The internet may seem saturated with video nowadays, but video is still growing according to tech kingpins Cisco. They predict that 82% of all internet traffic will originate from video content by 2021, a 127-fold increase from 2005 (Source: Cisco, 2017).
But what exactly makes it such a promising medium? Let’s investigate 5 reasons why producing video can get more eyeballs pointing in your direction.
1. Video Expands Your Online Presence
Producing video as well as other content like blog posts provides variety, giving your readers options to consume whichever kind of multimedia they prefer. We all have our own preferences – some people like things explained in text, some would rather have details illustrated in infographics or video, whereas others may prefer listening to podcasts.
Additionally, hosting your video on public platforms like YouTube or Vimeo gives you a small amount of brand visibility away from your website, much like having a presence on a social media platform. YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine, so being present there can understandably help new people find you and potentially drive traffic to your site.
2. Videos Make Your Website Sticky – in a Good Way
Did you know that 4 times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it? Where a wall of text might turn people away immediately, an embedded video can keep them hanging around for longer. When people spend longer on your site following search, that sends signals to Google that the site is engaging and provides whatever answer the searcher was looking for.
Once you allow this “dwell time” to accrue, your site may see a small SEO boost; but keeping people on your site for longer also has a practical benefit too – it gives their eyes more chance to wander to other on-site information that may pique their interest.
Including video on a landing page can increase conversion by 80% (Source: EyeView Digital)
3. Results Page Visibility
Google’s standard search results page now presents quite a varied and blended experience with knowledge graphs, answer blocks, and image results – all potentially displaying following a “vanilla” Google search on both desktop and mobile. Some video results display as thumbnails, making them more eye-catching than any text results surrounding them. Remember to optimise your video on YouTube when you upload; create an enticing, keyword-rich headline, and provide an in-depth explanation in YouTube’s description box, maybe even with a full text transcript of the video. This helps to optimise your post for search.
4. Video Attracts Shares and Backlinks
Video is an incredibly attractive and shareable media that performs well on both desktop and mobile devices. Nowadays, video is convenient to consume and share, whether you’re at your desk or on the move. Producing video allows you to harness this improved potential “findability”, and can lead to more people discovering and sharing your content on social, or linking to your video content on their own blogs and websites. These “backlinks” (links on other websites that point to your website) are essential for SEO; an appropriate backlink from a relevant, authoritative website can benefit your search presence noticeably.
If you want these backlinks to benefit your website’s SEO however, the other website will have to point to your website rather than the video on YouTube or Vimeo. For an easy solution to this, embed the video on your company’s blog with an explanation or a transcript of what’s being said. Remember to formulate an attractive, clickable title for this video-enriched blog post too – this will help your blog’s SEO visibility by giving thorough information to be indexed by search.
Blog posts which incorporate video attract 3x as many inbound links as those without. (Source: Moz)
5. Our Brains Simply Love Video!
59% of executives stated that if both text and video are available on the same topic, they are more likely to watch the video (Source: Forbes Insight). We’re more time-poor than ever nowadays, and many of us would rather watch a video and have something explained to us rather than wading through text. I’m certainly guilty of seeking out videos over plain text and I’m a wordslinger by profession – what a traitor, eh?
And it’s not just a preference in consumption that puts video on top – it applies to memorising that information too. Video is (obviously) very visual and auditory, and our brains love that. Studies have shown that viewers retain 95% of a video’s content compared to 10% when reading text (Source: Insivia)!
So if your company’s online visibility seems to have plateaued – give video a try! You’ll have more content to share with your followers and who knows, you might enjoy it!
If you’re a total novice in the video stakes, keep an eye out for my forthcoming blog post! We’ll discuss a few valuable ways that complete beginners can start to produce valuable online video in no time! Watch this space…
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Have you dabbled in online video yet? What kind of video do you like to watch from other brands online? Let’s compare notes – the comments section awaits!
