Video Affects SEO: The Benefits Of Video Content

I get asked often how video affects SEO.

There have been a lot of articles written on the topic for a few years.

But most of it is about optimizing your videos to get found in search.

You hear the phrase video SEO tossed around in many of the articles.

However, what you don’t often get is information about how your website’s SEO is improved by adding video.

Video is a powerful form of content, to begin with, providing many benefits to brands who use it.

The hidden SEO benefits, however, are amazing.

By adding video content to your content strategy, you can start to reap the benefits of this versatile and powerful content format.

And your SERP rankings will improve dramatically as a result.

How can video content affect SEO like this?

Factors vary, but it boils down to the different ways video content is good for your marketing.

Learning what those factors are will teach you how video affects SEO so much.

Video Affects SEO Even Without YouTube

One of the most obvious reasons people say that video is good for your SEO is that YouTube is also a search engine.

Placing content on the world’s second-largest search engine makes sense for getting your brand and content found.

But what about brands that don’t want their content on YouTube?

YouTube isn’t mandatory to get an SEO boost from video content.

You can host your videos anywhere, including on your site, to see how video affects SEO.

I don’t recommend self-hosting for many reasons, but it’s an option.

Video affects SEO without the benefits of Google’s subsidiary because all the benefits are unique to the content format.

The platform you host on has minimal impact.

Consider the best platform for your intentions instead of feeling like you need to stick with YouTube.

Remember that, even when focusing on video, the quality of your content matters most.

Video Affects SEO In Surprising Ways

Knowing the popularity of video content, nobody should be surprised it’s good for your search rank.

Despite that truth, many people don’t understand how video affects SEO.

Amazingly it isn’t the keyword benefits or the placement in the SERPs that have the biggest impact.

Although those factors don’t hurt either.

What might surprise you most are the less-than-obvious ways video boosts SEO.

And there is a wide variety of ways video content does so.

From quality to reach, site authority to audience engagement, video affects SEO broadly.

It affects your search rank in ways you may never have considered.

Once you understand it’s benefits, video content is going to be a huge priority for you.

Here’s how video affects SEO and why you need to add it to your content strategy.

Make Your Content Better And More In-Depth

Quality content is a staple of SEO, and that shouldn’t be news to you by now.

Every answer Google brings to your questions is someone’s content, and Google wants to give you the best and most accurate answer.

They’ll do everything they can to make sure the information you’re sharing is the right information.

Including checking outbound links and making sure the right keywords and context are present.

Video affects SEO by adding context and providing visuals for your audience.

Visuals are especially helpful when you’re talking about something that nobody or only a few have seen.

Adding them helps bring people’s focus in and understand what you’re talking about.

Usually using images, those visuals help offer your audience a better grasp of what you’re sharing with them.

Now imagine doing the same thing, with the addition of video content.

Not only can you help them see what you’re saying, but you can also prove that what you’re telling them is true.

You can convey your excitement better as well.

That leaves a lasting impression about what you’re offering, impacting their opinions, and boosting their engagement.

Ranking factors like these end up with an added boost on top of your already excellent text content.

Imagine how that might elevate your search rank and grow your website traffic.

Give Your Users A Better Experience

There is nothing worse than a wall of text on a website.

Unbroken, massive paragraphs that go on forever don’t keep people interested.

They’re hard to read and focus on, and they often leave people searching for a better answer.

Outcomes like that aren’t good for your website or your search ranking.

But video content can help to stop that.

By using videos, you can break up those walls of text with something more interesting and engaging.

Even if their content doesn’t cover the bulk of your information, their presence still helps to boost user experience.

People will pause to watch them if only for relief from reading.

A quality video will even keep people engaged.

Great video content entices people to spend more time watching it, ultimately increasing the time they dwell on your site.

That’s a massive signal that search engines use to rank your website.

Which is one more way video affects SEO.

Remember that the more time people spend on your site, the more search engines think your site has the information the user was looking for.

Added engagement from great video content enhances what you already have and keeps people there.

The benefit of a positive experience keeps them looking for your site for future content.

Signals like that are some of the ways video affects SEO for the better.

Earn Substantially More Backlinks

You probably know that backlinks make up a major SEO ranking signal.

Some estimates make them one of the highest, if not the highest search ranking factor.

However, not just any backlinks will do.

High-quality backlinks matter if you don’t want them to hurt your SEO.

The cool part about video content is that it helps create backlinks while improving their quality.

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How do they improve the quality of your backlinks?

