YouTube quietly announced a big change to the site’s search engine that will place grater emphasis on the time users spend watching videos. The intent, of this is for content that viewers spend more time watching (as in seconds and minutes) will be given greater authority in YouTube search, and would rank higher as a result.
Tactics like misleading titles or a sexy images could get you views, but won't keep viewers watching unless your content delivers.
This is not very surprising, as Google (which owns YouTube) has been working to improve the overall quality of search results via the PANDA...
Tactics like misleading titles or a sexy images could get you views, but won't keep viewers watching unless your content delivers.
This is not very surprising, as Google (which owns YouTube) has been working to improve the overall quality of search results via the PANDA...
and PENGUIN updates for years now. So, in video marketing, one of the best ways to measure content quality is by monitoring audience retention.
It seems YouTube has been testing this change over the past few months, and is happy with the results. So what do video marketers need to understand about this? Here are few initial takeaways and questions.
Better content equals better SEO
As CNET’s Casey Newton wrote recently, this change could make it more difficult for marketers to “game the system by choosing a provocative thumbnail image for your video.” This seems a little strong to me, as using compelling visuals, video titles and descriptions is all part of good SEO, and will continue to be.
But if the content you were promoting isn't interesting, or only appeals to a small audience, causing viewers to drop off and abandon you immediately, than your optimized videos weren’t really helping you anyway. What changes like these mean is that great content shouldn’t be less valuable than a great title. So marketers should continue to research their audience, create videos that appeal to them, and monitor retention to improve their rankings and reach.
It seems YouTube has been testing this change over the past few months, and is happy with the results. So what do video marketers need to understand about this? Here are few initial takeaways and questions.
Better content equals better SEO
As CNET’s Casey Newton wrote recently, this change could make it more difficult for marketers to “game the system by choosing a provocative thumbnail image for your video.” This seems a little strong to me, as using compelling visuals, video titles and descriptions is all part of good SEO, and will continue to be.
But if the content you were promoting isn't interesting, or only appeals to a small audience, causing viewers to drop off and abandon you immediately, than your optimized videos weren’t really helping you anyway. What changes like these mean is that great content shouldn’t be less valuable than a great title. So marketers should continue to research their audience, create videos that appeal to them, and monitor retention to improve their rankings and reach.
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