The medium of video has moved beyond the user-generated content (UGC) growth phase to become a viable business function for most media companies. More than ever, they are generating professionally produced content for online consumption to power organic traffic growth. In this post we shall discuss certain techniques for effective video SEO.

We’ve checked in the previous blog some of the critical aspects in this regard like the length and quality of your video, a video sitemap on your site as well as surrounding supportive textual content. You also need to focus on:

Elaborate meta data, titles and tags
Your video can be effectively optimized by using keywords in your meta data. Incorporate description of your video, comprising relevant keywords within the meta descriptions. The same applies for your video title often used
by search engines to identify your video. A catchy title ably conveys the theme or brand message. Do not forget to add the term video’ to your title, meta data, description etc.

Tag your video with key phrases suggestive of the content. Optimize it for certain key phrases. You may tag it with common terms users tend to search for, while naming the video file.

Correct display of video thumbnails
A video thumbnail is what the online visitors usually check before making a decision as to whether or not to see the actual video. Different video sharing sites and search engines employ various methods to grab and show your video thumbnail. Some of them may use the first frame, whereas others often take the thumbnail from the middle of your video.

Experiment with the different hosting sites to ensure that the thumbnail they display is exactly how and what you want your users to see so that its holds their attention, encouraging them to view it.

A watermark throughout the video
There is no doubt about the fact that video marketing is a powerful tool for the purpose of building brand awareness among your potential customers. To enhance the branding proposition, make use of a watermark throughout the video to incorporate your brand. This often redirects users to your site irrespective of the platform on which the video is hosted.

Backlinks to your video content
As part of an inbound linking exercise, link to videos using keywords in the anchor text. For syndication purpose, submit your video RSS/MRSS.

Upload to different video sharing websites like YouTube. Give links back to other videos on your own site. As we have already discussed, it is important to enable sharing and let users embed your video code into their blogs and sites to help create backlinks to your content.

Encourage reviews and ratings
By doing so, you ensure that search engines pay greater attention to your videos with higher ratings. Such videos are usually marked as favorites by users and often shared with others.

By successfully implementing the practical tips above, you will be able to enhance the SEO process and make your video content go viral, at a faster clip.