6 Ways Law Firms Can Use Video To Enhance SEO

Video content on the web is more popular than ever, and its prevalence is only expected to rise as time goes on. As connection speeds and processors get faster, more and more brands are choosing video as their preferred method for getting their message out to the masses. Audiences, too, choose video as their favorite way of consuming content.

When it comes to SEO, video content has some interesting effects. It can blend in with the rest of the content on your site, making it richer and more attractive to search engines. Video, however, also stands on its own as a complete content package. It can exist separately and rank in search results on its own, providing new sources of traffic to your law firm’s site.

Below, we’re going to discuss several ways your law firm can use video content to enhance SEO and attracts more visitors.

Host Your Videos On YouTube

It may seem counterintuitive, but it’s generally better to host your videos on YouTube instead of your own domain. There are a few reasons for this.

Google counts page load speed when calculating search results. Video content can add significant load to your server and slow down page loading times. If your sites slows too much, your search rankings will drop. This, of course, would be exactly the opposite of what you want to happen.

A second benefit of using YouTube is that the video service is also the world’s second most used search engine, behind Google. Your videos will show up in both YouTube and Google’s indexes.

YouTube also makes it ridiculously easy for people to share and embed your videos. If you’re providing content with real value, it will be much easier for people to share your videos if they’re on YouTube rather than your own site.

Pay Attention To Meta Data

Just as you would do for web pages or images, make sure to name and describe your videos using relevant keywords. Google has stated that the title, description and thumbnail are the three most important pieces of information when it comes to videos.

Create A Video Sitemap

If you’re using videos on your site, whether they are hosted on your domain or embedded from YouTube, you should have a video sitemap.

A video sitemap works as an extension of the site’s existing sitemap. It allows for easier indexing of videos by the search engines and gives you the chance to fully describe all of your videos, taking full advantage of the meta data mentioned above.

If you’re using a content management system like WordPress or Joomla, just search their plugins for “video sitemap” and you should find several that will do the job for you.

Include Video Transcripts

Creating transcripts of the audio contained in your videos is beneficial in two ways. First, a portion of your audience will prefer to skim over a transcript to see if the video contains information they are looking for. Second, all of that text gives the search engines more content on your site to index. It’s a win/win situation.

Create Short Clips From Long Videos

You can repurpose and reuse the same content by creating shorter clips from long videos. For example, you can upload short previews to Facebook or Twitter to attract people back to your law firm’s web site to watch the full content.

Short preview clips give you the opportunity to capture people’s attention with compelling content they wouldn’t otherwise see right away because it’s deeper within the original video. They also create perfectly sized content that is easy for people to share and reshare across their own social media network.

Focus On Value Not SEO

Above all, no matter what type of content you are creating, the focus should be on value to your audience. If you’re creating truly valuable content, results and rankings in search engines will come naturally.

People share what they find valuable. Webmasters link to content they find valuable. This builds the authority of your firm’s website. When that happens, the search engines pay attention and good results become inevitable.

Do you need help optimizing your law firm video so your website can rank high on search engines? Are you unsure of which SEO tool your law firm should be using? Contact us today and let us help you achieve the results you want to generate leads from your website.

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