Optimizing Videos for Search
Video search will soon rival text search thanks to the following factors:
If done well, videos can convey an idea more quickly – it takes a site visitor time to thoroughly read and understand your text message, whereas a video can do the same in 3 minutes or less. Even a candid interview (complete with body language and emotion) can evoke a message that can’t be captured with text;
It can be as, if not more, effective than drawn out presentations;
It can be used to market a product, announce new milestones, answer questions, and create a permanent record of what has been accomplished.
Don’t think videos are being indexed? Think again! Here are some ways to enhance search for your video content.
- Start from the beginning. Name your files accurately with keyword rich filenames. For example, best-CEO-presentations.wmv versus file12345.mov
- Create a standard for tagging: Include business name, channel name, topics discussed, talent names. Play up your niche market whether its storage efficiency or cloud computing
- Add descriptive titles. Sites like YouTube are crawled by search engine spiders frequently, so write wisely
- Write a keyword-rich synopsis – even a short transcript – and include links on the description field
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Nuts About SouthWest
And it’s not just the video that needs optimization. Mind the website content surrounding the video.
- Hook up RSS feeds and related links
- Help others proliferate your content. Include call-to-action prompts at the end of the video and make sure to include a “ShareThis” or “Send to a Friend” feature
- Push your brand with watermarked logo. Viddler allows this
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NY Times Video Library
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Add Your Comment2 Responses to “Optimizing Videos for Search”
Stewart Christie on May 20th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
This is just what we were looking for as we transition from Embedded Flash streaming to allowing users to download a quicktime or mpeg version for offline use. I must have the Cowbell blocker installed by corporate IT. I hear nothing (8-(( Stewart
Beverly Nevalga on May 21st, 2009 at 11:41 am
Glad to see you’re reading this, Stewart. I plan to write similar tutorials and how-to’s. So make sure corporate firewall doesn’t block the cowbell alert.