Last updated on November 15th, 2022
How Embed Video & Images Will Help to Enhance SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is an area of website development that seeks to improve the way webpages are ranked by search engines in organic search results. Multiple approaches are taken to achieve that goal, including making sure the web-page architecture makes it easy for visitors to find content, mobile friendly and quick loading pages and of course, the content itself.
Including videos and images as a part of your content enhances ranking like nothing else. It is like adding color to a black and white canvas. Websites and blog posts that use a combination of media, especially including embedded video and images are ranked much higher on google search than those with just plain text.
Power of Videos and Images
According to Cisco’s 2014 Visual Networking Index, video already makes up 64 percent of all internet traffic, and this is forecasted to grow to 80 percent of all traffic by 2019 The reason for such rapid growth in video, is its effectiveness. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth much more. Forrester estimates that one minute of video equates to 1.8 million words of text in the message communicated.
Also, there is the matter of convenience – most users are more likely to watch a video than read text, as watching a video takes lesser effort than even skimming through written content. With video – the decision is binary – either consumers watch the video or they do not.
According to Nielson – Norman’s research, eye-tracking studies show internet readers pay close attention to information-carrying images. In fact, when the images are relevant, readers spend more time looking at the images than they do reading text on the page Infographics are “liked” and shared on social media three times more than other any other type of content
Why is it important to include videos & images to enhance your SEO?
1. They give you a better SEO ranking:
Embedded video has a better chance of getting highly ranked in Google search results, according to Toby Balsiger, CEO of website design and SEO consultant firm Website Tigers. “This means the video needs to be relevant to the keywords you’re going after, as well as helpful to your audience,” he says. Also, a site that featured video was fifty times more likely to rank on the first page of Google, as compared to a site without video.
2. Increase the number of visitors coming to your site:
Over time, high-quality content attracts links naturally. So there is a direct relationship between embedding videos & images and the number of views. This increase in organic traffic also improves ranking.
Embedding images onto your webpage
After building or selecting the most relevant image to complement your content, the next step is to prepare that image to be put on your web page in a way best suited for Search Engine Crawlers. The following steps can be taken to ensure this objective is achieved:
1. Selecting the right film name:
SEO begins with selecting an apt file name. Even if the search engine is unable to process the image, you want for it to be able to know what the image is about. So for example, if your webpage was about the lovely city of San Francisco and your image is of the San Francisco skyline, then you should name is as San-Francisco-skyline.jpg, as compared to DSC3345.jpg. So, the search engine will catch these keywords and boost you up the ranking charts.
2. Adding a relevant caption:
In 2012, KissMetric stated that “Captions under images are read on average 300% more than the body copy itself, so not using them, or not using them correctly, means missing out on an opportunity to engage a huge number of potential readers.”
So, just like the file-name is important for the SEO algorithms to understand what the picture could be about – having a caption to go with the image is important for the potential readers of the article, which in turn makes it important for SEO algorithms. Captions are valued more than the body of the text for this very reason.
3. Scaling the image:
Another important factor in SEO is how fast a web page loads. If your file size is very large, it will invariably result in slow loading and slow indexing. A common mistake that is made is uploading a full size image, even, though the display size is much smaller. For example, loading an HD image in 1920×1080 pixel size when the display is only 400×300 pixels size will result in the entire picture being loaded. So, the solution to this is to scale your image to display size and then loading it.
4. Using mobile friendly and responsive images:
Of late, this factor has become extremely important. These days the number of views of a website on mobile is generally more than that on a laptop. So, it is vital to ensure that your content is both mobile friendly, i.e. easy to read on a mobile, and responsive, i.e. the content and the web page architecture adapts to mobile screen size. A good mobile experience improves ranking and this factor will only keep on increasing in importance. There are many tools and plug-ins that make this easy to do.
5. Optimizing the file size:
The final step in optimizing images for SEO is to make sure the file size is as low as possible, of course, without compromising on quality. As a general rule however, it is best to make sure that the scaled image is exported in the smallest size possible. Another way to reduce file size is to remove the EXIF data. The tools to do this are available online such as ImageOptim or websites like Kraken.io
Additional Tips on making the most of embedded images
1. The alt text ranking factor:
Alternative text or alt text, (also known as ‘alt attributes’ or ‘alt descriptions’) is used to describe the appearance and function of an image on a page. Alt text uses: Adding alternative text to images is primarily and most importantly, a principle of web accessibility. Alt tags are displayed in place of an image if the image file does not load Alt tags also play an important role in providing descriptions or context to search engine algorithms. This helps in indexing an image properly.
