On his blog QuickSprout (which I highly recommend!), Neil Patel recently posted an article that outlines 7 steps to rank on the first page of Google using video. We’ve mentioned it here before, but to quote from Forrester research on the keywords for which Google offers video results, any given video in the index stands about a 50 times better chance of appearing on the first page of results than any given text page in the index”. So if video could be your ticket to the coveted first page, here’s a quick summary of how to give yourself the best chance to get there.
- Upload your video to YouTube.
- Embed your video on your website (and anywhere else you can think of for that matter). Google algorithms factor in video view counts, so the more views you can generate, the better.
- Make sure you add relevant text wherever you embed your video. Since Google can’t “read” your video, it’s important to have text on the page that describes the video (or even better, a transcription).
- Create a video sitemap (for more detail on how to do this, check out this Google support doc). This ensures your video is indexed by Google.
- Select a title and description for your video that targets a long tail keyword. Generic, broad keywords are difficult to rank for, so try to be specific.
- Create a YouTube channel and choose a channel name that incorporates some of the keywords you’re targeting.
- Build backlinks to your video. Chances are, your video won’t be going viral, so you need to put in the legwork to get backlinks to your homepage video. Each link to your video adds to your video’s authority and increases its chance of appearing on page one.
For more detail, make sure to read the full blog post at QuickSprout. Do you have any online video optimization tips to share? Let us know!