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SEO For Videos – A Beginners’ Guide To Best Practices

Video SEO is the same as SEO for search engines. YouTube is the 2nd most used search engine on the internet after Google, and it has its own search rules, keywords, and search intent. It helps that Google owns YouTube, so linking or associating the videos with the other content can help the SEO efforts by the professionals at Dwarika Web Solutions, a leading SEO company in Brampton.

SEO for video is specialized, so you can’t simply use Google keywords and YouTube keywords interchangeably. While there will be cross-over, you do need to treat each search intent individually. The following are some of the Video SEO best practices:

The Title Tag must relate to the video

For search purposes, people will click on a video that goes with what they are in search of. If they click on the video and it does not fulfill their search purpose, they’ll click back and go to a different place. Google, and YouTube, will observe this, and you might get a drop in the search rankings.

Google will even penalize you if you try keyword baiting, where you mislead the audience into watching the video by tagging with irrelevant keywords. Do some keyword research and write a good copy for the title tags.

Tag the video correctly

Video tags help group the video. When merged with the title and the description, video tags work in SEO agreement and can help boost the video up the search rankings. Video tags help Google return videos that go with search intention and can help the audience find related videos by choosing the tags to search under.

To add a tag to the video:

  • Sign in to the YouTube Studio.
  • On the side menu on the right, choose CONTENT and choose the video you would like to add tags to.
  • Add the tags.

This can also be done through mobile.

The Thumbnail of the video must be attention-grabbing

Much like a SERP, where people choose a link based on the Meta Description and their intention when people make a decision to watch a video, their choices are made essentially on the thumbnail image presented to them.

If you do not engineer the thumbnails, then YouTube will present an image from the video. If you aren’t careful, the thumbnail may be of somebody pulling an awkward face, or an otherwise useless frame. Not only do these thumbnails not stand for what the video is about, but it is even amateurish and will reflect disappointingly on your brand.

Make sure that the thumbnail is pertinent to the topic and attention-grabbing.

Relative video description

The video description works much like a Meta Description. It should not be comparatively short and to the point with some keywords included. Keep away from stuffing keywords into the description, and do not entice the audience using a false description. If you do, penalties will apply.

Google bots search the video description, so ensure that you are serving up what the viewer would like when one is looking for the content. Include keywords from the research to work with that SEO campaign.

Upload the transcript of the video (for Best result in SEO For Videos)

Transcribing the video is possibly the best tip we can provide you with to boost the SEO of the video. Transcripts include the text that comes into view in the closed captions of the video. They can even appear in the comments below the video as well.

Naturally, you are going to be talking about the key subject that has been researched and incorporates keywords, so the transcript will have that. But there are more benefits to uploading the transcript, including:

  • It allows people who have hearing difficulties to follow along with the video content as well.
  • Google crawls the text for SEO ranking.

If you incorporate the transcript in the comments section or description, you can add time markers to key points, so those who would like answers right away can jump to the timestamp and get the content they need.

Key Takeaways on SEO For Videos

High-speed mobile networks and more powerful smartphones allow the audience to watch the video anywhere, but you need to work on the SEO of the videos to cater to this market. The SEO research you need for video is similar to but dissimilar from regular SEO research. Invest as much energy and time researching video SEO as you would with all your other keyword research. Dwarika Web Solutions is the best SEO company in Toronto to get in touch with to learn how to carry out YouTube keyword research.

Remember title tags, descriptions, and transcripts (all with keywords) can significantly help with the video SEO rankings. Track the impact of your efforts with the Video Rank Tracker app to see if your rankings are moving positively.

Do video content and SEO interest you, even though you do not have a channel yet? Check out Dwarika Web Solutions can help you to create your own branded YouTube channel. For more details, feel free to get in touch with our SEO company in Brampton at 1(855) 561-4557 and to get professional solutions!

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