Our own ReelSEO publisher Mark Robertson was a featured speaker this past week at the 2010 Video Commerce Summit held in Seattle, Washington. We’ve included here Mark’s full presentation titled, Building on the Success of Video with New PPC and SEO Strategies, which is all about optimizing e-commerce video for search as well as using YouTube (organic and paid) for e-commerce video.
About The 2010 Video Commerce Summit
The 2010 Video Commerce Summit, held in Seattle on July 23, 2010 and hosted by Liveclicker, featured an impressive lineup of speakers, panelists from some of the leading businesses and industry researchers including: HSN, Overstock.com, Stanford University, REI, Zappos, PFI Western, Goodmail Systems, OnlineShoes.com and our own publication, ReelSEO. (OK, so we're not as impressive as the rest in that bunch.) Presenters showcased the special opportunities and advantages today with using online video for commerce, plus cutting edge cases and best practices on how to take our video commerce programs to the next level.
The ReelSEO Presentation: Video With SEO And PPC Strategies
Here are some key points to gather from Mark’s SlideShare presentation:
What are the most compelling arguments for Video SEO in e-commerce?
Why e-commerce websites are better positioned than most other types of businesses to trump YouTube in Google’s blended/universal search results.
How to maximize YouTube with e-commerce.
Special SEO tips for product videos, and product pages with videos.
New opportunities in paid e-commerce video placement.
Why Mark can’t fully appreciate Seattle Mariners baseball. (OK, that comes at the beginning.)
Thanks to the event host (and my sponsor) Liveclicker for making all of my coverage possible for our audience at ReelSEO.
Click Here to Expand Presentation Outline
Video SEO for Retail Video and E-Commerce - Presentation
ReelSEO.com Founder, Webmaster, Customer Service Rep, Author, etc…
Expertise
Search engine optimization
Online video publishing
Search, search, & more search
Not so much
Dynamic speaking
Video production
Ecommerce
Baseball
What is ReelSEO.com?
Video + Business
We’re not just about SEO…
We believe that in order to optimize video, there is a lot more to learn.
ReelSEO.com is The Online Video Marketer’s Guide – focused on internet video marketing, video advertising, SEO, video production, the online video industry, social media, YouTube, and anything else that can help marketers leverage the power of online video.
We are here to help evangelize for the industry, collect and disseminate best practices, and learn a little bit while doing it.
*U.S. Comscore Video Metrix - Videos Viewed – April 2010
** ComScore Core Search Report – April 2010
Searches for Video
38% of all US online users report using search engine results to discover video
vs. from portal (19%) vs. other video destination sites (11%)
YouTube Searching
54% of online consumers reported using the site to discover video
Dec 2008 – 2nd largest search engine in US
Dec 2009 – 3.9B queries = 28% of all Google queries
Search Engine Referral Traffic
Share of video referral traffic from search engines
11.81% - general & video search engines (YouTube excluded)
23% of traffic to YouTube originates from Google 3 Sources:
JupiterResearch/NPD Group Individual User Survey (6/08)
Comscore Search Rankings (6/09)
Compete.com
Tubemogul (2/09)
Videos Dominate Universal Search
38% of users who searched Google were served video in Universal search engine results pages (‘08)
Google Video = 21.5M Unique/Month Source – “Google Universal Search Results Searcher PenetraRon by Result Type” – ComScore – Jan 2008
Generate traffic to your website & your video content
Benefits:
Control: – on-page text – user-experience, etc... – conversions – brand experience • Better measurement capabilities • Generate direct traffic • Exposure to related content • Can strengthen overall website SEO
“Thumbnail Power”
Traffic goes directly to Overstock.com
9980 product videos indexed in Google.
Why is this important?
Thumbnail Power!
Regular SERPS
Universal SERPS
Wont YouTube videos trump ours?
