This week we're talking about video optimization. Video has become one of the most powerful content formats in recent years--whether as a regular part of a blog (like good ol' Whiteboard Friday) or as a viral content strategy--but when you're using video as a strategy it pays to consider your goals. Are you looking for link generation? Keyword targeted content? Branding and recognition? All of the above?
Depending on your primary objective, you may need to consider different publishing strategies, and that's exactly what we'll cover in this episode.
SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday - Optimizing for Video Content from Scott Willoughby on Vimeo.
By: Scott Willoughby
SEO for Video Content
Whiteboard Friday
The author's views are entirely his or her own (excluding the unlikely event of hypnosis) and may not always reflect the views of Moz.
Rand, I'm going to respectfully thumb this video down. (Sorry, Scott... I know it's not your fault.) My reasons are... I've seen a lot of confusion in people who don't understand the difference between a video file (i.e. object) vs. an HTML web page that hosts the video file. And therefore, they fail to make the distinction between optimizing the actual video vs. optimizing the page where the video is embedded. I really would have liked to see you make that distinction clearer for everyone. Along those same lines, another detail that wasn't mentioned was how to get a video's thumbnail image to show up in Google's regular search results. It is common to see YouTube videos in the search results, but does Google also generate thumbnails for videos that are privately hosted (i.e. not 3rd-party)? Is there a particular video format or page layout that I should use, that would help Google recognize my host page as a candidate for video search results? What about keywords in file names? What about editing the length of the video so that the thumbnail is eye-catching? What about editing the video to control the opening frame and the closing frame... and putting up splash screens that contain contact information, company information, and maybe a website where viewers can find out more? I already know the answers to these questions, so I'm not really asking you to answer them. I'm just using them as examples of what I get asked frequently and what I expected this video to explain. Maybe those answers can fuel a Part II - Advanced Edition?
Hey Rand,
Thanks for the tips. Much appreciated! One of my clients is a film production company that has pretty much nothing but videos on their web site. I'd like to share a few things I've learned while managing their campaign. My tips aren't about ranking, but content and video length for the most part. A bit of background about them. They produce viral, corporate, documantary, commercial content, and music videos, so it's pretty varied in terms of content. Still, some definite trends have emerged:
1) Keep it very short. You are absolutely right in keeping WBF as short as you can. I've found that 5 minutes is the maximum ideal time for informational videos. Sure, they produce the occassional video that goes for six or seven minutes, but they really try to keep them from 3-5 minutes if they can. If it's much longer than five minutes, I'd recommend breaking them up into different chapters unless it's incredibly compelling (like WBF!)
2) Different content requires different video lengths. Remember, these are diferent audiences with different needs and levels of online patience. Here is a general guide that we work from in terms of video length:
Informative: 5 minute ideal maximum. Break up longer pieces into chapters.
Documentary Style: 3 minute ideal maximum. The documentary style video viewer is slightly different than the informative audience. The informative video audience wants to learn something that they already have an interest in, ala WBF. The doc style viewer is thinking, "Hey, here's a video about a safari in Africa. That might be cool. Maybe I'll check it out for a bit." If you take forever (longer than 3 minutes) to get to the lion chasing the gazelle they'll be gone.
Viral/Humor: One minute ideal maximum (30 seconds is just about perfect, though). People really don't want to wait for the punchline. Hotbed produced a viral video that was cut from 3:34 to 1:00. The viewership of people that actually watched the entire video went up over 1000%. I kept bugging the director to cut the video down, but he was so in love with the long version (he liked taking longer for the story to develop) that he was very hesitant to cut it down. Once it was cut down to a minute, however, he watched it a few times, saw the massive jump in view completions, and was then in complete agreement that the shorter one was much, much better. Take a look for yourself. This was used for a corporate client to create a viral buzz for their conference series. It centered around car burn-outs in a parking lot (it was pretty fun to shoot).
Long burn-out video (3:34)
Short burn-out video re-edit (1:00)
3) Don't be afraid to parody other successful viral videos. They produced a viral video that was inspired by Terry Tate: Office Linebacker, one of the very first viral videos (and still one of my all time favorites) for the Colorado Crush that was a very successful campaign.
