With the ever changing landscape of the online world, it’s important to keep ahead of your competition, and one way to achieve this is to use video to improve your SEO. Using video content on your web pages can help to boost your SEO by increasing traffic and engagement, raising the value of your content and improving your Google ranking.
Creating and uploading high-quality video on your website is not only appealing to the user, but Google loves it as well!
What is SEO?
Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is the foundation of your entire online marketing footprint. To put it simply, SEO is the process of improving your website to increase its visibility on search engines, such as Google and Bing.
There are over 200 ways to improve your SEO and increase your Google ranking, whether this is by optimising onsite, utilising offsite or tweaking the technical aspects. Within this article we will discuss the very important, but sometimes overlooked, creation and usage of video content.
What is Video Content?
Video content is the process of filming and editing entertaining and informative content. Video gives the user a different approach to written content by using eye-catching and captivating visual stimuli, keeping the user engaged for longer periods of time.
How does video help SEO?
Google loves it!
With the ever-changing Google algorithm, it is sometimes hard to keep track of what is the best approach. Google is now consistently valuing two important factors – the quality of your content and the relevance of it to the search term.
When Google crawls a web page, it looks at everything on the page. If your site has a mixture of written content, images and video, Google will read this and it will help to improve your SEO.
Engagement
Video content is perfect for boosting engagement on a web page. The great thing about video is that time is consistent for all, unlike written content. A user would find it quite challenging to watch a 1-minute video in 30 seconds for example!
Another SEO factor Google pays close attention to is the time spent on a website. The more time a user spends on a page, the more Google will push it out to a further audience.
Value
Having high-quality video content increases the value of your SEO. With products especially, users are more likely to purchase if the content is engaging and relevant. Video content is a great way to showcase your product and give the user a better insight than words or pictures can do. This then has a cascading effect on your SEO, leading to more engagement and even more conversions.
How to make a high-quality video?
Making a high-quality video that is entertaining, informative and engaging is no easy feat. There are many factors that work in conjunction to reach the final product:
Planning
If you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail! Planning is one of the most important steps in producing video content. Before you arrive at the location, make sure to meticulously plan exactly what you want to achieve, as this can be the difference between an average video and an amazing video.
Key aspects:
- Storyboarding
- Location
- Goals
Filming
The filming is the pressure area, this is what can make or break your video. Be sure to think about the appropriate framing and lighting whilst also keeping an eye on the audio. Nobody wants to get to the editing stage and realise that the microphone was covered or a smudge was on the camera lens.
Key aspects:
- Framing
- Lighting
- Audio
Editing
The editing stage tends to be the longest, as this is where you can let your creativity shine. Whether you are looking to add music, effects or add some voiceover work, this is the place to do it. Take your time and be sure to check and re-check before you move onto the final stage.
Key aspects:
- Adding music and effects
- Producing voiceover work
- Using transitions
Uploading
The final stage of a successful video shoot is the uploading. Now, assuming you want people to see your finished product, uploading it is rather important. This is the last chance to check and make any additional edits, as once it’s up it’s up. Make sure to review the quality and sizing before hitting that upload button.
Key aspects:
- Quality
- Integration
- Sizing
These four steps are the staple to good video production, however this is only scraping the surface of what it takes to produce high-quality and engaging video content.
Fortunately, here at Pod Digital, we have an experienced team of videographers, editors and SEO experts to help your website reach its full potential.
Get the upper hand on your competition and utilise the use of video to improve your SEO, increase your traffic and engagement. Get in touch with our friendly team today to discuss your options.
