optimizing youtube

joeleighton · #1 (**permalink**) 08-09-2007, 10:11 AM

any ideas on optimizing youtube videos for SE's?

lisa · #2 (**permalink**) 08-09-2007, 10:59 AM

I think YouTube videos are optimized in similar ways that content pages are. For example if your video is about American Idol, sure you can add "American Idol" to your title and tags in your YouTube video but Google is also looking to see how many related sites (sites about American Idol) are linking to that video. The more popular the video is, the better ranking it will receive. That's just what I've noticed.

ppcFanatic · #3 (**permalink**) 08-09-2007, 04:37 PM

Agree Lisa, it's all about inbound links to your video just like content. If you want your video to rank high for a search, get some high quality, related sites to link to or embed your video.

joeleighton · #4 (**permalink**) 08-12-2007, 06:05 AM

thanks for the advice.

in youtube terminology, we have 2 types of inbound links to videos.

favorited - youtube users that have put my video on their youtube favorite list

links - websites that have included a link to my video.

do you reckon that "links" are the most important for optimization?

do outbound links have any relevance?

lisa · #5 (**permalink**) 08-12-2007, 10:22 AM

Not sure of the breakdown but I would think both would play a role, however it would seem to me having an embedded link would have more of an impact to YouTube than just a "favorited" video. Just a hunch.

GreenThumb · #6 (**permalink**) 08-19-2007, 10:10 PM

I am starting to see more and more video embedded into affiliate sites. I think it's great. Lisa have you noticed an increase in sales as a result of your video? I presume it's hard to track but it has to help out some... especially building that credibility factor. There are so many faceless sites out there, adding a video has got to help your visitors feel there is a real person behind the site.

lisa · #7 (**permalink**) 08-20-2007, 10:35 AM

Yes, it is hard to measure the results. My traffic is definitely up this month over August 2006 and people are staying on my site longer. My bounce rates have also improved since I started adding videos. What I am going to start doing is embedding affiliate links in my videos so I can track the performance. I believe that will help me get a better idea for how well my videos are doing.

I am seriously thinking of signing up with WebVideoZone.com. I know the owner, Joe and was able to test out the product earlier this year. It really is amazing and you can embed links into your videos and do all sorts of cool things. Everything is hosted on their servers so you don't have to worry about sucking your own bandwidth. You can even customize the player and add your own branding to it.

If you have a tutorial-based site, video is a must-have if you want to boost your credibility and conversions. People come to your site to learn and often it's much easier to watch a video than read loads of text.

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