Video optimisation, for searching rather than viewing, is growing in potency. With more users taking advantage of fast broadband connections video is shaping up to be a huge proportion of web content.
Delivering video is one thing, optimising it for search engines is entirely another. There is a paucity of focussed articles and research into video search optimisation, with a smattering of sensible comment in fora.
To make videos searchable, and get them generating traffic for your site there are some solid ideas that share much with image search optimisation. These ideas are presented here:
- If your video format allows the embedding of meta data, insert keywords.
- Upload your video to video sharing sites (YouTube et al) and, if you’re permitted, insert the URL of the video at your site in the meta keywords.
- Don’t provide video via a pop-up- it’ll be ignored
- Some video search engines can read keywords from the video, so include them in the first and last video frames.
- Give your videos search friendly names and include keywords e.g. "SEO Copywriting 101" rather than "fullvid_24|of|40".
- Make it easier for search engines to find your video content by creating a video sitemap, and keep videos in one directory.
- Help spiders categorize your video by supplying a keyword-rich synopsis or transcript.
- Make sure the text nearest to the video contains plenty of keywords.
- Get your video rated and/or commented upon.
A good example of how to achieve effective video search optimisation is Blendtec’s "Will it blend?" optimisation. It uses a mix of page optimisation, correct delivery and popularity due its YouTube-friendly content:
