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Why video is fantastic for SEO

22.05.12

The best digital marketing strategies encompass a wide range of practices to get the best results overall. Online video is becoming more and more relevant to business. Youtube alone is big business and you'll often hear news of videos going viral with millions of views in a short period of time. Businesses that get it right soon reap the benefits. The Old Spice 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like' campaign is a perfect example. It got wide coverage and spawned a series of extremely popular videos that were shared (and spoofed) around the web – raising brand awareness and increasing their profile.

Of course not every business has the creative inspiration, budget or time to make such a video. But video is still a powerful tool.

 

The Benefits of Video

Video is a multi-faceted tool with many business benefits, some obvious, some slightly more subtle. Here's a quick list of ways using video might be of use to your website:

People Love Video – in the busy modern world, people have little time for reading text. Short attention spans and a busy schedule mean people are far more likely to watch a (short) video than take the time to read about your products. Thus adding a video about your product naturally makes your product (and your website) more accessible.

Reducing Product Returns – a product video which demonstrates the use and application of your product (or service) gives a real-world view of how it works. This makes it far less likely that customers will return the product because it didn't do what they wanted it to.

Improved Conversion Rates – many businesses that use video on their site soon find marked improvements in conversion rates. Product videos are much better at showing how the product works, looks or functions than simple photographs – no matter how good the quality of the images. They're simply more enticing and happily answer questions customers might have about how the product would work in real world.

Reduced Customer Service Enquiries – explanatory and demonstration product videos often lead to far less pre and post-sale customer service enquiries. Customers know what they're buying and how it works without the need to talk to your customer services team, which means reduced calls and reduced costs for you.

Appealing Links and Improved Click-Through Rate – since video began appearing in search results, there has been a steady increase in clicks on those links. You'll notice videos in search engine listings are far more appealing than standard text listing. A good video can therefore result in a better click-through rate and therefore more traffic to your site even if you don't hold the top spot in the search engines.

 

old spice viral video campaign

The Stats

The video statistics almost speak for themselves. But a few leap out as instantly appealing and important to your digital marketing campaign.

  • 52% of consumers say watching videos make them more confident in online purchases
  • Visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely to buy than those that don't.
  • Video results appear in about 70% of the top 100 search listings.
  • Conversion rate improve by as much as 30%.
  • Video in email marketing has been shown to increase click-through rates by over 96%.
  • Videos in universal search results have a 41% higher click through rate than plain text.

Video is Great for SEO

The above statistics show how video is useful for business. But video is also excellent for SEO. Video naturally attract more links, which means pages on your site with video are more likely to be linked to or you're more likely to get links from video indirectly (i.e. if people share your video on Youtube then follow the link in the description to your site or click your user profile to follow links to your website).

Creative and clever videos are obviously likely to be shared on social networks and go 'viral', which is always the ultimate goal, but normal videos are also extremely effective in boosting your rankings, your results and your return on investment.

We'd highly recommend adding video to your site as part of your digital marketing campaign. As part of an overall strategy, it's a fantastic tool to improve your revenue generation.

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