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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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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About the Author
Beverly Nevalga brings her tech and creative background to the Voce Connect team in her role as Client Executive. Author of many of the How-To and more technically-focused posts on the Voce Communications Blog you can follower her on Twitter @digbevmo.

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