According to a recently published report in Forrester’s, web pages with a video on them are 53 percent more likely to rank higher on search engine result pages than without one.
Want to know how, well, you are at the right place. We will explain five significant ways videos can improve their ranking on search results. Among multiple SEO tools to optimize web pages, video is considered the most powerful weapon in the arsenal.
Apart from boosting page rank, videos also have a proven track record of boosting engagement, conversions, and eventually bottom line. We will explore five ways to improve SEO in this blog for your ready reference to apply in digital marketing strategy.
Let us begin.
- Google Recommends Videos in SERP
Google has been giving a lot of importance to videos in search results for some time. Appearing on the top of the search results is video’s first and foremost advantage, which can be monetized for better SEO performance and higher page ranking.
Write any keyword in the search box, and Google will display video results. These videos come at the top of the search results. This trend is most likely to continue in 2022 and beyond. In addition, you must have noticed there is a separate video tab that shows only video results.
So, if you consider video as part of your content strategy, you will have a chance to appear in these search results. Ranking in video-based searches is comparatively easier than in text-based searches. Videos should be made professionally, or you can use video editing tools for some stunning videos by yourself for optimum impact.
Factors that Decide Performance of Videos in Search Results
- Relevant headings, metadata, and tags (H1-H5) according to the keywords you want to rank for in Google
- Quality and relevancy of the content are paramount
- Good Quality backlinks
- Google’s Video schema markup
- Increase Time on Page and Session Duration
The time website visitors stay on your web page is time-on-page. The overall time spent on various pages and websites before leaving is known as session duration.
You can find these terms in your Google Analytics dashboard. These metrics show how people are engaging with your web page and website. For example, you can analyze their time spent and activity on the landing page. The longer the visitors spend time on the site, Google thinks you are meeting visitors’ expectations, increasing your page rank.
Video is tried and tested method to increase the time span of visitors to the website. Therefore, it naturally benefits SEO strategy to enhance traffic.
- Reduction in Bounce Rate
Google uses the bounce rate metric to assess your website’s engagement and relevance to the target audience.
Bounce rate is the number of people who leave your website after visiting just one page. If the bounce rate is high, Google considers that your web page is not fulfilling end-users expectations properly, and over time it lowers the ranking.
The solution is to add videos to your website and landing page. For example, if you are struggling with a higher bounce rate, adding a video with a relevant and engaging video would be a good solution.
- Increase in Brand Strength
SEO gurus Neil Patel and Brian Dean considers brand strength as one of the crucial factors in improving ranking on search results. While making videos, you must give proper attention to its content, colors, etc. A good quality video is determining factor for better brand positioning and enhanced Google ranking.
You can hire a professional to make videos or make them yourself through video editor tools. Whatever be your choice, never compromise overall quality and presentation.
Google ranks websites based on strong brand strength through the following considerations.
Factors contributing to deciding Brand Strength by Google
Numbers of Brand Related Searches
When you post a video on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn, people watch them. As a result, they are most likely to search about your company, brand, and product on Google and hence higher searches and traffic.
Amount of Direct Traffic Generated to Your Website
Brand-related searches provide direct traffic to the website. According to Brian Dean of Backlinko, Google gives a lot of weightage to its algorithms.
Example
There are two websites; Website A receives more than one lakh direct traffic, whereas Website B attracts around five thousand direct traffic. Therefore, Google’s algorithm will rank website A higher.
In addition, you should make a schedule and post videos consistently according to the plan. It makes your website trustworthy for Google algo. People will start engaging through social media, which results in a lot of qualified direct traffic.
The crux is you need to understand how search engines work and as per recent trends, their inclination towards videos for ranking web pages is pretty evident.
- Good Quality Backlinks
Good backlinks bring trust and authority to your website. These links boost page rank on Search Engine Results Pages, but the problem lies in acquiring them.
Leading SEO professionals think videos are the best strategy to get quality backlinks for your website. The study says videos attract three times more inbound links than text or audio-only content.
Conclusion
These are some highly effective ways to use videos to improve SEO strategy. A higher page rank boosts your business performance with an engaged target audience. Better performance on the SEO front gives top ranking on SERP and improves turnover, conversion, and brand image. Research says people are twice as likely to convert after watching a product video on an eCommerce website or within stores. It means videos are a magic wand for the end-to-end business cycle.
Videos bring customers to the website and encourage them to buy your product or service.
Investment in the video for SEO strategy is the best thing you could do to ensure a prosperous future for business with excellent returns.
