6 Ways You Can Use Youtube Video Content To Improve Your Organic Rankings
Video content is becoming increasingly sought-after so, if your company isn’t already creating videos, now is the time to start.
Not only is this a great way to provide your audience with engaging content, but it can also help to boost your organic Google search rankings and make it easier for potential customers to find you.
Here, I’m going to outline six of the best ways you can ensure your video content helps to improve your organic rankings. I’ll touch on YouTube SEO, as well as introduce you to other effective tactics that will help your business to compete on the search engine results pages in 2021.
Create videos inspired by keyword research
Before creating any type of content, you’ll want to get an idea of what your ideal customers actually want to see. And you can get an insight into this by doing some keyword research.
Keywords are the terms you type into a search engine to find the information you’re looking for. And, if someone is searching for advice related to your business or the industry you work in, you’ll want to pop up at the top of that particular search engine results page (SERP).
But achieving this goal isn’t easy.
Before you can rank for search terms, you need to know which terms to target.
For that, you need to access keyword metrics. There are a variety of tools for this, and two really good options to get started are Google’s Keyword Planner and Ahrefs Keyword Generator.
Start by inputting a general keyword related to your niche. From that search, you will receive a variety of phrases related to your chosen keyword, and — more importantly — search volume measurements for them.
The search volume will tell you how many people tend to type that phrase into a search engine each month. But keep in mind that, if you’re just starting out, you might not want to compete for the most popular spots. Chances are that the terms with tens of thousands of hits are already dominated by powerful brands. That doesn’t make them impossible to rank for, but it can be expensive and time-consuming.
Instead, aim for more specific search terms. They might receive fewer searches, but this will typically make them less competitive. Plus, long-tail keywords will usually send traffic of a higher quality your way.
Once you identify the terms you want to rank for, take a look at who and what already ranks for them. What does their content do well? What does it look like they’re missing?
Create your videos to fill the gaps.
You’ll want your content to be similar enough that it ranks for your target keywords, but you’ll also need to ensure it’s better than what’s out there so it stands out. This can mean elaborating on subtopics that have not been explained well enough, presenting information in a new and more interesting way, or making your content more accessible.
The more creatively you answer a search query to deliver the most relevant and helpful content, the better your video will perform.
Make sure videos already rank for the queries you’re targeting
When you’re aiming to improve your Google rankings with YouTube videos, you need to ensure they actually have a chance of popping up for your desired queries.
Google the particular keyword or phrase you’re thinking about targeting to see whether any videos show up on the first page. If there are no high-ranking videos, it’s probably because the search engine has decided that videos aren’t the best type of content for addressing that specific topic.
If your main goal of creating YouTube videos is to boost your search engine rankings, don’t waste time focusing on subjects that Google has no interest in promoting videos for. Always check the relevant search engine results pages before deciding to move forward with an idea.
Focus on making videos that show your expertise
When deciding how to rank your content, Google will consider the E-A-T of your business and site. This stands for expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. So, if you can prove that your website and YouTube channel are knowledgeable and trustworthy sources of information, your content will be far more likely to climb the search engine results pages.
But how do you demonstrate your authority with your content?
Videos are actually great for this, as they allow you to present your ideas, give expert advice, and show what you do in an engaging and easily digestible way.
For example, Guardian Home Care in Toronto does a fantastic job of showing that they are experts in their field. As providers of elder care services, they create simple but informative and reassuring video content that shows exactly how their services work, and what prospective customers can expect from working with them.
This signals to both searchers and search engines that Guardian Home Care is a reliable provider of both information and care services. Their expertise is clearly demonstrated throughout the video, which potential clients are sure to love. But search engines will take kindly to this, too, and will be more likely to boost the site’s rankings.
Ghirardelli Chocolate is another company that uses video content to show off its expertise, this time within the confectionery industry. For instance, they have a guide on how to temper chocolate, which also includes a high-quality video of one of their chefs demonstrating the techniques written about.
