Video Search Optimization
April 10th, 2007 by Michael Gray in conferenceIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Read my top posts or learn more about Michael Gray. Want more frequent updates follow me on Twitter. Thanks for visiting!
Chris Sherman
Eric Papczun, Perfomrmics
Sherwood Stranieri
Gregory Markel, Infuse Creative
First up Sherwood Stranieri. Video is very big, most of what you hear is viral, buzz, and word of mouth marketing. Does all that buzz have any effect especially for marketers. Top three video sites, YouTube, MySpace and Google Video. The volume of the audience using online video is approaching the TV audience. The video market is driven by the viral market. People use video as a diversion, as an easy way to kill a few minutes during the day. All of this viral marketing is really good and creating links. The links result in an indirect traffic. Video web pages can perform very well, and can rank in normal SERP’s. Video is a tool for creating content. Set up a page on Video Services but find ways to make it tie back to your page. Make sure you don’t use a solution that is too technically sophisticated. The health care space is very regulated and restricted. They feature patients on site on the external site they are a little more open. Video animations are growing in strength. Video for products, show case the products and their value. For cars test drive video’s are very big. Be one of the first few people to put up video’s of a product. Unintended usage is also very big, such as an altoid tin turned into an MP3 player. Don’t produce it like a commercial, produce it like a video produced for online use.
Next we have Eric Papczun. 123 million Americans now consume video online. 7 Billion watch videos. 72% of people watch videos online and 76% are sharing videos in a viral way. Video consumption so moving away from TV and it’s moving more into search. Video isn’t there yet bu it is growing. Video search engines have Google dominating followed by Yahoo and AOL video. Second tier search engines aren’t driving meaningful traffic yet. People prefer to use more established video portals. There is a lack of standards in video. search is very dependant on the surrounding text. Flash players are still having problems with search engines. Keep your URL structure clean and simple. Video sites can use “news” events to get known. Optimize video for multiple and secondary keywords. Don’t forget to add video into site maps. You still get lot’s of value from links. Tagging is also helping. Tagging is making the video more accessible. Train editors to think like video searchers, encode the right keywords, use keywords in file name one video per URL, add tagging, keep video in one directory, surround video with relevant text, cross link to videos, create sitemap, upload videos to search engines, addin metadata. Try to optimize around the keyword video. Paid search can help you get noticed while the engines are still finding your website. Anchor text and links are still the biggest factor in helping rankings.
Next up Gregory Markel. Video is free there is no cost like PPC. More men look for video than women. AOL video has a bias towards entertainment. Video search provides an opportunity for branding and reputation management. Many video engines have integrated viral tools and the users are very savvy about using them. They can help you promote your videos. Meta data is un sexy but still helps. Upload the correct data and add your keywords and keep prominance in play. Include a transparent video logo on all the frames. Some engines are getting smart enough to understand audio, so you can try optimize your audio track.
Sphere It
April 10th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Many thanks for liveblogging the show, Michael!
April 29th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Like you - I believe video is a great way to market. If you can get the video to become viral - it is like having PPC ads for free.
Earl