Did you know that 87% of marketers say the ROI of SEO video marketing is overwhelmingly satisfying? Did you also know that YouTube is Google’s second-largest search engine? Did you know videos were such an important part of content marketing?
No other form of content has the same level of impact as videos in your marketing strategy. You create a profitable fusion when you leverage strong SEO tactics with video. There’s no doubt that Google is the top dog of search engines. But did you know that AI will advance websites with good video content over other sites with no videos?
When you get down to brass tacks, the process is cyclical. Video content boosts your rankings on the SERPs, which can funnel more traffic to your website. In turn, this traffic validates your website and will also boost your rank on SERPs.
But what about the real results? How can you get video content to generate leads? Let’s dive into my top favorite strategies!
Video SEO Optimization
The purpose of search engine optimization is to make sure your content is found rather than served or delivered. We are going to talk about how and why optimizing your videos will help with your user experience, brand awareness, and higher rankings, and can even be good content for blog posts.
Video Content That Matches Search Intent
Solutions are the name of the game for video content. Over 70% of YouTube searchers go straight to that platform to find videos that solve a problem they’re experiencing, be it personal, work, school, or hobby-related. The goal is to make sure your solution is the one they find!
What is your target customer searching for? What problems and goals do they have? What language do they use? Conduct detailed keyword research and create a list of both short and long-tail keywords.
This data should drive your content strategy.
Include Video Transcripts On Your Website
It’s important to create inclusive content to make your offer more accessible. Not to mention that 85% of Facebook video viewers watch ads and videos without any sound.
There are a myriad of transcription services online, both human and AI that will convert your audio file into written content. Something so simple as this can greatly impact your SERP rankings.
A shortcut method is to upload to YouTube and copy the automatic transcription from the three-dot menu. But this will require heaving formatting and editing. Whatever you choose to do, edit for accuracy and optimize your keywords to give Google the most accurate representation of your message.
Create a collapsible text box or a quality content section along with your video and redirect the reader’s attention to that.
Examples For Redirecting Include:
- No sound? Read this same info here!
- Click here to read the article instead!
- To read this content instead, scroll down!
Enhance Titles, Descriptions, Thumbnails, and Meta-Data
Using your keyword research, integrate those keywords and phrases into descriptions, captions, metadata, and titles. This data has to be highly relevant to compel the viewer to click through and keep search intent in mind.
Meta titles should be less than 55 characters, and meta descriptions should be less than 155 characters. Use this space strategically and clearly to communicate what content they’ll find in the video. Also, use the human visual real estate by designing thumbnail graphics that include search-based keywords and phrases.
Create Video Sitemap
This is similar to your standard site map or blog but maps only video content. Show the search engine all the video marketing content that’s available on your website and keep this map updated with each new addition.
If you’ve never had one before, this may be a time-consuming effort but will eventually pay off in a big way. It also enhances the credibility and scope of your website and is a massive component of your technical SEO strategy.
Create Video Schema
Schema markup is an HTML code on your website. It explains the content on the page to the AI search engine bots in their own language and in much greater detail. A video schema will achieve the same thing for video content and will enhance the snippets that appear on SERPs.
Ask Google To Recrawl Your Site
A recrawl is when Google assesses and inventory everything that’s on your website. You can request this from your Google search console account after making video sitemap updates. Google’s bots will get to work exploring and indexing your new or updated content that can more easily be served on SERPs.
Turning Video Content Into Leads
These small tweaks to your website and video content aren’t fully developed on their own. Google’s obligation is to the searcher, and so should yours be. Create click-worthy and highly valuable content that makes it easy for the search engines to serve it up.
Focus on wins and benefits. What does your target audience need to learn or hear? How can you help them make real, tangible progress? How can you show them a greater place of understanding that motivates them to take action?
It’s imperative to develop a valuable and actionable content strategy that helps the viewer. You’re not just selling with video content, you need to educate, delight, and encourage them. In order to secure your place as an authority figure they trust, you must position yourself as a thought leader in their eyes.
Video Content Subscriptions
Twitch and YouTube are the top platforms for video subscriptions, paid or otherwise. When you create new content, subscribers are automatically notified. This can also put you into their inboxes or as a push notification on mobile devices.
For private subscriptions, produce a weekly or monthly video newsletter or share footage of a podcast recording. Share a behind-the-scenes look at what it looks like to make your “secret sauce.” Walk-through production or decision-making processes.
Keep it fresh and interesting, always with the client’s goals and benefits in mind. Create content to fit long-term goals that suit every milestone on the customer journey.
Gated Video Content
Most commonly, gated content is a long-form resource that teaches or shares new information or a new method of taking action. Creators require contact information before granting access and thus turn prospects into leads.
Typically, these are light, value-driven strategies or frameworks that share enough information to get the viewer excited and motivated while also empowering them with enough information to take a specific action.
Landing Page Videos
If you’re driving traffic from search engines, social media, email, or ads, they will land somewhere. This is the landing page where they will learn more about your brand, your offer, and your process.
This could be a page on your website, a form, or a funnel. To enhance lead generation metrics, include some form of video content that is designed to encourage viewers to drop in their contact info.
It should support the written content and match whatever they saw that led them here. You can share a story or compelling case study details. Entertain them with a relevant, humorous anecdote or make a personal connection as you, not your brand. Or increase industry authority with a detailed and organized slideshow or video sales letter.
Video Retargeting Ads
Something in your ads resonated with viewers enough that they hit clicked. Many people abandon landing pages for many reasons. Show them you know what their industry-related goals and obstacles are by creating video ads that act as a follow-up to original ad sets.
Use this second chance at their attention to remove any objections and offer more interesting and click-worthy statistics and stories that move them down your sales funnel.
Videos In Email
A recent digital marketing survey revealed that adding video content to emails increased the CTR by 200-300% and that simply typing “video” in the subject line increased open rates by 19%, and unsubscribe numbers were reduced by 26%.[1] These are compelling numbers!
The numbers prove that this works! You can link to videos from your website or YouTube using intentionally designed graphics or custom GIFs, or you can use email management software to embed videos into email blasts with pre-formatted settings easily.
Create Video Testimonials
Happy customers who are willing to share their stories provide ironclad proof that you’re the real deal. It’s outside confirmation that you and your products can do what you promise. It also helps peel back another layer of connection that proves you’re a real human who makes genuine connections and not just a brand.
Video Case Studies
Case studies can be turned into engaging slideshows and presentations that include graphs, charts, and projections. Share your stats! Customers love to see the proof in the pudding with hard data and inarguable facts. Offer a bit of future framing to show where they could be with the same methods or products applied.
Always Include A Call-To-Action
You have to ask for the action, and it has to be clear. Don’t waste the time and effort you’ve put in thus far to earn their trust and prove your authority without the follow-through. It should tell them exactly what to do and why.
Increase Traffic and Generate Leads With Video!
Boost your website rankings and grow your business!
Guest Post Author Torrey Tayenaka is the co-founder and CEO of Sparkhouse, a training video production agency. He is often asked to contribute expertise in publications like Entrepreneur, Single Grain, and Forbes. Sparkhouse is known for transforming video marketing and advertising into real conversations.
Rather than hitting the consumer over the head with blatant ads, Sparkhouse creates interesting, entertaining, and useful videos that enrich the lives of its client’s customers. In addition to Sparkhouse, Torrey has also founded the companies Eva Smart Shower, Litehouse & Forge54.
Sources:
- [1]Source – WYZOWL
- [2]Source – Mushroom Networks
- [3]Source – Think With Google
- [4]Source – Facebook Business
- [5] Source – Snov
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