TouchStorm's Jeff Martin on YouTube Video Optimization
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Transcript of TouchStorm's Jeff Martin on YouTube Video Optimization
October 4, 2010
©2010 TouchStorm, LLC. A unit of PowerPact Holdings Group. All rights reserved. Proprietary and confidential.
Maximizing YouTube Visibility With Organic SEO
2©2010 TouchStorm, LLC. A unit of PowerPact Holdings Group. All rights reserved. Proprietary and confidential.
Digital Video Solutions Driven by an Editorial Network
We make online video for brands.
We distribute it to “center-of-the-page” locations.
We deliver high credibility, earned media reach.
We convert that reach to action.
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Brands we’ve worked with
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YouTube Organic and Homepage Results
#1
#2
#3
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#5
#6
#7
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Google Organic Results
#1 #2
#3
#4
#5
#1
#2 #3
#4
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Driving Views
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Tips From The Trenches:
YouTube Metadata Optimization
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YouTube Metadata Optimization Tips The title:• 100 characters max (65 are visible in search results)
• Seems to have the most weight of any single item for optimization
• Represents your video (along with the thumbnail) wherever it appears on YouTube: Search results, related videos, etc.
Tips:• Make sure your core keywords are present
• Keep your phrases together - proximity is important
• Ordering doesn’t appear to be much of a factor
• Using a keyword more than once seems to provide lift
– Avoid awkward and redundant keyword usage
– Your titles must entice users
• Use your titles in the description
– If your title is optimized its going to help with optimization to use it here
– The first ~140 char appear in the search results and searched for keywords will be bolded to users and will help draw the eye as they do in Google results.
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YouTube Metadata Optimization Tips The description:• 5,000 characters max - use it and abuse it!
• The first 80 characters are displayed by default - and need to be taken advantage of.
• Notoriously unutilized according to YouTube despite being a factor for optimization.
Tips:• Two useful ways for utilizing the first 80 characters (examples below):
– Feature a link to drive traffic to your website (video only promotions are nice for clicks and conversions).
– Use text with special characters to entice users to open the description fully (this may also entice users to click the video from the search results).
• Including detailed info, tips, techniques and transcripts makes the video more of an information source and can encourage “likes” and favorites which are crucial.
• Keep traditional SEO principles in mind as you work the content with your keywords.
• If you cant modify the copy use keywords in “plain sight”.
• Place links to more of your videos
– YouTube takes notice of what videos drive views to others for helping them determine related videos.
10©2010 TouchStorm, LLC. A unit of PowerPact Holdings Group. All rights reserved. Proprietary and confidential.
YouTube Metadata Optimization Tips The tags:• 120 characters max
• Can consist of words or phrases (use quotes for phrasing)
• Tags are a factor for optimization
Tips:• Ordering doesn’t appear to be a factor.
• Make sure to cover all of your targeted keywords. Use phrasing for the targeted core keywords you have in addition to breaking the words out as tags.
• Break out keyword stems (bake, baking, baked, bakes) don’t rely fully on YouTube to figure them out. If you are literal then there is less room for inconsistent interpretation.
• Don’t stuff with duplicates - it wont work.
• Don’t use irrelevant tags - users will flame you for it and drop out quick.
– Dislikes + low attention span = a buried video
11©2010 TouchStorm, LLC. A unit of PowerPact Holdings Group. All rights reserved. Proprietary and confidential.
YouTube Metadata Optimization Tips Captions / Transcripts:• Indexed by YouTube and Google and have proven to be a
signal
• SubViewer (*.SUB) and SubRip (*.SRT) formats are fully supported
Tips:• Optimization will be natural if you draft your scripts before
shooting with your keywords in mind.
• Don’t force optimization into the captions. They are for the hearing impaired and your videos will appear unprofessional when what is spoken isn’t matching the text on the screen.
12©2010 TouchStorm, LLC. A unit of PowerPact Holdings Group. All rights reserved. Proprietary and confidential.
Tips From The Trenches:
YouTube Engagement Tips
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YouTube Engagement Tips Comments
• User must be signed in (Thank God).
• Each comment counts as an engagement - even your own. Participate!
• Keep users involved and coming back (which increases views) by keeping conversations going.
• Prune your overtly negative comments. Like a garden, if you don’t pull the weeds eventually that’s all you’ll see. These can and will affect all engagement.
Likes/Dislikes
• You want as many “likes” as you can get.
• Observation: you want a “like” percentage of 88+% but take it case-by-case with competing videos.
• New Observation: Our beta optimization tracking tool is indicating that a “like” has less impact than a “dislike.” Your video has to work harder to make up for a dislike.
• Flaming and overtly negative arguments in the comments may raise the risk of a dislike.
14©2010 TouchStorm, LLC. A unit of PowerPact Holdings Group. All rights reserved. Proprietary and confidential.
YouTube Engagement Tips Favoriting
• Is essentially a bookmark.
• May have more positive impact than a “like” (gathering data).
– Why? The video was so valuable to you that you felt the needed to keep it close.
• Reversely, losing a favorite may have a negative impact.
• Helpful and detailed info in the description can help the chances of gaining favorites.
• Use annotations to remind users they can find useful info in the description and recommend they “bookmark” the video in their favorites.
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Tips From The Trenches:
Guiding YouTube Watching Habits
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Guiding YouTube Watching Habits Relate your videos:
• The more similar your video metadata is to another video the more likely they may wind up related.
– BUT you must find a balance between respecting a video’s topical uniqueness and relating to it.
– Consider using similar related tags and series-like titling:
• Appetizer Recipes: Sweet and Sour Shrimp Puff Appetizers
• Appetizer Recipes: Ham and Cheese Pinwheel Appetizers
Annotations:
• Suggest the next video to watch by using a linked annotation before a video ends.
• Ask the user to “like” the video. Sales 101: ask for the sale.
• Remind the user to check out the description for a video special promotion code, recipe, instructions, more tips, etc., they may bookmark (favorite) the video.
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Guiding YouTube Watching HabitsLinks In The Description:• Link to other related videos you have
• Use tracking URLs for each link so you can test how effective they are
Video Responses:
• Feature two of your own videos as responses to a related video of yours that’s getting more views.
• Keep an eye out for 3rd party popular videos as well.
– Keep an eye on “new” videos appearing in search results
– Keep an eye on the most popular, viewed, rated, favorited, videos in your category.
– Cross promote with another YouTuber by exchanging relevant video responses.
18©2010 TouchStorm, LLC. A unit of PowerPact Holdings Group. All rights reserved. Proprietary and confidential.
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