It’s very clear from both the written and video content that this company is an expert in the chocolate sector. This signals to Google that any of the content they publish is trustworthy, so the search engine will be more likely to recommend the site to its users.
Conveniently, a chocolate-making video is also an excellent way to show off their delicious products. Consider whether you can use a similar tactic and create videos that serve as both SEO and selling tools.
Use your videos as link-building tools
Link-building is an aspect of search engine optimization, or SEO, that is essential to any effective digital marketing strategy.
The more links you have to your webpage from outside sources, the more authority is passed on to your website. You still want to prioritize quality over quantity, but the overall goal is to get your name out there.
One great way to build your online presence via link-building is by creating amazing content that others will naturally want to link to. If your video content is especially entertaining or informative, others will want to include it in their own content and should provide you with a backlink when they do.
If no one is aware of your video content or sharing it on their blogs yet, there are a few ways you can kick start the process. You could employ some of the link-building tools available online, or you could simply reach out to other websites in your niche and pitch your video content to them.
Include popular keywords in your video titles and descriptions
Now that you have lots of good video ideas and you know how you’re going to circulate them within your niche, let’s talk about how to optimize the video itself.
When titling and describing your videos, make sure that you include the keywords that people search for in that text. This helps Google identify the purpose of your content, but also helps viewers decide how helpful your video might be.
You won’t want to overstuff your titles and descriptions with keywords, though, so keep it subtle.
Incorporate keywords where they naturally seem to fit. Include a strong one in your title and explain how the video will address the topic in question.
For your descriptions, don’t just list off an ingredients-list of meaningless target keywords. Instead, explain in clear prose what the purpose and content of the video entails, throwing in some applicable terms where they make sense. This way, you can subtly use your target keywords to effectively communicate to the reader why your video best suits their query.
Incorporate keywords where you can, but never go so that your titles and descriptions read unnaturally.
Repurpose your written content into videos
Repurposing old articles or blog posts into videos is a great way to save time and get the most out of your existing content.
Plus, Google recently confirmed that turning your written content into videos won’t be classed as duplicate content, which means it won’t have a detrimental impact on your search engine rankings.
Having many types of content on your website is always a great idea. Different people like to absorb content in different ways, and presenting the same information in multiple formats can also help you to boost the accessibility of your site.
The team over at Venngage are experts in repurposing and enhancing their website content with informative videos. For instance, within their guide to what infographics are, they have embedded a video tutorial that explains how you can make a video tutorial in just five steps. And they’ve also included a link to a written blog post that explores the exact same topic.
EasyBib is another company that does a fantastic job of presenting the same content in both a written and video format. For instance, in their guide to coming up with a strong thesis statement, they also provide an instructional video that covers the same points in a slightly different way.
This works especially well because students looking for some quick tips on how to come up with a thesis (possibly at the last minute) are probably far more likely to click a video link than a lengthy article. But, when they need to go back and double-check a detail that they might have missed, it’s easier to go through the body of the article than scrub through the video.
Plus, perhaps most importantly for us, Google now has two ways to rank this specific piece of content — both in its video and written form. Using this technique can give your company more opportunities to appear on the relevant SERPs.
Keep all of this in mind and take a look at your existing content to see what could be repurposed as a video. It could help you to improve your search engine rankings and reach a wider audience.
Summary
When it comes to SEO, you need to be making high-quality content, but this is no longer restricted to written guides and blog posts. Video content now offers another great way to get your name out there and climb the SERPs.
In order to get the most out of your videos, make sure your content is keyword-motivated and demonstrates your business’s expertise.
Then, get the word out by sharing your video content with others in your niche and asking them to link back to your site whenever they use it. You could even connect with influencers to help increase your reach.
Finally, repurpose old articles into videos to make the most of your existing content, and create new avenues for customer interaction.
Author bio
Alex Ratynski is a Content Strategist at Loganix, an SEO fulfillment partner that works with agencies and marketers. The company focuses on helping businesses to improve their online visibility, so they can grow and reach their goals. If you enjoyed this article, visit the Loganix blog for more expert advice.