4) Be authentic. A lot of corporate clients want to include brand or other corporate-esque vibes and verbiage into their videos. It always fails. I'm a big fan of doc style videos just showing off stuff as well. This skateboard video is probably the most popular viral video they've done. No agency script. Just skaters getting crazy with a new type of board.
I hope this is helpful. I realize there aren't any SEO comments in here, but from a content standpoint, I've really seen these trends hold true.
Great comment!
Chop up longer videos into shorter segments. Then you can post each segment to gain a result for each segment.
Strategic video packaging is key. Blog the videos, Twitter them and get comments and ratings started to kick off buzz around a video...
https://www.google.com/search?q=fajujamawuzzle
Hey Rand, Are you saying that every video should have a unique title for every third party service used? For example: SEOmoz | SEO for Video Content Vimeo: Optimizing for Video Content Youtube: Video Content Optimization Another question, do you think that anytime soon google will start filtering duplicate videos based on title?
I've been looking for good automated transcription solutions, and haven't been able to find much. You mention in the video that you'd post those links… I just wanted to say that I'd really appreciate that!
Cheers,
Chris
I'd be interested in those as well; would come in very handy. Actually, on that point, could we get the transcripts for your videos, sometimes I do find it impractical to listen to the video.
It's not automated, but I've got some bids on Elance for as low as $0.28/minute of transcribed audio (though most bids have been $0.75 to $1 per minute).
How did the bid for $0.28/minute bid work out? Accuracy good?
We worked with a US-based transcriber at $0.70/minute and an Indian-based transcription team at $0.33/minute. Both offered a 3-day turnaround. The US-based transcriber had some basic knowledge of our industry (construction/real estate) and that turned out to be a major factor when our videos touched on more technical terms. The Indian-based team provided surprisingly good transcriptions considering the cost, but there were enough errors that we felt they would probably have to be read through and cleaned up. The slightly more expensive (well, twice as expensive) solution, on the other hand, turned out to be good enough that we felt like we probably could just upload the files she turned in without giving them a second glance.
In the end I would say that the $0.70-1.00 range is probably where the quality transcriptions are going to happen.
be good to know if you have found a reliable automated transcription service
Try this group out for auto transcribing. I have worked with them on closed captioning for international DVD distribution. They have programs to auto transcribe video in any fromat. They have been very helpful to my company in the past.
Constance CarlsonVice President, Sales & MarketingVideo Caption Corporation 26 Highland WayStanfordville, NY 12581800-705-1204 (phone)845-868-1188 (fax)[email protected]
I use the transcription feature in Dragon Naturally speaking and its 99% accurate.
First, I convert the video to just a sound file using EZ Aditor Editor Pro and then use the transcription feature in Dragon Naturally speaking and its 99% accurate - converts my dound file to a transcription.
There is also an issue of where to put the transcript. Obviously you don't want it on a PDF file, as that would be indexed separately. On the other hand, a vast slab of text on the page is going to compromise your design and user experience. I would favour text on page, but under a show/hide tag, perhaps with a link, "Having trouble viewing this video? Read a transcript".
What about new technologies that can search within videos, like Digitalsmiths? A day when a Google search *would* rank this video for "fajujamawuzzle" doesn't seem that far off, and if video search works retroactively, it seems we want to create videos with SEO in mind.
Transcribing video dialogue into searchable text is always going to rely on speech recognition--a process that matches sounds to the closest known words of a specified language. For a made-up word like "fajujamawuzzle," a speech recognition program would transcribe it into something like "the judge of my puzzle." This could create a potentially-serious issue for Google, because then it'd be possible to return video results that are absolutely irrelevant to a searcher's query. Even if Google adopts a form of this technology in the future, automatically-transcribed text will never be weighted more than human-generated text. My point is... I don't think "speak with keywords in your video dialogue" is ever going to be a practical SEO technique.
Hi Darren , i support your point that video uploaded on third party sites still carries a lot of value for link building if the company info and url is embedded at the bottom of the video or at the end of it, so at least those who want to get through to the source of the video, they can by typing up the url shown.
