SEO Case Study: How I Increased SEO Traffic & Ranking by 50-60% in 6 Months
The Art and Science of Video SEO
1. The
Art
(and
Science)
of
Video
SEO
SEO
Meetup
October
2011
Andreas
Goeldi
CTO,
Pixability
2. Pixability:
Quick
Background
• Provides
complete
soluKons
for
online
video
markeKng
– ProducKon
and
online
markeKng
services
– SoLware
plaNorm
• MIT
spin-‐off
headquartered
in
Cambridge,
MA
• 500
clients,
over
1,000
videos
produced
• Some
of
our
clients:
3. Why
Video
SEO?
1. People
are
watching
more
and
more
videos
online.
2. YouTube
is
now
the
second-‐largest
search
engine
in
the
world.
3. Video
is
not
overused
(yet)
from
an
SEO
perspecKve.
4. What’s
Video
SEO?
Two
possible
definiKons:
1. Using
video
to
increase
the
effecKveness
of
your
tradiKonal
SEO.
2. Improve
the
view
numbers
on
your
video
markeKng
content,
e.g.
on
YouTube.
• They
both
feed
into
each
other.
5. Where
we
get
our
data:
Pixability
Video
Grader
www.onlinevideograder.com
Measures the
effectiveness of video
marketing:
• Use of video on
company website
• SEO results
• Effectiveness of
company YouTube
channel
• Data from 3000+
marketing channels
8
6. What
to
expect:
Total
Views
Per
Video
Online Video
1.5%
0.2%
Grader Result
<100
8.8%
between
100
and
1000
27.6%
between
1000
and
10000
24.1%
between
10000
and
100000
between
100,000
and
1,000,000
37.8%
>1000000
• 65%
of
YouTube
videos
get
fewer
than
1000
views
• Only
1.7%
get
more
than
100,000
views
Sample
basis:
MarkeKng-‐oriented
YouTube
channels
(not
private
users)
7. The
four
steps
of
video
markeKng
1. Create
2. Publish
3. Promote
4. Track
Repeat
9. The
Best
Video
Marketers
Produce
Many
Videos
Online Video
Average
Number
of
YouTube
Videos
per
Channel
Grader Result
200
181
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
29
20
0
Top
QuarKle
Boeom
QuarKle
Source:
Pixability
Online
Video
Grader
10. The
Best
Video
Marketers
Produce
More
Different
Video
Types
Online Video
Grader Result
Average
shortest
video
Average
longest
video
29s
Best
Channels
1190s
(Top
QuarKle)
81s
Worst
Channels
364s
(Boeom
QuarKle)
Length
(seconds)
• The
most
successful
YouTube
channels
use
a
broader
range
of
video
lengths.
• This
corresponds
to
a
broader
range
of
different
video
types
–
anything
from
quick
promoKons
to
long-‐form
educaKonal
videos.
Source:
Pixability
Online
Video
Grader
12. Publish:
Where
To
Put
Your
Video
Your
Video
“Posting” “Hosting”
Public video sharing Dedicated player on your
platforms website
13. PosKng:
PlaNorm
Market
Share
• YouTube
is
by
far
the
dominant
plaNorm
• Special
case:
Facebook
Source:
Compete.com
14. HosKng
Video
on
Your
Website:
Professional
HosKng
Service
or
YouTube
Player?
HosGng
Service
YouTube
Player
(Brightcove,
WisGa,
etc.)
• Free
• More
control
over
player
• Views
count
for
YouTube
• Beeer
analyKcs
SEO
• Higher
video
quality
• Google
video
SEO
through
video
sitemaps
For best SEO results use both.
16. Public
PlaNorms:
What
Can
You
Influence?
“Posted” Videos “Hosted” Videos
Public video sharing Dedicated player on your site
platforms
1. Metadata: Titles,
description texts,
tags
2. Playlists
3. Participate in the
community
4. Paid ads Search Engine
5. Conversion elements
17. Traffic
Sources
for
YouTube
Videos
Online Video
Traffic
source
Grader Result
40%
34%
35%
30%
25%
21%
20%
15%
13%
13%
12%
10%
7%
5%
0%
Other
Embedded
External
links
Search
Paid
Mobile
YouTube
player
on
(incl.
social
adverKsing
pages
external
site
media)
Source:
Sample
of
Pixability
clients
18. YouTube
Metadata
Title
Make it crisp. First 5-6 words
appear in search results
Thumbnail
Only 3 to choose from. Faces
and clearly recognizable
things work best.
Description text
Should be 100+ words and
keyword-rich.
Tags
Essential for search and
“related videos” traffic
19. The
Best
YouTube
Marketers
Do
Their
SEO
Homework
Average
Tags
per
Video
16
15
14.76
14
13.3
13
12.3
12
11.5
11
10.7
Tags
10
9.2
9
8
<100
between
100
between
1000
between
between
>1000000
and
1000
and
10000
10000
and
100,000
and
100000
1,000,000
• The
more
successful
videos
consistently
use
more
tags
and
more
targeted
Ktles
and
descripKon
texts.
Source:
Pixability
Online
Video
Grader
20. YouTube
Playlists
• Help
your
viewers
find
related
videos.
• Show
up
prominently
in
search
results.
Easier
to
get
found
than
with
individual
videos.
• Can
combine
your
own
and
other
people’s
videos.
