Search engine optimization can be frustrating for analysts and creative teams alike. SEO analysts scramble to stay one step ahead of constantly-changing algorithms, reading the digital tea leaves to figure out how to make your site rise to the top. In turn, designers and copywriters have to force-feed keywords and layout changes into their creations. Even customers end up paying a price, navigating pages manipulated to please unseen robots instead of humans.
Video provides a simple, effective way to improve search engine rankings—while actually enhancing the human appeal of a page. Here's a simple algorithm for you: adding video to a landing page makes it 53 percent more likely to show up the first page of Google search results. A higher ranking is only the beginning. On average, including a video in your search result doubles the clicks you'll actually get that way, too.
While keyword-based approaches to SEO can lead to odd-sounding copy or repetitive phrases that can compromise your visitor's experience, adding video to your page makes your page even more engaging and compelling. You know the statistics as well as I do—people love online video, and they watch it every chance they get, on every platform they use.
I'm not suggesting that you abandon traditional SEO entirely—there's definitely a right way to do it, and it's a proven way to achieve marginal improvements. But make sure your strategy includes video as well. Your site will rank more highly in search results; more people will click through to it; and the rich video storytelling and branding they experience there will help you convert more of them.
To learn more, review this recent research from Aberdeen Research. To schedule a meeting with Brightcove, follow this link.