Thanks Scott for the valuable discussion.
I'm a video cameraman (20 years) and newish to internet marketing, so my ears always prick-up when video is mentioned.
It is such a huge area, with potentially large costs, depending on the nature of the video...
I've seen comments from the odd person re hosting video on your/your clients server. From what I've heard, most people are on a shared server arrangement, so hosting video on your own server has the potential to crash it.
There is another alternative which hasn't been mentioned as a third party hoster: AmazonS3 - it is extremely cheap to store your video, but you do need to integrate it with EZS3. You might use AmazonS3 if you have content... like a webinar for members, or have content you don't want the world to see.
Adobe CS4 PremierPro video editing software has audio transcripting built into its system, so you can auto-add subtitles to the video, or extract the text from the meta-data (not perfect translating every word, but OK).
Google may in the future have speech recognition software, so duplicating video on third party sites could be an issue... but not yet - so definitely make sure you give your videos separate titles and descriptions for now.
If you do want to have a PDF version of your video available then make sure you have a no-follow index. Check out Googles explanation here: https://services.google.com/breeze/webmasters/googleforwebmasters/
Cheers
Mark
If you want to see a great video on uderstanding many of Googles rules and advice then check out their own video: https://services.google.com/breeze/webmasters/googleforwebmasters/
Great VSEO overview Rand, I'm looking forward to those auto transcipt links myself. I don't believe in coincidences so I have to link to our viral marketing animation we posted just today "Who's Running Your SEO', it's a funny skit playing off of Abbott and Costello's Who's on First, and I hope you all enjoy it.
I loved it.
Time and again I sit in the office and think "I wonder how to ...." and, come Friday evening, as if by magic, the answer comes to me.
Just one thing - did I understand correctly that you can place the identical video with different titles/transcripts on different sites without fear of duplication?
Thanks
Julian
Excellent video! Some really great ideas for video optimization. It seems to me that more and more people are interested in video, and I love that it's ranking so well in the SERPs.
One thing I'd like to add is that many video sites, like YouTube also have a social factor. You mentioned the likelihood that people would embed a youtube or vimeo video before they'd link to your site directly, and thats very true. But also, your level of interactivity within the youtube community plays a big roll in how often your videos get viewed and embedded, or where they rank in YouTube's own search results.
I actually posted a blog recently about this topic, it might be of interest to people focusing on the 3rd party strategy for video SEO.
https://www.customermagnetism.com/seoblog/new-in-seo/top-5-tips-for-video-marketing-making-youtube-yourtube/
Thanks again for the great whiteboard friday, looking forward to more
I've recently been embedding the Vimeo player on my client's sites and I was wondering if there's a better solution from a SEO standpoint... also do you know if the video profile pages index so the links in the description count as inbound to your site?
I need to find an automated transcription service to help with video optimisation. Any ideas anyone?
I wrote a YOUmoz post about this. It might be helpful: Video Transcription Ideas
that's great thanks
One question I have is that if you host it on your own site, what type of software is required to play a video and is that on my URL server or is it client side software. I am not sure about self-hosting video. How it gets done. I like the idea of self hosting especially for content that I want to be exclusive to my customer base.
Like to see me about this.
Tim Reha here - Interesting Topic.
There is always a twist with online Videos. I notice that if I use TubeMogul, that the videos are rapidly indexed.
HOW TO WIN
At the end of the day there is likely a win-win strategy for online videos.
First, they are indexed extreamly rapidly. You win by blowing out the competitions results with your videos.
Then you need to create a direct response and methods to pull traffic from your third party video sites back to your website.
Best, Tim
Video Transcription
1:02 - SEO Moz discusses Video SEO
2:20 - TubeMogul.com Video Distribution Company offer tactical Video SEO if used correctly
Some video services such as https://www.ooyala.com offer deep linking services so you can tie in Time Code Transcrtions to link to the exact area in the video.
TR>
I am very new to Video SEO. I have a 3rd party that has produced videos. They have given me the link to embed videos onto my site. I will create pages on my site and optimize those pages per video. Does it matter that I have embedded the vdieo or should I obtain the actual video and host on my site?
