If you're a regular user of the internet, you will at some time have
watched videos on YouTube, or even submitted your own video. Millions of
people visit YouTube every month, and, although there are other similar
sites, it's the leader by far, and a perfect place to market your site
or product.
youtube for seoMost people selling on the internet are familiar with
search engine optimization and the role it plays in getting pages ranked
on the first page of Google. This ranking is the holy grail of internet
marketing and can mean the difference between a thriving, money-making
website, and one that has sunk into oblivion.
These same SEO
techniques can be used on a YouTube site. Why is this so cool? Because
video ranks highly on Google and a well-designed video optimized for SEO
will increase a page ranking much quicker than placing articles on
multiple sites and creating back links.
So just what is involved in producing an SEO optimized video for YouTube? Here are a few quick hints:
-
Develop the idea and write a storyboard. This is similar to a script,
using drawings, diagrams and instructions to illustrate the action
sequences to be videoed.
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Shoot the video and do any post-production editing or reworking.
-
Develop a title and description before going to YouTube to upload,
because the information is set at this point. Both the title and the
description need to contain good, strong keywords and common variations.
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Include a link to the URL at the start of the description, where it will be visible and clickable.
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YouTube allows the inclusion of tags which are invisible on the public
page, but which match this video to others with similar tags. It shows
as a "related video," increasing the chances of people giving it
additional views.
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The more popular a video is, the more often it will be shown, and the
better the ranking in the search engines. Extra effort to create a great
video will result in better search rankings, as many of the videos on
YouTube are of questionable content and poor quality.
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To increase the number of inbound links and embeds, promote the video to
people and sites that might link to it. Most times, all it takes is to
contact the owners of relevant sites and blogs and ask them to look at
the video. If they like it, they will embed or link to it.
-
Use a blog to let readers know about the video, and ask them to leave a
rating or comment on the YouTube site. Facebook and Twitter friends may
do the same if asked; in fact, use any existing social networking
contacts to promote the video.
These are just a few suggestions
to introduce you to SEO via YouTube. Video marketing is gaining ground
over pure textual content, because it presents the information in an
entertaining and interactive way. Millions of people watch YouTube. They
can't all be wrong.
youtube for seo