Video Optimization for SEO
Video content is a huge part of our communication methods—not just for learning comprehension reasons but also culturally. YouTube has 2.527 billion users. Tik-Tok has one billion.*
Optimizing your videos and video platforms for search is a winning strategy for higher web traffic and potentially more highly engaged users. Also, don’t forget about usability—accessible content includes all our users wherever they are.
YouTube Optimization
Two billion users watch video content on YouTube and as of 2022, 500 minutes of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute.** YouTube videos are also listed first—above all other video—on Google SERPS (search engine page results). If you properly optimize your YouTube channel for search (Google), you can both reach more visitors on your channel and potentially boost traffic to your website.
Thumbnails
Thumbnail images are like metadescriptions—users see them first in search. Choose an engaging thumbnail image. Otherwise, Google will choose it for you, and it could be an awkward image. Ideally, you want to help the user know what the video is about on first glance. (This could involve text in the thumbnail.)
Why is this SEO related? It is a practice to best optimize the video for users, and if media is optimized for users, then it’s optimized for search (and vice versa). Plus, AI can now, and will soon, get better at picking out text in imagery and image recognition.
Video Title Tags
Videos should have accurate, user-readable titles. Videos show in SERPS and titles should make sense to the user.
Do not keyword stuff titles. Google knows that when we add too many repeating keyword variations that we are trying to manipulate search results.
Additionally, when you embed videos on a webpage, they typically show the title. We want them to be optimized for the user.
Quick Checklist
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Thumbnails
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Title
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Video description
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Video transcription/Subtitles & captions
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Hashtag optimization (specific to YouTube)
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Tag optimization (specific to YouTube)
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Chapters (specific to YouTube)
Video Descriptions
Customize your video description and make it relevant. Note that the first two sentences are the most important. They are posted with the thumbnail in the Google search result.
Add targeted keywords and phrases and web and social links as relevant. All clicks on links from this section can be tracked, so you can measure how your users are engaging with your content.
Video Transcripts
Upload a video transcript. This will replace the autogenerated captions and text. (On YouTube, you can attach them as an .srt file.)
Use subtitles and captions.
Use related keywords and phrases in subtitles and captions as long as they are relevant. Do not keyword stuff just to try and manipulate Google SERPS.
While YouTube can autogenerate captions, they are often inaccurate or wrong. Google will downrank videos with autogenerated text that has not been corrected or edited.
Hashtags (YouTube)
Add at least three hashtags, preferably keywords and phrases that you have researched. YouTube allows up to 15 hashtags in a video description. The first three listed will be posted up by the title of the video and are searchable by a user.
Tip: You can also tie in hashtags to social media campaigns.
Tag Optimization (YouTube)
Tag your video to appropriately categorize it. YouTube can autogenerate video lists of other related video content.
Chapters (YouTube)
Break your video into chapters with subtitles. The chapters feature allows you to break a video down into chapters however you like. Chapters give you opportunities to add more keywords to a description