Transcription is very much like translation, I should know I'm involved in both businesses. While automated services for either are fine for a rough idea, as some of you have noted, there are issues with the quality of the language transcribed. In the end you get what you pay for, a professional transcriber will always be better than an automated service as long they are briefed fully before hand.
I'm sure those of you who run your own business have a professional accountant? So why would you trust another professional service, like transcription to a free/cheap service?
Nice one - now I only have to get myself to produce a video. Long live procrastination.
Andreas
Nicely done, i will bookmark this one to learn more in the future
Great about video publishing for SEO. However, the video stalled every other second so maybe your servers needs som TLC? Thanks and keep up the great work! Peter H.
Very helpful indeed. I was looking for more information on embedding, but was given even more important information to digest. Thanks again.
This is a great eye opener. I am learning so much from you guys everyday. My brain is about to explode!
Very nice to hear and know. I did a YouTube how-to video almost a year ago and it has over 30,000 views and about 80 comments. I put my blog URL as a watermark but I didn't get too much traffic from it.On one hand I had a new blog and don't think I would've ever received 30K+ views and all those comments at my blog. On the other hand it sure is popular and that's cool for now.
YouTube seems to be adding a lot of functionality that I need to check out to see if it's useful.
Being mid30 Day Challenge and coincidently re-vamping our website as we speak, this was exactly what I needed to hear!
Many aha moments here, Scott.
And very timely.
Thanks a million!
Timely, timely stuff. I was just brainstorming on this subject in-house.
The video answered all the questions we had. (Here I had contact Great Scott on my to do list)
Great job as usual and complete information.
I would also like to know what others are using to transcribe their videos.
I hate doing it by hand!
Try searching for 'transcription services'.... Some are pretty cheap and good too. Additionally if you are a regular you get discounts too...
Good post regarding video post but I wondered if the transcripts are available? The strategy between my site and 3rd party make sense and is one of the issues I have run into when optimizing and promoting videos for clients since they often get discouraged when the 3rd party sites out rank them and take the traffic.
Gotta love good ol' whiteboard friday's. You don't wanna miss them!
-Brenelz
Rand,
Great job as usual.
Once again good solid timely useful material.
Now I have even more work to do. ;-)
Scott,
Who is the guy in a suit and tie on your Vimeo profile?
Keep up the good work.
Good video this. Though I would agree with Darren that a "Part II - SEO for Video Content Redux" would be good, especially since a few of the points Darren mentioned sprung to mind as I was watching.
Also, I too would appreciate links to some of the automated transcription solutions you mention.
great info..thank you. i've been in the process of creating video training to post on my site for my clients and wasn't sure about youtube/3rd party vs my site.
What do you think about hosting on your site and on other viideo sharing websites? Is that the right approach or we shoule be doing either/or.
Nice. Its good to have the video on site and on youtube (with a website url watermark) as well; people like to find the source of the video to find more videos like it...
Very nice and brief explaination of how can we make our video work out efficiently on the web.
Keep on making such informative videos.
Using video for Search engine Optimization and Internet Marketing is a great Idea. I wasnt even thinking in that direction. Keep up the good work!
Wilder, Your comment spamming technique needs work. Here are some free tips for you: 1.) Do it in forums that actually allow followed outbound links. SEOmoz adds the nofollow attribute to theirs, so your link here is only good for referral traffic. 2.) If you *are* trying to increase your referral traffic, don't admit to your potential customers that you're f***ing retarded, by telling them you've never given any thought to the idea of video content. That's like trying to sell guns to the U.S. military and then telling them you've never heard of gun powder.
Ha, I have a hard time thinking "Wilder" will help any client with SEO since his own site doesn't even have a title tag. Silly Spammer!
No offense
But , Wilder's website that he refer to is s**k
First : the website he refer to has no Title Tag (you're right chenry)
Second : the embeded audio that play automatically was shock me that make me leave his website in a sec. I bet his bounce rate is 98%..and the rest 2% that stick to his website is for himself.
Third : I don't know if a website such this could make a sale.