It is definitely not a “build it and they will come” scenario anymore.
So you have this fantastic video that you have posted up on YouTube and your website. But now what? It is definitely not a “build it and they will come” scenario anymore. 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute so you need to spend some time and effort to give your video the best chance of being viewed.
We all know that ‘quality’ backlinks (or inbound Links) are very important for ranking for websites but few webmasters know that this applies for videos as well. I mention “quality” backlinks because search engines e.g Google, look at the page authority of the site that is linking to you to determine how important that link is so the higher their page authority, the more important the link.
With the increase in the impact of social media on search engine rankings and Google’s extra attention to Google+ profiles, outreach opportunities are becoming more important to achieve quality backlinks to articles, websites and videos.
However before we undertake outreach for our videos we have to make sure that all the SEO components are completed for optimum success.
Similar to articles and websites, the videos you create need to be relevant, unique and informative. How to and step by step videos are extremely successful and remember most people watch videos that are 3 minutes or less. If your video is going to be longer than that, try to break it down into smaller videos, part 1, part 2 etc.
Some other Video SEO best practices include:
- Making sure your video thumbnail is eye catching or at least relevant as this is what will encourage the user to play the video.
- If you video is on your website then use a video sitemap and ensure you use relevant anchor text.
- Add some ‘readable’, relevant text to the page where your video will sit.
- Make sure the metadata around the video is optimized for keywords as well as the url (one per video).
- Submit your video RSS to sites for sharing as well as allow the embed code so people can share and embed the video on their own site.
So getting back to how to achieve quality backlinks to your awesome video that seems to be sitting out there for all to see – but no one is viewing it. Two very important points to remember so as not to waste your time (as outreach and obtaining backlinks can be a time consuming activity):
- Your video has to be of good quality, relevant and eye catching – otherwise no one will want to watch it.
- Try to get links from relevant website and web pages e.g. If you video is about how to build a shed then linking from a DIY website or building materials website would be seen as a positive back link.
So with the above points in mind here are some ways to obtain backlinks to your video and note that most of these techniques will work for websites and articles as well, but here we are focusing on videos.
Make a Noise:
Make an announcement about your video, get a press release or review, email relevant blogging websites that might be interested in embedding the video into their website. Get people talking about your video on forums. Blogging on relevant websites that let you link back to your video can create some nice link juice and get your video out there. Also, allowing people to comment on your video could generate interest and in turn encourage people to link back to your video.
Outreach:
With the introduction of social media, reviews and online word of mouth, finding relevant quality websites, approaching the webmaster with an article about your video and having it posted in order to achieve a back link from then will enhance your ranking. Search engines such as Google are looking at these types of quality backlinks as votes that your video is interesting and informative.
These relevant websites generally have a higher page authority and give you a better quality back link. A quick check of a website’s quality for backlinks will ensure you are not wasting your time.
Social Media:
Not to be ignored are the social media sites , in particular Google+ profile pages. Google+ is charging forward to take over from Facebook and now had nearly 400 million users! Linking from your Facebook account, or Google + profile page, will create interest, get your video out there, give you a nice backlink to your video and may also generate some traffic and views. Admittedly backlinks from social media accounts now are not as valuable as they used to be however Google + is definitely one not to be ignored. And as an added bonus, you can create videos within your Google + account and post up on You Tube. Google + also has some nifty tools such as ‘hangouts’ where you can create online meetings or seminars about your product or video. You can focus your target market into “circles” so that you can select who sees what material. All very cool now and worth taking the time to understand and utilize.
So in summary, obtaining quality backlinks for your video in order for it to rank well and consequently be seen (and perhaps even go “viral”) is indeed a time consuming activity however, when done well the results will speak for themselves.
