In years past, the realms of content marketing were strictly limited to written content like blogs, articles, and on-page copy. Recent years have seen the definition of “content” swell and expand to encompass everything from infographics to podcasts and, most importantly, video.

Video is the new content king, and recent statistics only validate this statement. More than half of all internet users wish they could see more video content, while 85% of all US-based internet users consume video content monthly. How can your company properly leverage video as a larger part of your content marketing efforts and SEO strategy?

Closed Captioning

Closed captioning is the process of displaying written text transcribed from a video’s audio. This is usually meant for the benefit of the deaf or hard-of-hearing communities, but it can also be used by people who are in public places and don’t want to be rude. Another key benefit is that closed captioning helps search engine bots understand the content of your video. A better understanding by bots allows content to achieve higher ranking in SERPs.

Text Under Embedded Videos

Adding text under embedded videos offers another chance to apply SEO to your website or blog. It also offers your viewers an explanation of what the video is about, so they have a better understanding of whether they wish to watch or not.

Utilize Meta Effectively

To ensure videos rank high in searches, you need to utilize possible metadata effectively. This means you want to pay special attention to the title of your video, any attached keywords (not always relevant), and the video’s description. Experts recommend re-titling your video if you post to different outlets so the videos will appear separately in your target audience’s searches.

Embed Videos on Website

Embedding your videos on your website (or blog) gives them additional exposure. Videos with a high number of views and engagement will rank higher than those that have little to none. Do not, however, enable automatic play. This slows down page load times and frustrates viewers who may be in a public place unfit for noise.

Post to Social Media

Your company’s social media channels are a prime outlet for “getting the word out.” You should be posting your videos to social media, either shared through a link back to your website or uploaded independently. Facebook is one of the best social media channels for videos, but it is not the only option. You should also share blog posts and important promotional pages to your social media websites while ensuring your followers are not bombarded with too much information at one time. 

Post to YouTube

YouTube offers your company’s videos another opportunity to get placed in front of your target audience and another search engine it might rank in. Many companies choose to host their videos on YouTube, as it is an easy and effective method of video hosting. To properly utilize YouTube, you need to make sure you have a link to your website in the video’s description. Preferably, the link would be the first line of the description, followed by a space, and then with a summary or additional information.

Conclusion

Current statistics show video is becoming a larger, more vital aspect of content marketing as time progresses. Increasing popularity is why it is of the utmost importance companies learn how to properly leverage this newer form of content as effectively as possible. Along with producing high-quality videos, the methods listed above can help make video a larger, more viable aspect of your search engine optimization strategy.