90: How to use videos to improve SEO (a question from Meredith)

Summary

In this episode, Meredith’s husband provides guidance on using videos to boost SEO. He explains the benefits of embedding videos from YouTube or Vimeo on your website, using transcripts for improved SEO, and balancing the use of these platforms for user experience. By embedding videos and including transcripts, website owners can enhance their content’s visibility and user engagement, ultimately improving SEO.

How to Use Videos and Transcripts to Improve Your Website’s SEO

As video content becomes more popular, website owners must understand how to leverage it for SEO. In this episode, Meredith’s husband shares simple, effective strategies for using videos from platforms like YouTube or Vimeo to improve your website’s search engine ranking. By embedding videos and utilizing transcripts, you can engage your audience and help Google index your content more effectively.

Should You Link or Embed Videos?

One of the key decisions when incorporating videos into your website is whether to link to your video on platforms like YouTube or Vimeo or embed them directly on your site. Here’s the recommendation:

• Embed, Don’t Link: Linking to your YouTube or Vimeo pages from your website can lead visitors away from your site, which is not ideal. Embedding a video allows visitors to stay on your site, engage with the content, and potentially explore other areas of your website. This keeps your bounce rate low and improves user retention.

  Embedding is simple—whether you use WordPress, Squarespace, or other website builders, most offer easy-to-use embed features that allow you to display videos seamlessly on your pages.

Hosting Your Videos: YouTube or Vimeo?

Both YouTube and Vimeo are excellent platforms for hosting videos, but each serves a different purpose:

• YouTube: YouTube is owned by Google, which gives it an SEO advantage. If you want your videos to show up in search results, YouTube is a great option. Additionally, YouTube’s search algorithms can help your videos reach a larger audience. However, YouTube is designed to keep users on its platform, showing related videos at the end that may distract visitors from your website.

• Vimeo: Vimeo offers a cleaner, more professional experience. When you embed a Vimeo video, there’s no clutter of suggested videos afterward. This keeps visitors focused on your content and your brand. Vimeo also gives you more control over the user experience, making it a better option if professionalism is a priority for your brand.

A hybrid approach works well for many: host videos on both platforms but embed Vimeo videos on your website for a cleaner, more controlled experience.

The Power of Video Transcripts for SEO

One of the best ways to make your videos more SEO-friendly is to use transcripts. Since Google’s algorithms can’t "see" or "hear" video content, a transcript allows search engines to understand the content of your videos and rank them accordingly. Here’s how to implement this:

1. Transcribe the Video: Use a transcription service like Otter.ai or YouTube’s built-in transcription tool to generate text from your video. The transcript will include all the spoken content, which you can place below the video on your website.

2. Include the Transcript on the Same Page: By placing the transcript directly beneath the embedded video, you allow Google to index the words. This boosts your SEO because it turns your video content into searchable text.

3. Add a Summary: You don’t have to display the full transcript without context. Add a summary or an introduction at the top of the post to give users a brief overview of the video. This makes the page more user-friendly and can also help with SEO.

Bullet Points from the Episode:

• Embed videos from platforms like YouTube or Vimeo to keep users on your website and improve engagement.

• Use YouTube for better search visibility and Vimeo for a more professional, ad-free user experience.

• Add transcripts below videos to help Google index your content and boost SEO.

• Include a summary or introduction before the transcript to make the page more user-friendly.

Combining Video and SEO for Success

Videos are a powerful tool to engage users and boost SEO, but they need to be used strategically. By embedding videos, using professional platforms like Vimeo, and including transcripts, you can maximize the value of video content for both your audience and search engines.

Resources

For more in-depth guidance on optimizing your website for SEO, check out the "SEO Roadmap" mentioned by Meredith's husband during the episode. This resource provides step-by-step instructions to help you improve your site's performance and rankings.