Video content can be compelling in so many ways. Not only can it be easier for your audience to watch and absorb, but it can also help you rank on search engines and video platforms.

Getting on the first page of Google's search results is no easy task. With all the new updates on the search engine's algorithm, it's become even more difficult. The same goes for videos you upload on your YouTube channel. Optimising your videos for SEO can be your best chance of ranking.

Here are some best practices individuals can use to help boost video SEO:

Align the video with the page it’s on

If you want your video to rank, you must optimise the page where it's found. After all, the whole page is ranked, not the video alone.

So, if all the on-page elements are done right and aligned with one another, the video may show up on the results page as a Featured Snippet. Make sure to use the target keyword in the title of the page and the video.

If the video is the main focus, say so on the title and meta description.

Include relevant copy

Videos are engaging, but it would help if you surround them with relevant text to boost their SEO.

Add a keyword-focused header, a video description and a full transcript of the video. Not only will this help people with low or no vision, but it'll also help boost the visibility of your video, increasing your audience reach and engagement.

Help search engines find your videos

If you have a website, you should have a video sitemap. A video-specific XML sitemap helps search engines determine where your videos are on your website and which one should be indexed for ranking.

This is especially helpful when you have a video posted on multiple pages. You can choose, which video location you want search engines to show in search results. When submitting your video sitemap to the Search Console, include the following:
  • Video title
  • Video description
  • Play page URL
  • Thumbnail URL
  • Video player URL

If you're publishing a video on YouTube, make sure to add YouTube tags to make it more searchable. These are blue hashtags you can find above the video title. You can add as many as you want, but each video will only display three.

Make the video the focal point of your page

Whether you created your video in a free online video editor or an expensive video editing software, you didn't invest time and effort only to have it positioned in a tiny corner of your webpage, did you?

Your audience is more likely to click on your link for the video so make sure that it's the focus of the page. Make it big and position it at the start of your blog or article. This way, visitors can immediately watch the video without having to scroll down the page.

Add social media sharing buttons

Shared videos don't directly affect a page's rank, but it helps bring the videos to people who may be interested in linking to them.

To encourage sharing, make sure there are visible, clickable social sharing buttons beside the video. If the process of sharing is long and hard, visitors may feel discouraged. Also, make it easy and convenient for website owners to copy your video's embed code. This way, they can easily host it on their websites and link it to yours.

Stand out with schema markup

Search engines can only sometimes understand what your video content is all about. But a schema markup tool can help improve how your page displays and enhance the video's description.

This can be pretty tedious, but it can be set up automatically. The essential elements to consider for schema are the following:
  • Title
  • Description
  • Duration of video
  • Date of upload
  • Thumbnail
  • Transcript

Include timestamps in the video description

Timestamps are individual previews of each section of your video. Viewers can click on the timestamp to video the specific chapter it's linked to. This helps your audience skim your video quickly and easily.

The benefit of using timestamps is that search engines may display them on the video carousel, making your video stand out on the search results page.

Video SEO matters

Businesses should take advantage of the popularity of videos because they present opportunities for your website to become more visible online.

You're more likely to achieve significant results with high-quality videos and thoughtful, well-executed video optimisation practices.

For more information, visit www.clipchamp.com. You can also follow Clipchamp on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.