The statistics are all over the place, so I won’t repeat them ad nauseam here. But the fact is, video is a major driver in content marketing. If you’re not using it now, you’re already behind.
But it’s not too late to start. And it’s not too hard, either. Read on to learn how to use video to improve the SEO of your content.
Why Use Video for Content Marketing?
At CU 2.0, we use written content to increase digital visibility. For some clients, that content might include case studies, web copy, and infographics…
But usually it means blogs. And lots of them.
Here’s why:
Blogs are low stakes, but they have a high impact on SEO. If you want to rank for specific keywords, a blog is your best first step. Most web page copy is short, punchy, and effective…
But blogs? Not so much. Blogs are longer and messier, but they give search engines more to work with. There are just so many more words to dig into!
Speaking of which, that’s where other media comes in. (And soon, we’ll cover how to use video to improve SEO. Promise.)
See, the world of written content is very competitive, and that trend will only continue. Every little advantage helps when improving your SEO. That means following basic SEO guidelines and including other media.
Introducing Blog Introduction Videos
What other media should you include?
Well, there are several kinds. For starters, your blog needs an image. Not only do image tags give you a SEO little boost, but adding a visual component just makes everything look better. (You might also include a poll, an infographic, or a podcast.)
But if you can, you should definitely include video. And there’s a very easy way to do it: blog introduction videos.
The purpose of blog introduction videos is primarily to boost the visibility of your blog. If you want to use video to improve SEO, pay close attention here:
- Stay short. These aren’t like blogs—longer videos won’t improve SEO. But they will take a lot more time and money to produce.
- State the topic of the blog. The video should introduce the issues and context of the blog. They can also showcase some personality.
- Point toward the blog. Blog introduction videos should entice the watcher to navigate to or read your written content.
Blog introduction videos are great because they’re like little trailers for the real thing. They get people ready for the main attraction.
And, for some people, they help with skimming. A short video about the content might help people quickly understand what they’re about to read—while also preventing bounces!
How to Use Video to Improve SEO in Your Blogs
Without getting too deep into technical stuff, using video to improve SEO works in three ways:
First, multimedia acts as sort of a backlink. Putting various media types together in one spot makes search engines pay closer attention.
Second, featuring a short video may increase a visitor’s time on your page. That really helps your bounce statistics.
Third, search engines try to feature more than just web pages at the top of their search results. If you google “Rick Astley,” you’ll see videos featured above his personal page and Wikipedia. If you search, “Klipsch speakers,” you’ll see products for sale, dealer locations, and more videos as well as regular webpages.
So, even if your blog titled, “How to Use Video to Improve SEO” doesn’t immediately show up in SERPs, your video with the same title might. That means you essentially give yourself two chances to rank for the same keyword—one for each piece of content.
And that’s why the CTA points to the blog! The blog will get much better rankings than the video, and you gotta get that ranking if you want traffic (and everything that traffic brings).
What Blog Intro Videos Don’t (and Shouldn’t) Do
Using video to improve SEO will absolutely increase your content’s visibility and ranking. Videos can also provide fun little entryways into your blog.
But there’s a lot that these videos can’t—and shouldn’t—do.
They shouldn’t completely cover the topic of the blog. Search engines won’t rank you for keywords written or spoken in the video—it ranks only the title.
Videos also shouldn’t introduce new content. If your video is about one thing, but the blog is about another? Well, that’s just confusing. And if your content isn’t aligned, it doesn’t establish much trust.
Moreover, if someone watches a long video, why would they visit your blog? They already have all the information they needed! That means you lose page views, keywords, and the chance to get your marketing automation gears turning. You miss out on things like:
- Visitor ID
- Nurturing sequences
- Lead scoring
(And that’s just to name a few.)
Blog videos shouldn’t be commercials. At least, they shouldn’t be commercials for products or services. They should sorta be commercials for the blogs, though.
Videos also shouldn’t link to higher-impact or sales CTAs. The point of your blog is to inform and establish trust. All that trust goes out the window the second you try to make a sale.
If you cover the whole of the blog in one video, you’ve just shot your blog (and content strategy) in the foot!
The CU 2.0 Content Strategy
Organizations see much better results when they tie all their content together. One piece of content leads to the next, which leads to the next, and so on.
The longer people stay on the page—and the more content they consume—the higher your chances at conversion. The more informative and trustworthy you are, the more leads you’ll attract.
Each aspect of the strategy enhances and reinforces the next. But to get that snowball rolling (and growing), your content strategy needs viewed written content. The video portion thus takes a backseat to the blogs themselves.
So, keep this in mind if you use video to improve SEO:
Videos will get a fraction of the views that your blogs will. Videos are supplementary to the blogs—they just make your blogs more visible and effective. Don’t get too caught up in their quality! Spend that extra effort on written content, marketing automation, or something else more impactful.
Additional Resources
Subscribe to our blog to learn more about content strategy. We update regularly to help credit unions, fintechs, and other organizations succeed in an unforgiving digital marketing climate.
For example, this blog is part of a series about content marketing strategy. We’ve included a few links throughout the blog that point towards other bits of that series. So, if this topic interests you, take a look around!
(Or follow the links below to see more.)
And by all means, contact us if you’d like to know more, talk shop, or compare notes!
