There’s no doubt that the web continues to evolve into an increasingly visual medium. Consumers like pictures, and they like video even more. So – as the technology continues to evolve at warp speed – maybe now’s the time for small business to sit up and pay attention?
Video has the power to showcase products and build brand awareness in a unique and compelling way. By engaging, educating and entertaining visitors, the niche retailer has the opportunity to connect with their customer in a way that cultivates loyalty and encourages ‘social dissemination’ of the brand. It’s no surprise to learn that video is the most ‘shared’ content type on the web.
“Isn’t that all a bit fluffy?” I hear the cynics cry. Well, maybe – but it’s only the start. Consider the importance that Google now attributes to video and you’ve got an altogether more measurable incentive to rethink your strategy.
Since the roll-out of the Google “Caffeine” upgrade earlier this year, the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) are increasingly dominated by real-time and video results – part of Google’s mission to deliver fresher, richer results. Video in particular, seems to get preferential treatment (unsurprising, given that Google owns YouTube). Not only do video results now capture some of the prime real estate in the list of organic results, but the new left nav column provides advanced search options on video results that reflect their enhanced status.
Video for ecommerce
As well as generating qualified traffic for your website (more on video SEO below), you can employ video effectively to increase conversion in the following ways:
1. Product demonstrations. The next best thing to seeing the product in “real life”, a video gives a visitor the opportunity to see its features in action, and provide some human scale. It’s an opportunity to assert your ‘authority’ as an expert and build consumer confidence.
2. Brand building. No matter how carefully you’ve crafted the copy on your About Us page to skillfully convey the uniqueness of your product or service, and your company values, relatively few people will read it. By providing supplemental video you can engage those unwilling to read the blurb, and do it in a way that makes it easy for them to share it with their friends.
3. Customer service. Whether it’s to provide answers to frequently asked questions, share customer testimonials, provide instructions, or simply put a human face to your operation – customer service video can help break down resistance and smooth the visitor’s path to purchase.
What makes a good video?
OK, so it all sounds quite good in principle and you’ve probably got some ideas on what to do. Here’s the conventional wisdom on what makes a good video for an ecommerce site:
- Keep it short. The first 15 seconds are critical – so save your best for first. Three or four minutes is a good length as a rule, but note how Google enables you to search for videos of different length. No doubt there’s a trade-off opportunity in terms of competition and ranking.
- Make it relevant. Treat your customers (and Google) with respect. Unless your video can educate, engage or entertain – you’re probably best thinking of a better idea.
- Make it SEO smart. Like the rest of your content, you need to optimise it for organic search. I explain this in more detail below.
- Shoot it in HD. It’s just a hunch, but I think HD will rank probably rank better than not. Google presents you with the option to filter out HD videos, and I think that’s a pretty good indication of its preference.
What makes a video good enough?
This is perhaps the biggest psychological barrier that small businesses face when considering video. Does my video need to be professionally produced, or is it something we can do inexpensively in-house? Do my customers expect slick production standards, or is ‘basic’ acceptable?
With a Flip camera or iPhone 4 you can quickly and easily capture decent HD video. All the software you need to add the bells and whistles is readily and cheaply available to download. If you do any of your own product photography, you probably already have most of what you need, and someone who understands how to do it. That’s one end of the scale.
Although no-one wants to damage their brand with unprofessional content, ask yourself what’s good enough for the purpose you’re seeking to fulfil. We live in the YouTube age where consumers accept clips with a wide variety of production standards – ranging from zero to Hollywood. With a steady camera, decent lighting, and a reasonable quality voiceover – you can, for example, produce a perfectly respectable product video. When you need something more professional, you may be pleasantly surprised with the cost that you can negotiate with a specialist.
The SEO factor
Optimising your video for SEO is really no different to optimising any of your other content. Here’s a checklist for making sure your video appears in Google’s blended search results:
- Start with your keywords. Before you even start making your video, choose two or three keywords maximum on which to base your content. Make sure you use these keywords in the video title, tags, description and any back-links you create to the video.
- Lead with the product. If it’s a product video, make sure the first few frames feature a shot of your product, as YouTube will use this as a static image for your video.
- Post on YouTube. Google owns YouTube, so you can bet that it’s well indexed. Create your own YouTube channel and include links back to your site in the description for each video (use a URL shortener). Organise your content, customise your channel, work your tags, and manage your comments in a pro-active way.
- Add a transcript and subtitles. It’s definitely worth getting to grips with the new closed caption feature in YouTube, given that subtitles and transcripts are translated into other languages – and indexed in all of them.
- Create inbound links to your video. As with other content, it’ll rank better when other sites are linking to it – especially if those links include the relevant keywords. Start by linking from your blog, your Facebook page and your Twitter feed. Book-marking your video with social book-marking sites like Digg, Stumble and Delicious will help others find your video and create their own links to it.
- Participate and promote. Engage the YouTube community by using the Like, Comment, and Favourite features on other people’s videos. Promote your own videos across your other channels, even your catalogue, your delivery notes, your customer service emails.
- Analyse. Start with YouTube’s built-in Insight reports – especially the “Discovery” data that tells you how viewers found your video. Then use Google analytics to generate more sophisticated reporting on the performance of your YouTube channel, and the conversion rate of the visitors it sends to your ecommerce site.
Ready to have a go?
An increase in qualified traffic and conversion rates is a powerful incentive – so how do you get started?
Perhaps you already have a social media champion or other marketing staffer who can drive a test project forward. Why not take advantage of a forthcoming photo shoot, a trip to a supplier, or a gathering of customers? The team members in a small business invariably have a rich resource of material and ideas between them. Your suppliers may even already have video content that could be repurposed.
So why not take your top ten keywords from your latest keyword research and brainstorm video ideas based on those words alone. Choose one, make it happen, and start measuring. As they say in the movies, the rest will be history.
Case study: Teaching a close shave drives qualified traffic
Robert Johnston, owner of my local barbershop and shaving emporium The Gentleman’s Shop, decided to make a short video called “How to get a great shave every morning”. It’s six minutes long and cost £1,000 (and a free shaving set) to have it professionally produced.
Since posting it in September last year, it’s been viewed over 26,000 times. Over 75% of those views are from people who found the video through the YouTube – in other words, people who’ve probably never heard of the Gentleman’s Shop. That’s a lot of qualified traffic – qualified by the store’s most important keywords – that is getting delivered to the site. And the video will continue to deliver traffic for weeks, months, and quite probably years to come as people continue to discover, discuss and share it.
Article licensed for publication with Creative Commons “Attribution” terms.
First published in Catalogue & e-Business Magazine, September 2010
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