If you’re not using video as part of your digital marketing strategy, you’re missing out. About 85 percent of internet users in the U.S. watch videos monthly and the demand for video content is increasing. More than half of consumers want to view more video-based content from the brands that they’re familiar with. Video is everywhere.
Video marketing doesn’t require fancy equipment. You can create clever content with a smartphone and free editing software. Use videos to make your blog posts more engaging and digestible. Show your audience what they need to know instead of telling them. You’ll stand out to your consumers as well as other businesses who might partner with you.
Create a YouTube Channel
YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world. You can use it to your advantage to diversify your content, build quality links, establish relationships and drive leads to your website.
Video expands on the content that you already offer. A solid video page is a comprehensive resource for people who want to know more about your services. Your YouTube channel can make you an authority in your field. Your audience will bookmark a comprehensive YouTube channel and turn to it when they want to share information with their friends.
Keep your YouTube channel professional and consistent with your brand. Make sure that you fill out the profile page completely. You can cross-link your other social media accounts in your YouTube profile. Doing this won’t necessarily improve your ranking, but it will help your viewers stay engaged.
When you upload individual videos, include a link to your site at the top of the description. This will drive traffic to your website, which can enhance your Google ranking there.
Put Videos on Your Site
When Google indexes websites, it looks for metrics such as the amount of time your audience spends on your page. Placing quality videos on your site gives people a reason to stay on your site instead of clicking off quickly. That translates into Google recognizing your site as a high-quality one and improving your ranking.
A web page needs more than a title tag and video embed code, though. Google can’t pick up keywords from the code alone. Surround a video with other relevant content, including text and images, to signal to Google that your content is associated with the query. Some websites create a written transcription of the video for SEO purposes and to secure those followers that prefer to read the text.
When a video thumbnail shows up on SERPs, search engine result pages, it’s more engaging than text alone. People who are looking at the services that you offer are more likely to click on a video result. Moreover, other authority websites are more likely to link to multimedia content than text-based blog posts.
Link to Videos in Your Emails
You don’t have to rely on video search to hope that your audience finds your content. You can link to your videos in your email newsletters. This provides valuable, easy-to-digest content for your viewers. It also gives you a platform to engage your audience further.
Some best practices for using video for link building in emails include:
- Asking your followers what questions they have, and customizing your video content to their requests
- Encouraging subscribers to share interesting and informational videos online
- Leaking snippets of new videos via email with a link to your YouTube channel for the full recording
What to Include in Your Video Content
Creating a video doesn’t have to involve completely new information. Any content that you’ve already created can be transformed into a video.
Transform a data-heavy blog post into a video infographic. Show before-and-after interviews. Offer more details about your processes or services. Answer frequently asked questions.
Potential clients have plenty of questions when they’re researching plastic surgery. If they see you as a comprehensive resource before they step foot into your office, they’re more likely to schedule an appointment with you. Moreover, they’ll share the information with others.
How to Get Other Quality Sites to Link to Your Video
Part of the beauty of putting videos online is that you can encourage link building from authority sites. Backlinks drive traffic to your YouTube videos and website even when you don’t rank at the top of the SERP.
How do you get other sites to link to you? Send out press releases or announcements when you upload a new video or series. Submit great links to social bookmarking sites and online directories.
You can also use the skyscraper technique to get other businesses to link to you. When you notice that a company has linked out to another surgeon’s video, consider creating a similar video that’s even more informative. Then, reach out to the company with the link, and let them know that you have a comprehensive video that may be more useful to them. If they don’t replace the other link with yours, they might offer a social share or create new content that includes your video.
It’s a good idea to use video to show the world your expertise. Doing this also demonstrates that you care about your clients. As potential patients research the best providers for their surgery, they’re likely to choose to work with you when they keep stumbling across your videos, which answer all of their questions.