Since the Google Penguin and Panda updates, a lot of SEOs finally have realized that ranking a website in the long term is not just about building a large number of links. It’s also about creating high-quality content that will attract links naturally over time.

However, one type of content that still is underutilized in the world of SEO is online video. Although a lot of brands are incorporating video content into their overall online marketing strategies, most SEOs don’t place a high priority on it. Usually, they opt for creating various other types of content (e.g., infographics, images, written content, etc.).

If used correctly, video can be an extremely powerful form of content and make a significant contribution to your overall SEO strategy, in more ways than one.

It’s true! Video is quickly becoming one of the most important forms of content marketing and its presence could make or break your optimization efforts.

Google’s algorithms are increasingly prioritizing websites with video content. It’s not something you want to ignore; 93 percent of online experiences start with a search engine, so you want to do everything you can to appear on that crucial first page. And you especially want to appear in the first three results — the top three spots get 55 percent of all clicks.

But how does video help? There’s a lot you can do, but adding videos specifically helps increase your search engine results page (SERP) rank in a couple of ways:

Increasing your click-through rates: Including video on your page drives a 157 percent increase in organic traffic from SERPs.

Lowering your bounce rates: People spend over twice as long on a page with video than without.

Creating quality backlinks: The higher the quality of your content, the more more likely you are to get backlinks.

Video is magical, but when you combine good SEO and valuable content, that’s when the real magic happens. That’s when you create that elusive unicorn content — content with a high average position ranking and high click-through rate.

After all, video alone won’t be your website’s saving grace. Think of it as a cycle. Video gives you a boost in rankings, which allows more people to see your site, which means more people will click on your link, but they won’t actually stay on your site very long if your on-page content isn’t high-quality. As a matter of fact, this could be detrimental. Hosting a low-quality video with little or no context will make your rank plummet. At the start, more people may see your site in the SERPs, but if your page doesn’t satisfy their intent, they’ll quickly exit your page — telling the search engines your site isn’t valuable.

Conclusion
Video will only continue to grow in popularity and accessibility. Consumers like video, use video and remember video. Those are all great components for a successful marketing strategy.

It’s also becoming much more affordable and accessible for local businesses. Make sure to use video both for the marketing power it brings and for its increasing importance to your site’s SEO.

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