With video being the latest content medium, it’s not surprising to check your screens and see various streaming stories, video clips and video ads taking up air time.
Although an entertaining and engaging way to tell a story, does video have any effect on SEO?
We’re here to tell you that, high-quality video content keeps your users engaged which not only helps your SEO but is also a contributing factor to how Google determines the rank score of your website.
With Google’s focus on providing a seamless user experience, their rank scores are based on how quickly, and well, your page answers users’ questions. With this in mind, video has the capability to engage users for longer periods of time, enhance the quality of content you share, and help you build more backlinks.
In short:
Video helps Google rank and favour your website
So how exactly does video content help you do this?
1. Increase the length of time users spend on your site
Video has the capability to make people stop scrolling and have them engaging with different aspects of your website longer.
Video has proven to consistently keep the attention of an audience longer and is a medium that is more likely to get watched by a majority of people over something like a blog or article.
Keeping users engaged for longer periods of time sends a signal to Google that your page is worth spending more time on.
Google assumes that this is because users enjoy interacting with your content and that you have provided an answer worth investing time into.
If you have a flux of visitors that stay on your site for long periods of time, Google gives you credit by ranking your website higher in the SERPs.
2. Video enhances the quality of your content for SEO
Google has a priority to show users content that answers their questions and provides a great user experience.
When Google scans your site and see’s a combination of text, multimedia, and high-quality photos, it assumes that your page is providing more in-depth answers to the questions users are asking.
By using a variety of mediums on a single page, Google assumes you are providing users a better experience and understanding of your product.
The more variety in your content, the higher your content qualifies in the eyes of Google. Websites with video content are 53 times more likely to rank on the first page of Google’s search results.
3. Videos content is more shareable and can help build more backlinks
People share videos 92% of the time that a video is watched. Against text media, this means that if you are creating a video and sharing it, the likelihood of having it shared is high.
The more your link is shared the more Google deems it as useful and engaging to users.
Your links work as popularity scores and the more links you build that point back to your content, the more Google assumes your content is engaging and important to users.
Ensure your video is SEO optimized by checking off the following things:
1. Ensure that your video isn’t the only thing on your page
Having a video is great, but having a video alone won’t do much for your SEO or your user experience. Ensure that you provide context around the video on the page that it lives on.
This can come through in the form of a story about your product, some more specs or technical information and additional images.
Anything you can do to provide Google context of what the video is about is going to get you a higher ranking and in turn, possibly seen more.
2. Ensure your video answers questions and highlights features
It’s likely that your audience will have questions about your product or service and a video is a great place to answer those questions.
What does your product do? Who is it for? What are some features of your service or product that customers should know about?
Answering these questions will help the end-user understand your product more and empower their purchasing decisions.
Video marketing does truly enhance your user experience and outside of all the great SEO benefits, provides an opportunity for companies and individuals to real showcase the benefits of their products and services.
Are you ready to publish a video on your website?
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