One of the big mistakes people make when they begin creating video blogs is to just simply embed the video in the blog page without any other text content or even a strong title. This is a mistake! When you’ve put in the effort to create video blogs, you want to be sure they are seen.
To make that happen, you need to promote your videos- and one way to help them be seen is through optimizing them for search engine optimization. This is not to replace any sharing and promoting you do, just another way to make sure your video content gets the views it deserves.
So here are 7 ways to optimize your video blogs:
#1) Choose a Good File Name – When you save the video on your computer and then upload it, give the video a name that makes sense as to what the content is. When the video is shared on the internet, this file name will be indexed.
#2) Add a Keyword-Rich Title – The title of your video on the places you share it should fit the content, but should also include some keywords that help search engines find your video. Include the keywords in the first three words of the title.
#3) Add Tags – Many people think tags are useless, but the ability to include them are still being added to platforms including WordPress and YouTube for a reason. Include them and you’ll rank higher.
#4) Give It a custom URL That Makes Sense – In some cases your URL is your title, but sometimes you might want to shorten the URL. But, if you do that, ensure that it makes sense to the content of the video.
#5) Use the Right Link Text during Promotions – When you are promoting your video on your blog, website, or other areas that allow HTML, use the right link text (sometimes called anchor text). This ensure that it is something people want to click on.
#6) Share Your Videos on Video Sharing Sites – Sites like YouTube, Flickr.com, and Vimeo.com and others allow you to share all your videos. You should share them where appropriate and fitting. The more eyes on your video, the better, and at least for now duplicate content issues aren’t as important. Do provide original and unique text descriptions for each site where you place your video.
#7) Cross-Link to Other Videos – When you write any blog post that is relevant, you can add the link to the video at the bottom as other information that your audience might want to see. You can tweet the video out as well as share it on other social media.
Creating the video and publishing it is your first step. Your work doesn’t end there. By using these 7 steps to optimize each video you create, you’ll increase the likelihood that your video will be seen by the people you want!