September 12, 2013 E3

Local SEO Strategy and YouTube: Using Video to Give Your Efforts a Boost

Last month we talked about blogging to improve your local SEO efforts. But words alone aren’t enough to help propel you to the top and keep you there. A truly robust localized content strategy will include text, graphics, and of course, video.  We rarely think of video as geographically-specific, but with proper YouTube optimization, you can use your videos to boost your local SEO efforts.

Step One: Create Quality Video Content

None of your YouTube local optimization will matter if you don’t create high-quality videos that people will actually want to watch. Commercials for your business are great, but commercials have their own place in the video marketing world. For purposes of increasing your rankings and traffic, create useful videos like product demonstrations, interviews, explainer videos, and how-to videos. YouTube is a search engine, so you want to upload content that will answer people’s questions and solve their problems. Creating video for video’s sake won’t get you anywhere.

Step Two: Tag Strategically for Local SEO Benefits

Tags tell YouTube how to categorize your video. Be sure you tag every video with the appropriate localized keywords and phrases that match up with your business location and the actual content of the video.

Step Three: Include Relevant Info in the Description

At the beginning of your video description, be sure to include your business website URL. These are automatic nofollow links, but data from researchers indicates that these links still add value to your linking profile. Plus, it adds a bit of branding which is never a bad idea. And be sure to make the most of this real estate. Include your full address including the city, state, zip code, and phone number of your business.  Then clearly state what your business does, including a few geo-specific keywords, in order to squeeze the most from your local SEO efforts on YouTube.

Step Four: Don’t Forget Your Vital Stats

Be sure to include the name of your business, your physical address, phone number, and website in the frames at the end of your video. Google is now “smart” enough to read the text within videos, so you want that information to be there for the search engine, as well as your viewers. It can also help to state this information out loud so that it also appears in your video transcript.

Step Five: Tag Your Video With Geo Markers

There was a brief time when YouTube users could locate your company based on a map provided in your video settings. That option is gone, but adding your exact location to your video can help YouTube determine how relevant your content is for local queries. And should they ever decide to bring the map option back, you’ll be all set to go.

In order to enter your location, you have to go to Advanced Settings in the Video Manager. Under “Video Location” enter your address and then search. YouTube will locate your coordinates and display your company’s exact location on the popup map. Make any adjustments needed and then save.

Step Six: Connect to Your Places Page

Be sure to add the content to your places page once it’s up and running on YouTube. When adding your video link, use the entire URL, not YouTube’s shortened URL. As of the publishing of this post, shortened YouTube URLS won’t work in Google Places.

Step Seven: Include Your Video On Your Website

Embedding your videos on your website is important. Don’t just plop them on YouTube and forget about them. Embed them on static pages or your blog. The number of times your video is embedded tells YouTube how popular your content is.

There are a few schools of thought about where to actually host the videos – on your website or on YouTube. If your aim is local SEO, YouTube should be your home and you should use the embed code on your site. Using YouTube allows other people to pick up the embed code and place your videos on their websites, as well. Plus you get the added bonus of being able to optimize for local keywords.

Step Eight: Add to Your Google+ Local Pages and Begin Sharing

Be sure you add a link to your video from your company Google+ Local Page and then have your employees and friends share it among their circles to help get your video in front of eyes as quickly as possible, and give yourself a little G+ social link juice.

Step Nine: Promote, Promote, Promote Your Videos

Don’t stop with Google Plus.  You will need to commit to pushing your video content out through all of your social media profiles semi-regularly. Don’t push it so much that you annoy your regular customers and visitors, but do it enough so that you are sure to get in front of as many eyes as possible. After your initial upload, consider promoting one on each profile once a week for several months.

The more people who click and watch your content, the better. YouTube will consider your content to be popular and will rank it well for your chosen keywords. And if you rank well on YouTube, that popularity will translate to Google. So optimize your videos for local SEO and give your business a boost over your competition.

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