It’s difficult to link a video to your site that isn’t directly relevant to the information you’re presenting.

If you do, your audience will immediately lose faith in the content.

Therefore, it stands to reason that nobody who links to your video will do it incorrectly.

Since, according to WebFX, 92% of people share videos they watch, that’s a significant number of high-quality backlinks.

Provided you do your job to get your video watched, of course.

Often, those videos we talked about earlier become the centerpiece to a feature about your brand, product, or service from a blogger in your industry.

In this case, video affects your SEO by adding a high-quality backlink from a reputable source.

But it also expands your audience, improving your chances of them doing the same.

Improve Mobile Optimization

According to eMarketer, 75% of all video consumption happens on mobile devices, possibly more.

As you know, mobile-first design and development are crucial for SEO.

Video affects SEO for mobile devices by making your site more appealing to mobile users.

People love to consume video.

They love it so much that they consume over one billion hours of content on YouTube every day collectively.

There is likely even more video consumed from other sites, including blogs and social media.

By making your website more attractive to mobile users, you offer Google signals that boost your mobile search rank.

Remember that one of Google’s largest ranking factors is user behavior.

When Google presents your result to a mobile user and they demonstrate a long dwell time, Google assumes your site is good for mobile.

Since video consumption on mobile is so high, your inclusion of video increases mobile dwell time.

See how it’s all connected?

When video affects a major search factor, like dwell time and mobile-readiness, video affects SEO as well.

Increase Search Click-Throughs

Information varies on how much direct traffic videos can bring you from search.

However, it all demonstrates a huge increase.

Some sites report that adding video brings in around 11% more traffic to the same page.

Other brands have seen a 157% increase in organic traffic by using video.

Either way, video positively affects SEO and organic traffic.

We’ve already talked about the increase in dwell time that boosts your rank.

By adding traffic, you’re also getting more people to spend that extra time.

When Google sees reactions like this, they’re going to bring you up in the SERPs.

That’s the simple truth about the way search engines present results to their audience.

Granted, you’ll have to do a great job making your videos appealing and their previews amazing.

But when they’re available in search and contain information that people want, you’ll see the results you want.

Grow Your Site’s Authority

As I mentioned before, people like to share videos.

Through blog articles and their social channels, content gets shared so interesting information can be seen.

When it’s your content that gets shared, your reach grows exponentially.

And the more people that consume your content and trust it, the higher it’s authority score with Google.

Google uses a site’s authority score to help rank it’s content’s relevance in search.

A better authority score creates an increased SERP rank.

So, by increasing the likelihood that your content gets shared, video affects SEO for your brand.

Video shares aren’t the only way you increase your content’s reach.

Hosting videos on a multitude of sources, like social networks and video hosts, add more exposure opportunities.

More exposure is more chances for consumption and sharing.

That grows your authority score, even more, creating a positive feedback loop for your SEO.

Grab Extra Shots At Page One

I know, this bit should be obvious.

However, how could I talk about video and SEO without mentioning that video improves your odds at page one with special placement?

In case you hadn’t noticed, Google places video elements all over the SERPs now.

Searching for almost anything under the sun will return a video result.

If videos are available, Google will place a video carousel above the search results.

When there is a recommended, timestamped video, Google will play it directly from the SERPs.

And, because videos can be added to your Google My Business listing, you improve your chance at showing in local search.

With all those added opportunities, it’s easy to see how video affects SEO.

The coveted page one spot becomes easier to earn when you saturate the web with your high-quality video content.

Yes, it will take a lot more work to optimize your videos for these placements, but it will be worth it.

There Are Many Ways Video Affects SEO

Perhaps you never realized how video affects SEO.

But now that you do, you need to understand what it’s worth to your brand and your ranking efforts.

Producing high-quality, informative video now seems well worth the effort, doesn’t it?

Because you won’t get these benefits if your video isn’t worth your audience’s time.

And that’s an important note to remember if you want to see the benefits of video content.

Like any other content, your videos need to be informative, enjoyable, and interesting to your target audience.

By focusing on the quality of your video content, you improve the odds that it affects your SEO efforts positively.

Coupling your video efforts with the rest of your SEO work will boost your site – and your brand – well ahead of your competitors.

Chances improve that your target market will find you first and see you as the most credible source.

That’s the goal of improving your search rank, after all.

When you prove your content is the best, most informative content for the search query, Google wants to reward you for it.

Remember, they grow their business by helping you effectively and realistically grow yours.