature, or as an instant answer which directly affects SEO rankings.
How to Improve Your SEO Ranking Using Video
1. Integrate Video to Your Website or Homepage
SEO is the backbone of digital marketing and video is a power booster for SEO. When your website has video on its homepage or any webpage it helps search engines recognize valuable content and gets crawled by them. Hence, integrate video into your site and see how your site ranking improves.
2. Use Video Schema
Video schema markup is the HTML code that tells search engines what your video is about. Video titles, description upload date and time, thumbnail URL, and other content play a key factor in your search engine optimization results.
This microdata support Google to understand your page and the content including video. So the more quality schema markup is there, the easier it is for Google, Yahoo, and Bing to find your website through video content. Make sure your video schema include:
- Name
- Description
- Thumbnail URL
- Duration
- Upload date
- Transcript
3. Use Video at the Top of Your Webpage
When you put video at the top of your webpage it tells Google that video is the main part of content on your site. Following a video-first approach on your website content make search engine more likely to promote it in the search results. You can even take more advantage of this technique by placing your videos at the top of your landing page, or just after a brief introduction of blog.
4. Write SEO-friendly Video Script or Description
Google uses video transcript as a search algorithm so you should write video transcript or description keeping SEO in mind. The same principle can be applied to blog and website content.
You can use SEO keyword research tools or have Google analytics audit to find out what search volume and competition there is for certain keywords or phrases that you are incorporating in the video transcript. When you create SEO-friendly content in the transcript it will improve the probability of your video getting listed on search results.
5. Make Sure Your Video Hook Audience in 10 Seconds
Modern people are very impatient. They have an attention span of about 8 seconds- lower than that of a goldfish. If your video is not attractive enough to hold user’s attention in the initial few seconds (approx. 10 seconds) it won’t work as a successful content or SEO technique.
If you pay attention to the marketing practices of the best SEO companies in India they invest in creating high-quality videos that could provide value and compelling messages to users quickly. Studies have also shown that after ten seconds users leave the website or page which eventually increases the bounce rate.
That is why holding the user’s attention in the initial few seconds is extremely impactful. Create short videos which are engaging, relevant, and give the exact information that users are looking for.
6. Host Your Video on a Video Platform
Hosting video on a video platform can help you divert traffic to your site. You can use YouTube, the biggest video platform, where 1 billion users search for videos daily. Vimeo is another video hosting platform that has 170 million users who search for videos regularly. When users on these video platforms find your video they can come to your website directly from there.
7. Create an Attractive Thumbnail
Thumbnail is like the banner of your video that first appears to your visitors and directly impacts their decision to see your video. Thumbnail gives an idea of what your video is all about.
So try to create something colorful, informative with meaningful unique messages that attract users instantly. By creating a compelling thumbnail you can improve your click-through rates, and CTRs.
The Final Words
Google and users both love videos. So the bottom line is that if you provide what search engines and users want your website will automatically appear at the top of SERPs. Recent data also proves that video will play a big role in SEO 2022.
If you know how to use video in SEO properly you can spread your brand message and engage your audience quickly. And above techniques will guide in doing this.
But great results come when you do it with great expertise.
eSearch Logix provides professional SEO services that can empower your website performance with video. We have highly experienced SEO experts, digital marketers, and video creators who have hands-on expertise in using video in improving SEO.
Collaborate with eSearch Logix and we will bring your site on the top of Google’s first page.
