Are Videos Good for SEO?

Videos have always played a critical role in organic search results and visibility, and Google is prioritizing websites that have quality video content.

Appearing on the first page of a Google search engine results page (SERP) is the goal of any company that requires online visibility. 

With 93 percent of online experiences starting with a search engine and the top three spots getting 55% of the clicks, companies should be doing everything possible to get on that first page.

Combined with high-quality content and SEO best practices, adding videos will certainly help boost the rankings of any website.

Houston Video is dedicated to creating top-quality videos that will:

• Increase your online visibility
• Maximize your SEO
• Reduce your bounce rate; and
• Generate leads for your business

So, how are video and SEO connected?

Adding videos increases your chances of ranking on page one of Google and other search engines in several ways:

1. Internet users spend twice as long on a website that has video content than those without it.
2. High-quality content leads to backlinks, giving your website more authority.
3. Video increases click-through rates and drives a 157% increase in organic traffic.

Hands down, adding quality video and SEO to any website lowers the bounce rate, which ultimately leads to more leads for your business.

Google’s internal algorithm continually crawls websites to analyze the value within the content.

The two most important factors that Google considers are: 

• Quality of content; and 
• How well it relates to the original search terms

Not only will Google and other search engines analyze the text within your website, but they also want to know what other types of media, such as video, you have included.

Every blog post can be accompanied by a corresponding video, including:

• Video SEO on a landing page
• Product videos
• Explainer/introductory videos; and
• Video SEO-rich snippets

Now that you know video and SEO go hand-in-hand, let’s dive a little deeper into exactly how video helps SEO.

The number one goal for any company with a website is to increase traffic to the site. Here’s how adding video does that.

Google crawls the web looking for content that adds value to the reader — and this includes video.

Visuals are equally as important as the text on your page. 

So, if you have a blog that hits a couple of keywords but doesn’t have images or video, it won’t rank ahead of a similar blog that does.

Video provides Google and other search engines with proof that quality content exists on your website, increasing your SEO and making it more likely that your site will rank higher as a result.

Google Analytics tracks the bounce rate for every website, so it’s important to have a website that’s designed to keep readers on the page or clicking through.

But, is having a high bounce rate a bad thing for your SEO?

Yes, and no.

If the homepage of your website acts as the starting point and users are required to click through to product pages or your checkout process, then you definitely want to avoid a high bounce rate.

But, for simpler sites, such as blogs, a higher bounce rate isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, adding video to your blog posts will increase the overall time readers spend on your page, and that will increase your domain authority.

No matter what type of website you have, relying on video to improve your bounce rate will make it more likely that search engines will put you at the top of their rankings.

Generating traffic by adding quality video and SEO best practices will increase the number of potential customers you will have.

Visits to your website equal opportunity for your business. Having more traffic to your site can:

• Promote growth
• Expand your product line
• Help you develop more services; and
• Create opportunity for more locations or a broader reach

So, are YouTube videos good for SEO? 

Google owns YouTube which is why you’ll see videos displayed in search results. While you won’t see video SEO-rich snippets because they’re eliminated from brand platforms, they’ll appear in YouTube search results. 

Bottom line: YouTube SEO can help increase your website rankings.

At Houston Video, we know the SEO value of video and how to maximize your exposure on YouTube and your website. Contact us for more information.

So, how can you improve your video and SEO strategy to get the most traffic to your website?

We’ve compiled a list of the top four strategies to improve your SEO through quality videos that will draw traffic to your website and generate more leads for your business.

If you have a basic understanding of SEO, then you’ll know the value of using keywords in your content, and videos are no exceptions.

Using relevant keywords for SEO within the description of your video, such as…

• Titles and tags
• File names; and
• Description

…will ensure that your video is visible to search engine web crawlers and ranks well in the SERP. 

Video transcript is the text that pairs with your video audio. Having a transcript will not only make your video more accessible to any audience, but it will also make your video more visible to web crawlers because you’ve added extra text to the page.

Adding a transcript allows internet users to watch your video without audio, making it more likely that they’ll stay on your page longer. 

Rather than waiting for a better time to listen, they can view the video from almost anywhere without disturbing others around them.

Lastly, a video transcript also makes your video more relevant to search queries and therefore more likely to rank higher in the SERP.

A huge factor in Google’s algorithms is user page experience, and it’s about to get bigger. In May of 2021, Google will be increasing the importance of page experience, and this includes load times for your website and videos.

Specifically, Google’s update includes:

• Loading speed
• Interactivity; and
• Visual stability

With 53% of mobile users leaving websites that take longer than three seconds to load, ensuring a quick video load time will improve your video SEO.

More than 2 billion logged-in users are visiting YouTube every month, so if you don’t have a YouTube channel for your business, you could be missing out on a lot of potential leads.

As you know, Google owns YouTube, so you can safely bet that YouTube’s algorithms are somewhat similar to Google’s. Here’s what their bots will be crawling for:

• Watch time – How long are users staying on the page to watch your video?
• Video length – Videos lasting longer than 10 minutes usually rank higher as they are more likely to satisfy user intent.
• Number of subscribers – The more you have, the more likely you are to be noticed as an authority in your space.
• User interaction – Comments, likes, subscribers, shares, and links all add authority to your channel.

So, how do you make the most of your YouTube channel? Here are a few ways:

1. Make sure to include a keyword in your channel name and use channel keyword tags.
2. Publish long videos for audience retention.
3. Focus on the first 15 seconds of the video and be sure to get straight to the point as quickly as possible.
4. Create playlists to boost watch time.
5. Say your keywords in the video and the transcription.
6. Create engaging titles that include the year.

If you’re not familiar with video production, don’t worry. Houston Video has been creating compelling video content for websites just like yours for years, and we’d love to chat with you about your next project.

Video and SEO are like peas and carrots — they just go together.

It’s proven that 95% of consumers will retain the information they receive through video versus just 10% from reading.

But, what matters more than anything is the quality of the video. Let’s face it, we’ve all seen some cringe-worthy videos on YouTube that had us clicking away pretty quickly.

Houston Video is an award-winning video design and production company, and we can work with you to get the results you need for your business.

Our videos are geared toward:

• SEO
• Corporate marketing
• Social media advertising
• And more

For a free consultation and to discuss your video and SEO needs, contact Houston Video today.