Using Social Media Video For High SEO Rankings
Have you ever wondered about the benefit of using social media on social networks and whether or not the time spent is worth it? If you’re doing it to improve your Search Engine Optimization, you’re not alone.
Basically, social networks are websites or web facilities that allow people to share their individuality and interests with people of similar interest through personal profiles, blog posting, photo and video sharing, as well as interact with one another online. These online facilities include Profiles, Friends, Groups, Discussions, Blogs and Widgets.
Two of the most important of these social networks are YouTube and Metacafe which utilize videos as their main communication method. If you’re anything like me, you probably shy away from video as you are not very interested in putting yourself out there on film for everyone to see.
That being said, you don’t have to be on video to use video, and you don’t even have to use film to create a video… At least for the most part. The truth is that you’ll need some kind of symbol, avatar or other identity for people to get familiar with.
Personalization that builds a relationship of trust is the key to social media for businesses.
Customer loyalty built out of that trust relationship positions you as an authority in your field and gives you permission to ramp up the communication with your customers, who, more and more will become loyal customers who will buy from you over and over again as a result of increased interest in you, your website and the products or services that you offer.
Back to YouTube and Metacafe… These two sites make it very easy to take part in their huge visibility on the web, but the trick is how to leverage that visibility to your advantage.
YouTube.com
Take YouTube which has an Alexa rank of 3 worldwide (meaning it’s the 3rd most visited site) and a Google PageRank score of 9 (out of 10). It’s not usually this easy to piggy back on those kinds of stats to the benefit of your business, but with YouTube it is.
Your first step is to sign up and create a “Channel” which becomes your main page under which you’ll add all of your other videos and build status for your brand. As people become familiar with your published video content, they can choose to subscribe to your channel so they don’t miss any future videos that you upload over time. In addition, you have options to send out bulletins to those subscribers from time to time.
The Seo benefit of back links to your website.
The “home page” for your channel provides opportunity for your to advertise who you and your business is, as well as create a link back to your main website. You can also add additional links in the description field of every video that you add to boost your Internet Marketing efforts.
The value of high quality relevant SEO back links from YouTube can’t be underestimated. One way back links from high PR websites like YouTube (PR 9) can contribute a lot of link juice to boost your site’s search engine rankings.
Metacafe.com
There is a difference between Metacafe and YouTube, and it’s significant. While YouTube is wide open, but appeals to niche markets, Metacafe is wide open. Even so, Metacafe has moderators who filter out non-entertainment videos that they feel may not be the quality or type they feel will appeal to a broad based audience. These volunteer reviewers are a core part of the culture of Metacafe as are the viewers who then rate the videos themselves.
The good news is that similar to YouTube, Metacafe also provides Profiles, Links and promotional opportunities.
What is Good and Acceptable Content?
First, videos on YouTube must be kept under ten minutes and on Metacafe must be somewhere around a minute and a half since they like quick blasts rather than longer discourses.
One way to take advantage of user searches is to create your video as a “How To” video. Large numbers of people search the web constantly looking for information about how to do something. In fact, just about everything you can think of can be structured as an informative how to video.
Another related video is the Vlog or video blog. If you run a blog or regularly post to an industry blog, adding video can begin to create fans for your business, as well as authority status for you. The main different between these two video sites is that with Metacafe you’ll want to keep it short and fun.
If you need help with ideas, check out YouTube’s “Creator’s Corner” where you can review some of their more creative recommendations and ideas for optimizing your video for best results.
If you plan to post videos regularly to your channel, then you should constantly seek to get visitors to subscribe to your channel or visit your website where you have additional calls to action, perhaps a newsletter signup of free offer. The best method for accomplishing this is to create high value content and tell the viewer where they can get more of the same.
Non-Video Option
You can create a niche market YouTube channel that has references to the best in your niche and continually comment on related videos of others. You can offer playlists on your channel that are on topic and will definitely be of interest to your subscribers. People will appreciate the work you do in your market to consolidate information, thereby positioning you as an expert in your field.
People that I know who are successful with social networking sites are consistent in their posting activity and always on topic.
Author Steve Josephs is owner of Intellidon Marketing LLC, a Search Engine Marketing and SEO Services firm specializing in attracting new customers for local businesses through Online Marketing Strategies. See: Wikipedia on Search Engine Optimization.
