By Shay Berman, Founder and President of Digital Resource, LLC
It’s difficult to illustrate how much of our everyday life is dependent on the internet. From our food choices to employment, news, and where we will shop next – a lot of our actions are determined by what we see online. What’s more, with so much information constantly thrown our way, companies find themselves always fighting for our attention as our attention span gets shorter and shorter.
If you lead a modern business, you know that your online presence is a crucial component of your financial success. Boosting that online presence is intimately tied to your search engine rankings, and increasing those rankings requires keeping people on your site for longer. Video has proven particularly effective at achieving this goal. Here we will explore the most effective methods for creating video content like the top SEO experts.
Why is Video Important?
Starts with SEO
SEO stands for search engine optimization and is the practice of increasing website traffic and ranking on search engine result pages like in Google. There are many strategies to boost SEO and search engine rankings, and they all involve exploiting the aspects of search engine algorithms that can help prioritize one website over another. One of the most important aspects of SEO is increasing the amount of time people spend on a page, and that’s where video comes in.
The Importance of Video in SEO
There are many reasons why using video content enhances your site’s appearance and helps improve SEO. However, the most critical reason is engagement. With attention spans slowly decreasing, it’s the job of SEO experts to keep people on a website for longer. Videos are particularly good at doing this.
It turns out, people spend more time on a page with a video than on one that doesn’t have one. On average, people spend over twice as long on pages that contain a video than on those without it. This time translates to websites with video content being 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of google results.
You simply can’t ignore those numbers. So, how can you start creating video content that maximizes your online presence? Here are some strategies to keep in mind:
Getting the Most Out of Your Video Content
Narrow Down Your Audience
This might seem counter-intuitive, as many businesses try to cast as wide of a net as possible to get the maximum amount of attention. Although this is a sound principle, when it comes to video content, specificity is key. Think about what questions your potential or ideal customer might be asking and gear your video to that persona. This will make it more likely to be found through specific inquiries and for people to watch it longer.
Narrative Driven
People like stories; it’s ingrained in us at some fundamental level. Just presenting an idea on its own is simply not engaging enough, and blatant advertisement comes off disingenuous. However, couching a concept or product in a narrative is the perfect way to convey a message. When you create a video, adding a narrative element will keep your viewers engaged.
Invest in Quality
This one seems simple, but it’s often overlooked–proper equipment makes a good video. It’s that simple. Investing in a high-quality digital camera, microphone, tripod, and lighting kit might come with a hefty price tag up front, but it pays for itself in the long term. You can continue to make excellent, professional-grade videos for a long time before you ever need to replace the equipment.
Don’t Overextend Your Welcome
You might have a lot of say, and that’s great! However, when it comes to video content, short and sweet is the way to go. Try to keep videos no longer than 10 – 15 minutes and make sure they are on-topic. If your vision expands beyond the video’s scope, cut it short, and save the footage for future content. After all, the more you put out there, the more likely people are to see you.
Don’t Neglect the Title
First impressions matter quite a bit when it comes to videos. That’s why choosing the right title is crucial in getting people to stick around to watch. Make sure that your title stays within the 60-character confines allowed by YouTube. It’s also important to be clear with what the video is about–your title should be concise, to the point, and outline the topic at hand.
Ready to Start Making Quality Video Content?
Now that you know what to look for, you are equipped to start creating videos that are engaging and will help boost your online presence. If you can only take one thing away from this piece, let it be this – attention is a precious commodity; once you have it, don’t waste it, and don’t betray the trust of your viewer. So, invest in quality and make your videos worth watching, and soon you’ll notice the results.