No matter which way you look at it, watching a Video will always be faster and more digestible than reading pages and pages of text. So much so, in fact, that this mode of Marketing is fast becoming the most popular way to distribute and consume content Online. Tech companies and media publications all agree that Video content is now the most popular form of running a Marketing campaign.
According to one major business magazine, Video content will represent 74% of all Internet traffic by 2017. Furthermore, research shows that 4 times as many consumers would prefer to watch a Video about a product rather than read about it. That’s potentially a huge portion of your audience! The same study also revealed that more than 60% of marketers and small business owners plan to increase their investment in Video Marketing in 2017.
In today’s world, where our eyes are so often firmly planted on screens, it makes sense to take advantage of the visually stimulating nature of Video content. If you can capture the attention of a viewer in a matter of seconds, and get them to notice your Business, then it can be an invaluable Marketing Tool for your Small Business.
But more than just appealing to your customers Online, Video content also plays a role in bettering your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) efforts. This means your Website has a better chance of ranking more highly in Google’s search results, helping you to stand out from your competition.
With so many great benefits to Video content, if you’re not already on the bandwagon, then maybe it’s time to jump aboard! And if you need a helping hand to get started, here are 5 great ways to maximise your Video content that could dramatically improve your SEO ranking!
Use Video Testimonials
When customers are browsing or shopping Online, they typically do so by typing in the product name, the brands, the service and reviews of the item they are looking for. Online shoppers will especially take notice of customer reviews as the main point of reference before considering whether or not to spend.
This makes adding Video testimonials and reviews to your Website a highly effective Marketing strategy. They provide an effective SEO opportunity, particularly if these customers mention your SEO keywords or phrases when expressing their experiences with your business. These Videos will also give your Website more credibility in the eyes of Google, helping to make you look like a reliable source of information.
Not only do these Videos aid in your SEO, they also give you a chance to sell your products or services through the experiences of past customers. This is an exceptionally powerful way to persuade potential customers. It gives them a chance to fully visualise how your product can benefit them, in the same way it’s helped the customer they are watching in your Video.
Create Optimised Landing Pages
You need to create landing pages that consist of content that is well-written, relevant and designed to ensure the very best user experience possible. By creating these kinds of highly-optimised pages, you open several gateways for customers to access your Website and generate a sale.
A landing page is essentially a page of content where traffic is sent, to prompt a particular action. This could be your shopping cart, or a product page, for example. Good landing pages provide informative and persuasive content that includes a Call to Action of some kind, whether that be ‘Buy now’ or ‘Add to cart’.
A good landing page will also aim to give its users the very best experience, thus enticing them further to buy. This means that your navigation on the page should be simple and straightforward, all links and buttons should be working correctly and the page’s load times won’t negatively impact on the user’s ability to browse the page. This will ensure that no frustrations or distraction will get in the way of the purchasing process. Professionally-optimised landing pages using these elements, will automatically engage your audience from the first click.
Take Advantage of Social Media
Uploading a Video of your Small Business on your Social Media helps to create multiple links to your Website, something Google takes into consideration when ranking and indexing Sites.
By nature, Video content is highly sharable, which is why content that goes viral Online is typically in Video form. This means that by sharing your Business’s Videos, you’re giving yourself the best chance of this content being shared and re-posted by your followers. Search Engines take this kind of Online sharing into consideration, meaning the more shares you can generate, the better chance you have of increasing your rankings.
Social Media also provides a glorious opportunity to showcase Videos of new products and instructional Videos, helping to create a buzz about your Business. Whether you share this content on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, Video will help to increase your brand awareness and likability amongst your followers.
Use Video in Your Email Marketing
According to a recent study, Video Emails have a 6% higher open rate and a 96.38% higher click through rate than Emails not containing Video. This concept isn’t a ground-breaking strategy and has been used by companies for years, but those are some staggering numbers. If you’re wanting to increase your Marketing efforts, then why not try this method out for your own Small Business?
Video can be used countless ways within your Emails. If you send out a weekly newsletter to your subscribers, you can include instructional Videos, webinars, funny GIFs, Videos showcasing a new product or entertaining social content that helps your viewers get to know you more personally. You can even use Video content to promote special offers, sales or events!
For example, global technology company, Apple, has been using this strategy for years and did so again recently to promote the release of its upcoming iPhone X. This helped to create hype and excitement around the launch of the new product and made the content as accessible and consumable as possible.
Solve a Customer Problem
Many people use the Internet to find additional information about a topic or product, such as a solution to a problem or how to do something. This makes adding Video tutorials to your Website extremely beneficial to your SEO Strategy, as it will likely increase traffic to your Site and help Search Engines identify you as a popular and credible source.
Furthermore, these kinds of instructional Videos add an enormous amount of value to your customers experience – something they will likely remember and be grateful for. This will see them coming back to your Website, will keep your Business at the forefront of their mind and help to establish yourself as an authority in their mind.
Â
Use Keywords to Label Your Video
That’s right, SEO Keywords shouldn’t just be included within the text of your Website’s Homepage, but also within your Video content!
With most people searching Online for the name of products or services, by including these words or phrases with your Video content, you can significantly boost your SEO potential. Just as you would include Keywords within image labels and graphics on your Website, you should include them in fields used to describe your Video, including in titles, file names, descriptions and tags. This ensures that the relevance of your Video to search results is clear to Search Engines.
With the demand for immediacy and the decreasing attention span of today’s Online browser, Video content is becoming one of the best ways to appeal to your audience and grab their attention Online. But more than this, quality Video content can work wonders for improving your ranking in search results, helping you to stand out from your competition and drive more traffic to your Website.