YouTube Cannibalization
Not necessarily:
Why? – Topical Authority – Blended vs. Universal Search
In Fact = Opportunity – Early advantage
76% retailers have no tangible video presence on Google (<10 videos)
Top 200 Retailers – 4% of the top 200 retailers have >100 videos indexed by Google – <10 % had more than 10 videos indexed
Successful Retailers – Amazon, Overstock and NFL.com 10’s of thousands of videos indexed Source
SundaySky State of Video in E-Commerce Report, 7/2010
Keep in Mind: Video SEO is merely an extension of website SEO Website Video SEO Steps: 1. Focus 1st on SEO for E-commerce website – Keyword research – Site architecture – On-page SEO factors – Off-page SEO factors (inbound linking/PR) 2. Create optimized landing pages for each video – Be careful in how you publish video 3. Create feeds/XML for videos 4. Submit videos to search engines 5. Measure, track and refine
Creating a Video Landing Page • 1 Video/URL Video Landing Page Anatomy • Unique URLS w/Keywords • Same domain (video can be hosted outside) Optimize the Video Landing Page • SEO principles for titles, URLs, metadata, H1, etc… • Keyword anchor text to URLs Provide Context to Surround Video • As always - accessibility = SEO • Contextually related links (products, videos, articles) • Related on-page text (tags, transcripts, comments)
Don’t make it difficult for users to find your videos • Thumbnail vs. icon vs. “click here for video” = Thumbnail • Incorporate video results within own site search Publishing for SEO • Use Embedded Players • Don’t use popups – (i.e. “click to watch video” pop-up) • Avoid external js, if possible
Search Engines Crawl to Find Video • Link to Video File – traffic to video file vs. page, not reliable Submission is Be[er – Tell The Search Engines About Your Videos • Google supports both MRSS and XML video sitemaps • Other search engines support MRSS • XML sitemaps (beVer) – Allows you to specify player, thumbnail, and “allow play” Tips for Sitemaps • Robots.txt - include sitemaps and allow URL crawling • Publish both video sitemap and regular xml sitemap • Titles are given disproportionate weighting • Tell search engines which thumbnail to use • Contact search engines for specific guidelines – many outdated
1. Googlebot Crawls Web & Finds Video 3. MRSS Feeds Or XML Sitemaps – Step 1) Tell Google where your video resides • MRSS Feeds or Video XML Sitemaps – Step 2) Google crawls page to verify video exists – Video indexed in Google video – Available via universal search results – Thumbnails displayed if appropriate 4. Facebook Share Markup 5. Yahoo Search Monkey RDF 6. HTML5 – Still Requires Sitemap
Page Load Times are Critical Create Compelling Thumbnails – Eye-catching, relevant, high quality – Which one would you chooseti • “Flip Mino HD”
13,087,462,000 2 Billion video views/day = 23,000 videos/second ** 3,705,000,000 ** *U.S. Comscore Video Metrix - Videos Viewed – April 2010 | ** ComScore Core Search Report – April 2010
Search Queries (MM) Google YouTube Yahoo! Search Search
“Publishing e-commerce videos to YouTube in addiRon to the adequate product page is something I would consider a must” - Xavier Casanova, Liveclicker Current State • 24% retailers not present on YouTube • 24% of top retailers have limited presence – inactive channel Opportunityti • 30% have > 1 M video views • 34% of top retailers have >100 videos on their channels. Source – SundaySky State of Video in E-Commerce Report, 7/2010
Quality content SEO Audience Basics
2 ways retailers can use YouTube 1. Brand PromoCon & Awareness – Blendtec = 300K subscribers + 131M video views – Old Spice = 100K subscribers + 70M video views – Victoria’s Secret = 25K subscribers + 150M video views 2. Direct Response – YouTube syndication can result in direct- response if done properly
Not TV Advertising - Lean Back vs. Lean Forward Consider going beyond product videos • Consider the audience on YouTube • No viral product videos Telling a story: • Shorter is almost always sweeter • Focus on first 15 sec • Engage customers • Educate customers • Point of differentiation http://www.youtube.com/user/Blendtec • Entertain customers Sales increased 700%, 5X the company's old record • Be different • Write with keyword in mind (if applicable)
YouTube Ranking Factors – Title – Description – Tags – Views & frequency – Likes, dislikes – Playlist additions – Flagging – Shares – Comments – Age of video – Video Responses – Subscribers – Favorites – Embeds & inbound links
More Possible YouTube Ranking Factors • Social Media Activity & Buzz • Blogs • Degree & frequency of community • News/Press/Press Release interaction • Crowd Sourcing – Influencers & • Playlists Media • Flagging • YouTube Partner Program • Honors • Close Captioning/transcriptions • Insight/Trends/Analytics indicators • Bulletins • Authority Channel (Ex: BMW) • Google & YouTube searches • Channel Views • Social Bookmarking
Titles are important • Trade-off = Search keywords vs. enticing titles Maximize descriptive text • Leverage descriptions liberally (5000 characters) • Leverage tags – optimize & de-optimize (no spam) • Important keywords first in titles, descriptions & tags Enable interaction • Embedding and sharing • Commenting and rating Consider manually uploading or API • More characters available • Geo-tagging, CC, Annotations, etc… • You really should be an active community member anyway
Add URLs to descriptions • Track with tiny URLs Leverage annotations • Drive viewers to other videos Engage the community • Subscribe to relevant users • Add video responses when appropriate • Encourage linking and embedding Don’t Ignore your Channel • Channel URLs followed • Site URL followed
• It’s more than YouTube now. • Competitive keywords require additioonal effort OUTSIDE of YouTube
• Distribute via most popular YouTube channel available to you • Leverage social sharing functionalities • Post to your blog • Crowd source -Target/Use Key Influences • Spread the word internally – Encourage your company to help seed/spread the word
Closed Captions: • YouTube & Google Index CC • CC/SubCtles don’t require audio • Can help with longtail searches • Have script?
