In today’s market, explainer videos are one of the most frequently used types of marketing videos. A well-designed explainer video can help marketers reach their marketing goals seamlessly, whether they’re boosting brand awareness or generating leads.
The appeal of explainer videos lies in the fact that they are short and straightforward, offering viewers so much information in such a short period of time.
Additionally, animations are sometimes used, which encourage viewers to engage with the messages and take action.
However, explainer videos can accomplish so much more than simplifying a complex message and establishing a strong online presence.
The use of engaging content with video can have a powerful effect on your ranking in the search results, attracting more traffic to your site and even increasing the number of leads you generate.
The following are some SEO-friendly explainer video best practices.
Table of Contents
1. Make the video available on your website
Did you know that a website with an explainer video has 53 times the chance of ranking on Google’s front page? Having such a staggering number shows how important it is to host your explainer videos on your website.
Besides the homepage, landing pages, FAQs, and About Us pages, you can also use the edited video in the FAQ section. The purpose of an explainer video on a website is not only to boost SEO rankings but also to ensure the website visitors have a better understanding of your brand.
2. Make the video short and straightforward.
Less is more when it comes to explainer videos. To put it another way, it’s essential to keep the content as simple and straightforward as possible, while still offering a complete explanation. A study conducted by Breadnbeyond indicates that explainer videos should be between 60 and 90 seconds long.
Videos that are shorter tend to be retained better. Increased retention translates to more authority for the content. Crawlers of search engines will prioritize videos in this manner to provide users with what they want.
3. Include transcripts of videos.
You should always provide a text transcript along with an explainer video on your website or blog post for viewers who prefer reading to watching.
The transcription process involves selecting the audio element in your explainer video and converting it into written, plain text. Simply put, the transcription process writes what you say.
A blog post with a video and transcript is helpful for link-building as well, since search engines index blog posts with videos.
Adding a transcript will give search engines the information they want. By doing this, you will increase your chances of showing up in search engine results.
If you want to appeal to mobile users, make sure that your video has closed captions or overlay subtitles.
4. Title Your Video With Keywords
You should focus on giving the explainer video a keyword-based title, just like you would for a regular SEO campaign. You can do this to increase the conversions and the chances of your video being found by search engines.
You can e.g. use “How To Build A Shed” as an example.
“How” and “build” are the keywords. Fill in the blank with whatever words you think will attract more viewers to your explainer video.
You should also include the keyword in the description box when hosting your explainer video on digital platforms like social media or YouTube.
5. Make sure the thumbnails are eye-catching.
Your thumbnail is the first thing your viewers see when they discover your videos. In fact, you can say it’s one of the most important factors determining whether or not people watch your explainer video.
Below are a few tips to help you create a great thumbnail:
- Choose high-quality graphics
- Be sure to use clear and readable text
- Make sure your images accurately represent your brand or content
- Make use of graphic tools like Canva, Snappa, Adobe Spark, and more
With a customized thumbnail, you can make your video more clickable, increasing click-through rates (CTR) and Watch Time. The higher your Watch Time and CTR, the more popular your content is – which can have a huge impact on your SEO rankings.
6. Make Use of Relevant Hashtags
If you put your explainer videos on YouTube, you can use relevant hashtags for them to appear in the right categories.
Your video’s view rate can be increased by using hashtags, which drive people to your video from videos with the same hashtag.
In order to decide what hashtags to use, create a list of keywords related to your content and then search for common hashtag phrases in the YouTube search bar.
You should choose videos that have high popularity and relevance, so they can be easily found by others looking for similar videos or information.
Conclusion
Video explainer content is known for its simplicity and conciseness. Breaking even complex topics into digestible chunks engages viewers and makes information easier to digest.
Additionally, explainer videos can be used to increase your website’s ranking in search engine results. Using those six tips, you can optimize your explainer videos so you rank on the first page of the search engine results.
