As the nature of search engines continues to evolve and shift, it is important that webmasters, bloggers and brands alike all consider the implications that various forms of content have on search rankings. We all know that Google and others are constantly updating their algorithms and tweaking how our websites and blogs appear in search, but some elements are more resistant to these changes than others. One notable example is YouTube, which serves up more video views to the world than any other platform on the planet. Videos can be a great way to promote content engagement, including interaction with your own website. Below, we’ll describe a few ways in which you can convert YouTube video traffic into website traffic.

Video Integration Into Search

While there are a seemingly countless number of videos on the internet today, the optimization and organization of them is far less evolved than it is for traditional content. With Google now automatically serving up videos in select search results, this means one simple thing: it can be easier to rank in search by video than by post in some circumstances. As the nature of videos means that tag optimizations, descriptions and keywords are more important, there is less competition from the perspective of “good quality” than there might be among blog posts or articles. Pinging for SEO with YouTube videos will result in your videos receiving plenty of traffic when done properly, which then presents many opportunities for links back to your website (through the video itself and through links below it).

Make Your Videos Interactive

The use of annotations in YouTube videos has been a common practice for years, mainly as a way to elaborate on specific comments made in the video or as a way to clarify misspeak. Another great function for annotations is a direct link back to your site! Throughout the video, YouTube video uploaders can create specific points within the video in which annotations appear, asking people to click here for a specific reason. The ability to generate conversions through the use of annotations is especially potent when combined with a video overlay that corresponds with the annotation. Many people decide to visually edit the video so that the annotation/pop-up appears as an actual button in the video, further increasing the likelihood of clicks.

Sharing Videos via Social Media

On most social media websites, the ability to include direct links back to your website in video is not possible. With YouTube videos, the process is not exact, but is more intuitive with respect to the likelihood of viewers converting to traffic. Many YouTube videos that appear in Facebook feeds for instance will be “popped out” by users and viewed on YouTube directly. This then brings the user from social media – where they would have needed to click on your brand page, then search for the link to your website proactively – directly to your video, complete with links in the description and in the video annotations. Since opening the video to view directly via YouTube is more intuitive than clicking on your social media page and then looking for links, there is a much greater chance that the efforts of pinging for SEO in your YouTube video will also result in more direct clicks to your website.