Video Optimization Checklist for Online Branding and Traffic

The newly appointed prominence of Google Play in the Google nav bar and changes to the YouTube player (see Where to Host Your Video, below) that makes sharing and engagement easier are pretty strong signals of the importance of rich media online.

That we’ve moved SEM Synergy from audio to video demonstrates our own priority to move toward the visual medium.
If your business is planning to invest in video to draw interest and traffic online, consider this checklist for what to do when filming, optimizing and sharing a video intended for online consumption.

Ideas for Video Content Topics

• Product demos
• Tour of facilities
• Interviews with customers and colleagues
• Speeches and presentations by employees

Optimize Meta Data and Descriptive Text

• Place keywords in the video’s filename.
• Place keywords in the Meta data, the descriptive text.
• Include the business name and a category in the file name in the interest of local rankings.
• Optimize the video properties. Open the properties of the video, go to the Summary tab, in the Title include the business name and category. Include the business name, category and phone number in the Author field. In the Comments field, include keywords, the Google categories, the city name and surrounding cities of the business.
• Optimize surrounding text on your site, including keywords relevant to a user’s search. Spiders can read and index the Meta data and surrounding text and correlate it with the video content.

Where to Host Your Video

If you want your website to rank for your video, the video must be hosted on-site. However, this brings up technical challenges for some businesses that don’t have video player technology. YouTube can offer a significant branding and traffic driving utility if leveraged correctly. YouTube recently improved the interface of embedded videos. As you’ll see on SEM Synergy, we’ve embedded a playlist of videos through YouTube. Embedded videos now have enhanced sharing, liking and subscribing abilities with the interaction bar.

Upload Videos to Off-site Channels

• YouTube: Traction and traffic to a business’s videos posted on YouTube don’t reflect directly on the business website as YouTube is hosting the content. Link to your site in the description of the video and brand the video with a logo, or at the very least, use YouTube annotations to include the business URL. Include a call to action in the description to drive users to your site and explain what additional information they can receive by going there. Or, if the intention of the video is to have visitors buy a product or visit a store, allow for that conversion through a link to the product page on site, a store locator or link the video to your Google Places page…
• Google Places: Once your videos are on YouTube, they’re easy to add to your Google Places Local Business Listing. For this purpose, it’s recommended to include the city and state of your business in the tags on YouTube. Google Places allows for up to five videos to be included on a business profile. Take advantage of all five, if you can, as the more info you can provide a visitor about your business, the higher the trust signal, for both the user and the Google local ranking. Keep in mind Google Places guidelines for video.
• Promote the video on your social networks. If a person is featured in the video and the person is tagged in the video on Facebook, for instance, chances are good he will share the video with his network, amplifying the video’s reach. This helps with branding and can increase awareness of your product or service.