109: SEO for Video Content Creators

Summary

In this episode, Meredith's husband discusses the decline in traffic from his video tutorials due to Google’s changes in video indexing. He explains how Google now prioritizes YouTube videos over other sources for video searches, pushing non-YouTube content off search results. The episode highlights the importance of leveraging YouTube as a platform for video content and suggests strategies for website owners to adapt to these changes by incorporating YouTube into their SEO efforts.

Why You Need to Leverage YouTube for Better SEO in 2024

With the ongoing evolution of search engine algorithms, website owners need to adapt their strategies to stay relevant and competitive. One of the most significant changes in recent months is how Google now prioritizes YouTube videos over other video content in search results. If you’re not utilizing YouTube as part of your content strategy, you could be missing out on valuable traffic. Here's why YouTube is essential for SEO and how you can harness it effectively for your website.

The Shift in Google’s Video Indexing

Google made a notable change in how it handles video content in December, which directly affects website owners who rely on video to drive traffic. Previously, Google indexed videos embedded on websites, allowing them to show up in search results. However, since this change, Google now heavily favors YouTube videos, pushing non-YouTube content off the first page of video results.

For many content creators and business owners, this has led to a decline in traffic, particularly for those who host their videos on platforms outside of YouTube. If you’ve noticed a dip in your video-related traffic, this shift is likely the reason.

Why YouTube is Now Essential for SEO

There’s a clear reason behind Google’s move: Google owns YouTube, the second-largest search engine in the world. By prioritizing YouTube videos, Google directs users to its platform, enhancing its ecosystem. From an SEO perspective, this means that if you want your video content to be visible, you need to host it on YouTube.

Some benefits of utilizing YouTube for your video content include:

• Enhanced Visibility: YouTube videos are more likely to appear in Google search results.

• Wider Audience Reach: YouTube has a massive user base, giving you access to a broader audience.

• SEO Boost: Google now indexes the transcripts of YouTube videos, meaning your content can be found via text searches as well.

Steps to Adapt Your SEO Strategy

If you want to maintain or improve your website’s SEO performance, it's crucial to adapt to these changes. Here are some actionable steps:

• Start a YouTube Channel: Create a YouTube channel for your brand or website. Upload your videos directly to YouTube and optimize them with relevant titles, descriptions, and tags. This ensures that your videos are indexed and ranked in Google’s search results.

• Embed YouTube Videos in Your Blog: Once you upload your video to YouTube, embed it into your website’s blog or other relevant pages. This way, you can still maintain video content on your site while benefiting from YouTube’s search priority.

• Create Transcripts for Videos: Google now indexes the transcripts of YouTube videos. Ensure that your videos have accurate captions or transcripts to improve your visibility in text-based searches. This will help you capture search traffic not only for the video but for the content of the video as well.

• Diversify Your Content: If you're not a fan of writing blogs, you can focus on video content creation instead. Video is quickly becoming a primary medium for content consumption. Post your videos on YouTube and use them as an alternative to written blogs for some topics.

The Future of SEO with Video

Video is poised to become an even larger part of SEO strategies moving forward. With Google’s advancements in AI and its growing emphasis on YouTube, integrating video into your content strategy is no longer optional—it’s essential. Whether you’re providing tutorials, product demos, or educational content, YouTube is the platform that will give your content the visibility it needs to succeed.

Resources

Meredith's husband mentions that more of his content, including the podcast, will be available on YouTube soon. Keep an eye out for helpful SEO tutorials and resources on his upcoming YouTube channel.