3 Tips on How to Become a Video SEO Analytics Expert

Intro

As video continues to dominate the content world, increasingly more brands are eager to make the most of this powerful marketing channel.

The problem?

Without a clear understanding of what makes videos rank, your video marketing efforts could be a major waste of time.

When you’ve purchased expensive video equipment, and spent weeks planning, shooting, and editing content, a low ROI just isn’t going to cut it.

Luckily for you, there’s a fix for that.

If you’re ready to use video to generate brand awareness, build trust, and convert leads, you need to become a video SEO analytics expert — or at least, begin the process of becoming one.

Before we share a few tips on how to do just that, let’s take a closer look at why video SEO analytics matter.

Ready to learn more?

Let’s begin.

Why video SEO analytics matter

Video is an integral part of the buying journey for B2B and B2C audiences alike.

In fact, did you know that 50% of people on the internet watch videos and product demos before purchasing anything?

That’s right.

With half of online users depending on video content to influence their purchasing decisions, no brand can afford to skip out on understanding video SEO analytics.

But what exactly are video SEO analytics?

The long answer?

Namely, they’re the raw data collected from your video search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. The analytics process collects and analyzes this data so you can better inform your video SEO strategy going forward.

The short answer?

They’re just like blogging SEO analytics, but for video.

Just like analyzing your blog SEO data can help you craft more engaging articles that rank higher, analyzing your video SEO data can help you produce captivating videos that get seen.

Let’s take a closer look at how to become a video SEO analytics expert using just three simple tips.

1. Measure video performance

To understand how to create better-performing videos, you’ll need to measure where your current videos stand.

Namely, you’ll need answers to questions, such as:

Where is your traffic coming from?

A simple way to validate that your video is well-optimized is by having significant traffic from multiple sources.

If you’re hosting videos on YouTube, you can find this data in the external “Traffic source report” via the analytics menu.

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Here, you’ll find where your views are coming from and the exact journeys users take to find your content.

One key tip? If you’re generating lots of views from Suggested Videos, YouTube Search, and Google Search, you’re onto something. However, if your only traffic source is your website, that indicates your video is probably underperforming on YouTube, likely because viewers need more context to lead into your video.

In this scenario, you may be better off removing the video from YouTube and hosting it on your site using a video hosting platform instead.

Are people actually watching your video or navigating off the page?

There's nothing like the sting of posting what you expected would be an epic video, only to find out that people are either not watching it or are navigating off-page after a quick glance.

If you’re hosting on YouTube, the best way to understand if people are actually watching your video is to take a look at the “Engagement graph” for any given video in YouTube Analytics.

If you take a look at the graph, you’ll see where users are continuing to watch your content versus where they’re dropping off or skipping ahead.

An ideal graph would show a flat line, other than a small dip at the start and end of the video to account for skimmers.

A graph showing multiple dips or an extreme dip in a particular section indicates that your video isn’t captivating your audience as well as it could be.

To help with the visualization of your data, you can definitely use an infographic maker such as Piktochart. By “designing” your data, you will be able to get a better overview of what you need to do to analyze and improve your videos.

Another helpful metric to track is the “average percentage viewed” which reveals how well a specific video is performing compared to the rest of your videos — and other content on YouTube.

Keep in mind that shorter videos tend to have a higher average percentage viewed compared to longer videos. More on this in a bit.

Other important questions to consider when measuring video performance include:

• How much traffic is coming to your video?
• What were online users searching for on YouTube to find your video?
• How is your video impacting users who watch it?

2. Measure channel performance

Which channels are you leveraging for your video marketing efforts? Are you solely hosting on YouTube? Or are you diversifying your video marketing approach across other channels, such as TikTok and Instagram, too?

Whichever channels you’ve chosen, to become a true video SEO analytics expert, you’ll need to measure the performance of each one.

Here are some important questions to keep in mind when measuring channel performance:

Is the video marketing channel receiving more engagement over time due to your videos?

If your video marketing channels receive more engagement over time as a result of your videos, you’re doing something right.

But, how do you know if your videos are receiving steady engagement?

Do you notice an upward trajectory of watch time from subscribers and followers? For non-followers and non-subscribers, do you notice watch time performance that isn’t decreasing over time?

If so, this indicates you’re receiving steady or increasing engagement.

If not, it’s time to make some strategic changes. More on this in a bit.

How often do users return to watch videos? How many people are watching and liking your videos on your video marketing channels?

Take a look at your audience metrics for each video marketing channel you use for a breakdown of video views.

Keep in mind that this differs from channel to channel.

For instance, on YouTube, you can compare how many new viewers you have versus returning viewers. But on Instagram, you can only access the total number of video views and likes.

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Ideally, you want to see an upward trajectory in:

• New viewers (YouTube)
• Returning viewers (YouTube)
• Video views (Instagram and TikTok)
• Video likes (Instagram and TikTok)
• Profile views (TikTok)
• Followers growth rate (TikTok)

Where is the traffic coming from?

When it comes to video marketing channel performance, the key is having channel-based traffic sources increase over time as this represents who your true fans are.

While having a powerful website is definitely something to brag about, driving engagement on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok via channel-based sources reflects a real interest in your video content.

That means your YouTube channel should see YouTube-based traffic sources increase over time, your Instagram channel should see Instagram-based traffic sources increase over time, and your TikTok channel should see TikTok-based traffic sources increase over time.

3. Use data to better inform your video SEO strategy going forward

Use video SEO analytics to improve your video SEO strategy going forward.

Here are a few key ways to do so.

Use tools to get ahead

Spend an afternoon reviewing software options that can help you advance your video SEO strategy in less time.

For instance, here are a few SEO tools you can use to rank higher on YouTube.

Keep your videos short

As video runtime increases, engagement decreases.

Your best bet? Videos should be less than 10 minutes for short-form videos and no more than 20 minutes for long-form videos.

In fact, according to the 2022 Video in Business Benchmark Report by Vidyard, you can net up to 38% higher retention by keeping long-form video content below 20 minutes in length

Create an engaging intro, middle, and conclusion

Boost engagement by hooking viewers with a compelling opening, including value-driven content in the middle of your video, and adding a clear and personalized call to action (CTA) as your closing.

You can also use a voice talent to help with creating an engaging video to improve your traffic and increase your viewers

Consider user search behavior to inform your content creation process

What are users searching for, engaging with, sharing, and saving on each social channel? Use these insights to craft video content that aligns with user search intent.

Review your thumbnail/video preview images

Social channels, like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, offer video thumbnails that look like still image “placeholders” so viewers can get a quick idea of what your video covers before they watch.

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Since these images are one of the first touchpoints users have with your videos, it’s essential to make them as clear, captivating, and value-driven as possible.

For example, if you are making a video on how to get prescriptions online, it would not make sense to see a picture of a banana bread in the thumbnail.

Here are a few quick tips:

• Make sure you’re using supported image formats and sizes according to each channel
• Use images that are high-quality, clear, and help viewers digest what your video is about
• Use sales psychology and copywriting best practices to write a captivating title and description on your video thumbnail

Wrap up

Becoming a video SEO analytics expert may not happen overnight, but by starting with a few key tips, you can learn how to produce videos that help you attract, nurture, and convert aligned audiences.

If you’re ready to see better traction on your videos, save this article as a helpful guide and put these tips into action.

That’s it, for now, marketers.

To your success!