In 2020, Cisco forecasts that video will account for 82% of global Internet traffic. To react to the massive production of video content, it will therefore be essential to maximize the visibility of your videos and to do this, you will have to work on your VSEO.
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What is VSEO?
VSEO is the acronym for "video search engine optimization". In other words, VSEO refers to all the techniques that allow you to optimize the positioning of your videos in search results, video distribution platforms and even social networks. It is the natural referencing of your videos.
Why use VSEO? 5 reasons:
We now present the 5 main reasons to adopt Video Search Engine Optimization.
1. Video internet traffic is increasing
62% of Google searches contain videos. Users appreciate video because it saves them a lot of time. They have access to the information they are looking for in a synthetic and educational way.
The craze for video is such that YouTube has become the 2nd most used search engine, behind Google. If YouTube is specialized in video distribution, other platforms do not hesitate to add this string to their bow. Amazon has bought Twitch, the streaming platform for gamers and Facebook has developed watch, a space dedicated to video accessible from the application.
In parallel, LinkedIn and Twitter have developed native video integration (this means that you can directly upload your videos on these platforms without necessarily sharing a YouTube link). Videos are the content that generate the most engagement on their platform.
As you will have understood, there is an opportunity to seize if you use video in your communication strategy. VSEO is often underestimated and therefore little used in comparison to classic SEO techniques. It's up to you now to differentiate yourself from your competitors thanks to VSEO!
2. Improve your SEO
The VSEO will improve the positioning of your video in search engine results (SERP is called "Search Engine Results Page"). The VSEO will also allow you to place your video in the Top results on YouTube and other video distribution platforms.
If your landing page contains an optimized video, your website will be 53 times more likely to be positioned on the first page of results.
Moreover, by taking care of your VSEO, you also maximize your chances of positioning your video in the dedicated section on the first page of results .
The video section appears at the top of the first page of Google results. It shows the thumbnails of your videos, which will naturally attract the attention of your users.
Thus, the VSEO will increase your visibility and improve the chances of your video being seen by a maximum number of users.
3. Develop traffic to your website
By optimizing your positioning with VSEO, you increase your visibility and therefore attract more traffic. Video increases your natural traffic from search engines by 157%.
Attracting more visitors is good, attracting qualified visitors is even better!
VSEO will allow you to position your video on keywords consistent with your content and your business sector. This way, you will attract qualified traffic, interested in the subject of your video.
4. Improve your ROI
By attracting qualified traffic, you maximize your chances of converting your visitors into customers. You will thus optimize your ROI (return on investment). Video often represents a significant investment. It is therefore logical to try to make it profitable.
If you invest in the launch of a website, it would be a shame not to optimize it in search engines. It is the same for video: once created, the work does not stop there. You still have to make a few more efforts to distribute it properly.
5. Accessible techniques
While SEO is a long and sometimes complex process, VSEO is much easier to implement. The techniques are free, quick to set up and within everyone's reach. This is what we will explain to you.
How to implement VSEO?
Before starting your VSEO, make sure that your video is of the best possible quality both in terms of image and sound. Rendering quality is paramount. If you work perfectly on your VSEO but your video is of poor quality, you will not benefit from the advantages of this type of referencing.
1. Define keywords
As in an SEO strategy, keywords will play a considerable role in your VSEO.
Make sure you list the keywords related to your content, your industry and those that tend to generate traffic. You can do this by using the "keyword planning" tool in Google Ads. This tool allows you to find ideas of keywords likely to interest your targets but also to consult the search volumes of the keywords on which you want to position yourself.
Be careful however, positioning yourself on keywords with a high search volume is not necessarily the most relevant. These are very competitive and it will therefore be more difficult to make your video stand out on the first page of results.
On the other hand, it is essential to position the video on keywords that match the content of your video. If the content does not match the title, your audience will tend to quickly leave your video and thus increase your bounce rate. YouTube will sanction this practice by positioning your video less well.
Once your keywords are defined, you will be able to use them in your metadata and specify them via tags (on YouTube) or hashtags (on social networks). You can specify up to 10 tags on YouTube. Invisible by users, these tags will help the platform to understand the content of your video and thus adjust its recommendation algorithm.
2. Take care of the metadata
Metadata is the information that defines content. For VSEO, we will look at the title, description and thumbnail of your video.
This metadata appears in several ways on Google.
The title
The first element appearing in the metadata is the title. The title of your video must include your main keywords, in a maximum of 60 characters. Beyond that, the title will be cut off, which is not ideal for the user experience.
Your video title should catch the attention, provoke the click, while being true to the video content.
The description
The second element to take care of is the description. On Google, you will only see the first 150 characters, while on YouTube it is advisable to write a description of at least 300 words.
In order to optimize it as much as possible, you can follow the following structure:
Write a teaser. You should insert your keywords within short impactful sentences that will make you want to view the content. The first 150 characters of your description will be displayed on Google. Google robots are unable to read video content, so you must help them by describing your video.
Then, you will be able to go further by adding useful information for the user. You can describe your video, its context, its objectives or add additional information.
You can then do an internal networking work by referring to other videos or your website. Think about integrating a call to action to encourage users to click on your links.
Insert your keywords as hashtags. Be careful not to put more than 15 hashtags, at the risk of being penalized by YouTube. Only the first 3 will appear in the title of your video, the others will be displayed at the end of your description.
The thumbnail
The third and last element of metadata to work in VSEO is the thumbnail of your video.
Just like the title, the thumbnail will come to provoke the click, as long as it is attractive and readable. For the visual, you can take a freeze frame of your video. This freeze frame must correspond to a key moment in your video while being visually pleasing.
The thumbnail appears in small size, so favor close-ups. Similarly, if you want to incorporate text, make sure it is readable.
Finally, your thumbnail must be in 16:9 format to appear correctly in search results.
3. Give a meaningful name to the video file
In a classic SEO strategy, it is advisable to rename all images with an evocative name using the main keywords. The name of your video file should be worked in the same way. This will give the video hosting platform or search engine indications about its content.
4. Add subtitles
Often underestimated, subtitles allow you to make your content accessible to people with hearing loss and to distribute it internationally. This practice is highly valued by Google, especially since you give it more material to analyze in order to position and recommend your video.
Subtitles also allow your video to be more viewed on social networks. For example, on Facebook, 85% of videos are watched without sound.
5. Share your video with your community
Take pride in your video and share it with your network and community. Your goal? Create engagement around your content because the more a video is shared, commented and "liked", the more it will be valued by the algorithms that will consider it relevant.
Video allows you to communicate simply and effectively. It improves the comprehension and memorization of your messages by your targets.
VSEO is a practice that will strengthen your communication by giving more visibility to your video content. Indeed, it will improve their positioning on search engines, video distribution platforms and social networks.
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