2. Creating an Image Sitemap:
Building and uploading an image sitemap to capture all of your images in one location gives search engine algorithms the ability to discover and peruse through all the images on your site. This increases the probability of your images being selected as top search results.
3. The possibility of linkbait:
Link-baiting is the practice of intentionally creating content which is designed to get other content creators to link to it. The aim is to increase the number of links that direct to your content and therefore improve ranking as per search engine results. Adding value adding, relevant and compelling content is the most important aspect of link-baiting. This could be through infographics, images that stand out, humorous or compelling content, news or any other content of relevance. Such content always leads to sharing and virality.
Embedding Videos onto your Webpage:
Uploading a video to YouTube and embedding it on your site is one of the easiest ways leverage video seo. If you don’t have a video to upload, try simply embedding one that’s relevant to your business and industry. Most videos on YouTube allow for embedding, and just because it’s not yours doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t use it. Be sure to choose video content that compliments your business and brand, while not distracting or taking away from what you’re trying to accomplish with your visitor
Tips on using video effectively for SEO
Use the following tips to make SEO work in your favour:
1. Video integration:
The most important criterion in SEO ranking is the content, of which video is the king. So by integrating video onto your web page, you are sending the a message to Search engine algorithms that your content is not only relevant, but also premium. As the popularity and importance of video increases, this factor will become increasingly important in improving page rank.
2. Keyword labels:
Just as labeling pictures and infographics improves search engine ranking, adding a crisp label to your embedded video makes it much easier for search engines to understand your content. This simple but effective practice can go a long way in improving your ranking. This could be in the form of a title, or tags, names, descriptions or even the file name.
3. Video transcript:
Similar to keyword labels, adding a transcript of the audio that you have embedded helps the search engine even further and builds up your score, especially in terms of relevance.
4. Video sitemap:
While a video sitemap might seem like an unnecessary addition, it is in fact a separate factor as per search engine algorithms. In a video sitemap one can include information that the label, transcript or even the video may not contain such as – rating, PG ratings (age appropriateness), number of views, Metadata, duration and any other information that you might deem fit. Create a video sitemap, it is just an extension to the website’s native sitemap
5. Hosting the video on YouTube:
This is a very important practice that has many positive implications. Firstly, after Google, YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world (on basis of number of queries). Also, YouTube is owned by Google. So hosting your video on YouTube works in your favour.
Secondly, whilst many developers disagree with this practice and suggest hosting the video on your own website, it should be noted that YouTube takes the load off your website for hosting, which in turn improves the speed at which your page loads – which is also an important criterion for ranking. So, this advantage is dual
6. Optimizing videos for load time:
As mentioned above, page performance is an important factor for search engine algorithms. According to Radware, 57 percent of mobile users abandon a slow loading site after just 3 seconds of waiting. So it is crucial that your page loading is smooth and quick.
7. Backlink from your YouTube video:
This is a little complicated, but it’s a neat trick that improves your ranking. A link to your YouTube video does not count as a link to your web page. So, the aim is to create a back link from YouTube itself. To do this, first create a channel on YouTube and insert your web page into the channel’s profile. Finally, in the video description, insert the link to your website.
8. Traction and Social Media:
Search Engine Algorithms improve ranking based on how popular content is, or in other words how much traction it has received. Thus, social sharing or getting people to like/share your video will improve the relevance score of your content, which in turn will improve your page ranking.
Conclusion:
Implement an affordable content strategy that makes use of embedded video and images Many times content creators are reluctant to include high quality images or videos on their web pages because they believe it is either too difficult or too costly. However, with the deluge of new video and image tools that have flooded the Internet space, it is not at all difficult – even if you are a beginner. These tools are easy to use, free and give an output that is clean and professional. Today, it is possible to build quality content at a very affordable cost. By embedding this rich media onto your webpage, you go a long way in improving user experience and your ranking by search engines.
Here is a 7 SEO checklist for you to follow before you post your next blog.
