28 Mar Is video important for SEO?
As the internet continues to evolve, search engine optimization (SEO, for short) has become an essential aspect of web marketing. With businesses increasingly focusing on a digital-first approach, it’s crucial to understand how different types of content can directly impact SEO. Ever since Google’s acquisition of YouTube in 2006, video content has gained significant traction, prompting many companies to take a harder look at its importance. This article will explore the relationship between video and SEO, providing insight into why it should be a crucial element of your strategy in 2023 and beyond.
What is SEO?
Before diving into the topic of video and SEO, let’s briefly define what search engine optimization even is. This is the practice of improving a website and web content to increase a brand’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs). This includes both on-page optimization, such as refining your page titles and meta descriptions, and off-page optimization, typically by building high-quality backlinks. The goal of all of this is to drive organic traffic to a website by ranking higher on the aforementioned results pages for relevant keywords and phrases.
Why is Video Important for SEO?
With the basic understanding of what SEO is out of the way, let’s explore why video is important for SEO:
- Increases Engagement and Dwell Time
- Enhances User Experience
As search engines continue to prioritize user experience in their algorithms, it’s becoming increasingly important to create content that’s not only informative but also visually appealing and easy to consume. Today’s consumers are far more likely to watch a 5-minute video than they are to read 500 words – so, if you’ve gotten to this point of the blog, congratulations on being in the minority!
By incorporating video into your content strategy, you can provide users with an immersive experience that can help keep them engaged and interested in your brand. With the rise of video-sharing platforms and social media, short of having a face-to-face chat with each and every prospective client, there’s almost no better way for businesses to communicate their message, showcase their products or services, and establish their brand identity. Videos convey complex information in a more digestible and memorable format, as well as provide a more personal touch than simple text on a page, allowing businesses to connect with their audience on a deeper level. - Increases Backlinks and Social Shares
Backlinks are an essential factor in SEO as they indicate to search engines that other websites consider your content to be valuable and authoritative. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the higher your website will rank. Given that video content is highly shareable, you’re taking a lot of the heavy lifting off the table simply by pressing record.
Additionally, when users share your video content on social media platforms, it can help increase brand awareness and drive more traffic to your website. Social media signals, such as likes, comments, and shares, can also impact SEO, as search engines consider them to be an indication of the quality and relevance of your content.
One of the primary reasons that video is important for SEO is because it increases engagement and dwell time. Dwell time is the amount of time a user spends on a webpage before returning to the SERP. Google and other search engines consider this metric to be a significant factor in determining the quality and relevance of a page. If users are spending more time on a page, it indicates that they find the content useful or, at the very least, engaging.
It’s been said that a one-minute video is worth 1.8 million words. Not only is video able to keep users on your website for longer periods of time, but they also get 1200% more shares than text and images combined. Studies have shown that well-produced video can increase dwell time by up to two minutes. Additionally, those high engagement rates can directly impact the likelihood that users will share your content, leading to more backlinks and improved visibility.
So, what are you waiting for?
In conclusion, it would probably have been pretty silly for a film production company to write this much about video without endorsing it outright. With this as a primary source of content creation for your company, you can attract more organic traffic, increase brand awareness, and improve your overall SEO performance. Do you need help getting your video project off the ground? Let’s talk. Start a Conversation.
