How to Add Video to a Website the Right Way
Adding video to your website is a great way to make your content more dynamic and effectively reach your target audience. But do you know how to add video to a website so that the maximum amount of customers discover and view it? Here are several tips on how to add video to a website the right way. Limit Your Videos To One Per Page
If you have multiple videos on one page, chances are that the subject matter of each video varies slightly. These videos are best served by being hosted on separate pages of your website, allowing visitors and search engines to focus on one video & topic area at a time. As a result, your page views increase, and there is more content floating around search engines waiting to be discovered. If you cram everything on one page, you can't optimize specifically enough to satisfy searchers, and you are putting all your money on one page.
Add Text Around Your Video
Even though your video is probably very informative, it is still important to include text on the page to introduce the video, provide context, and entice visitors to click play through teaser content. Text also helps search engines determine what that page of your website is about, and who to suggest it to. Also consider adding a transcript of the video below it, to assist those with hearing disabilities or those who simply cannot use the volume at the moment they are on your site. Including screenshots of the video throughout the transcript is another great way to connect with all of your visitors, even the ones who cannot play or hear the video.
Properly Markup Your Videos According to Schema Guidelines
All of the major search engines recognize Schema rules for marking up website content in such a way that search engines are able to understand what is on the page. They are just machines, after all. They can't actually watch your video and determine what it is about and who to suggest it to (not yet, anyway). Not only can this help improve your website's ranking in search engines, it can also help your video stand out among search results. Have you noticed that some videos have screenshots and extra information that shows up in search engines? That's because the videos on that site were properly marked up according to Schema's guidelines. The extra screenshot and information is considered a "rich snippet" of what is on that particular website page. If you were searching for a video about things to do in Orlando, would you choose search result #11 or search result #12?
Your videos can show up in search results like the one in #11 if you properly mark the up. All of the guidelines are detailed on the Schema.org website, or if you have WordPress you can search for a plugin that does it for you. One good plugin to check out is the All in One Schema Rich Snippets plugin. If you're not sure if your video is properly marked up, you can easily find out by searching Google. Just start the search with site: then the URL of the page your video is on to see if the search result includes a rich snippet.
Once you have done this, you should also submit a video sitemap to Google and Bing webmaster tools. This sitemap will tell search engines that you have videos on your site and where they can be located. For more information about video sitemaps, click here.
Not sure if your web developer has submitted one? You can test your site by going to Google and searching your site by typing site:your-url.com in the search box then clicking on the Video option. If a video sitemap has been submitted, you should see the pages with videos in the search results.
Add Social Sharing Buttons
If you want visitors to share your video, make sure to suggest that they share it, and include social sharing buttons on the page for all major social networks.
Keep Your Video Above The Fold
This will make sure your visitors know they have the option to watch a video about the topic instead of just read text, reducing the bounce rate of that page and increasing the amount of time visitors spend on your site.
About Talking Head StudioHeadquartered in sunny Orlando, Florida, Talking Head Studio offers full-scale video production services to local businesses and national clients alike. Click here for more information on Talking Head Studio's video production services.