Track, Measure and Learn!
YOUTUBE CONVERSION TIPS Driving YouTube viewers back to you
Video Conversion - Driving Viewers Home How can you drive interested YouTube viewers back to your website? 1) URL in Description 2) In-Video Calls to Action - Must include hVp:// - Use URL shortener – tracking, nofollow - Teasers, Coupons, Promo codes, Call tracking #’s, Unique URLs, Etc…
Benefits • Reach users as they are searching on YouTube – 2nd Largest SE • Keyword-based • Pay only when someone clicks to watch your video – Set maximum CPC • Videos surface on: – YouTube Search Results pages – Related Videos – YouTube homepage • Audience actively opts-in • Overlay ad drive conversion • Control your brand • Avoid competitor ads on your videos • Autoplay on channel homepage
Drive Viewers Home • Bonus = Free call to action overlay • Auto-play on channel = more views • Starts at $0.01 CPC • Cost per click off-site? $0.00 • What you don’t know? – Overlay is yours regardless = FREE
Ecommerce tracking with Google Analytics • Google URL builder – create tracking URL • Use the URL shortener of your choice to make the URL palatable or branded • Display the URL within your video, annotations, leading your description, or in overlay ads. • Voila! When someone clicks on your YouTube video URL and buys something, Google Analytics will tell you how much revenue was generated via TRAFFIC SOURCES>CAMPAIGNS>(Your label)
TIPS FOR PRODUCT VIDEOS
Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it." (Google Guidelines) • Demo test “Tires” • Keyword research – Not everyone searches the same way – Tools • Google Search Insight • SEOBook.com • “Related Searches” • Keywords for e-commerce Review Test Demonstration Buy How-to Model & SKU #’s
Longtail Keywords for Product Pages Facts: • The majority of searches are 1-3 keywords • Queries with 4-8 keywords up YOY • Long tail keywords are: – Easier to rank for in search – Cheaper to buy for PPC – Typically result in higher conversion %
Avoid Manufacturer Product Descriptions • Resist the urge. When possible, re-write descriptions - make unique Allow your customers to comment and tag products with their own keywords • Start ranking for slang keywords that you would have never thought of.. Use keywords in anchor text • On category pages, link to the individual product pages with good anchor text – No - “click here” or “more info” – Yes – “Canon HF-10 Review Video” Links in Product Descriptions • Create keyword rich links in product descriptions of one product to another
NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN PAID E-COMMERCE VIDEO PLACEMENT
“Plus Box” Pilot Program • Started 2/2009 • Jury still out on effectiveness – works best for entertainment
About the Author - Grant Crowell Grant Crowell is a regular contributor for ReelSEO and a professional consultant and developer in the online marketing space. Grant’s regular coverage for ReelSEO includes video in SEO (VSEO), social media optimization (SMO), how-to’s and tips, and legal issues for online video. Feel free to contact Grant here. - View All Posts By Grant Crowell
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The 2010 Video Commerce Summit, held in Seattle on July 23, 2010 and hosted by Liveclicker, featured an impressive lineup of speakers, panelists from some of the leading businesses and industry researchers including: HSN, Overstock.com, Stanford University, REI, Zappos, PFI Western, Goodmail Systems, OnlineShoes.com and our own publication, ReelSEO. (OK, so we're not as impressive as the rest in that bunch.) Presenters showcased the special opportunities and advantages today with using online video for commerce, plus cutting edge cases and best practices on how to take our video commerce programs to the next level.
Here are some key points to gather from Mark’s SlideShare presentation:
About the Author - Grant Crowell 
