Video SEO—getting it right, results to ranking it right

According to Forrester Research, optimized video uploads have more chances of generating a first page Google ranking compared to traditional search engine optimization (SEO) approaches.

While the advantages of video SEO are cut and clear, most websites tend to ignore the platform. Or, worse, they don’t know how to use it properly. For instance, most sites submit video uploads to video-sharing websites, like YouTube. This actually has a negative effect on SEO.

Google, for one, gives higher ranks to video compared to other content forms. This is a big motivation for companies to capitalize on the platform. Also, compared to traditional content mediums, there are very few videos on the net. And if you look for videos that have proper SEO specifications, the “few” become “fewer”.

How do you optimize a video? Benjamin Wayne of Search Engine Watch explains it best:

“Today, almost all search engines will allow sites to submit video content in the form of an XML feed. However, serialization of the feed is unique to each engine, and not all guidelines are published. Sites wishing to do this on their own should contact the individual search engines for specific guidelines on submission, as published guidelines are often outdated or inaccurate. Some sites may have specific guidelines on feed size or pagination, which will also need to be followed if all videos are to appear.

In creating an XML feed, search engines give disproportionate weighting to the title of the video, and ignore most other metadata associated with the feed. Different search engines will choose different thumbnails for display, and if particular thumbnails are desired, sites should take care to include only those thumbnails in the feed.”

Wayne also noted that sites should submit a permalink that mirrors the video XML feed. Videos should also have title tags and the permalink pages should be identical to the video title.

Source: Search Engine Watch