21. Important
Traffic
Source:
Related
Videos
Related Videos
Selected by YouTube’s algorithm
algorithms Paid Ad
based mainly on tags tags
similar Selected by
matching tags
22. The
Best
YouTube
Marketers
Use
Social
Media
to
Get
Traffic
7,000
Online Video
Grader Result
6,175
6,000
5,000
4,000
Top
QuarKle
3,000
Boeom
QuarKle
2,000
1,295
1,000
24
13
-‐
Facebook
Shares
Tweets
Source:
Pixability
Online
Video
Grader
23. Social
Media
Video
Tips
• YouTube:
Engage
in
the
community
– Subscribe
to
other
people’s
channels.
You
will
appear
on
their
channel
page.
– Accept
(most)
friend
invites
– Be
generous
with
“liking”,
“favoriKng”
and
adding
other
people’s
videos
to
your
playlists.
• Facebook:
Use
video
on
your
pages
and
wall
streams
– Use
a
Welcome
tab
with
a
video
message.
– Embed
YouTube
videos,
don’t
upload
to
Facebook.
• TwiTer:
Announce
every
new
video
with
a
“[VIDEO]”
tag
• LinkedIn:
Use
updates
with
video
(add
YouTube
videos
as
aeachments)
24. Paid
YouTube
Campaigns
(“Promoted
Videos”)
• Managed much like
AdWords.
• Fairly attractive
keyword pricing
(often 1/10 of
comparable AdWords
keyword)
• Can be used for
both search and
display ads
(“related videos”)
• YouTube likes
popular videos --
more paid views
might help SEO.
25. Increasing
Conversion
Rates
Pop-up
(available for paid
YouTube campaigns)
Link
as first element of
description text
Plus:
Clear
call-‐to-‐acGon
in
the
video
itself
26. Video
SEO
on
Your
Website:
What
Can
You
Influence?
“Posted” Videos “Hosted” Videos
Public video sharing Dedicated player on your site
platforms
1. Metadata:
plenty of text
around videos
2. Video sitemaps
3. Traditional
SEO
Search Engine
27. Gekng
your
hosted
videos
on
Google:
Video
Sitemaps
<?xml
version="1.0"
encoding="UTF-‐8"?>
<urlset
xmlns="hep://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
xmlns:video="hep://www.google.com/ format • XML-based file
schemas/sitemap-‐video/1.1">
<url>
that tells Google
<loc>hep://www.pixability.com</loc>
where your videos
<video:video>
<video:content_loc>hep://embed.wisKa.com/deliveries/c28c42869ae2cc00674a3c630vcba7c3c0b8d2/ live and what they are
file.mp4</video:content_loc>
<video:thumbnail_loc>hep://embed.wisKa.com/deliveries/
about.
2dc014807ea405cd774ad18046e111211542861e/file.jpg</video:thumbnail_loc>
<video:Ktle>Video
helps
you
sell
more
-‐-‐
Video
ediKng
and
markeKng
service</video:Ktle>
the file
• Create
<video:descripKon>Producing
high-‐quality
online
video
to
enhance
sales
and
markeKng
is
now
aor through
manually s
easy
as
1,
2,
3.
Video
is
one
of
the
most
effecKve
ways
to
market
your
company.
It
will
increase
traffic
to
your
site,
improve
conversion
rates
and
will
get
you
more
sales.
Professional
video
your be
expensive,
Kme-‐
used
to
video hosting
consuming
and
difficult
to
create.
Not
any
longer.
Pixability
makes
it
easy
and
affordable
to
produce
videos
that
you
can
use
on
your
website,
on
Youtube
or
on
social
media
sites
like
Facebook.
Register on
service. We
will
send
you
an
easy-‐to-‐use
Flip
cam,
you
shoot
whatever
footage
you
want,
send
the
cam
back
in
the
pre-‐
addressed
envelope
that
we
provide
and
we
will
give
you
back
professionally
Googlewith
music,
done
video,
Webmaster
transiKons,
Ktles
and
your
logo.
We
will
also
help
you
publish
your
video
on
plaNorms
like
Youtube
in
the
most
effecKve
way.</video:descripKon>
Tools.
<video:publicaKon_date>2010-‐10-‐26T21:55:10+00:00</video:publicaKon_date>
<video:family_friendly>yes</video:family_friendly>
• Bing uses mRSS.
<video:duraKon>46</video:duraKon>
<video:tag>pixability</video:tag>
<video:tag>video
markeKng</video:tag>
<video:tag>video
ediKng</video:tag>
<video:tag>youtube
markeKng</video:tag>
</video:video>
</url>
29. Summary:
The
Most
Important
Tips
1. Produce
a
lot
of
videos
with
different
topics,
different
lengths
and
different
styles.
2. Put
them
on
YouTube
and
your
website.
Other
plaNorms
are
secondary.
3. Use
social
media
and
the
YouTube
community
to
promote
them.
4. Do
your
SEO
homework
with
tags,
descripKon
texts
and
strong
Ktles.
5. Consider
paid
YouTube
campaigns.
6. Use
video
sitemaps
for
videos
on
your
website.
7. Rinse
and
repeat…
30. Some
Resources
• Pixability’s
video
SEO
primer:
www.pixability.com/seoguide
• ReelSEO:
www.reelseo.com
• YouTube
Playbook:
hep://www.youtube.com/creators/playbook.html