Running a business in 2022 is a bit more complicated than it was 10 years ago.
With the rise of the internet and online competitors, it can be harder to stay afloat. This is why so many people who run an online store invest in search engine optimization or SEO.
SEO is key to getting ahead of the competition. And so, ensuring that you attract the right people to your website.
There are many tricks to staying ahead with SEO. Keywords are one part. Regular blog posts are another. Another one is attracting attention to your website with videos. According to the 2021 State of Marketing Report, 86% of online businesses use videos to boost marketing. That’s a big number! So, this method is clearly beneficial.
Don’t grab your camera just yet! What goes into these videos, and how can you make yours the best for online marketing? Here are five top tips to follow for making a successful online video to boost your business.
Shorter is better
When it comes to marketing, a shorter video is better.
Why? It is quite simple. Research into adverts shows that people only pay attention for around 20 seconds. Which is a short window to get your point across. Why is it so short? Because the average human attention span is shrinking.
With online videos, you can have a bit more time to play than 20 seconds. The most successful marketing videos are, on average shorter than 2 minutes.
To make better use of this time, it can be worth looking deeper into the science behind computers too. Depending on your budget, you may want to hire a computer scientist. Or perhaps invest in an online masters in data science yourself? This will help you optimize the success of your business.
High quality only
Go on to YouTube. Type in homemade videos. And you will see exactly what is meant by low-quality videos.
That is not to say that all YouTubers offer lower-quality videos. Professionals YouTubers invest in high-quality cameras, lighting, and microphones. This allows for higher quality and better click-to-subscriber rates.
When you are putting a promotional video out, it needs to be high quality. When recording vocals, aim for 1080p or 4 k resolution. Use a widescreen 16:9 ratio. And use a video hosting site like YouTube or Vimeo. Why? Because of this doubles as an SEO tactic. Why not link the videos to your website and vice versa? If you are uploading videos to your website, it may be best to shorten the videos. Try to keep them under 1GB.
To produce a professional-looking and effective video for your business, ensure your audio is clear and consistent. If you’re using multiple microphones, make sure they’re all properly positioned and that the levels are balanced. Pay attention to lighting so the area where you’re filming is well-lit, and avoid filming in direct sunlight or harsh artificial light. Today most businesses, especially startups that intend to get immediate results, invest in working with tech startup video production companies as the quality and the success of content are highly dependent on the quality and the visual elements of the content.
Autoplay is a big no-no!
Remember in the early 2000s when a website would load, and a video would start playing?
Well, research has found this to be almost a cardinal sin when it comes to SEO. Rather than luring customers in, it actually drives them away. Giving your site visitors and potential customers the power over this is the right way to go. If they don’t want to watch your video, then that is their choice.
This is different when it comes to landing pages. You can include a short video on your landing page. Playing on mute is once again seen as a better option. This allows your site visitor to engage with your site and video. Rather than be bamboozled with noise and images! Research and development come into play here. So, aim to do a test run of your website ideas to potential customers and respond to their feedback.
Call to action
If you follow a YouTuber, it can be tiresome to hear ‘click here to subscribe’ on every video.
But this is what is known as a call to action. You have watched the video. If you like it, perform this task. That way, the YouTuber will get another subscriber. And you will be able to see when their next video comes out.
If you are putting your company’s video on YouTube, this can be one way to boost SEO and subscribers. If it is on your website, putting in another call to action is well worth the effort. If you offer a service, why not opt for putting in something like ‘sign up for a free trial?’ Or, if you are discussing a product, you could put in a phrase like ‘click here to go to the product page.’
Once again, you are giving control to the site visitor and potential customers. This allows them to choose what they want to engage in or not. And allows for better and more accurate analytics on your end too.
Title the Video
This plays into SEO. And is a great way to drive organic traffic to your video.
Suppose you own a bakery that takes online orders. It is coming up to Easter at the moment. So, more people are likely to be searching for hot cross buns. This is a great time to do a video on hot cross buns, using these words as the title of said video. Boom! Instant SEO boost. But you can jazz it up a bit to grab the attention of the audience. So maybe opt for something like ‘5 things you didn’t know about hot cross buns.’
Remember as well that Google owns YouTube, so there is a lot that can be done with keywords here to drive traffic.
You should also conduct research into your customer base alongside general online searches. What is your target audience looking for? And then base your video and title around those areas. This will boost site visitors and can easily be done via social media or your website.
Conclusion
These are just 5 of the key ways that you can make the best video to drive traffic.
It is important to see making videos for SEO as part of a learning curve. It is unlikely that you will get everything right the first time. Try not to be perfect, be authentic, and have fun. After all, you know your product or service is the best, so showcase that.
